Chapter Twenty-Six
Tyrone
Millie came out of her nest last. She had been resting a bit more lately. In the meantime, I was losing sleep over the dream about her father coming to steal her away.
“Good morning,” I said and chuckled when she made a beeline for the coffeepot, grumbling something incoherent on the way. “Bad morning? It didn’t sound like it at all from here.”
I lifted my coffee cup to my lips, steeling myself for the feisty omega. She had come out of her shell of late and more so since her heat. “Oh my goddess.” She slapped my biceps playfully. “You did not hear that.”
“What? There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself—multiple times.”
She drank some of her coffee and moaned. “You can’t embarrass me. Not after that heat. But you could keep some things private, Tyrone.”
“Why?” Felix came into the room and patted her behind. “It’s only the four of us here.”
For some reason, that comment made her still. She turned a particular shade of green before sprinting to the bathroom where we heard her heaving into the toilet.
Felix pointed at me. “You did it.”
“I did nothing but pick on her. Let’s go see what’s going on.”
We walked into the bathroom to see Millie sitting in front of the toilet. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead and drenched her hair.
She was crying.
“Baby, what is it?” Felix scooped her up and put her on the bathroom counter while I ran cool water over a washcloth and wiped her face and the back of her neck.
“I’ve been sick a few times in the past week. And then you said the four of us and I freaked.”
“There are four of us here.” Felix gave me a look. Maybe she was delirious.
“I can’t even say it.” She hung her head.
“Can’t say what?” Cannon came in, concern written on his face but, as soon as he saw that she was taken care of, he was fine. Kind of. He leaned against the doorframe. “Can’t say what?”
She took us in one by one. “It’s been three months since the heat.”
“You’re going into another one? Is it time?” I asked. I started to mentally prepare a list of things to get ready. Meals prepped. I wondered if she would need more things for her nest.
“No. Instead of four of us, there might be five of us soon.”
Felix’s eyebrows bunched. We waited for him to catch up. He was the smartest person I knew about some things, but common sense? It took him a minute. “Someone’s visiting?”
I flicked him in the forehead, hoping to reset him. “She’s having a baby. You think or you know, sweetheart.”
“My bear told me in a dream. Showed me the baby. But that was a week ago, so I thought maybe it was a vision of the future, but now, I don’t think it was. I think I’m pregnant. Right now.”
Cannon growled. “You’re having our baby.” He said it so matter-of-factly.
“We have to get a test, right?” she asked. “Or are we just going to fly by the seat of our pants here?”
I scratched the back of my head. “I might have some in my room.”
Every eye landed on me. “Why?” she queried.
“For an instance like this. I thought it might happen sooner or later. We don’t go into town very often, so I thought it was better to have some rather than have to wait to go there, pick one up, come back home, and then take the test. That would be nerve-wracking.”
Cannon looked at me. “Get it, please. I’ve got her.”
I ran to my room and got two tests, just in case, and rushed back to the bathroom where my omega was cuddled between the other two alphas.
Together, we read the instructions and then Millie insisted we leave the room so she could do her business.
Even after everything we’d been through, she still didn’t use the bathroom in front of us.
Claimed she had to keep the mystery alive.
She used the bathroom, washed her hands, and then came out, looking even greener.
“Two minutes,” I said.
She nodded but, as we waited, she crossed her arms over her chest. Protective mode. We knew it well.
“What’s going on, sweetheart?” Cannon asked. “What are you thinking?”
“The truth?”
“Nothing but…” he added.
“Fine. I’m scared that I’m going to be a shit mother, and I don’t know anything about raising children, and we never talked about having kids. And now, here I am, tying you three down with a kid. And I don’t know how all of you are going to react and I’m scared. Shit. I said that twice.”
Cannon hooked his finger under her chin.
“Let’s go through the list. One, all we have to do is love this baby and you’re going to be an incredible mother.
Two, you’ve got us tied down with your love and we are happy to be strapped down.
It’s all voluntary. Three, no matter what it says, we’re going to be happy, and we love you to the ends of the earth. Period. Nothing will ever change that.”
I fist-bumped him. “Well said.”
When the timer on my phone went off, she went in and came out with the biggest smile on her face.
She held up the stick. “There’s a cub in my belly. I’m gonna be a mama.”
We took her to the nest to celebrate for the rest of the morning. She was enough to make us happy but a baby? Life couldn’t get any better than this.