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“That’ll happen anyway,” I laughed. “Maybe not as a caregiver, but do you know how many secrets we all keep about each other and for each other? Even now there are things I could tell my dads about the twins that would make them see red, but they’re my siblings.”
“Crappy at that job, though,” Terrick shook his head.
Unlike High Priestess Arrakia, my dads had lots of advice and we listened patiently with them both on speaker phone while they gave it. Not only did they have plenty of kids of their own, but they delivered more babies than anyone else I knew. Plus, they were the lead researchers in vampyric medicine. They called Dara almost as much as they called us to assure that we had access to everything we might need for the pregnancy and the delivery. With them on board, my wolf trusted Dara just a little more.
In between shopping and rearranging things around the house for the babies, Terrick and I talked a lot about his dad and what his leaving might mean. Being gone for good seemed so final. I couldn’t imagine my dads not being around. I wouldn’t know what to do. I couldn’t imagine what Terrick must’ve gone through at just fifteen years old. I did a lot of listening and eventually so did Marcus, the therapist of Heartville.
When we weren’t on the phone, shopping, or planning, we spent a lot of time in Duke and Blithe’s witch room basement. There was something cozy about being down in the den with them. Duke’s egg still hadn’t hatched but every once in a while we heard the baby move inside the egg. Their birthday was growing closer and closer. The closer the baby came to hatching the less Duke left the basement.
As the night of the fated full moon rushed towards us, I didn’t let Terrick out of my sight. If Frost came to take him away from me, he’d not only have to fight the hound, he’d have to lower himself to fight a pregnant omega. Despite the short time I’d been pregnant I was quickly growing a baby bump. I’d force him to choose between his honor and keeping the magical contract. I prayed that if it came down to that, Frost was as honorable as the lore said he was. I hated the thought of playing the pregnancy card, but with four pups growing inside me, what other defense did I have?
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Chapter Twenty-Eight
Terrick
The morning of the full moon I woke up before Scott, but didn’t wake him up. He was out cold with his head on my chest. I just lay watching him sleep, hoping that tomorrow I would still wake up beside him. I wanted to wake up beside him for the rest of my life. I just hoped that the rest of my life wasn’t until the rise of the full moon tonight.
If it was, I’d already arranged with my mother to transfer my part of my father’s money to his accounts as soon as she got the news. While Salta and the others might be devastated, she could be counted on to keep a straight head and ensure my mate and children never wanted for anything money or power could buy. The house was ready for the babies too. I woke up in the middle of the night several times after discovering we were expecting quads and worked on babyproofing stuff. I didn’t want Scott to have to worry about that later if I wasn’t around.
His baby bump pressed against my side reminding me that four kids were counting on me. A moon cycle was so much shorter than I realized. There were still a million things I wanted to say and do with Scott. There were billions of things I wanted to show my kids about the world.
I let out a long breath as Scott stirred in his sleep. No matter what happened tonight there wasn’t an ideal ending. Either I’d go with my dad or he’d be gone to me forever. Still, I wanted to stay. Even in the face of the grief I pushed back for over a decade tumbling down on me I wanted to stay with Scott and our babies. I wanted this life and if the price of having it was grief, then I’d pay up.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Scott murmured and lifted his head up to steal a good morning kiss.
I kissed him soft and deep, memorizing how his supple lips felt all pressed up against mine. I dangled from a string that morning as our pajamas came off and we came together. I dragged my lips across every inch of Scott’s lean muscular body. Each kiss was a prayer and an act of worship. Never in my life had I so badly wanted to stay alive. Despite my carrier dying, I never thought much about my own death. Never thought much about how I’d go or what would happen to those left behind.
Picking up on my thoughts over the mating link Scott opened his mouth to counter my worries, but I kissed him. No amount of words would change whatever fate had in store for us. After that I did my best to stay in the moment. We made love, slow and steady, each thrust and draw back deliberate. Scott clung to me as if he only half-believed his own words that everything would work out in our favor.
We lingered in bed with my ear pressed against his baby bump. It still blew my mind that four little lives were growing inside of him. Four little lives that we made because against the odds and maybe even against death itself we found each other.
“Are you hoping for girls or boys?” Scott asked.
“I’m hoping for quiet babies,” I teased him.
“That’s a copout answer. Most sires know what they want.”
“Who’s stereotyping who now?” I laughed. “I haven’t really thought about it much. We’ve bought clothes from all over the color spectrum. We’ve bought stuffies. I don’t think I care much about that. If they’re here and happy and healthy I think I’ll have what I want. Maybe a lot of sires want boys, but I half or more raised Salta. I’m not afraid of raising another little girl.”
“I hadn’t thought about it that way,” Scott smiled and ran his fingers through my hair as I resumed trying to hear our unborn children.
“Do you think two of them will really be pit hounds?” Scott asked a second later.
“Probably. My hound seems to know what he’s talking about,” I nodded.
“Your hound,” Scott gushed the words.
“Yeah. I guess he’s mine for better or worse,” I shrugged.
“Before you know it, you’ll be using terms like us or just me when talking about him.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. He might be mine, but he’s definitely still his own man.”
“Aren’t they all?” Scott laughed.
His phone buzzed on the nightstand and he grunted not wanting to move. I ran my hand over his growing full moon belly and sighed. Of course, something or someone somewhere had to interrupt our last promised hours of sunlight together.
