The Gold Queen (Prequel)
The Gold Queen – Bonus Chapter

***Mateo***

“Teo…” Sofia hisses, her fingers tapping my arms in an attempt to wake me from my slumber.

She is curled up in my arms with her back to me, a pillow wedged beneath her growing belly for support.

“Teo!” She snaps when I don’t respond.

“What?” I g***n back, still half asleep.

“I’m hungry,” she whispers with a soft giggle. “I want tacos.”

I hold back a chuckle and bury my face in her neck. Her cravings were getting stronger.

You heard the lady, Luis snaps. She wants tacos!

Luis has been insufferable ever since we found out Sofia was pregnant. He’s clingy, never wanting to leave our wife’s side and executing her every command. Sofia had become his master and she loved it.

I glance at the clock. It was almost 2 am.

“Sof, just go back to bed. We can eat in the morning,” I m**n, closing my eyes and preparing to fall back asleep.

I hear her sniffle and I know the water works are coming. Her raging hormones make her overly emotional.

“O-okay,” Sofia whimpers, her voice cracking as she bursts into tears.

Enraged, Luis growls at me and fights for control. Our wife wants tacos! Get her the f*****g tacos!

“Sofia, don’t cry,” I sigh, tightening my grip on her belly. It was still surreal that in her womb, she carried our pups. I could not keep my hands off of her. “It’s just tacos.”

“But I really wanted some!” she whines, large fat tears rolling down her face.

I can’t help but laugh that my Queen was crying over tacos at 2 am.

“It’s not funny,” She cries, sobbing into her pillow.

Knowing I’ve teased her enough, I roll out of bed and search for a shirt and jeans.

“What kind?” I ask as I dress.

She sits up immediately, a large grin on her face as she wipes her tears. “Tacos de lengua (cow tongue)!” She squeals, clapping her hands excitedly. “And a Nesquik strawberry milk.”

I wrinkle my brows at her. Strawberry milk and tacos?

Her grin deepens as she nods her head.

“With salsa verde!” She adds.

She looks like a little goddess on the bed as she makes her order, flashing me a smile and rubbing her swollen tummy. I could not think of a more perfect mate.

“Strawberry milk and tacos with salsa verde it is then,” I smile, leaning forward on the bed and puckering my lips.

She cups my cheeks in her hands and k****s me slowly, dipping her tongue in my mouth.

“Thank you, my King,” she whispers against my lips.

I growl as she devours my mouth but her stomach growls louder and she shoos me away. As I exit the room and climb down the stairs, I bump into Danny, a warm bottle of milk in his hand.

“Cravings?” He laughs as I yawn.

“Yeah,” I g***n, wiping the crud out of my eyes. “Baby?” I ask, nodding towards his bottle.

“Yeah,” he shrugs, chuckling to himself as he climbs up the stairs. “Good luck!”

I was going to need it. Cassandra hadn’t made tacos and I couldn’t cook to save my life. I would need to go to the plaza and pray that by some miracle, a taco stand was still open at this hour.

The drive to the plaza is short and I send a silent thank you to Moon Goddess when I replace it still full of people, mostly drunks looking for a place to grab a quick bite. I check out every food stand I can replace but none seem to offer what Sofia wanted most, tacos de lengua. On the verge of giving up, I check out the last stand near the end of the plaza.

An elderly woman and her daughter are packing up the stand as I approach them.

“Disculpa (excuse me),” I smile sheepishly, hoping they were both still in a good mood to help a man out.

“Sorry, we’re closed,” the younger woman says, waving me away.

“Please help me out,” I beg, clasping my hands together. “My wife… she’s pregnant and you’re the only stand here that makes tacos de lengua.”

The elderly woman eyes me up and down and I quickly realize my shirt is inside out and backwards. She bursts into laughter and readjusts her apron.

“Prende el comal {turn on the griddle},” the older woman instructs her daughter.

I sigh in relief as the women get to work.

“She woke you up in a hurry, didn’t she?” The woman laughs as she flips tortillas. “How far along is she?”

“Three, almost four, months,” I smile proudly. “We’re having twins.”

She raises her eyebrows in amusement. “Well in that case, we better make it a double order. Those babies will need all the nutrients they can get to grow big and strong.”

She and her daughter make the tacos, placing 12 into a Styrofoam container along with onion, cilantro and salsa verde on the side. I thank the women and hand the elderly woman a $500 peso note. As I start to walk away, the woman calls out to me.

“Mijo!” The woman yells as she searches for change. “It was only $30 pesos! This is too much!”

“Take it as a thank you,” I call back, waving goodbye to her. “From my wife and twins.”

Her smile brightens as she tucks away the note and begins helping her daughter pack up. I walk over to the nearby Oxxo station (Mexican convenience store) and head for the drinks, selecting two Nesquik Strawberry milks, several candy bars, and a bag of chicharron (pork rinds). The cashier gives me a funny look as I pay and I realize I probably look like a pothead with the munchies. The cashier bags my items and I race back to the Hacienda with Sofia’s food.

When I burst through the door, I replace Sofia sitting up with her back against the headboard, singing a lullaby and rubbing her round stomach. My heart flutters as I stare at the marvelous sight, wanting somehow to remain in this moment forever. She looks up at me when she smells the tacos and squeals excitedly, extending her arms out to be fed.

“Give me, give me,” she giggles as I pull out the container of her food.

She plucks out a taco and puts it in her mouth, her eyes rolling back as she savors the flavors. “Mmmm,” she m***s. “So good…” She adds between bites.

I pull off my clothes as she munches happily before I climb into bed and lay my head by her legs, showering her belly with k****s. She smiles timidly as I watch her eat, reaching out her taco and asking if I want a bite. I open my mouth and let her feed me, caressing her belly between bites. It’s not long before Sofia enters a food coma, having stuffed herself with nearly 10 tacos and strawberry milk.

I clean up the food, placing it on the dresser to be thrown out in the morning, and shift Sofia’s limp body to her side, stuffing a pillow beneath her to support her tummy. I curl up behind her, resting an arm on her stomach and tucking the other beneath her pillow. She fits like a glove beside me and it brings me peace.

Before I doze off, however, I hear Sofia’s voice break the silence.

“What are we naming them?” She asks, taking my hand and interlocking our fingers.

It was a good question. We did not yet know the s*x of either baby so I had given very little thought to their names.

“I don’t know…” I whisper. “Well, they are twins so perhaps the names should match.”

“Emi and Valentina’s names don’t match,” Sofia argues.

“Okay but maybe our babies can!”

She bursts into laughter and rolls over so she faces me, her baby bump pressing up against my abs.

“I was thinking…. If it’s boys, Juan and Manuel, like our fathers,” she murmurs. “And if it’s girls, Valeria and Lucia.”

I push back her hair and k**s her forehead. “While I love the sentiment,” I whisper, “Our pups deserve to have their own names.”

She purses her lips in thought. “How about Diana and Celina? To honor the Moon.”

“And what of the Sun?” I ask. “They are children of both the Sun and Moon,” I chuckle as she wrinkles her nose in annoyance.

She abruptly sits up and turns on the lights. I watch in amusement as she rummages through her nightstand and produces a small booklet of names. She huffs as she searches for some relating to the sun.

“How about Iliana?” She asks, furrowing her brows as she reads. “Elena? They both mean light?”

I test out the names on my tongue and scrunch up my nose when I realize neither name is worthy of my pups.

She calls out more names meaning fire, light, bright, and sun but none satisfy me. A few hours roll by as we argue over what to call our pups when I see the first light of the sun peak through the window.

“Come on, baby,” I sigh, climbing out of bed and standing by Sofia’s side. “Let’s go watch the sun rise.”

She takes my hands and I help her to her feet before we both make our way to the library balcony. The morning air is chilly and I drape a small blanket on Sofia’s shoulders. I settle down into a chair, Sofia climbing onto my lap and resting her head on my chest. I rub her bump as I stare into the morning, mesmerized by the red hues painting over the blue heavens. For just a brief moment, both the Moon and Sun share the sky.

“Sofia, what do you feel right now?” I ask, caressing her hair as I breathe in the fresh air.

“Loved,” she whispers, nuzzling her face in my chest. My heart beats uncontrollably. That was all I ever wanted her to feel. “And you?”

I take a moment to bask in the silence of the world. My mate stares up at me as she waits, her swollen belly resting against my stomach.

“Peace,” I reply. “I feel peace.” I take the booklet from her hand and skim through the pages until I replace what I’m looking for.

“Aurora,” I murmur, staring out into the horizon. “I like Aurora. It means sunrise.”

Sofia smiles up at me. “Aurora,” she repeats to herself. “Aurora and Celina.” Her face suddenly turns serious. “And what if they’re boys?”

I shake my head at her. “Don’t ask me why,” I chuckle softly, tapping her belly. “But I have a feeling our pups are little girls.”

Images of two little princesses chasing me around the hacienda, their little pigtails swinging about as they laugh, flash into my mind and my heart swells with overwhelming happiness. Sofia seems to like the idea of two little girls, describing to me all the bows and dresses she would put them in.

I tilt her head up and press my lips against hers. “Aurora and Celina…. Our little Sun and our little Moon.”