Epilogue 1 #2
Aiden vowed that this would be the one and only time he was getting pregnant, and if that was the case, then I didn’t mind pampering my guy.
“Why are these balloons blue?” I shout as I shake one of the balloons in front of my best friend’s face. “I said black! I specifically said black!”
Beckett looks between me and the navy-blue balloons before asking, “Aren’t they black?”
“No, Beckett!” I shout. “They’re not!”
Beckett takes another glance, his eyes squinting, before he shrugs. “I don’t think anyone will notice.”
My eyes twitch, and Beckett quickly backs away, knowing that I’m a second away from wringing his neck.
“Deep breaths, Julian! You look crazy!”
I spin on my heel, and my heart bursts in my chest as I lay eyes on Isabel. She strolls into the house with a large, bear of a man at her side, but she leaves him behind to race towards Beckett and me.
“Isabel!” we shout together before we’re doing the same.
I reach her first, crashing into her, and Beckett’s there a second later to hug us both.
“C-can’t breathe!” she squeaks.
“Good!” we chorus, squeezing her tighter.
Laughing, we hold onto each other for as long as we can before we finally pull apart. She looks the same as always, just with slightly tanner skin and there’s a mark sitting on her shoulder that fills my heart with joy.
“Julian, Beckett … meet Kane, my mate!” she introduces as she gestures to the man who looks like he could kill someone by accident. I have to look up at him.
“Hey, I’m Julian,” I say, stretching out a hand.
“Kane,” he says kindly, as he shakes it.
“Beckett,” Beckett greets next, and he shakes his hand too.
“I’ve heard a lot about you both,” Kane says with a smile.
“All good things, I hope,” I say, glancing at Isabel, who starts whistling as she looks back at the house.
“Yes,” Kane replies, laughing, “and I’d like to thank you for letting me stay in your pack for the week.” My eyes widen as I look at Isabel.
“You’re staying for a week!?” Beckett shouts excitedly while she glares at her mate.
“It was supposed to be a surprise,” she grinds out to Kane, whose lips fall open.
“Oh, would you look at that lamp,” he says before walking away quickly, making me laugh.
“I like him,” I say, making her smile instantly.
“He’s the best!” she squeals. “Oh, Julian, I thought I was never going to get a mate, and then I found him.”
“I’m so happy for you,” I say and Beckett nods quickly while Isabel dances on her toes.
“Thanks guys,” she grins before looking around. “Where are the others?” She pauses. “Wait, more importantly. Where’s pregnant Aiden?”
I don’t know why everyone was so amused by the idea, but Aiden being pregnant was a big joke in the pack, and I guess even Isabel was dying to see him.
“Sofa,” I say, watching her eyes twinkle with mischief.
“Oh, Aiden!” she sings before rushing into the house. A scream soon comes that’s no doubt Aiden’s, but I leave them be. We only had an hour left until Emitt brought the kids home, and I wanted this place to be perfect for my boy.
Clapping my hands together, I focus on my best friend. “Let’s get to work!”
“He’s almost here!” Aiden hisses while Beckett and I run around to close the curtains.
“Shit!” I mumble as I knock my knee into a table and go down for the count.
“Forget the curtains, get behind the sofa!” Aiden mumbles while I crawl across the floor. “Where the fuck is Ka—”
“I’m here! I’m here!” she says as she appears out of thin air with a cake floating beside her and a puppy of some sort in her hand. But I’ve never seen a dog like that.
“Is that a …” Beckett pauses, eyes squinting. “Is that a jaguar?”
“As a matter of fact, it is,” she says proudly while her magic rests the cake down and she joins the rest of us in the line opposite the front door.
“And why do you have a jaguar, Kat?” I ask as I drag myself upright.
“It’s Levi’s birthday gift,” she deadpans and I almost fall back down.
“No,” Aiden and I say together.
“We have a full pack of wolves running around us now because of moi,” she says, referring to the actual wolves she’d adopted like pets when she moved into the pack. It was a joke at first, to help her “fit in,” but then she got attached, and now the pack had real wolves living in it.
“I thought, why not add some spice? So, I got him a jaguar.”
“It’s still a no,” I say, but she ignores me as she pets the animal that would be a pain to get rid of, especially if Levi saw it. Jaguars were his favourite animal.
“Put it back, Kat,” Aiden says from his chair as he tugs his blanket higher so that when Sammy comes, he’d look more like an overweight father than a pregnant man.
“No,” she declares defensively.
“They’re going to be here any min—”
A car door slams outside, and I glare at Kat, who smirks.
I try to jump at her, but she levitates up to the ceiling, so I can’t reach her, leaving me growling beneath before the door opens.
Kat lands back on her feet just as I turn to face Levi as he enters with Sammy, Amelia, Damon, and Emitt at his sides.
“Surprise!” everyone shouts in unison.
Levi jolts as his eyes bulge and he looks around the decorated house in shock before a shaky smile makes its way onto his face.
“Happy Birthday, Levi,” I say, and my heart floods with joy for my pup, who turns to me and runs straight for me. He hugs me as tightly as he can before doing the same with Aiden.
“For me?” he whispers, looking between us, and we nod.
“All for you, pup,” Aiden replies with a wink.
“My gift first!” Kat declares as she squats beside him. “I got you a jag-”
“A jaguar!” he shouts and I don’t think I’ve ever heard Levi shout.
Screaming, he takes the cub from her hands, staring at it in awe and my shoulders slump. Great, now we’re stuck with it.
“Wow!” Sammy says, joining his side as the two marvel at the creature that’s already rubbing all over Levi.
“I know. I’m the best aunt ever,” Kat says, flipping her hair over her shoulder. I roll my eyes and pick up Peter as he whines.
“Well, are you going to introduce us to your friend?” Aiden says as he tugs the blanket higher.
“Everyone, this is Sammy. Sammy, this is everyone,” Levi says, done, until he spots my frown. “Okay, fine. That’s Aunty Kat, Uncle Beckett and Uncle Emitt. Aunt Isabel, a strange man, and my dads.”
“Hello,” she says brightly, just as confident as ever. “You live far.”
“Yeah,” I say, chuckling before I watch the two dive into their own conversation about the stupid jaguar.
“Damon!” Aiden scolds, stealing my attention as I glance back at my other pup. “Stop pushing the girl down!”
Damon slides his hands behind his back as he blinks innocent eyes at us, as if he didn’t just push Amelia down. Amelia struggles to get up, but once she does, she kicks Damon straight in the shin, sending him falling with a cry of pain while she giggles.
Sometimes I forget they were both devilish together. I was only glad they were best friends rather than enemies like Aiden and me.
The day passes quickly as Levi gets drowned in gifts by everyone except Aiden and me, we’d give him our gift in private. Beckett and Emitt got him a collection of books that he was saving up for, Isabel got him some souvenirs from her latest adventures, and Kat got him a fucking jaguar.
The night passes quickly, and before I know it, we’re saying goodbye to everyone. I take a sleeping Sammy home and return in time to find the rest of the house empty and quiet. Only Levi and Aiden wait.
I glance at Aiden, and he nods.
“Okay, now that everyone is gone,” I say as I saddle up to my little guy. “It’s time for your last gift.”
“I already got enough,” Levi protests as he looks between us. “It’s fine, really.”
“Oh, shut up and follow us,” Aiden grumbles and Levi giggles as he follows his dad down the hall and up the stairs with me behind them. We stop at the furthest door at the end of the hallway that was our storage room, and leave the path clear.
Levi looks at us, confused, until we hand him the key. Hesitantly, he slides it in before he carefully opens the door. We follow him inside the dark room, and switch on the light behind him.
Levi gasps as he spins around, his dark eyes sliding over every inch of the makeshift art studio we’d made for him. He opens and shuts his mouth several times as he looks around the place in a sort of daze before finally turning back to us.
“For me?”
“No, for Satan,” Aiden retorts as he shakes his head. “Yes, it’s for you, Levi”
Levi squeals with his hands to his chest before he hugs us both again. “You guys are the best! Thank you soooo much!” he squeaks into my chest, making me smile as we hug him back.
“I’m happy you like it,” I reply as he pulls away.
“I love it!” he says before his lips wobble and his eyes fill. “I love you guys.” Tears spill down his cheeks, and Levi quickly wipes them away. “I love you both so much, for everything.”
“Levi, stop or your father’s going to start crying,” I warn as Aiden’s lips wobble a bit, but he bites it defiantly. “We love you too, pup.”
“Now go to bed,” Aiden says as he lifts his head so the tears can’t fall. “It’s still a school night.”
“It’s not,” Levi retorts, but he runs off before Aiden can get his hands on him.
“Now let’s get you to bed, big guy,” I say as I turn to my mate. He scowls viciously at me, and I laugh as we make our way to our bedroom.
“You are never fucking me again without a condom,” he grumbles, making me laugh as we slip into our room.
“We are both getting vasectomies after this,” I declare as we fall onto our bed. I’m already half asleep as exhaustion finds me. “We already have three kids and now we have two more coming. This is going to be a shit show.”
“It’s going to be fun,” Aiden corrects.
“We have two very different meanings for the word fun,” I say, making him laugh as I pull him into my chest. “Love you.”
“Love you too,” he whispers, smiling at me before his eyes slowly flutter shut, and I’m right behind him.