I wanted to go back there. Soon. Hopefully.
Resting my forehead against the cool glass, I closed my eyes. I…I missed my mom. I missed my grandparents. And I missed Erin, my best friend.
I wished they were here. Not a day went by that I didn’t think about them. They’re in a better place. That’s what I kept telling myself. My mom and my grandparents were in a better place, and Erin… Had she recovered from Hyperion’s attack yet? I had no way of knowing. My father never hung around long enough for me to ask him. He was in and out, disappearing before I could really say much of anything.
Stepping back from the window, I sat on the edge of the bed. I could really use a talk with my granny right about now. Granted, she wouldn’t know much about a demigod pregnancy, but she would be able to, I don’t know, tell me everything would be okay.
That I could do this.
That I could give birth and raise a child. That I was responsible and mature enough to handle all of this.
And Erin would be right here with me, freaking out alongside me, and she…she would tell me I’ve got this.
Who knew? Maybe Erin would know something about this pregnancy. After all, she was a furie.
Looking down at myself, I lifted the hem of my borrowed shirt, exposing my stomach. It looked like it had before I was pregnant. Well, not exactly. I did lose some weight while I’d been held captive, but my stomach was still soft and it had never been flat. Ever. But it looked normal.
Which was no surprise. Duh. I couldn’t be more than five weeks unless it had been before. Seth and I had always used condoms except for that one time, but condoms didn’t always work.
But in a couple of months I would start showing. I poked at my stomach—
The hallway door opened and Seth called out, “Josie?”
Feeling my cheeks heat, I dropped my shirt and hopped to my feet. I skirted around the edge of the bed, hurrying to the sitting room that came complete with a little dinette.
“Hey.” Placing a large brown paper bag on the table, Seth grinned when he spotted me in the doorway. “You took a shower?”
I leaned against the doorframe. “Yeah.”
“Without me?”
I grinned. “Well, I actually wanted to get the shower accomplished.”
“That wouldn’t have happened if I was in there with you.” Reaching into the bag, he pulled out a basket of food and then another…and another. “I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I picked up a few things. Chicken tenders. Fries. I got some mozzarella sticks, because I know you like cheese. I thought you could use some red meat, so that’s why I ended up grabbing a hamburger too.”
My eyes widened as I stared at the buffet of food that was appearing, spread out on the coffee table. Good Lord.
Yet another basket came out, followed by a small white bowl. “And then I know how much you love their bacon, so I got that lady to make a plate. She wasn’t at all happy about that, but you know, I can be super convincing—oh, and I figured you needed something green in there, so that’s why there’s a bowl of steamed broccoli.”
Fighting a grin, I lifted my gaze from the many, many baskets of food to startling amber-colored eyes. “Seth…”
“What?” He knocked a strand of hair out of his face. “Is there something else you want?” He took a step back, toward the door. “I can run back to the cafeteria and—”
“No. This is more than enough.” Laughing, I pushed away from the door and made my way around the coffee table. “I feel like I’m in an eating competition.”
“You’d win if that was the case.”
I shot him a narrowed glare, but he was right. I would win. Happily so.
Seth chuckled as he picked up the glass bottle of Coke and unscrewed the lid. There was also a glass of water and orange juice. How he’d gotten all this food and drinks here was beyond me.
Must have been another godly talent.
“I don’t expect you to eat all of it,” he said, glancing up at me through the strand of hair that had slipped free and fallen across his cheek again. “But I do expect you to eat a little of all of it. I don’t want you going hungry.”
The amount of food he’d brought me could feed a small village and then some. It was a bit excessive, but I understood why he’d brought so much food. Keeping me fed while I was being held captive by Hyperion hadn’t been a priority of the Titans.
Seth knew this.
And I knew that was something that had continuously preyed on the back of his mind, as did a hefty amount of guilt. He hadn’t known right away that I’d been captured.
Walking to his side, I wrapped my arms around his waist and stretched up, kissing his smooth cheek. “Thank you.”
Seth twisted, dipping his chin and kissing me as he caught the end of my ponytail. He tugged on it. “I know you’re starving.”
Settling back on my feet, I pulled my ponytail free from his grasp. “And how do you know that?”
He cocked his head to the side. “Well, it could be that your stomach was growling like one of Hades’s prized hounds while you were napping.”
My mouth dropped open. “Was not!”
“Yeah, it was. It scared me, to be quite honest. I’d thought that one of those hounds had made it into our room and was about—”
“Ass.” I punched his arm.
Chuckling, he stepped around me and sat down on the small couch. “Seriously, though, this is good, right? If you want anything else, I could go and get it.”
Turning back to the selection, I nodded as my stomach rumbled. “This is more than good.” I bent, picking up a fry and popping it in my mouth. “I didn’t mean to fall back asleep, by the way. Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.” He caught my hand and pulled me down so I was sitting in his lap. “When you’re tired, you need to sleep.”
“I think it was the whole ‘working with elements’ thing. I was out there for a while.”
“You sure that’s okay to be doing?”
I lifted a shoulder. “I don’t see why not.”
Reaching around me, he picked up a chicken tender and handed it to me. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay.” And that was the truth. Mostly. “I mean, I’m tired, but I think that’s normal with the whole being pregnant thing, even if I wasn’t working with the elements earlier.”
Seth was quiet as he picked up one of the tenders and bit down on it. “I want you to get checked out. I know you said it’s probably too early for a check-up, but how do we really know that?” he asked, squeezing his arm around me. “We don’t. So I don’t think it’ll hurt to talk to the doctor here and see what they suggest.”
I nibbled on my tender. “You have a point.”
“I know.”
“You’re just full of yourself today, aren’t you?”
He winked as he finished off the tender. “Full of love for you.”
Shaking my head, I reached for the soda. “I was thinking the same thing, but I’m not sure they’ll be much help. There’s no OBGYNs here. We’re going to have to go somewhere else and that means we’re going to be out there.”
Where the Titans could possibly locate me. It was a risk I was willing to take, because I had to. We needed to find someone who could at least guide us on what to expect with this pregnancy.
“I’m sure the doctor will be able to give us basic information, talk about any other situation like ours.”
“There has to be another god and demigod who got together and had a baby.” Josie pursed her lips. “I mean, from everything I know about the gods, they were pretty horny.”
I chuckled. “Understatement of the year.”
Josie grinned at me.
“Anyway, I’ll go with you, and then we’ll take it from there.” He smoothed his hand up and down my upper thigh. “We could go in the morning.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Reaching for the hamburger, I took a bite. A glob of ketchup slid out, but Seth caught it with the tip of his finger. Arching his brow, he licked it off his finger.