45. Eli
Chapter 45
Eli
S ince the moment we’d brought Samuel River Daniels home, I had hardly slept.
Not because he was keeping me awake with his screaming. On the contrary, he was a relatively sleepy baby. I just couldn’t stop watching him. Whenever Kennedy put him down in his bassinet, I found myself watching him for hours at a time.
He was so sweet and utterly perfect. Watching Kennedy with him floored me. She was a complete natural, and I didn’t think it was possible for me to become more obsessed with the omega, but by god, I was.
Samuel started to stir, his little face scrunching up as he prepared to wail. It was the dead of night, and Kennedy was fast asleep next to him. His bassinet was on her side of the bed, for obvious reasons.
For the first few days, Charlotte had been having sleepovers with members of the pack. We’d set up a little travel crib in Charlie’s room, because it was the farthest away from Kennedy’s room, and the baby’s crying was far less likely to disturb her there. She always had at least two of the pack members sleeping in the room with her, and she was loving it.
Sliding out from under the covers, I walked around the nest and scooped up Samuel and padded into the living room to prepare a bottle. When the nurse at the hospital had asked Kennedy about breastfeeding, I was completely ready to support her, whatever she decided. Given the complications she’d endured last time, she wanted to go straight to formula.
I would never admit it to her, but I was secretly thrilled at that choice because it meant I got moments of joy, like late-night snuggling with my son as I fed him a bottle.
Charlotte didn’t seem to fully grasp what Samuel was—she seemed to be under the impression he was just another baby doll, and she wanted to cuddle him a lot.
At least she liked him. Kennedy’s nerves the first time our children met each other had been palpable. I had no idea why she was anxious. Charlotte was the sweetest little girl I had ever met—and I wasn’t being biased because she was mine.
And she was—mine, that was.
We had all been referring to her as ours, but it was like, once Samuel came home, everything solidified. Every member of my pack was Dada, and I didn’t feel possessive or unhappy with that. Fuck, it felt natural. During the later months of Kennedy’s pregnancy, I’d worried whether I’d be able to share. Normally, a pack would be totally clueless when it came to who fathered a baby, making the group of dads thing easier. We knew exactly who fathered our two children, but ultimately, that didn’t matter.
Storm had looked terrified when he first held Samuel.
“Dude… do they all start this tiny?” he asked in a panicked voice.
“Charlotte was a whole pound smaller.” Kennedy smiled as she watched Storm do his best not to freak out.
“Oh god,” he muttered, looking to his pack mates in a panic.
We laughed as Kennedy scooped Samuel out of his arms and snuggled him close to her chest.
The bottle was easy enough to make one-handed, an art I had perfected over the last few nights. Kennedy had said she was happy to do some night feeds, but she was exhausted from growing and birthing our sweet little spawn and needed sleep to heal.
She hadn’t been disturbed in the night once since coming home. The guys and I were all on duty constantly, ensuring nothing disturbed our omega.
“You want me to change him while you do that?” Storm asked sleepily from the doorway.
“Sure, what are you doing awake?”
“Char was fussing, so I didn’t want to sleep just yet,” he said, holding out his hands for the baby.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
Storm shrugged. “The way I see it, I am due many, many diaper changes after not being there for Charlotte.”
I chuckled. “Well, if you want to ease your guilt by taking the dirty job, I won’t say no,” I said, passing him the baby.
Storm gently rocked the baby, a dopey grin plastered across his face. Storm had taken to parenthood better than I had ever imagined he could.
When the truth of Charlotte's parentage had been discovered, I would be lying if I said I didn't have my reservations. The Storm standing in front of me was a completely different man to the Storm of ten months ago.
“How’s Kennedy doing?” Storm asked. “Charlotte’s loving the sleepovers, by the way. She’s just insisting she peeks in on baby brother occasionally.”
“Good, she’s mainly just sleeping. Our son has been surprisingly easy,” I said.
Storm gave me a startled look. “Dude, don’t jinx it!”
I laughed, throwing my head back.
We were both silent for a moment while I finished prepping Samuel’s bottle and Storm changed his diaper.
“There you go, little man, all clean,” Storm cooed as he snapped the fasteners on his onesie closed.
He padded over to me, Samuel tucked in his arms, going to hand him over. “You want to feed him?” I asked.
Storm paused for a second, before nodding, taking the bottle out of my hand. “Are you sure?”
“I can go start the dishwasher while you do that,” I explained. It was total bullshit. I didn't need to mess with the dishwasher, but I could tell that Storm would love an opportunity to feed Samuel.
By the time I returned from the pointless task, Storm was sitting on the sofa as Samuel guzzled his nighttime feed.
“It’s insane, isn’t it?” I muttered. “They’re just so…amazing.”
“How the fuck did we get so lucky?” Storm asked.
“I honestly don’t have any idea,” I admitted. “Can you imagine if you told us a year ago that this is what our life would be?”
Storm snorted lightly. “I wouldn't have believed you for one second. It is pretty damn perfect, though, isn't it?”
“Hopefully, by this time next year, we will be in a large house and all official as a pack with paperwork.”
A groan escaped Storm’s chest. “I totally understand that Kennedy needs to heal and take things at her own pace, but am I the only one who desperately wants to bite her right now?”
I chuckled. Lately, I'd been consumed with thoughts of biting Kennedy, of claiming her into the pack, making her officially ours. I wanted to hold on tightly and never let her go. “You're not the only one.”
“Fuck… all in good time. Yes, we better enjoy this,” he said, looking down at Samuel.
“They don't stay that little for long. Soon, they'll be stomping around, insisting we take them to the park and show them those dancing fruit videos.”
“We never should have let Micha show Charlotte those damn videos.”
I nodded.
“Those things haunt my dreams. Who knew a happy, dancing blueberry could look so demonic?”
After a few moments, Storm sighed. “I wish I could fix everything for Kennedy.”
We had all pointedly been avoiding the topic of Kennedy's suspension and focusing on the birth of Samuel. Now that we’d been home a few days, it was time to start thinking about what was going on.
“No matter what happens, we're going to be there for her.”
“It's all my fault,” Storm said, his face drawn.
“No, it’s not.” I insisted. “You never could have known that Lorna would be that psychotic. She is the one at fault here, and we will do whatever we can to make this right for us. We are a pack and a family, and we will see this through together.”
“Do you think we could pay another university to let Kennedy take her finals there?”
“It would be expensive,” I said.
Storm shrugged. “Then, I guess we better get saving because we've already got to start college funds for Samuel and Charlotte.”
“And however many more children we have in the future.” I chuckled. “College is going to bankrupt us.”