A gold chain dangled from her fingers, and she flashed me the pendant, a diamond-studded infinity symbol.

“It’s perfect,” she said softly, her eyes wet with emotion.

He dipped his head in a bashful smile as she kissed his cheek. Then he turned back to me before I could hide the loving astonishment on my face.

He enchanted.

He simply enchanted.

Stopping in his tracks when he saw my expression, he studied me a long moment before walking over to me and placing a kiss on my cheek. The act was an excuse to whisper in my ear. “You have to stop looking at me like that if we’re going to make it through the day without losing our clothes.”

I turned to kiss him back. “I have no intention of making it through the day with you fully clothed.”

He grinned again. “Do you need anything else?”

“Pitocin?”

One corner of his mouth rose. “What’s that?”

“It induces labor. It’s about time for Beep to move out. Cut her hair. Get a job. I need a flat belly.”

“Have you tried crunches?”

“I just don’t get it. I’m supernatural. You’re supernatural. Why can’t we have one of those quick pregnancies like Bella and Edward? Gwen from Torchwood. Scully. Deanna Troi. Or even Cordelia when that demon impregnated her. Twenty-four hours later, bam! Demon child.”

“Aren’t they all?” Cookie said, garnering herself a glare from her daughter. Ah, to be thirteen again.

“Seriously, what’s with this nine-months crap? This is torture.” I grabbed my belly and scrunched up my face. “Agony. It’s worse than scurvy.” I didn’t actually know what scurvy was, but it sounded bad.

Reyes chuckled softly, kissed the top of my head, and walked out. Walked out!

“I’m not kidding!” I called after him. “I’m not putting up with this crap much longer.”

“He’s gone,” Cookie said.

“Oh, okay.” I cut the act short. “I have to admit, I feel wonderful. Nobody told me it would be like this. I have all this energy. I’m revved up, like, all the time.”

“You’re nesting.”

My brows slid together in doubt.

“You know, getting ready for the baby to arrive.”

“So, no actual nests?”

Hildie chuckled as Cookie said, “No actual nests.”

“Is this what it was like for you?”

“I enjoyed my pregnancy quite a bit.”

“Really?” Amber asked, grinning proudly from ear to ear as though it were because of her instead of in spite of her.

“That’s good to know,” I said. “What about your labor? How was that?”

“That was fun, too,” she said without missing a beat, her smile suddenly as fake as the lashes Hildie had glued onto her eyelids.

“Cookie, I know when someone is lying to me.”

“Okay, okay. Fun might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was, you know, interesting. It was a learning experience. You just have to remember it’s not forever. The good part is when you have to push. That’s when it feels better. But you can’t push too early.”

I scanned the area for a pen and paper. “Do I need to take notes? Wait, what happens if I push too early? Katherine the Midwife didn’t say anything about pushing too early.”

Katherine was the midwife Reyes had hired. I was surprised she hadn’t checked in yet. She’d been coming every day, since I was so close to my due date. That woman loved to poke and prod. I only liked being poked and prodded by one person, and his name was not Katherine.

“What’ll happen?” Cookie asked, incredulous. “Are you crazy? If you push too early, you’ll— You’ll—” She stopped and stared into space.

“Did you just have a seizure?”

She blinked back to me. “No, it’s just I have no idea what’ll happen if you push too early.”

She glanced at Hildie. The woman shrugged and kept teasing and tugging Cookie’s hair this way and that.

Amber shrugged as well when I glanced at her askance.

“You guys are no help. Now I’m going to be scared to death to push.”

“Oh, you’ll push,” Cookie said.

Hildie snorted and nodded in agreement.

So did Amber, as though she were very aware of what happened during childbirth.

“Someone’s here,” Amber said, jumping up and running to the window. Artemis, who had been snoring into the pillows on my bed, followed suit, barking at the car pulling into the drive.

“Are guests showing up already?” Cookie asked, panicking. “The food hasn’t arrived yet. The decorators aren’t finished. The flowers are still in the basement.”

I considered getting up for a look, but that’s as far as it went.

“Oh,” Amber said. “It’s just your stepmother.”

Just when my day was going so beautifully. At least my sister, Gemma, would be with her, the silver lining to that dark cloud. My stepmother had also been coming to check on me every day. The woman who’d never lifted a finger to help me in her life, who had so little interest in me, she never glanced in my direction unless I was bleeding profusely, was suddenly vying for Mother of the Year. Gemma begged me to be patient with her. Said she was lonely after my dad’s death. Said she wanted to make amends.

Maybe she did, but a lifetime of disdain was enough to drive anyone away. I had no interest in anything she had to offer, including an excuse for her behavior. She’d been trying to get me alone to talk to me, but I’d managed to dodge that bullet every time thus far. I just didn’t want to listen to anything she had to say.

“And someone else is here. A black SUV.”

I finally rolled off David Beckham to take a gander. “Special Agent Carson,” I said, a little surprised. I hadn’t seen her in months. We’d talked on the phone a few times and emailed quite a bit, but that was it.

“Oh, the FBI woman. She’s so cool,” Amber said, her voice forlorn. “I want to be in the FBI.”

“I thought you wanted to be a hairdresser,” Cookie said. “Or a brain surgeon.”

“I changed my mind. I want a job where I get to carry a gun.”

That was a scary thought. “Why?” I asked.

“Guys dig chicks with guns.”

“Excellent reason,” I said, giving her a high five.

Cookie shook her head.

“I’ll go see what’s up. Be back in a jiff.”

“Wait!” Cookie said, ducking out of Hildie’s grip. “I’ll go, too.” She unsnapped the cape and handed it to Hildie.

“Cook, no. It’s your wedding day, for goodness’ sake. And Hildie isn’t finished.”

“Kit might have a case for us. I need to be there to get the lowdown. Hildie can work on Amber.” She raised her brows at Hildie, waiting for confirmation.

Amber had decided she wanted her hair up, and Cookie was game, provided there was enough time to change the style. Apparently, there was time.

“Okay, but as much as I love your undergarments, you’re going to need pants.”

*   *   *

Cookie and I went downstairs in our robes and pajama bottoms, leaving Amber to be pampered and primped by Hildie. Artemis bounded down the stairs right behind us as we padded across the wood floor to the front door.

I opened it and welcomed Kit with open arms. Literally. She eyed me a long moment, then let me give her a hug, patting my back as though she didn’t know what else to do with her hands.

“You’re very … sparkly,” she said, her voice sounding a bit like she’d sucked helium from a balloon. Probably because I was crushing her larynx.

I didn’t hug halfway. If someone’s larynx wasn’t being crushed, I was doing it wrong.

“Am I interrupting something?”

I set her at arm’s length and took a moment to gaze at her. It made her even more uncomfortable. Score!

But, truth be told, she looked really nice. Her hair had been curled, her suit fit a little tighter than usual, and she was wearing makeup. Stranger things had happened, but not many.

“Not yet. We’re having a wedding, but not for a couple of hours.”

She gasped. “I’m so sorry. I should have called.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said, ushering her into the foyer along with another agent I’d never seen before.