The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4), Kurtis Eckstein [books to read for self improvement .TXT] 📗

with Lily’s superpower – what if she lived her entire life completely calm, having no idea she’d burst into flames if she got upset. That kind of ignorance could prove to be lethal when she unexpectedly exploded in a ball of fire for the first time around those she cared about.

Or even if she’d just been in a car accident.

Thankfully, Lily’s body exceeded normal temperatures at an early age, and when she did start producing flames, it was just her hair the first few times. But what if that hadn’t been the case? What if she just woke up one day from a nightmare to find her house burnt down? Her family dead.

After all, the guy named James Willard, who killed an entire city of people ‘on accident’ was likely the kind of person who would have benefited from knowing how destructive his superpower could be if he got upset enough. He wouldn’t have had to die, and the James Willard Act, which could result in a super getting the death penalty ‘for the greater good’ might never have come into existence.

Or at the very least, it might not have ended up so harsh. Nothing like killing over nine million people in ‘one go’ to make the government take their ‘kid gloves’ off and legalize the biggest violation of human rights in history.

I knew I was only upset about it because it had affected me personally, when Lily almost got in trouble with the law for the warehouse incident. However, the point was that I might be a ticking time bomb too. And I felt like not knowing what I was capable of might be much more dangerous than knowing.

Obviously, the reason they probably didn’t want me to know was because they didn’t trust me with that knowledge. But I wasn’t a bad guy. I wasn’t going to do something crazy like take over the world. I just wanted to live in peace with my family.

Unexpectedly, I focused fully on Freya as she stirred, groaning and twisting her shoulders to look up at me. Her swollen chest didn’t follow, pretty much remaining on the bed. Yeah, it was that bad. A normal human woman’s body probably wouldn’t have adapted to essentially having ten kids at once.

But hers? For better or worse, she was able to adapt to just about anything.

“Sam, can I have some ice cream?” she whispered, sounding a little pleading.

Of course, Freya didn’t usually eat normal food, but ever since she became pregnant, she’d been eating practically everything in sight, enjoying all the foods that tasted less appetizing than dirt previously.

I smirked at her. “Are you actually awake right now?” I asked in a playful tone.

“I really want some ice cream,” she reemphasized. “Please Sam? Please?”

I tried not to laugh, because she sounded like a little kid. “I don’t think we have any, but I can run by the store if you really want some.”

“Yeah,” she nodded in agreement, her crimson eyes closed now. She then rolled back over. “That sounds great. Thanks baby.”

I stifled a chuckle. Oh well. Whether she was asleep or not, she probably really would want ice cream when she woke up. Given that Freya was nursing, the doctor agreed that it was likely she would continue to have a ‘normal’ diet until our infant was fully independent, in the sense that the baby girl wasn’t getting her nutritional needs met from her mother anymore.

Granted, Freya was still needing my blood every couple of days for her own dietary requirements, but this opportunity was my baby-momma’s only chance to enjoy all the foods she would otherwise find disgusting. So yeah, I was fine getting her whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.

And maybe I’d stop to check out some maternity bras too, seeing if they had something standard that could be heavily modified to fit Freya’s needs.

Leaning down to give her a peck on the cheek, I then got up to exit the room, only to backpedal and instead grab a towel when I realized, from a last glance with my second-sight, that Freya was starting to leak a little, beads of milk beginning to drip.

Shit, I supposed we should get her a pump too. Her body was ready to feed Eden again, but her mind was way past its limit to stay awake. The doctor’s office actually offered her the opportunity to get one of the models that would be covered by her insurance, but she never imagined having too much milk would be a problem – we were all much more worried about her not being able to keep up with our daughter’s needs, hence we bought a ton of formula.

Honestly, we probably didn’t need to buy the baby formula at all, and should have instead just gotten the pump.

Oh well. Despite the fact that I once had an infant before, this entire situation was all new to me due to Eden’s accelerated growth rate and Freya’s unique capacity to keep up with it.

After carefully getting a towel underneath her chest while she remained oblivious to the world, I readjusted her red silk robe and then pulled the purple latex sheets up around her shoulders, finally making my way back into the hall toward the kitchen.

Lily and Rose both looked up at me with cheerful expressions, an empty bottle in Lily’s hand as she relaxed in the recliner. I assumed Eden must be asleep again.

“How’s it going?” I wondered, cheered up by the sight.

“Great,” Lily said with a warm smile, her citrine eyes glowing softly as the orange colors slowly shifted in brightness. “She’s fast asleep again.”

I returned the smile. “Don’t forget to burp her,” I commented randomly.

Lily suddenly looked embarrassed. “Oh, of course. Sorry.”

I shook my head, about to tell her I didn’t mean anything bad by it – after all, this was her first time really having to deal with a baby herself – but Rose interrupted me.

“Wait,” she quickly whispered. “She’s okay right now. Really happy.”

I looked at my oldest