Pia Does Hollywood (Elder Races, #8.6)

She could have waited to go later, after the Masque and sometime early next year. In fact, Tatiana had even emailed her the previous day, suggesting that she come at a later date.

But when Pia thought of the reason why that option wasn’t attractive, she lost her crankiness and began to smile.

All things considered, it was better for her to suck it up, get on the plane that night and get the damn visit over with, despite how much she dreaded spending the week with the Light Fae Queen and her nosy questions. So she emailed Tatiana back, thanked her for the suggestion, and said she would be touching down in L.A. the next morning as originally planned.

Dragos would be traveling to Los Angeles too, under separate cover. He didn’t volunteer how he was going to make the trip, and she didn’t ask. Probably he would relish the chance to stretch out his massive wings and fly cross-country in the darkness and solitude, but they had agreed—if she didn’t know what he was doing, she could say with perfect sincerity that she had traveled alone to the Light Fae demesne.

After all, the best way to lie to someone with a highly developed truthsense was to, well, tell the truth. Pia believed wholeheartedly in plausible deniability, at least as much as possible.

After her exchange with Liam, she met Dragos’s amused gaze, gave him a small nod, and squeezed his ankle. In answer, he closed his laptop as she said to Liam, “Hey sport, could you put the movie on pause for a few minutes?”

Instantly, Liam’s sparkling smile vanished, and he scowled. “You said you could watch the whole movie with me before you left.”

“I know I did, and I will watch the whole movie with you,” she told him. “But first, your dad and I have something important we want to tell you.”

Heaving a sigh, he held up the remote and hit pause. “What is it now?”

“Don’t be pissy,” Dragos told him. “And while you’re readjusting your attitude, sit up and turn around.”

Pia could feel Liam sigh again, but so far, he had been unwilling to challenge Dragos’s authority when Dragos used that particular tone with him. (And lordy, wouldn’t life get interesting whenever Liam did decide to challenge Dragos and rebel.)

As the boy pushed to a sitting position and swiveled to face the couch, Pia sat too and leaned back against Dragos’s legs.

As Dragos dropped a large, warm hand onto her shoulder, he asked her telepathically, Do you want to be the one to tell him?

She drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around them, hugging herself with glee. It’s okay with me either way. You can tell him if you want.

Okay. Dragos switched to verbal speech. “Liam, we’re pregnant. You’re going to have a new sibling.”

For the space of a moment, Liam’s expression went blank with surprise.

He held still just long enough that Pia had time to rethink their decision. She and Dragos had kept the news to themselves for a few weeks, which was easy to do since the new little peanut appeared to be determined to keep his—or her—presence a secret. Only Pia’s doctor and Eva knew the truth, and only because Pia had collapsed last month during their trip to Washington for the Elder Races/human summit meetings.

But what if Liam reacted poorly, for some reason? What if he wasn’t happy with the news? They were dropping a big bombshell on him then leaving for a week, so they wouldn’t be around to help him work through any of his emotions.

Anxiously, she twisted her hands together and came to a fast decision. If he reacted poorly, she was going to override his decision to stay home and in school. She would make him come to L.A. with her. Somehow, she would juggle things so that she would get some time alone with him.

Then Liam’s expression changed into one of pure joy. “Oh wow, really? Are you kidding me?” he exclaimed. “You mean I’m not going to be the only one anymore? That’s fantastic!”

Thank the gods. Her face broke into a beam as she nodded. “Yes, we’re pregnant. Really, truly!”

He dove forward to sprawl on his stomach and put his hand on her abdomen. “When did it happen? Is it going to be a brother or a sister? Can I feel it?”

“Be careful,” she said quickly. When he tilted his head to look up at her, she told him, “Yes, you can try to sense it, but you have to be super gentle so you don’t scare it. He—or she—is cloaking pretty hard. That could just be part of its nature, or maybe I frightened it. We got pregnant when we went to D.C., and I was pretty stressed that week.”