Inevitably Yours

MICHAEL

Judy agreed to come with us to the packhouse after a lot of persuasion. She was reluctant to be a burden on us, but Quinn insisted that we couldn’t manage the packhouse and our Alpha and Luna duties without her. It wasn’t a lie; Judy had become family, and having her around had become our routine.

There wasn’t much to arrange for Judy’s mate. She wanted him cremated, and we took his remains to the place where they had their first date. It was along a beautiful river where he took her fishing. She told me about him for a long time, then we spread his ashes, and I took her home. The next day, she agreed to move in with us because she would be too sad in her house.

Day by day, Judy slowly returned to normal. Quinn grew rounder and rounder. Before long, Judy was chasing her around, trying to make sure she wasn’t over-exerting herself. Junior was getting more and more mobile, giving us all more problems.

Quinn was having a lot of trouble sleeping with this pup. She was exhausted all the time. I found her curled up on the floor asleep while Junior played on a few occasions. Her lack of sleep was causing other stress that I tried to mitigate as much as I could. On one particularly difficult day, Junior turned her mood around by saying ‘‘I love you” for the first time; she went from exhausted, frustrated, and irritated to overjoyed and weeping. She couldn’t even get out the words to tell me what happened, and I had to piece it together after Junior repeated it.

Quinn ballooned so quickly with this pup that her walk turned into a cute little waddle. Every time I told her I thought it was cute, her face would scrunch up, and she would attempt to angrily walk away from me, but she couldn’t move fast enough. It became a game, but she didn’t understand how every time I walked into a room and saw her existing with my pup growing inside her, I was blown away by how beautiful she was.

While her first pregnancy didn’t have any symptoms that were unmanageable until the PUPPPs, this one was not the same. She didn’t like to complain, but I caught her rubbing her lower back frequently. When I asked the doctor why she was in so much pain, she expressed that this pup could be carrying in my mate’s back more than the last. She gave us a few suggestions, but Quinn didn’t seem to feel better. After exhausting all the recommendations, our doctor noted that small humans regularly have physical problems with pregnancy, and Quinn was below average size by their standards.

The great thing about our mate bond was being able to feel her. I even figured out when she was having cravings. I couldn’t figure out exactly what they were, but I knew when it was happening, allowing me to make her feel better. Her mood swings sometimes distracted me from my day. I could be in the middle of training with Nic when I was suddenly overwhelmed in despair, only to find out my mate couldn’t get her shoes on to take Diane and Junior outside to play.

Thankfully, I was able to spend less time away from the pack. Enrique had taken over most of our extended outside training while I focused on the shorter classes. Jacqueline asked to help with the addition of physical security, so I had Andrea helping manage the warriors part-time when she wasn’t with Quinn. We slowly pulled all the pieces together, and were set to begin our very first contract about a month after Quinn’s due date.

Quinn decided she wanted to be surprised about the s*x of this one. We knew the whole time that Junior would be a boy; Alpha couples rarely give birth to female pups first. We had a list of girl and boy names picked out, and Quinn had taken to calling the pup Baby G. She saved most of Junior’s baby clothes, and Nic gave her some of Diane’s as she outgrew them. The only new clothes she bought were gender-neutral, so it wouldn’t matter what we had.

Junior and Diane spent their days passed between Judy, Nic, and Quinn. On occasion, I took one or both of them so Quinn could nap. My favorite thing became getting up in the morning and sneaking out of our room to get Junior before he could wake Quinn. Instead of racing out to train or shift and stretch my wolf legs, I spent time with my pup. We hadn’t heard from Stephen since his ambush at the birthday celebration. Nic only seemed upset when Diane was doing something new; she wanted someone to share the excitement with her. I tried my best to be there for her, but I wasn’t Diane’s father.

Quinn’s due date was fast approaching. I spent the day getting everything settled with Nic, Jacqueline, and Andrea so that I could take a few days off and focus on Q as we approached that time. The doctor had agreed to induce her five days after her due date if she didn’t go into labor. I was just grateful we had avoided PUPPs this time around. The doorbell to the packhouse rang, telling me the pizza had arrived. I passed a box to Nic on my way upstairs to my mate.

Coming up the stairs, I could hear music playing loudly. When I hit the top of the stairs, I found Junior standing on the dining table while Quinn held his hands, both dancing together while Quinn mouthed the words to the song. I leaned against the railing, watching Junior giggle at my mate while they enjoyed their little dance party. When the song ended, Quinn looked at me over her shoulder.

“Are you bringing that cheesy goodness in here or keeping it all to yourself?” she smiled. I chuckled and brought the pizza over. Before she could lift him, I set the pizza down on the table and grabbed Junior, tossing him up in the air and catching him.

“I told you I don’t want you picking him up more than necessary,” I chided her.

“I can still lift the mini Alpha. Now, a couple of years from now, that might change. If he is your size at all, it won’t be long,” she rolled her eyes.

“Pee-za!” Junior said, pointing to the box on the table. His vocabulary exploded over the past few months. I took him to his chair to get him all clipped in. When I looked up, Quinn was standing at the fridge with Junior’s milk cup in her hand, looking down at the ground. “What is wrong? Did you spill his cup? I’ll get it,” I started.

“I need new pants and a slice of pizza right now,” she said a little more seriously.

“Why do you need pants?” I said, coming over to her. I realized her pants were soaked, and there was a small puddle beneath her.

“Well, my water just broke. But I’m not going anywhere until I eat something,” she said, looking up at me.

“Wait, your water just broke?” I shouted.

“Calm down,” she said, handing me the cup and its lid. “I haven’t felt any contractions yet; we have time. But I am not getting admitted to that hospital on an empty stomach again.”

QUINN

Michael blinked at me like he couldn’t understand the English words coming from my mouth. “Okay, this is what we are going to do. You get a piece of pizza cut up for Junior and let him eat. I’m going to change and eat. While I’m doing that, get our bags out of Baby G’s closet. There is a bag for the baby, one for us and one for Junior to go to my parents. We need to call my mom to come get him and call the doctor to let her know it’s time,” I said slowly.

I had no idea why I was so calm. I was sure I wouldn’t be later. Michael just continued to look at me in surprise. I rolled my eyes and stepped past him, going for the pizza box. I grabbed a slice of the extra cheesy meat pizza and headed to our room to change clothes. I savored the greasy deliciousness and realized M had even ordered it my favorite way – light sauce, extra sauce, extra bacon.

When I came out of the bedroom ready for a second slice, Nic came bolting up the steps. “It’s time?” she asked.

“Well, my water broke,” I said, shoving the pizza in my mouth.

“Michael made it sound like you were lying on the floor screaming,” she laughed at me.

“Not yet,” I said. I grabbed my phone and called my mom. She picked up immediately, having already been waiting for us to call any day now. When we talked with Melvin about coming to stay in the packhouse and watch Junior while we had Baby G, he got very nervous. His small house wasn’t much suited for a pup, so we figured it would be best to have him stay in the packhouse, but his unease pushed me to ask my parents.

Michael came out of Baby G’s room, bags in hand. “The doctor said to head to the hospital immediately and call her when contractions are 15 minutes apart.”

“Oof,” I said as my abdomen clenched slightly. “Well, it’s weak, but there is number one.”

Nic laughed and went to the kitchen, grabbing some wet paper towels to wipe up messy Junior. “I guess after how long and awful the first time was, this one feels like a breeze,” she commented. I shrugged. My back hurt a lot; all day, every day, it hurt. Walking was a struggle, bending was impossible, and lifting Junior was an exercise I dreaded. The only thing that made it better was that I didn’t want to scratch my skin off my body and Michael’s unending thoughtfulness.

I quickly finished my second slice of pizza, and we headed downstairs. Michael got our things loaded into the car and removed Junior’s car seat to put in my mom’s car. Our timing was perfect because they pulled up into the driveway at the same time.

I kissed my pup about a million times before reluctantly handing him over to my mom. As we waved goodbye to them, another contraction gripped me. “Ooooohhhh-kay. We should get going,” I told Michael.

Michael drove as fast as he could to the hospital. I had three more contractions on the way that were just short of twenty minutes apart. Luckily, the doctor had us submit preadmission paperwork the prior week just in case I went into labor at some point. We were quickly in a room, and I was getting all hooked up to monitors.

A familiar nurse came into the room after we were settled. “Well, it looks like you are back again!” she smiled, recognizing us. It was our final nurse from my labor with Junior.

“Do you get off when I have this baby again?” I smiled back.

“I guess we’ll find out!”

–

Fourteen hours later, we greeted Arabelle Galbraith into the world. I was exhausted after the birth but not quite as much as the first time. I watched Michael hold our baby girl for the first time, and the look on his face was indescribable. The feeling of love that pulsed through our bond was intense. It was different than the love I felt when we mated or even on our wedding day. It was like I gave him a missing piece and made our family whole.

When we finally got transferred to the Mother and Baby suite, I was ready to sleep. Gratefully, Arabelle was a calm pup. She didn’t fuss too much and slept peacefully in the baby bed.

Nic, Judy, and Diane were out first visitors, coming a few hours after Michael called them with the news. Diane fussed the entire time until Michael used his own brand of magic to put her to sleep. Next, Melvin came to visit. He was excited to meet his next grandpup but didn’t stay long. The most prolonged and stressful visit was with my parents and Junior. Our firstborn was fascinated by his baby sister but not happy to share the attention of all the adults with her.

When everyone was gone, and the nurses took little Arabelle away, I just wanted my mate. He must have felt it because he looked up at me from the couch and smiled.

“Want some company?” he asked knowingly.

I nodded, too sleepy to talk, but I needed his warmth and his presence. I scooted over in the bed, and somehow he made it work to get his massive body onto the bed with me. Once his skin touched mine, the residual pain began to diminish, and I was ready for sleep. His hands found my hair, and as he gently rubbed my scalp, I let myself succumb to his magic.

The last thing I remembered was him whispering, “Get some sleep. I can’t wait to take my girls home.”