Thanks to Stephanie, I no longer had to worry about juggling what I had to do with what I wanted to do.
And what I wanted to do was get murderers off of the streets. Especially if they were of the monster variety.
"Are you sure that she is going to like these?" I asked, holding a bouquet of flowers in my hands. They were a variety of different blooms that I couldn't name, but almost every one of them was a different shade of yellow.
I was told that this was best for someone recovering in the hospital, but what if she was allergic to flowers, or didn't like the color, or—
"She is going to love them. Mary has a thing for all types of flowers," replied Greyson as he slowly rubbed my back. I knew he was trying to calm me down, and I knew we were meeting this woman as a cover to check out the hospital, but there was an innate panic about meeting another woman who knew my man.
Like I was going to be judged and found lacking or something.
Which, given who I was, seemed kind of stupid now that I admitted it to myself.
Nodding my head, we walked through the front doors and to the security desk.
"We're here to visit a friend," smiled Greyson, nodding his head at the two very bored looking men.
"Visiting hours are until 6 pm tonight," grunted the guard. "Do you know where she is located?"
"We do," smiled Levi.
The guard nodded and went back to watching whatever it was on his computer in front of him. I don't blame him for being bored out of his skull. I would have already gone crazy an hour into a shift here. But the sad part was that they wouldn't be here if it hadn't been proved that they were needed.
Humanity really was something else.
Guiding me past the registration desks, the small coffee shop, and the gift shop, we entered the elevators at the back of the building.
"This place is a maze," I grunted as I looked up to see all the signs point people in different directions.
"We've come a long way from one room hospitals," chuckled Levi, coughing into his fist to disguise his laughter. It really didn't work.
"Is that a shot about my age?" I asked, cocking my head to the side as a doctor slipped into the elevator with us just as the door closed. "Because even though I am older than you, I am not that old."
We didn't even have hospitals when I was born, and any woman who practiced medicine tended to be outed by the men as a witch. Then again, he did have a point. Medicine and society have come a long way in my lifetime.
God, I felt so old right now.
"You look amazing for a woman of your advanced years," murmured Greyson, his hand still resting on my back. "You don't look a day over 50."
I gasped in mock outrage as I looked between two of my men. "I'll have you know that I am not a day over 25," I grunted, crossing my arms in front of me.
I knew that they were joking, but I still felt like I was robbing the cradle with them. You didn't bring up age with monsters, especially the female variety. We might not get the grey hair and wrinkles like the humans did, but we were still sensitive about it.
"I think you look amazing," chuckled the doctor as he looked over his shoulder to wink at me.
"Thank you," I sighed, studying the man. He had short blonde hair and blue eyes. Even his gold-rimmed glasses couldn't detract from his looks. Then again, I seemed to have a thing for glasses.
He was well built, but not so much that his scrubs were only a sneeze away from bursting at the seams.
"I'm Doctor Dirk Poole," he said with a smile on his face as he turned around just enough to offer me his hand.
"Natalia," I replied, taking his hand in mine. His pink ribbon screamed human, and I could see every last good deed he had ever done. And considering he was a doctor, that was a long list indeed. His patients loved him, and I couldn't blame them at all.
"Greyson," smiled the man behind me through his teeth.
"Levi," chuckled the one to my side. "We would be her boyfriends."
Doctor Poole looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged my shoulders but didn't deny his claim.
He would have been everything that I went for back when I played a human detective. But now that I embraced who I truly was, he was a little too perfect.
He deserved so much more.
The elevator door dinged, and the doctor nodded at the three of us. "Hopefully, I'll be seeing you soon," he murmured; the challenging smirk on his face was answered by Levi.
"Let's hope not. We might be good with sharing with each other, but outsiders are not welcome," he replied, putting his arm around me so that I was trapped between him and Greyson.
It was not a bad place to be.
"Understood," nodded Dirk just before the doors closed again.
----
The elevator was silent as we continued going up.
"I think I have my hands full with the seven of you," I murmured, leaning against Levi. "I am not looking to add to that."
I hadn't even expected to ever settle down in my lifetime. Monsters weren't a possibility, and humans would have noticed that I didn't age or die after a while.
But I had finally found men that I wanted to share all of eternity with, and no one could talk me out of it.
"Eight," grunted Greyson, looking at the numbers as they continued to go up.
"What?"
"I am pretty sure that you are going to end up with eight of us by the time it is all said and done."
Before I could respond, the elevator doors opened, and Greyson was gently guiding me out of the elevator and down the hall.
I couldn't wrap my head around what he had just said, but at the same time, I could also feel my soul settle within me, finally at peace.
Maybe he wasn't wrong with that number….