37. Lainey
“I swear to god, Posey. If these babies get any bigger I think I am actually going to explode.” I complain.
She wanted me to come with her to welcome her sister in law to campus so we’re sitting on the same bench we sat on all those months ago just after I found the guys, and it feels strangely full-circle.
Though the full feeling could just be from the two giant babies taking up residence in my uterus, but I digress.
Paxton and Parker’s younger sister Storie was accepted to Harbor U on early admission, meaning she will be here for most of the Spring term rather than waiting until next fall, and Posey is thrilled to have another girl join our little ragtag group.
We don’t really have a shot in hell at balancing all the testosterone, but another friend is always welcome.
Posey laughs, craning her neck toward the parking lot. “I know, honey. But you made it to thirty-four weeks despite everything you’ve been through and that’s huge! Anything after this week is just a bonus.” She looks down at her own flat stomach with a frown. “I want one.”
I choke on a laugh, grimacing at the resulting bolt of lightning in my crotch. “I thought you all had decided to wait until after graduation?”
She shrugs. “Yeah, but I was the one that made that decision. The guys have said on no less than a dozen occasions they’re ready when I am. I think Jude is probably the most excited by the prospect since your dad met his scent match and has been recovering so well.”
Something I learned this year was that Jude’s dad, and the only real dad I have left, had severe Alpha Rabidity when he left my mom, and a few months ago he was in the final stages before meeting his scent match, a male omega nurse at his care facility.
It’s been a long, slow process but he’s finally starting to get back to normal and the prospect of my children having a grandfather around, and me having my dad back, has been as exciting as it is terrifying.
“Oh my god, she’s here! She’s here!” Posey’s shriek echoes across the quad, and a girl with a half black, half white bob whips her head towards us.
Her bright smile lights up her face, and I instantly see the resemblance to her older brothers.
The only real difference is the large white spot on her forehead.
“Posey girl!”
My best friend beams, scooping the tiny omega into a hug.
Posey is only five-foot-two, but she still has a few inches on Storie.
She’s like a precious fairy, if that fairy had a preppy-grunge chic style.
Now that she’s closer, I can see one of her eyebrows and the eyelashes on that same eye are white like her hair.
It lends to the gothic fairy vibe she has going on.
“Storie, this is my very best friend Lainey, and in case you’re blind, those are my future tiny best friends she’s carrying. ”
Storie cackles, loud and uninhibited. “Oh trust me, I know. Parker has sent me approximately ten-thousand texts asking about how to subtly convince you to have one of your own.”
Posey’s blue eyes get that far away quality I know all too well, so I turn to her sister in law with a semi-pained smile. “It’s so nice to meet you, Storie. I would get up and hug you, but I’m honestly not sure I can.”
She laughs again but leans down to wrap me in a surprisingly strong hug, surrounding me a scent that’s part fruity, part earth after rain.
I know there’s a word for it, but I can barely think through the pain in my back.
“Posey never stops talking about you. And I’ll be honest, it’s really nice to come to a new place already having some built in girlfriends.
Also, if you ever need a babysitter, I’m your gal. I love kids.”
I bite my lip to keep the tears at bay. My hormones have only gotten crazier as the months have gone by, and I cry at the drop of a hat these days.
“Don’t tempt me,” I warn. “After about eight months of carrying these little hellions mama is tired and looking forward to being my own person again. Though the six cinnamon rolls I had last night might be contributing to my misery today.”
They giggle like I’m joking, though I most certainly am not.
These babies may come out part cinnamon roll at this point.
Posey turns to Storie, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Okay I know you probably want to get settled in, but first things first, our inaugural girls brunch at Sugar & Spice. The first weekly brunch of many , and possibly the last before we have two more girls to add to the group.”
Storie cocks her head. “Are you having twin girls? It is two, right?”
I nod, my smile a little more genuine as I struggle to stand up. “It’s two, but we actually don’t know the genders. Posey is just holding out hope for girls and adamant I wouldn’t betray her by adding yet another boy to the team.”
“We’re too outnumbered as it is!” Posey cries.
Storie nods sagely. “Sorry but I agree. Four alphas each and not a single other girl friend in sight? You’re in dire need of some feminine energy.”
“Sounds like you arrived at the perfect time then,” I tell her with a grunt.
It’s a beautiful spring day and the walk to the shop isn’t far, but each step feels like someone is grabbing my cervix and pulling down on it, not to mention the horrible back pain I’ve been having all day.
“Hey, do you think we could—oh!” A gush of liquid soaks my leggings and the sidewalk beneath me.
My eyes feel like saucers and I see the same expression reflected on my friends’ faces.
“I probably didn’t just pee myself, right? ”
They don’t respond, so I pull out my phone and bring up our pack text thread, unsurprised to find it’s already blowing up with frantic messages after they felt my shock through the bonds.
Lawson
Angel what’s going on?
Rhys
You good, darlin’?
Lucky
I thought you were meeting with Posey and Storie today. Did something happen? You’re in the quad so you probably haven’t been kidnapped.
Wyatt
Please call me, honey?
Me
Hey, so, not to freak you out or anything
But I think I either peed myself… or my water just broke
Might need some assistance? The girls aren’t fighting or flighting.
I snap a picture of my still frozen friends and pass it on to both sets of alphas, but the snap seems to have jump-started their brains again.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, what do we do? I can’t deliver babies!” Posey immediately drops into hysterics, which would be really amusing if I wasn’t being hit with what feels like a really bad period cramp.
“Hell of an introduction there, new friend,” Storie mutters.
“And while I like to think I could deliver your babies, I am not actually a Certified Nurse Midwife yet, so let’s get you to the licensed professionals and not leave it to chance.
” She slips her arm through mine and helps me to a nearby stone bench, lowering me until I’m perched on the edge in a sort of hunched crouch.
The whole lower half of my torso feels like it’s being squeezed seven ways to Sunday, so sitting up straight is not currently an option.
“Did you text the guys?” Posey asks frantically. I nod, sucking in air through my teeth.
Good grief this hurts.
“Lainey!” A deep voice shouts. I look up and tears immediately flood my eyes when I spot Wyatt sprinting towards me, Lucky hot on his heels.
He drops to his knees in front of me as Lucky handles my friends, telling them they have me now and to go home and wait for news, but my focus is entirely on my future doctor alpha.
“Wy,” I sniffle.
His eyes gloss over as he lays his forehead against mine. “I know, honey. We felt echoes of it through the bond on our way here. We’re gonna get you to the car and go see Doctor Mel, okay? It’s going to be alright.”
“But they’re so early!”
Big hands stroke my hair back away from my face. “I know they are, honey. But remember what Mel told us? Twins come early all the time. It’s not ideal, but they’re close to the safe zone for delivery and all that matters in the end is that you and our babies are healthy.”
I nod, suck in a shuddered breath, and allow the tension to drop out of my shoulders just as another wave of pain tightens across my lower back.
“Ouch,” I gasp. Lucky doubles over behind Wyatt, groaning and clutching at his own abs under his stupid crop top.
I thought it was hot as fuck when I saw it this morning but now I can see his ‘Lainey’s Luck’ tattoo and it just makes me want to punch him.
Because it was his luck that got me into this situation in the first place.
Wyatt must feel the tide of my feelings turn in our bond because he glares at our pack mate, waving him off. “Go wait for Law and Rhys in the parking lot. We’ll meet you there.”
“But—”
“ Now !” Wyatt barks. It’s only the second time I have ever heard him bark, and if I wasn’t scared out of my mind, I might tease him for it.
Another wave of pain hits, this one much stronger than the others and bringing another gush of fluid with it.
I blink wide eyes at my alpha and whimper when he circles an arm around my back to help me up.
He does most of the heavy lifting, and I find myself immensely grateful that I have such strong pack members who don’t grunt when they pick me up.
I think that would send me over the edge right now.
“You’re doing so good, honey. I won’t lie and say I understand how you’re feeling because what we feel through the bond is barely more than a fraction of your pain, but I’m here.
Anything you need, even if it’s just to squeeze the hell out of my hand to make yourself feel better.
I don’t have a voodoo doll handy but you have the actual Lucky here if you wanna stick pins in him?
I feel like he would let you do it. Hell, we all would and we’re not the ones who knocked you up.
You just have to make it through this and then you have four able-bodied alphas ready to take the majority of the work when it comes to the babies. ”
“Wy?” I pant.
“Yeah?”
“Please shut the fuck up.”
He nods quickly. “Right, sorry. Not helping. We’re almost there.”
And we are. The parking lot is in sight and I see Lawson’s sheriff vehicle parked haphazardly across the single lane.
He paces in front of it, hands raking through his hair as he speaks to the others animatedly.
It’s the most lively I have seen him since everything went down with my mom, and oddly enough it calms me.
He’s here, and he cares, and he isn’t avoiding me out of fear like when I first moved in.
“Why the hell is she walking?” Lawson shouts at Wyatt, stomping over to us with a cute pout on his face.
I’m not prepared for him to scoop me into his arms without a single noise of effort, but he does it anyway and rushes us to the truck.
It’s technically not big enough to fit all of us, but he drops me into the back seat between Rhys and Lucky before getting into the drivers seat and flicking on the lights and sirens.
His green eyes collide with mine in the rearview mirror, more determination in them than I have ever seen. “Let’s go meet our babies.”
“I can’t believe they’re really here,” Lucky sniffles, stroking the back of his finger down Bryce’s cheek. “They look just like you.” He says this to me, but his eyes are locked on Wyatt, who’s holding Blaise.
Lawson and Rhys are snuggled up on either side of me in the large hospital bed, and I have never felt this kind of contentment before.
A yawn cracks my jaw, and Rhys nuzzles my temple before placing his lips there in a tender kiss.
The room is filled with our combined scents, and the guys used their scents and bonds through my whole labor to soothe me when it became too much.
Twelve hours after my water broke in the middle of campus, our son Bryce was born, followed three minutes later by his brother Blaise. It was only our pack, Doctor Mel, and the nurses in the room and the whole experience felt like something out of a dream.
“You did so good, angel. We’re so proud of you.” Lawson whispers. He has one arm wrapped around me and the other resting on top of Rhys’s over my now-soft belly. They got so used to touching it the last few months I think it will take them a while to stop.
I squirm, feeling like I need to pee and absolutely dreading it .
There are things no one warns you about that happen after you give birth, and the painful peeing is one of them.
“Bathroom?” Rhys asks quietly. I nod, but can’t muster up the energy to feel embarrassed.
He helps me up and into the small room before he fills my peri bottle with warm water, waits for me to finish, and then brings me back to the bed.
I’m eternally grateful that these men are the ones I ended up with.
I can’t imagine anyone else seeing me this vulnerable and leaning into it rather than shying away until I’m “me” again.
“Give me one of my babies.” I aim the request at my ball boys but soften it with a smile when I hear how demanding it sounded.
“Here, little mama. I think our oldest boy needs you.” Bryce is writhing in Lucky’s arm even though he just ate not too long ago.
We realized that my scent soothes both of them in those in-between times when they aren’t really hungry but need comfort.
His downy blond hair is soft and sticking up at every angle, identical to his brother’s and both of theirs just like their dad’s.
His muted scent is vaguely reminiscent of berries like my own, but it’ll be hard to tell for sure what kind until he’s older.
Blaise’s scent is similar to his twin’s, but there’s a touch of mint that reminds me of Lucky.
Lawson takes Blaise from Wyatt and moves to sit next to me again so the twins are together, and the other three alphas crowd around us as close as they can get.
Looking around at the family I stumbled into and somehow helped create, I can’t help but stare in awe.
To think, all of this started because of a one night stand with my scent match who refused to give up on me and an accidental dorm fire.
For the rest of our lives I’ll be glad my alpha was so determined to find the one .