Titus: Luna Lodge #2 (18 page)

He turned to Major Carter and his men. “From now on I don’t want any orders coming from anyone to open the gate unless it’s you or me.”

“We can manage that,” Carter said.

“Lastly,” Titus sighed. This was going to be the most difficult. “Doctor Fisher worked for Horatius Group. At this point, we can really only trust a few.”

He turned to Marius. “The computers at the hospital have been compromised. Get on it, and also keep an eye on Rachel. I don’t think she’s working for anyone besides us, but it can’t hurt to be cautious.”

Marius wrinkled his nose but nodded.

“Now we’ve got a lot of work to do in a short period of time,” he said clearly to the room. “But they are coming. Maybe not today or even tomorrow, but we need to be ready. They won’t catch us again with our pants down.”

Chapter Twenty

Kate sat nervously with Titus in Rachel’s office. It had been months since she had been taken, but it still seemed to be looming over her head. Ever since that day, she’d not been feeling all that great. Recently, she had been feeling worse.

She worried about the drugs they had given her and all the lasting effects they could possibly be causing. Maybe that bastard Romulus was playing the long game and just waiting.

She shook a little at the thought. For the most part, she had been able to move on, but there were times when she’d think about things, and it shook her to her very core.

Kate looked over to Titus and took his hand. He squeezed it and smiled.

“It will be fine,” he said.

She shook her head, not feeling near as confident.

“Sorry to keep you all waiting,” Rachel said with a smile. “I’m on standby for Erica. Any moment.”

Kate smiled. They were all waiting anxiously for the new arrivals. Most of all Erica. The last trimester hadn’t been so fun for her or anyone around her really.

“So,” Rachel said, sitting down. “You haven’t been feeling well for the last few month.”

Kate nodded.

“Well, we seem to be having a rash of this around here,” Rachel said. “Kate, you’re pregnant.”

Kate blinked a few times and felt her face flush.

“I’m what?” She took in a deep breath.

“Pregnant,” Rachel said excitedly.

“I can’t be pregnant.” She looked to a stunned Titus. “I can’t be pregnant.”

She looked back to Rachel.

“How the hell am I pregnant when I got the shot?”

Rachel shook her head. “It’s something we haven’t even really considered. My only guess is that during the chemical change that occurs related to the pheromones, it somehow also changes what sort of birth control will work. I’d have to run more test to even begin to understand.”

“Is the baby okay?” Titus asked.

Kate was surprised he was so calm.

When she looked back at Rachel, she was smiling.

“Do you want to have a listen?”

Kate froze. Listen? What exactly were they listening for?

She jumped when someone shouted in the hall. The door swung open, and a very harried Sol charged in.

“It’s time,” he said frantically. The all jumped up and followed him out the room. Erica leaned against the counter, heavily panting.

“Three minutes,” Erica said.

“Three?” Rachel frowned. The newly hired clinic staff buzzed in preparation. “All right, let’s get you back,” she said to Erica. “Anyone who is not Dad or Mom needs to wait in the lobby area,” she shouted to the several people who had already started to come in the door.

Rachel turned to Titus and Kate. “We’ll reschedule.” She winked.

Kate’s stomach was a rock as they made their way to the front lobby. Titus steered her into an empty seat and she sat without a word. They sat in silence for quite some time before he spoke.

“Are you okay?” he whispered in her ear.

She turned to look into his concerned eyes. Kate sighed.

“I’m just stunned,” she said. “It wasn’t even a thought. I mean, maybe later, but there were just certain things I thought would happen first before this.”

Titus frowned. “What things?”

He just didn’t get it.

“Like going on a long vacation and then marriage to name a few,” she said before laughing.

Titus frowned. “I thought getting married while pregnant was how most people did it.”

“Well, it’s certainly done enough.”

“Do you want to get married?” Titus asked.

Kate blushed. She wasn’t trying to force him to marry her.

“Let’s just deal with the issue at hand,” she said. “I don’t want you having to ask me under these conditions.”

“I wasn’t…” he started to say.

“What?” Kate asked.

Titus smiled at her from ear to ear. “I can hear them,” he whispered. “I can hear the babies.”

Kate joined him in his smile.

“How do they sound?” she asked excitedly.

“Angry.” He frowned.

Kate laughed. “They were just taken from a nice warm place. They are a little angry.”

Titus stood, and she followed. When she peeked around the corner, Sol wheeled two little babies down the hall.

A few tears leaked out as the stared at their red, chubby little faces.

“Beautiful,” she whispered to Sol.

He beamed from ear to ear.

“So what did you decide?” she whispered.

“Atticus and Cassia,” he whispered.

Kate smiled and sighed when Titus wrapped an arm around her stomach. They watched as Sol took the babies back to their mother.

“We can do this,” he rumbled in her ear, and Kate nodded. With him, she could do just about anything. “Let’s go home,” he said.

* * *

Titus watched her as they sat in the darkness of the deck. Never in his life had he been so nervous, and it was all so silly. There was no need to be nervous. She had already conceded that them having a child wouldn’t be near as bad as she initially thought.

“You know you’re wrong,” he said, breaking the silence.

Kate turned to look at him.

“That doesn’t happen often.” She smirked. “What am I wrong about?”

“That I would feel forced to marry you,” he said quietly.

Kate sighed. “I just want to make sure you’re getting into marriage for the right reasons. Knocking me up shouldn’t be one.”

Titus swallowed the lump in his throat and got down on his knees in front of her. He reached in his pocket and pulled out the case.

“Well, how about because I already picked out the ring and wanted to marry you anyways?” he asked.

Kate stared at him, an expression of amazement on her face.

“How did you… When did you get this?”

He face flamed, and he looked away. “When you moved in.”

“But that was right after we came back,” she said with awe.

Titus turned and stared deep into her eyes.

“You are the only one for me,” he said quietly. “Not because of any pheromone but because the very idea of life without you doesn’t even cross my mind.”

He opened the box in her hand and watched as she put out her left hand. Titus pulled out the ring and slipped it onto her finger.

“Do you like it?” he asked softly.

Tears slipped down her face as she nodded and pulled him into a hug.

“I love it,” she whispered. “I love you.”

He squeezed her to him and sighed.

“I love you,” he said.

* * *

Once again Kate sat nervously in Rachel’s clinic, but this time in a different room. She stared at the different tools.

“Now,” Rachel said. “I’m just going to squeeze this on your tummy, and then we’ll be able to hear little Titus Jr.’s heart. If we’re lucky, we might be able to get a good picture of the baby.”

“Can we really see it so early?” Kate stared at the machine.

“Even earlier than this actually,” Rachel said. “Now relax.”

Titus came to stand beside her and held her hand. She smiled as he played with her ring. So many big changes.

Rachel squirted the gel on, and Kate watched on the screen as the image showed the inside of her stomach. A fast thumping came on, and she knew that was her baby. Tears pooled in her eyes.

“Oh my god,” she whispered. “Is that a foot?”

Her hand squeezed Titus’s.

“Look,” she whispered. “It’s a foot. Oh, it’s two feet.”

She gripped a little harder when a second set of feet came into view.

“Twins,” Titus said proudly.

Rachel cleared her throat. “Actually,” she said and scanned over just a little more. Another set of feet came into view. “It’s triplets.”

Kate turned to Titus, who seemed just as stunned as she was.

“You jinxed me.” She turned to him. “You and your super sperm.”

“My what?” he sputtered.

“It’s because I teased Erica.” Kate felt like throwing up. What they hell was she going to do with three babies?

Kate sat up and stared at Titus.

“Look at me,” he said sternly. “This is amazing news. And it will be fine.”

He brought her in for a hard hug.

“I’ve got everything I never dreamed I could have.” He sat back and smiled at her. “You have made me happier than I thought possible.”

Kate stared at him for a moment and then smiled.

He was right. This was amazing news, and they could handle this. If someone like Romulus couldn’t stop their love, then nothing else certainly would.

“It will all be fine,” he coaxed. “Now let’s look at our babies.”

Kate lay back down and sighed when the babies came back on the screen.

“Maybe they will all be girls.” She smiled, thinking of all the pink dresses and ribbons she would buy.

“Yeah, about that,” Rachel said and gave Kate a funny look.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” She glared at Titus. “You and your damn super sperm.”

A Note from Madison

Thank you for reading
Titus
. If you enjoyed this book, please consider reviewing it. We authors live and die by reviews.

The next book in the series,
Lucius,
is scheduled to be out in the next couple months.

Author Bio

Madison currently lives with her husband and two children in the Valley of the Sun in Arizona. After leaving the frozen tundra of the north, she was more surprised than anyone with how much she has enjoyed living in the desert. Seeing as she stated on more than one occasion before moving to Arizona how much she hated heat, it was an odd move, but it seems her hatred for sub-zero temperatures and ice has won out in the end.

When she’s not writing, she’s enjoying time with her family. Madison and her family frequent festivals in the area, as well as local cultural events, and spend time with family in the area. In the summer, she is most likely to be found in the pool with the family and in the winter by the fireplace. Since both her children are autistic, days can be a little chaotic, but with her husband beside her, there’s nothing she can’t handle.

Madison has a full schedule of releases planned for 2014 listed and updated on her blog: http://madisonstevens.blogspot.com/

She can be contacted at [email protected]

You can join her mailing list at http://eepurl.com/OX9r5

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