Chapter 69
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Shawn
Destabilization
I have to pick my jaw up off the floor. “You’re fucking with me, right?” I look at Jax. “She’s fucking with me, right? Tell me she’s fucking with me!”
But he’s staring at Alizée with his jaw dropped, too.
She looks between us. “What? Why is this a shock?” She takes another bite of pizza. “I distinctly said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were expecting two?’”
“I thought you meant too T-O-O, not two as in two babies,” Jax says.
“Twins?” I yell again. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
She shrugs and hooks a thumb at Jax. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. He’s the one that put ’em there, not me.”
Morning sits there watching this play out, and I have the feeling he’s highly amused by this development but politic enough not to show it.
“What is your accuracy record?” Jax asks her.
“Pretty damned good. On detecting multiples? 100%. On gender?” She waggles a hand back and forth.
“I’m only about 98% right on gender. A couple of my goofs later turned out to be children who were trans or two-spirit, so really shouldn’t count those.
I was seeing who they were destined to be, not biology. ”
I slump back in my seat. “Twins?”
She holds up two fingers. “Dos.” She waggles the fingers at me. “Hey, you’ve been wanting babies for a while, haven’t you? Goddess has a fickle sense of humor sometimes. Did you take any fertility meds or something?”
“I—” My jaw snaps shut. “Shit,” I whisper.
“Let me guess. You spiked your mix to drop you into a heat with a little extra sumthin’-sumthin’, amirite?”
I slowly nod. I’d done it more to help me relax mentally, with the stress of the situation and the stakes being far higher than just worrying about catching. Like keeping Jax from killing Todd or fucking Mal. I never really expected it to be this effective.
“Well, I’d like the recipe, if you don’t mind sharing,” she says. “I have clients who would love to be able to boost their odds at catching during mating heats.”
I nod again, my body…
Well, numb.
Everything feels like it’s stopped in place. “Twins?” I whisper.
Jax reaches over and takes my hand. “Well, you wanted babies—you got babies.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Morning calmly says.
“I mean, I expected them one at a time, not together! Twins don’t run in either of our families.”
“They don’t have to run in families to happen,” she says, then takes another bite of pizza. “Maybe play the lotto tonight?” she mumbles around that bite.
“We will never get rid of Dad and Pops now,” Jax mutters.
Later, Jax walks me back out to my car. “Anything I can do for you right now, baby?”
I’m still in shock. “No.”
“We should be done in an hour or so, then I’ll head home.”
I slowly nod. “Okay.”
He pulls me in for a hug. “This’ll be okay,” he says. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to you about what happened earlier.”
“Are Mal and Todd okay?” I numbly ask.
“Yes, they’re fine, as long as Iris doesn’t blow out their eardrums.”
I finally laugh. “We should get them earplugs as an early baby/wedding gift.”
“Not a bad idea. She told me to say hi to you, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
I head home in a daze, frankly.
Two babies?
Twins?
I’d wanted at least two pups, maybe more.
I didn’t want them all at the same time, though.
But hey, I get points for being a fan-fucking-tastic researcher and horny-shifter mixologist, right?
I can’t even go run to burn off some of this stress because of the doctor’s admonition against strenuous activity. And if I go running, it’ll be to push myself as fast and hard as I can to shut down my noisy brain.
Can’t deny a malicious part of me wants to throw this in my family’s faces, tell my old packmates to suck a big bag of dicks, because here I am, a pack Alpha’s mate, and I’m about to have pups.
Pups plural.
I have a feeling that between Dad, Pops, and Iris, Jax and I will be lucky to get any time with our own pups.
But I meant it when I said to Mal that at least he and Todd won’t be going through this alone.
As weird as this situation is, I will have someone exactly in the same boat I am—well, minus a baby—and able to commiserate with.
When I reach home, a wave of exhaustion hits me, likely due to yesterday’s exertion and all the stress—and now the latest development—so I stretch out on the couch to watch TV.
I awaken to Jax kissing me, smiling down at me. “Dinner’s ready.”
I struggle to make sense of his words. “Huh?”
“I made dinner. Or do you want me to bring your plate out to you?”
I sit up, finally processing that the house smells amazing, and see I’ve been out nearly six hours.
“When did you get home?”
“Not even an hour after you left the office.”
“Holy crap.” I stand, then sit down again. “Yeah, bring it here, please.”
“Fasting after midnight,” he reminds me. “For your bloodwork tomorrow. So eat now.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
He brings me a plate and a large glass of water. “I didn’t expect to feel this ragged,” I admit. “I wonder if that’s the run or the stress or the concoction?”
“Or, maybe because you’re pregnant with twins?” he playfully asks. “Or a combination of all of the above?”
“Gawd. I was not expecting this.”
He playfully buffs his nails. “I am an overachiever.”
“Yeah, but honestly, this is the last additional complication we need right now.”
He leans in and kisses me. “Stop. Unexpected? Yes. But I’m not complaining. Alizée proposed an idea I’m giving serious thoughts to going ahead with.”
“What?”
“Destabilizing Sterling ahead of our attack on him by getting Mal’s mother out of there.”
“Um, was I asleep six hours or six weeks? That’s nuts!”
“No, think about it,” Jax says. “If she wants to come—and according to Alizée she believes she will—we can send Sterling on a wild wolf chase. Make him think she’s with Mal.
Use their phones to ping places so he scatters his people in fruitless searches while we set our trap.
It’ll enrage him, too. Once we’re ready, use that to lead them to the ambush site.
Worst case, she doesn’t want to come, and we hold her somewhere until all the fireworks are over.
Best case, she’s here to support Mal and Todd. ”
I’m…doubtful. “Are we sure she’s really that good? Alizée, I mean.”
“Morning swears by her. I guess some of her biggest strengths are in midwifery and magick relating to familial, blood, and birth bonds.”
“And do we trust Morning?”
“Well, Pops and Dad both trust him,” he says. “And you know they don’t trust easily.”
“You haven’t told them this latest development, have you?”
Jax smiles. “No, baby. No one else knows until you okay it.”
Part of me is paranoid that, despite Alizée’s declaration, something might be wrong.
Then again…
“Do we want to know their genders?” I ask Jax.
“I would like to, because Dad and Pops and Iris will all drive us bug-nuts if we don’t find out. But if you don’t want to, we won’t, and I’ll back them off.”
“You could find out.”
“Uh, no.” He smiles. “There’s no way in hell I could keep that info a secret from you for any length of time. I would fuck up and let it slip somehow.”
“Let me think about it,” I say. “We can always call her and ask her, right?”
Jax nods. “Exactly.”
I settle in to eat, yawning the whole time.
Jax nudges me when I finish and I realize I’m just sitting there, my plate in my lap, and getting drowsy again. “Why don’t you head to bed? I’ve got the dishes.”
“You sure?”
He smiles and leans in to kiss me. “Absolutely sure.”
I gratefully hand him my plate and head toward the bedroom. I take a hot shower first, because my muscles are still a little achy from yesterday. I don’t even bother putting clothes on—I fall into bed, close my eyes, and let oblivion take me.