Chapter 336 The Names We Gave Them

Chapter 336: Chapter 336 The Names We Gave Them

Emilia’s POV

The moon hung full over the garden that night.

I sat on the swing, chin in hands, staring upward. My mind kept circling back to Leighton. Was the coma real, or another of Richie’s tricks? I’d turned it over a hundred times and still couldn’t tell. Finally, I texted Uncle Chuck, asking him to dig for me.

I pushed the swing, heels dragging through grass. Then I caught it: cedar and mint, with faint whiskey underneath. Strong arms wrapped around me from behind before I could turn.

"Why are you out here," Sebastian murmured against my hair, "instead of in bed?"

I tipped my head back and kissed his jaw. "Wanted fresh air."

"If something troubles you, tell me."

I shrugged. "It’s nothing. We can’t spend every day worrying; it wears you out."

He caught my chin and tilted my face up. "Something’s clearly weighing on you, stubborn as ever. Guess I’ll sweeten you up."

"Sebastian, don’t you dare..."

Too late. His mouth met mine, slow and warm, one hand sliding into my hair. The kiss untangled every tight knot in my chest.

Beneath that bright moon, I melted.

"Emilia," he breathed, rougher, hands wandering , "let’s take this inside. Please."

Heat crawled up my neck. I opened my mouth to answer.

A shriek split the night.

We sprang apart like guilty teens. My hand flew to my chest. We spun toward the sound and spotted Tiffany at the flowerbed edge, both hands clapped over her eyes.

"Sebastian! Emilia! For the love of the Goddess, get a room! Must you put on a show out here? On my land, no less!"

Sebastian arched a brow. "Your territory?"

"You’re practically on my flowerbed! I planted every bloom here myself!"

I wanted the ground to swallow me. "Tiffany, I’m so sorry," I stammered. "Sebastian had too much to drink."

"I am not drunk," Sebastian said flatly.

I pinched him through his shirt. "If you’d stay quiet," I muttered, "no one would think you a fool."

"I can’t handle this," Tiffany wailed, throwing her hands up. "Why does this always happen to me? I’m scarred. I’m heading to bed and never coming out..."

She covered her face and stormed off into darkness, cursing us both.

I rounded on Sebastian. "This is all your fault."

"How was I supposed to know Tiffany would roam the garden this late? Who does that?"

We glared at each other. Thirty seconds later, we both cracked and burst out laughing.

"Where were we?" he asked, grinning.

"Nothing. You were kissing me."

"And before that?"

"Don’t remember."

I leaned back against his chest. His arm wrapped around me, and we watched the stars. For a moment, everything felt almost normal. Almost safe.

"Sebastian," I said slowly, "can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"When you were with Abigail, did you two pick out a name? For a child, I mean."

His body stiffened under me. "Why ask that?"

"Just curious. Is it true?"

"Don’t remember. It was long ago." His jaw tightened. Then he added, "Who told you?"

"Who do you think? Abigail, obviously."

"She came to you?"

"She did."

"Did she say anything else?"

I lifted my head to study him. "Was there more to say?"

He shook his head a beat too fast. "No. Nothing."

I didn’t buy it. "That’s impossible. If you’re asking, there’s clearly something. Come on, out with it. What am I missing?"

"And what exactly do you think you know," he shot back, "about the two of us?"

I smirked. "More than you’d like."

He raised an eyebrow, taking the bait. "Go on, then. Enlighten me."

"You lived together. Got each other’s names tattooed. You both loved spicy noodles at two a.m..."

"Wow." He pressed a hand to his chest in mock horror. "You’ve really done your homework."

"We skied Switzerland," he added deadpan. "Flew to Japan for cherry blossoms. Didn’t dig those up?"

I was already simmering, and that pushed me over. My eyes narrowed. "Must you needle me like this?"

He laughed and pulled me tight. "No need to envy ghosts, love. That I can talk of this openly now, without agony, means I’ve let it go."

I went still.

Then the knot loosened. He was right. If Abigail still lingered locked in his heart, he’d never speak her name so easily.

The thought lifted a weight from my shoulders. I wrapped my arms around his waist. "Then would you name our child someday?"

He looked down, startled. "Our... what child?"

"Just a wish," I said quietly. "I can’t carry one now. I know that. But hope makes days feel less pointless, doesn’t it?"

He fell quiet for a long moment. Then he said, "All right."

He tilted his head. "Boy or girl?"

"One of each. Go on."

He thought. "A boy would be Hudson Simons. A girl, Holly Simons. Well?"

"Pfft." I swatted his arm. "What is this, a retirement roster? Those feel old-fashioned."

"I think they’re perfectly nice."

"They sound fine, but stuffy. Holly especially."

"Fine, fine." He pondered. "What about Dalton Simons?"

"Dalton?"

"I don’t know its exact meaning. It just sounds sweet to me. Like honey, enough to feed the whole world."

I nodded, warming to it. "Okay. I like that one."

He chuckled, smug. He knew me. Give a name a little poetry and I’d fall every time.

"And the girl?"

"Adaline Simons. That one holds real meaning. Noble. Acceptable?"

I kissed him. "Perfect. Settled."

That night in the garden, under the moon watching us name children we might never hold, I made up my mind.

I would finish the spell.

Whatever the cost, I would carry Sebastian’s pup. Our Dalton. Our Adaline.

I just needed Vesper’s plan first. While waiting for the witch, Uncle Chuck texted two days later. He’d found the address.

I grabbed my keys and drove out that afternoon. Three houses away, easing off the gas, a car pulled to the curb ahead and a woman stepped out.

My foot hovered over the brake.

I didn’t know her well, but I recognized her face. Willow York, Fynn’s girlfriend.

What is she doing all the way out here?

Before the thought finished, the passenger door opened and a man climbed out. A man who was definitely not Fynn.

I froze behind the wheel.

Willow crossed to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, rose onto her toes, and kissed him.