MALACHI What does ethereal bliss mean to you? For me, it’s every minute we spend with Sarah over the next two weeks. Most of it is in her house, in both Kevin’s absence and presence, seeing as her injury temporarily inhibits her mobility. We take turns keeping her company whenever any of us has a meeting to attend or some work to do. It’s always torture to tear ourselves away from her when she falls asleep at night. The drive back to the Hawk estate leaves us tired and with aching bones at the end of each day, but it’s worth it. More than, even. After exactly fifteen days, the love of our lives is able to walk for relatively long distances without the need for her wheelchair or anyone’s support. In true Sarah fashion, she insists on beginning her antenatal journey immediately. Kevin offers to drive her to and fro, but it doesn’t stop us from showing up to her house. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” She mutters underneath her breath as she takes in the sight of us. Try as she might to hide the smile, the twinkle in her warm hazel brown eyes betray her. “They came, didn’t they?” Kevin’s voice echoes from inside the house, amused, but pleased nonetheless. “Great.” His fingers close around the door’s edge, just beside Sarah’s. He looks to Ronan first, then Jaxon, before me. A knowing smirk creeps up to my lips. He realizes immediately that this was, in fact, my idea, and nothing he or Sarah says is going to make us miss her first session for the world. “You’ll just have to deal with them on your own,sis.” “No way. They’re your best friends!” “They’re your boyfriends. If you can’t keep them on a leash, what chance do I have?” “But you…” “You do realize we’re all standing right here, don’t you?” Ronan steps forward, lifts Sarah’s chin with lean fingers and places a kiss on her lips. Smooth, brother. Real smooth. It paves the way for the rest of us, of course. “I’ll be ready in five minutes.” Sarah says to us. Sunlight and bright blue skies, that’s what she looks like in her yellow and sky blue floral patterned dress. Her hair falls in thick waves to her right shoulder, coming to a graceful halt below her breast. My hands were all over those tits last night, while we turned her inside out—her words, not mine. If Kevin’s scarred by all the sounds coming from her room last night, he’s done a damn good job at hiding it. “We’ll be right here.” Jaxon replies. She flashes him a warm smile before she disappears up the stairs. When she struts into the living room after fifteen minutes, her hair is held up in a rather tight ponytail at the center of her head, the strands falling over her shoulders—front and back—her lips are glossy, and cheeks almost the colors of roses, with full lashes that flutter as she smiles as us. Breathtakingly stunning. “You drive fast, don’t you?” I arch my right brow, unable to tear my gaze away from her. “Why?” She locks her fingers together in front of her, lowers her gaze, and draws invisible circles with the biggest toe on her right foot. “We might be five minutes late for my appointment." In a flash, we’re on our feet. Me with the car keys, Ronan with her purse, and Jaxon with Sarah cradled in his arms. “I can walk now, you know.” “I do. Doesn’t mean you have to.” ~•~ Being in the doctor’s office is strange. I’ve always generally hated the crippling smell of bleach hospitals always bear, but this room is different. Beige cubic walls with different colorful charts displayed on every corner. Since there are only two guest chairs available, Sarah and Ronan sit, while Jaxon and I stand behind the both of them. We’re quiet for most of it, Ronan has his fingers interlocked with Sarah’s shaky ones. It’s the first time for all of us. Sitting here, waiting for the arrival of a “mini us”. A million emotions rush through me at once when the door clicks open. Fingers grip the top of Ronan’s chair. Slowly, my brother tilts his neck sideways to smile at me. Reassuring, grounding. He was born for this, wasn’t he? “I am so sorry for the delay, miss Wellspring.” The doctor, not more than five feet and 2 inches, with short black hair and thick lenses rushes in. She doesn’t properly take in the sight of us all until she closes the door and turns on her heel. Flabbergasted, like she’s been visited by the ghost of exes past, she slowly moves to her seat. Sarah shifts awkwardly in hers. “Hi, doctor Cheryl,” she tries to push her nerves down with a bright smile as she inches forward. “I’m the one who’s a bit late. You probably got carried away with something else. These are…” She turns to us, and we introduce ourselves one after the other. “You probably had to leave an appointment for me, didn’t you?” “Oh. Not at all.” Doctor Cheryl waves Sarah off with a smile of her own. She flips open the lid of her laptop. “We have very limited time though, so I’ll just pull your records out right now, ask you a few questions, and we can schedule your next session.” Eyes up. “Would that be alright?” Sarah nods. “Totally.” “Great.” She pulls out a notebook and a pen from her drawer. “I spoke to the doctor who treated you after your accident. I also reviewed your emergency notes. It says here… you were carrying three fetuses initially, but only two survived the trauma.” She did what now? Standing behind Ronan, I cannot make out the gravity of the expression on her face, but I feel it…the tension in her shoulders, I see the ball she gulps down, the way her breath hitches when Ronan’s neck whips to the side. My grip on the chair tightens even further. Any more, and I might be the first man to snap metal into two with my bare hands. Knees buckling, right leg slowly moving backwards, I try to steady myself. She had triplets, not twins. Triplets…for three of us. And now… One left, died, and she…stayed quiet? The doctor’s brows furrow. “You didn’t know? I was told you were aware, and…” “She knew, alright.” Ronan cuts in, his eyes never leaving Sarah. Frankly, none of us can look away. “We’re the ones who didn’t.” “And I can’t help but wonder why.”