Elizabeth pointed to Meryn. "She did."

Gavriel nipped at her shoulder making her breath catch. "You don't want to find out how jealous I can be, zain'ka moya," he said, his warm breath tickling her sensitized neck.

Meryn smiled at her. "I think I'll like having a sister. Am I related to that Magnus guy now?"

Elizabeth caught Meryn's wink and rolled with it. "Absolutely. I'll call him later to let him know."

"Hey! She is not related to the Rioux, she is a McKenzie!" Aiden growled.

"Technically I'm an Evans. We're not married, just living in sin," Meryn corrected him.

Elizabeth turned her head before she laughed out loud and ruined everything. Aiden looked like his head was about to explode.

"You are too a McKenzie! We're mated!" Aiden boomed.

Meryn held up her empty left hand. "This says I am single. I'm only mated to you in Lycaonia and that is tee tiny compared to the whole freaking world. Even my driver's license says Evans," she countered.

Aiden stood, his barrel chest heaving. "We'll see about that. Men, move out!" he barked and walked away, fuming. Keelan groaned and Colton pounded his head on the table before looking up to glare at Meryn.

"Can you please, please, please not piss him off before a day where we are doing nothing but drills?" Colton complained.

"Now!" was the angry shout from the foyer.

"Fuck me." Colton groaned and stood. He, Keelan and Darian filed out of the dining room towards the door.

Gavriel stood and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm feeling nearly normal today, I think I'll see how drills go. Try not to wreak too much havoc today."

"We make no promises," she teased.

"Have fun beating on each other." Meryn grinned at him and waved her fork.

After the front door slammed shut Meryn let out a breath and put her fork down.

"Okay, what was that all about?" Elizabeth asked.

Ryuu walked in and put a plate of waffles in front of her before going to Meryn. "I'm curious as well. You deliberately baited him; despite your wackiness you hardly ever upset your mate deliberately." He sat down next to her.

"Aiden asked about children again last night. I wanted to distract him with something else for a while." Meryn shrugged and picked at her waffle.

"Oh, honey, of course he's asking about children, he's a male shifter. What did you tell him?" Elizabeth bit into her waffle and looked down surprised, Ryuu could really cook!

"I told him I didn't want to be put on any psycho hit list because he knocked me up and that we'd have plenty of time for kids later, like, much, much later. Though I don't know if that's an option anymore." Meryn finally gave up any pretense of eating and put her fork down.

"You don't like kids do you?" Elizabeth guessed.

"Nope. I'm not comfortable around babies. I wouldn't mind if they hatched and were like four or five. You know walking and talking. So they could be like 'Hey Mom, I gotta pee.' Or, 'Mom, I'm hungry.' At which point I could say 'Go tell Ryuu'. I never had a mom, I don't think I can be one."

Elizabeth couldn't stand the look on Meryn's face, she looked so dejected and lost. "I never had a mother either you know and I plan to totally rock being a mom. I mean you get to mold their little minds from the second they are born."

Meryn perked up. "What do you mean?"

Elizabeth continued. "My kids are going to be awesome. I will read to them and make sure they know how to get to Narnia or what to do if the Doctor ever grabs their hand and says 'run!' and they'll know what the one true ring is."

Meryn smiled. "I never thought about it like that. It would be like getting a brand new laptop and you can install whatever new apps you want on it or dress it up with a new skin."

"We can roll with that analogy. Meryn, there's no rulebook. As long as the kid is breathing, not hungry, semi-clean and not rocking in the corner drooling on itself, you're doing a good job." Elizabeth took another bite of her waffle.

"Really? That seems too easy."

"I mean it's a lifelong responsibility, you'll worry about the little bastard until the day you die. But the fun stuff outweighs that."

"And it's not like you'll be alone. I would be more than honored to help. I'll have you know I am an expert at changing diapers." Ryuu ruffled Meryn's hair.

"Thanks guys. I feel a little bit better about the whole thing. I could be pregnant, it's not like we've been using birth control. I just felt trapped. I wanted more time," she paused then looked up. "What if the ones responsible for killing all those women come after my baby?" she asked in a tiny voice.

And there is the real crux of the issue. She's already afraid for her future child.

"Meryn, how can you say you won't be a good mother when you're already worrying about them?" Elizabeth demanded.

Meryn blinked then smiled.

"Denka, I swear to you, no one will ever hurt you or your child. You are under my protection." Ryuu's body practically glowed blue. Elizabeth saw a tiny light hovering around Meryn's ear.

"Plus you have me, my fathers, my uncle, Gavriel, your mate, and every single unit warrior in the world willing to kill to protect you." Elizabeth motioned to the frantic little light.

"Oh Felix! Thank you!" Meryn cuddled empty air and looked up. "He said he would guard my baby every night."