Chapter 303: Chapter 303 - New daddy’s friend

Seraphine was in real pain now, and she had zero energy left for watching Voren sit there opening and closing his mouth like he was trying to remember words from a language he’d forgotten.

She pressed against the pillows and pressed her palm flat against her lower belly, breathing through the discomfort.

The ache had gone from dull and manageable to something sharp with real teeth, radiating out from her core and making it hard to focus on anything else.

"Voren." Her voice came out thinner than she meant for it to. "This hurts a lot. If you don’t actually have an antidote, just let me sleep it off." She breathed out slowly. "And can you bring Marigold in here?"

He took a long breath, the kind people take right before saying something they’ve been dreading.

"The solution isn’t something you’re gonna like."

She looked at him. "If there’s a solution and it actually works, I honestly don’t care what it is right now. Just tell me."

He held her gaze, steady and serious, the way he did when he needed her to really hear him.

"I need to activate your pheromones." He said it quiet and even. "That’s what my father told me. That’s the antidote. Will you let me?"

The words dropped into the room and just sat there.

"What?" The word shot out of her, sharp and loud, before she could catch it. She stared at him hard.

Her mind raced through exactly what that meant, what activating her pheromones would actually involve between two people, and her face cycled through a bunch of different expressions in seconds.

"Voren, that’s... that’s basically foreplay. We haven’t even...we don’t have any kind of definition for what we are yet. We haven’t talked about any of that. Isn’t there another way? Any other way at all?"

"I wish there was." He wasn’t putting on a show or trying to work an angle. He just looked tired, honest, and genuinely sorry this was the answer he had. "I already asked. There isn’t another way."

Seraphine went quiet, staring up at the ceiling.

Voren stood up from the edge of the bed. "Let me get you something warm for now. Just rest a little."

She didn’t argue.

Voren slipped out of the room, and she let her eyes close, one arm draped across her stomach, riding the waves of pain and trying to think through everything from a place that wasn’t pure discomfort.

The room stayed so quiet, Seraphine could hear faint noises from the rest of the mansion as Voren moved around down the hall.

Then the door swung open without any warning.

Small feet. Fast. Full of purpose.

Marigold hit the side of the bed and launched herself up, burrowing straight into Seraphine’s side with both arms wrapped tight around her and her little face pressed against her ribs.

"Mommy." Her voice was warm, immediate, and totally sure. "Are you not feeling well?"

Seraphine’s eyes opened. Whatever the pain had been doing to her expression softened at the sight of those wide blue eyes looking up at her with such open, uncomplicated worry, the kind of concern kids have before the world teaches them to hide it.

"I’ll be fine, little princess." She brought her hand up and smoothed Marigold’s thick hair back from her forehead, pushing past the fresh cramp the movement caused. "Don’t worry about me."

Marigold studied her face with that focused skepticism only little kids seem to have, like she wasn’t fully buying it.

Seraphine looked back at her and let a thought she’d been quietly holding onto come a little closer to the surface. She kept her voice light and casual, nothing heavy in it.

"This woman who told you I was your mommy." She watched Marigold’s face closely. "Did she also tell you that your daddy was your daddy?"

Something changed behind Marigold’s expression. A quick, private little calculation crossed her small features, the kind kids make when they’re deciding who they can trust.

Her eyes slid sideways toward the door. "Will you tell daddy?"

Seraphine felt the weight of the secret this little girl had been carrying around, looking for a safe place to put it down. "No," she said gently. "This stays between you and mommy."

That was all it took. Marigold’s whole body relaxed, and she leaned in closer, dropping her voice like they were sharing something special.

"The woman said that daddy is my new daddy." Her eyes lit up, bright and completely certain. "And he loves me very much."

Seraphine went completely still. That meant there was an old daddy. She kept her face soft and open, not letting the storm moving through her chest show.

"So, who is your old daddy, baby?"

The brightness in Marigold’s face faded. It wasn’t exactly fear, more like the serious look a child gets when they’ve been told something important and felt the weight of it even if they didn’t have all the words yet.

"The woman said I must never get close to my old daddy." Her voice had gone small and careful. "He’s new daddy’s friend and I don’t like them being close. But daddy loves him too much."

The tears came before Seraphine could even decide to let them. They slid quietly down her temples, and she didn’t wipe them away.

She just pulled Marigold in tight, wrapping both arms around that small warm body and holding her close against her chest, breathing through the strong cramps that flared up with the movement. They didn’t matter right now.

"I love you, Mari." Her voice came out rough around the edges and she let it. "It was never my intention to let you go. Never."

Marigold held on without asking questions. Her little fists curled into the fabric of Voren’s shirt Seraphine still wore, and she just stayed there, and that was everything Seraphine needed in that moment.

After a long pause, Seraphine pulled back just enough to see her face clearly. She made herself think straight, pushing past the emotion and the pain, turning over everything Marigold kept saying about this woman.

She kept her voice gentle. "This woman, can she speak to you here? In this house?" It was her only way of knowing if Marigold had the gift of communicating with the moon goddess.