Twice Cursed (18 page)

“
Can I see that for a
moment?” she asked, extending her hand toward the receiving
blanket.

Beverly nodded. To anyone else it may
have seemed an odd request, but not in this house. The girls had
kept Lily’s secret just between them until they graduated from
college. When they decided to open a paranormal investigation
company, they knew the idea would raise more than just eyebrows.
Beverly and Carl were going to want an explanation. And boy did
they get one.

Lily took the blanket from Beverly’s
hand. The woman’s grief, mixed with her apprehension at what Lily
might see, passed along, as well.

She gave the woman a reassuring smile,
and then closed her eyes, wrapping her fingers around the faded
fabric. Images formed slowly, incongruous at first. Lily focused
her concentration on Terry’s essence, her strong life force,
willing the hazy images to clear and align.

Frames resembling an editor’s reel,
choppy and flickering, played across her mind—a woman straining,
her feet in stirrups, nurses by her head and one next to the doctor
at her feet, counting down the contraction time.

“
Push Teresa…come on, work
for your baby. One more big push!”
Lily’s
lips curled in a soft smile as she watched the scene play
out.
“It’s a girl,”
the doctor said, as the baby slipped into his hand, covered
in blood and a white, cheeselike substance. Wailing, her tiny
puckered face turned red and purple as nurses took her, cleaned her
and wrapped her in a blanket, before placing her in her mother’s
arms.
“Seven pounds, two ounces and
nineteen inches long. She’s perfect. But don’t get too comfortable,
Mommy, you’ve got one more to go!”

The mother placed a kiss on the baby’s
head, but her weak smile suddenly turned agonized as an unexpected
contraction tore through her. Her back arched, and she screamed,
blood gushing from between her legs.

“
Take the baby!”
the doctor yelled
.

“
Christ, that was
fast…”
one of the nurses said, but before
she could finish her sentence, another painful contraction hit
right on top of the previous one.

Nurses scrambled back and forth, one
taking the first baby, and the other trying to keep the mother
quiet and immobile.

“
Keep her still,”
the doctor commanded.

“
Teresa, I know it hurts,
but you need to stay calm so Doctor Bennett can see what’s
happening. Squeeze my hand, small breaths…”

“
My baby! Save my
baby!”

“
The placenta separated,
she’s hemorrhaging,”
Bennett said, pushing
the instrument table aside, shouting instructions to the
nurses.

“
Blood pressure is 60/40
and dropping,”
one of the nurses
said.
“Respiration weak and thready. FHR
variable.”

“
Start an I.V… saline,
lactated ringers and get an oxygen mask on her! Call the O.R.! Tell
them we’re on our way, stat! Tell them to have a supply of O
Negative ready…and somebody notify the NICU. You—get that other
baby to the nursery!”

“
She’s crashing! I can’t
find a pulse!”

“
We’re losing her! Move
people, move!”

Lily opened her eyes and exhaled, her
fingers relaxing their hold on the blanket.

“
What did you see?” Beverly
asked, unease lacing her tone at Lily’s daunted
expression.

Not sure where to begin, Lily folded
the blanket and placed it on the floor next to her. “Bev, did the
adoption agency ever tell you Terry was a twin?”

“
What?”

The look of disbelief on Beverly’s
face said it all, and Lily simply nodded. “Based on what I just
saw, it’s true. Although I can only assume the other baby died
along with Terry’s birth mother. I believe her name was,
Teresa.”

Beverly hand went to her mouth. “It’s
true then.” Hands shaking, she picked up one of the envelopes from
where Lily had put them on the floor next to her. Opening it, she
removed a sheet of paper and unfolded it, handing it to Lily.
“Terry’s birth mother’s name was Teresa Garcia.”

The paper had everything listed—birth
date, weight, height, ethnicity, the record of the mother’s death
and the medical explanation why: Blood lose due to placenta
abruptio—everything, except a father’s name and no mention of it
being a multiple birth. There was no next of kin listed either, so
perhaps it wasn’t something included on the birth record if the
twin didn’t survive.

Beverly looked numb, and Lily reached
out to take her hand. “I don’t know Bev, but based on what I saw,
neither Teresa nor the other baby survived. Terry was lucky to be
born first, it’s the reason she lived.”

Tears dripped down Beverly’s cheeks.
“I’m just grateful we were there for her. I don’t want to think
about what life would have been like if we weren’t.”

Lily pulled her into a hug, but didn’t
say another word. A sense of peace settled over her, knowing
Terry’s biological mother had loved her and wanted her, and what
happened was just a sad turn of fate. Somehow, she knew Terry knew
it too.

“
Knock, knock…” Carl said,
standing in the doorway. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m
starving. Can we take a detour off memory lane for a bit and have a
late lunch?”

Beverly wiped her face, and sucked in
a deep breath, holding it for a moment. “Perfect timing,” she said.
“I think we could all use a break.”

Lily put her hands on her thighs and
sat back. “Sounds like a great idea. I have dinner plans later
tonight, so a late lunch would be perfect.”

“
You have dinner plans?”
Beverly asked, wiping her nose with a tissue she fished out from
her shirt cuff. “You never eat out unless it’s those dirty water
dogs from the cart vendor on the corner. Does this mean you’ve met
someone?”

Lily laughed. “Nice. You make me sound
like a social misfit. I do have a life, you know—but, yes, I did
meet someone—although I’m not having dinner with him tonight. My
plans are with a friend.”

“
A friend, huh?” Carl
chimed in, waggling his eyebrows. “Maybe we just might get a chance
at grandkids yet, Bev.”

Rolling her eyes, Lily made a face.
“Seriously, guys?”

Carl crossed his arms in front of his
chest and glanced at Beverly, neither moved, their expressions
letting Lily know they weren’t budging until she gave them
details.

“
All right, since you’ll
only bug me from now until forever, his name is Sean. He’s from
Maine. But if you must know, things are kind of up in the air for
us right now. I don’t want to get into it, but my life is pretty
complicated at the moment. Adding a long distance relationship on
top of everything else—well, let’s just say we’re taking it day by
day,” she said with a shrug.

Carl flashed a warm smile then winked,
before sticking his hand out to help Beverly up off the floor.
“That’s the best any of us can do, sweetheart. Take things day by
day.”

Lily rocked back onto the balls of her
feet and pushed herself to standing. Her head came up, and a warm
glow spread through her chest at seeing Beverly tucked under Carl’s
arm the same way she always remembered. “I know. And I didn’t mean
to sound dismissive, or anything. It’s just…well, it’s
complicated.”

Beverly slid her free hand around
Lily’s waist, and gave her a squeeze. “You’ll figure it out, honey.
I have faith in you. And when you’re ready to introduce your young
man to your family, we’ll be here.”

They turned to walk out, and Beverly
let go, her hand trailing in Lily’s as they stepped through the
door.

Words sprang to mind from
nowhere, probably from some long forgotten English class.
Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all ye know
on earth, and all ye need to know
.
Nevertheless, in that moment they rang true as Lily watched her
parents, together.

“
I love you guys,” she
murmured from behind.

Carl grunted. “Yeah, yeah, we love you
too. Can we eat now, please?”

Lily threw her head back and laughed.
Things had changed, but then again they hadn’t. Terry would always
be with them, and Jack was right. It would be enough, as long as
she allowed it to be.

Chapter Seven

***

“
I’m back!” Lily called
from the hallway, dropping her keys on the credenza against the
wall next to the closet.

“
I’m in the kitchen,” Jack
answered, above the clatter of dishes and the sound of the
refrigerator door opening. “How’d it go?”

She hung up her coat and stopped in
the kitchen doorway, Jack’s butt greeting her as it peeked out from
behind the open refrigerator door. “Are you cleaning the shelves or
just taking inventory?” she said, leaning on the doorjamb and
crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Poking his head up, he flashed a quick
smile. “None of the above,” he said, closing the door with his
foot, his hands full of sandwich fixings. “By the way you’re
looking at me, I guess everything went okay today.”

“
Yeah, everything went
fine,” she answered, shaking her head as she watched his elaborate
set up at the kitchen counter. Eight slices of bread, stacks of
pickles, lettuce and tomato were all paired neatly across the
Formica. “Jack, what are you doing?”

“
I’m hungry,” he answered
with his mouth full.

“
I can see that,” she said,
as he peeled off layers of sliced turkey and stuffed his mouth,
while at the same time, piling thick layers onto four slices of
bread. “Is this your way of telling me, you don’t want to go out
for dinner tonight?”

“
Depends on where you’re
taking me.”

Lily smirked. His back was turned, but
she knew his face held the same wry smile, despite the soft rustle
of plastic wrap as he wrapped and unwrapped.

“
We’re going to Peter
Lugar’s. It’s one of the best steakhouses in the city. Well,
actually, it’s in Brooklyn, but it’s the best.”

“
Terrific. I can’t wait,”
he mumbled, turning around and shoving half a sandwich into his
mouth.

Lily grabbed a bottle of water from
the fridge. “Tell me the truth, are you really that hungry, or are
you just bored? Because you’ve been doing nothing but eat,
lately.”

“
You make me sound like a
chick with PMS,” he said, taking a sip from his own water bottle.
He took another bite of sandwich, shoving a stray piece of pickle
into his mouth, and chewing slowly.

“
This city of yours may not
be much in terms of fresh air, but it certainly has its
diversions.” Tilting his bottle of water her way, he winked. “So,
definitely not bored.”

Waving her hand at him, she
shook her head. “Let’s not go there, okay? I don’t need to know
what
diversions
you’ve found to keep yourself busy.” Cracking her bottle of
water open, she considered him. “Could it be because tonight’s the
first night of the full moon? I mean, you’ve been cooped up here
with only me for company, and let’s face it, I’m not much fun when
it comes to Were-related activities.”

He chuckled. “You could
be...”

“
Jack…”

“
I’m just saying. Sean
would supply the right bite in a heartbeat if you said the
word.”

“
Yeah, well. Let’s not go
there, either,” she said dryly, placing her water bottle on the
table.

She glanced back up as Jack stacked
the last two sandwiches together and took a couple of bites. Just
the mental image of lengthy incisors left her shivering, and she
unconsciously slid her hand around the back of her shoulder where
Sean had marked her.

The spot tingled under her fingers,
and a rush of warmth spread through her lower belly. Lily pictured
him in her mind. His blue eyes as they burned with desire, his
long, lean body and wide shoulders, and the way the smooth, hard
muscles of his chest and belly felt under her fingers. In that
moment, her body craved his and the miles between them suddenly
seemed like vast oceans.

What was it he’d said about the full
moon and uncontrollable urges? The sky was dark, but the moon was
absent from its blackness. Moonrise was still hours off, yet here
she was panting on the inside like a bitch in heat. How was she
going to get through this so far away from Sean?

Jack’s eyes were on hers as he
finished eating, watching as if he could smell her inner arousal.
He cleared his voice and wiped his hands on a napkin.

“
I don’t know if the moon
has anything to do with my excess appetite,” he said, deftly
shifting the conversation to neutral, and away from the dangerous
ground they both sensed. “Could be, but I don’t really have a frame
of reference. I’ve never been away from the pack during a full
moon.”

Grateful for Jack’s tact, Lily
exhaled, stilling her mind and pulling herself together.

“
Back home, the Hunter’s
usually go for a run on the first night,” he continued. “…and Sean
likes to include a ritual hunt at some point during the cycle. I
missed last month’s because Sean had me and a couple of other
newbies helping out at the research clinic. With the viral outbreak
and the panic afterward, the nurses needed us to help keep things
moving smoothly, although Doc Volkmann seemed to want us there
about as much as we did.”