The Death of a Bachelor

Chapter sixty-eight

“There is no point in making dresses, my love. I already told you, our first born will be a boy.”

Kieran had had this argument with Elena many times before. In fact, they’d been arguing about the gender of their child since her bump was visible. And now, at about eight months, neither had conceded. Elena was convinced the baby she was carrying was a girl, even though he had proved to her that all first borns in the Hammedatha bloodline were always boys.

He approached the armchair in the sitting room where his heavily pregnant wife sat, knitting.

“I am making a sweater now, but the dress is finished,” she replied with a smile, her eyes on her handiwork. “Oh, you should see it, my love. It is so pretty and my daughter will look adorable in it.”

Kieran rolled his eyes. “Well then you must be referring to the second born, because there is no way my son will wear a dress unless he is circumcised.”

Elena scowled and paused her knitting to glare up at him. “It is amazing that you still choose to argue with me over this yet I am the one carrying the baby. It is my womb so as its owner, I can feel my baby’s gender. And it is female.”

“It’s amazing that you still choose to argue with me yet it is clear by genetics that our baby is a boy,” Kieran countered. “To have the first born in Hammedatha bloodline as a girl?” He shook his head. “Not possible.”

Elena snorted. “You sound like…. Like a…” She peered upwards as she tried to search for the word, then exclaimed, “Like a discriminator!”

“I am only stating the facts,” Kieran said to her. “The sooner you come back to reality, the better.”  He offered her a sinister grin. “I can’t wait to see the look on your face when Levi is born.”

Levi was the name he had chosen for their unborn baby.

Elena stuck her tongue out at him. “The joke will be on you because my Luna Willow Adeline Diana Rosie Estelle will be born instead!”

Kieran stifled a laugh. “Still haven’t found a name for ‘your daughter’ yet?” he teased, using his fingers as quotes. She said a different string of names everytime the topic of names came up.

“Well I would find one easily if you just helped me!” Elena whined.

“A name for a non-existent person? I don’t want to be labeled crazy. No thank you.” Kieran raised his palms in a defensive gesture.

Elena glowered at him with her eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed, and he tried not to laugh at her expression. She’d considerably gained weight, and with those cheeks, she just looked like an angry hamster.

“You infuriate me,” she snarled – or rather, tried to.

He tilted his head to the side and looked into her deep blue eyes; eyes that always captivated him no matter what emotion lay within them.

“I love you,” he said instead. He glanced at her bump and smiled. “I love you both.”

“Careful or you might make me so wet, the baby will arrive before its time.”

Kieran laughed. He walked closer to the armchair and pecked her forehead. “I have a meeting with Lukas at the Castle. I’ll see you later tonight.”

As he drew back, her hand threaded through his hair and pulled him down, kissing him on the lips.

“I love you, papa Kieran,” she said once she pulled back.

He grinned in response.

*****

“How about Flora? Or Azalea? Oh! Talia is a nice name, don’t you think?”