Free Sacrifice (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 2) by S.M. Spencer Page B

I suppose I was prepared to accept what she was saying. After all, I’d already accepted the existence of vampires and dhampirs.
    ‘May I continue?’ she asked. When I nodded, she began again, ‘Your baby is already growing incredibly quickly—much faster than that of a normal human baby. When he is born, he will be a little less than the size of a premature baby; however he will be incredibly strong. His lungs and other organs will be fully matured, and within a few days, he will be the size of a human baby born at full term.
    ‘After that, he will grow at approximately six to seven times the rate of a human, until he reaches maturity within three or four years. I’ve known Michael since he was just an infant. By the time he was four years old he looked exactly as he does now.’
    She paused on her own this time. I just sat staring at her in awe.
    ‘Lili, are you okay? Is this making sense to you?’ She had this look on her face as though worried she’d fried my brain or something.
    ‘Yes, I think so,’ I answered, ‘I mean, it does make sense I guess, but it’s just so hard to believe.’
    ‘Yes, I imagine it’s a lot to take in. But you’ll see for yourself, soon enough. In six weeks when you give birth, your baby will be small, and your body will not have undergone too much stress. Then, once born, he will continue to grow incredibly fast, so that by the end of the first week he will be larger than the average newborn. Then, after two weeks he will be nearly the size of a three month old baby. By the time he is one month old, he’ll be the equivalent of a six month old human. And so on. By four years, he will be a fully matured adult.’
    I swallowed hard, then reached over and picked up the now lukewarm tea, and took a long sip.
    ‘So, I suppose for the next two weeks I’ll pretty much look normal, but after that I’ll start looking fatter and fatter?’
    ‘You’re so fit—I suspect you’ll look great right up to the end. You won’t get huge. And I’ve got creams that you can apply. You shouldn’t even get stretch marks.’
    ‘But I’m thinking about Debs and Ian. Will they notice? How can I explain this to them?’
    ‘Yes, well, one way or another, toward the end of the pregnancy you’ll want to be away from here. And now do you understand why this wedding needs to be soon, or else put off until after Christmas?’
    Again, I just nodded, and turned to Sam. He put his arm around my shoulders and leaned over and kissed my forehead. ‘It’s your call, sweetheart. You decide.’
    Crystal smiled at us. ‘Why don’t you two think about it for a few days? If you decide to go ahead with the wedding now, we can have a small ceremony—perhaps in the gardens. Or, if you want to see if your mother will come, and wait for that, then yes, it would be best to wait until after Christmas.’
    I felt lightheaded—like I was in a dream. But this wasn’t a dream. According to Crystal, this was for real. It was happening, and happening fast.
    ‘Yeah, okay, we’ll think about it,’ I said, turning to Sam for support, but he just smiled and shrugged his shoulders again. Then he turned to Crystal.
    ‘Come on, Crystal; make the poor girl some breakfast. She only had an ice-cream cone for dinner last night. We sort of got side tracked and I must admit I didn’t even think about feeding her.’
    Sam stood, pulled me up, and led me into the kitchen where we sat at the little round table. Crystal followed us in, and quickly started making me some breakfast. She made a fresh pot of coffee, as well as toast with blackberry jam. I felt better as soon as I started eating, and by the time I’d finished, I’d resigned myself to the idea of having the wedding the following weekend.
    Sam was happy with that decision, with one exception.
    ‘We’re going shopping to buy you an engagement ring—today. That way, when you tell Debs, she won’t think I’m some poor unworthy schmuck that just sells vegetables at a