Ghost Bird Fanfiction: Sang's Lyric, The Story of Sang Sorenson's Mother

But I Love Him

I met Taylor on the trail. The new Academy teams were practicing land navigation skills. Taylor was checking on each team, helping them decipher their topographical map, or reading their compass. He was surprised when I'd shown up this morning, but I'd told him I wanted to observe, and he was fine with that.

He looked tired, but it was almost October, and I was sure that any sleep he was getting was interrupted. Pregnant ladies don't sleep very well.

I clenched my fists, thinking about Taylor being uncomfortable. He'd always put people before himself. He was a caretaker, a protector. When I thought about his face after fighting with Garret. I swallowed hard. It kept me up at night, thinking about him being hurt.

He saw me looking at him and gave me a half smile, one dimple appearing in his cheek. How I wanted to kiss that dimple; to slide my lips along the scruff of his jaw. I wanted to feel his lips on mine, to feel his beard along my stomach, my thighs. I waved to him and he called me over.

"How are the teams doing?" I asked. "Any stand-outs?"

"They're all pretty good," he smiled. "You always recruit the best, Constance."

I smiled at him and gave his arm a squeeze.

He was the best. The best man I'd ever met, even though he'd just been a boy when I'd found him. I knew when I first saw the half-wild, bad boy, the one who was raising himself on a failing ranch in East Texas, that he was meant for me, and for the Academy second.

"How's Lyric?" I asked, inwardly screaming that I had to ask her name.

This time his smile had two dimples, and I couldn't help feeling jealous. How dare she get a smile like that after all the trouble she'd brought!

"When's the due date?" I asked, knowing full well when it was.

"October 10th," he said, "but they think she's going to need to schedule a c-section. The baby's been breech at each appointment, and she's just not turning."

"Stubborn," I said, nodding my head like I cared.

I made a note to myself to get to the hospital and make sure the bracelet alarms were de-activated and the cameras refocused. Then I needed to call Kate Sorenson and make sure she was ready for the stork to arrive at their house.

I smiled, and Taylor smiled back.

"How's the baby's room coming?" I asked.

Taylor began talking animatedly, explaining the paint color, the theme, and the books they'd bought.

I knew all this.

I was at the shower they'd organized. I'd watched Taylor, my Taylor, kiss her, and rub his hand over the belly that grew with a child that wasn't even his.

My mind ran through the things I needed to do before the baby was born. I thought about the nurse I'd paid to take the baby away and deliver her to Kate. I'd need to figure out what to do with her after she'd fulfilled her purpose.

Everything was in place.

Kate had lost her baby, and with my help, she'd fooled Garret into believing she was still pregnant. When she showed up with this baby, she'd take it in. She'd keep it and no one would ever find her.

It would destroy Lyric.

Maybe she'd even kill herself.

I could only hope.

I did know for sure that Taylor would blame himself, and that he may feel so terrible that he wouldn't be able to stay with her. She'd probably end up hating all of the guys. Then she'd be gone. She'd be gone and I'd be back with Taylor.

I felt a tiny ping of guilt over what I was doing, stealing a baby from her mother, giving her to a mentally unstable woman.

But I had to.

I had to save Taylor from this fate of mediocrity, being the "Dad" to someone else's baby. He wasn't meant for PTO meetings, or tricycles. He was meant for great things. That was why I recruited him.

That was why I loved him.