Epilogue
The bell hanging above the gallery door tinkled, and Brandee looked up to see Nick walking through it. She ran around the cash register and leaped into his arms. He caught her so easily she might as well have been a basketball. The image reminded her of what her stomach would look like in eight months. She couldn’t wait to tell him.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
“Hey, lover.”
They shared a quick kiss.
As Nick set her on her feet, he asked, “Can you get away for lunch?”
“I’d love to, but I probably shouldn’t. I had to put the ‘Back in Five Minutes’ sign in the window twice this morning.”
“Are your muse duties really keeping you that busy?”
“Yeah, but I got a few awesome shots while saving some fool trying to video his hike on Mount Everest. You should have seen him, hanging on to his tent pole and waving in the wind like a flag.”
Nick laughed. “I can’t wait to see the pics. Did you use digital or thirty-five millimeter film this time?”
Brandee strolled to her desk and pulled out the chair next to it, inviting Nick to sit down with her. “I used the thirty-five, but in the future, I think I’ll go exclusively digital. We’re going to need the small bedroom.”
Nick raised his brows. “Oh? Are we having guests?”
She flashed him a sly smile. “Sort of. He or she will be staying for about eighteen years.”
Nick’s mouth opened, but in a rare moment of speechlessness, no words came out. At last he cleared his throat and asked, “Are you telling me what I think you’re telling me?”
She grinned and nodded.
He shot to his feet and grabbed her around the waist. Lifting her high over his head, he looked up at her and cried, “Oh, my, hallelujah!” Then, as if suddenly remembering her “delicate condition,” he lowered her gently until her feet touched the floor and enveloped her in a tender hug.
Brandee snuggled against his chest. “I know you wanted children, but do you mind that it happened so soon?”
“I don’t mind a bit. That’s why I told you to throw away your birth control pills.”
“And you don’t care if our kids aren’t wolves like you?”
“Hell, no. I’m glad they won’t be. Thank goodness your muse buddies were able to answer that question for us.” He stroked her long hair over her back. “Why don’t I go get lunch and bring it here? I don’t want you skipping meals.”
“I’ll get it,” she said.
“If you’re planning on pickles and ice cream, I’d rather get my own.”
Brandee set a hand on her hip and gave him a look that she hoped would tell him where he could stick his pickle. “I’ll be right back.”
In the blink of an eye, or more accurately the snap of a finger, she was home. In record time, she had made a giant sandwich for Nick and a much smaller one for herself. She put them on the bamboo tray Kurt gave them as a wedding present and snapped her fingers, taking her back to the gallery. Nick was looking at his watch.
“So, how long was I gone?”
“Three and a half.”
“What? There’s no way I took three and a half whole minutes.”
Nick shook his head. “Not minutes. Seconds.”
“Seriously?”
“You should probably try to slow down a bit. You don’t want to give the baby whiplash.”
“Oh, my wonderful husband, I hope you’re not going to treat me like I’m some kind of fragile vase. I’m semi-immortal now, like you.”
“But is the baby?”
“I asked Erato and she said she’s not sure. This is kind of a whole new situation. She suggested I see the midwife the muses go to. I think her name is Hestia.”
Nick picked up his sandwich. “I’ll never get used to all those Greek names. How do you keep them straight?”
Brandee handed him a napkin. “It helps to meet them and put names to faces. I’ve only met a few and most of them are muses.”
“The only one I met besides Gaia was Apollo,” Nick said.
“You’re lucky. He sounds like one of the nice ones. I understand some gods are downright selfish or cranky.”
“And the gods think the goddesses are the cranky ones.”
She chuckled. “They sound pretty human, don’t they?”
“Shhh…don’t let them catch you saying that.”
“Do you think they’d send us to Outer Mongolia?”
“As long as we go together, it’s okay if they do.”