Inevitably Yours

QUINN

While my first pregnancy had been great other than the morning sickness initially, this one was not so much. It seemed I was sick all day long, not just in the morning. Then I started to grow much faster than the first one. Within only a couple of weeks, I struggled to keep up with M while we trained.

I fell on my butt for probably the twentieth time in less than an hour, panting. Michael looked down, scared every time I hit the ground now. “Maybe we should stop there for today,” he said.

“I just can’t keep my balance, way more than usual,” I g*****d.

“The pup is probably throwing you off. But I don’t want to hurt either of you with any of this. Maybe we should put a hold on sparring and drilling. We can focus on Poomsae while you can still move around enough,” he suggested. My shoulders sagged in disappointment. Michael and I were always so busy. We didn’t get much time with just us now that we had a pup. Some nights we didn’t even get to bed near the same time. We trained about three times a week together when he was home, giving us scheduled time together.

“This one is turning into a terrorist faster than Junior did,” I sighed. Michael sat down behind me and started rubbing my shoulders.

“It’s okay,” he said gently. “You’re cute when you’re all round and pregnant.”

“But when I can’t train, we get busy doing other stuff. Then I get to see you less until it gets close to time,” I said. “And also, I will not be carrying this one past the due date. Nope, not again.”

“You might not get PUPPPs,” he reminded me. “And I’ll make time, I promise.”

“I still could,” I rebutted. “And that doesn’t stop dumb teenagers from sneaking around outside our border, pulling one of us out of bed at night.”

Michael pulled me back, making me lean into him. He wrapped his arms around my center, rubbing my bump gently. “Maybe I need to get a sitter for the pup and take you out on a date. Or overnight somewhere. Me and you, no distractions or interruptions. We can recreate how we made this one,” he whispered.

I bit back my laugh. “So you know exactly which time this one came to be?”

“No, but I have no problems reenacting every single attempt,” he growled into my ear. I bit my l*p; this man knew how to heat up every part of me.

“It would have to wait until I’m through with finals,” I said, trying not to let on how much he was turning me on. “I still have a lot of studying to do.” My second year of school ended in a little over a week, and I was ready for the break.

“Speaking of studying,” Michael said, his tone changing. “Have you found out anything from the book?”

I let my head all back against him with a sigh. “I can’t decipher some of it. They were some things mentioned that make it seem like Fae are some sort of higher beings, like the Goddess. There aren’t really directions on how to use magic either,” I told him.

“That’s unfortunate,” Michael muttered. We heard a sound from the baby monitor lying next to our water bottles. “That’s our cue.”

Michael got to his feet and then helped me. We headed inside; Judy was sitting at the table in the dining room, holding her chest. I looked at Michael, confused. “I’m going to check on her; can you grab Junior?” I asked him. He nodded and headed to get our pup.

“Judy, are you okay?” I asked softly as I approached. Her head came up.

“Oh yes, Luna Mommy! I okay!” she said quickly. She started to stand but looked like she was struggling.

“No, no! Sit, please,” I said, gently pushing her back down. “It’s okay if you aren’t feeling well. Is your chest hurting?”

Her shoulders dropped. “Yes, my chest. My heart hurt today,” she explained.

“All day?” I asked her.

“Since lunchtime,” she nodded. It was getting close to dinner now.

“Why don’t I make you some tea?” I offered. “You shouldn’t be doing anything if you’re not feeling well. How about I have Michael take you home?”

“Oh, no! I no imposition,” she said. She waved her hands at me, accentuating the dissent to my offer.

“I insist, Judy,” I said, laying my hand over hers. I connected gazes with her, hoping she could understand I was worried for her. She nodded, her mouth forming a tight line. I left her to go to the kitchen and make some tea. I steeped the tea and then added a small splash of milk and sugar to it. When I brought it back to her, she was rubbing her chest with her palm.

“Here,” I said, setting it down next to her. “Maybe this will help some.” She took a slow sip.

“Thank you, Luna Mommy,” she said. “I work again in minute.”

“No, you won’t,” I told her. “I mean it. Michael should take you home. You work so hard every day, but you have to listen to your body. If you are hurting, you should rest.”

“I be okay. I just need sit minute,” she assured me.

“Well, I am worried about you. I would really like it if you let Michael take you home, or we could call your mate?” I asked her.

“I no bother,” she insisted. Michael came in with Junior as she spoke.

“Miss Judy, I think Quinn is right here. You should let me take you home to rest,” Michael said, bringing Junior to me. He reached for me, leaning out of his father’s arms. I grabbed him up and held him close.

“Okay, Alpha Daddy,” she finally conceded. “I go home.”

“Alright, let me change and get my keys,” he said. Judy nodded, taking another sip of her tea. Michael left us to get changed out of his training attire. I bounced Junior on my leg.

“Tea good, Luna Mommy,” Judy said. “Feel better already.” I smiled, hoping that was the case. I still hadn’t put it to a real test yet, but I had played around with blending my own tea and brewing it. From everything I had figured out so far, the more I made something from scratch, the better its therapeutic properties were.

“Why don’t I send some home with you?” I suggested. “That way, if you aren’t feeling well later, you can have some more?”

“Oh, Luna Mommy, too kind!” she said.

I just smiled. “No, I just want to make sure you’re okay.” I left Judy to sip her tea and took Junior to the kitchen with me. I set him in his high chair first and grabbed a slice of bread to entertain him for a few minutes. When I was done making her some more tea to take home, Michael poked his head into the kitchen.

“Here, take this with her. Make sure she gets inside and maybe check on her mate, too? She’s never complained about being in pain before,” I told him, handing him a travel cup.

“I was a little worried, too,” Michael said. “I think he still works too. I can’t remember exactly what he does, though.”

“Well, they are older, so just check on him and make sure she gets inside to rest,” I told him.

“Yes, ma’am,” he smiled. He leaned down and kissed me sweetly. “I’m coming back for some reenacting tonight. You better be ready,” he linked as he left. I rolled my eyes and went to Junior, who was happily munching on his bread. “Alright, little guy. Cartoons for you and study time for mom?”

Junior smiled. “Bed! Bed! Bed!” he chanted, waving his crust around.

“Bread,” I said slowly so that he could hear the whole word. “But only one more. We’re cooking dinner tonight!”

–

Michael was taking a while to get back. I wasn’t too worried, thinking maybe he stopped by the warrior compound after dropping off Judy. Junior played in the living room while I studied, occasionally bringing me toys or trying to steal my notes. Just when I was thinking about starting dinner, my phone rang. “Hello?” I answered without looking at it.

“Hey, baby,” Michael said, but he sounded off.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Andrea is coming to pick you up. I need your help,” he said.

“With what? What’s going on?” I asked, shutting my book and starting to pile up my things.

“Well, I’m glad we thought to check on Judy’s mate, too. I got her settled at home, but there was a message on their answering machine. Her mate was rushed to the hospital today…” he explained.

“Oh, Goddess…” I gasped. “Is he okay?”

“No, Q, he isn’t….”

–

Judy lived in a quaint house, which was actually very fitting for her. When Andrea and I got there, Michael was pacing outside. I left Junior with Nic so I could help Michael. I scrambled out of the car as soon as Andrea parked. “How is she?” I asked.

“I’m a little worried about her. I just got off the phone with the hospital. I’m going to take care of the arrangements,” he said.

“Is she inside?” I asked.

Michael nodded. “I’m worried about leaving her here alone. I mean, I can’t believe her mate dying didn’t kill her. She’s tougher than I thought.”

“Do you want to convince her to come back to the packhouse with us?” I suggested.

“Would it be crazy if we convinced her to live with us? I know it’s a little crazy, but she’s at the packhouse so much, and we could keep an eye on her. If something happened, we would be around, and so would Nic. Here, she’s all alone, and we wouldn’t even know if she wasn’t eating or something-”

“M!” I stopped his worried rant. “M, it’s okay. I’m okay with that. I’ve been trying to figure out for a couple of months now if we could give her a raise, but with the second pup coming and everything else, I couldn’t manage it.”

“You have?” he asked.

“Yea, I have. Why don’t we go in and talk to her? We can convince her to stay with us while the arrangements are made, and then we can discuss having her move in later. She might want to be close to the people she cares about. She adores Junior and Diane. Being at the packhouse with us might be what she wants once she’s had a minute to grieve,” I said.

Michael grabbed my face and kissed my forehead. “I love you,” he said softly.

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