Malsum Pass

by Forrest, Kimberly

  Tara stared at herself in the mirror. She didn’t usually bother with make-up, but today she wanted to look especially good. Constance had taken her beyond good to stunning. “Constance, you are a miracle worker.” Tara said, amazed.

  “Pfft” Constance waved a hand. “I’m not a plastic surgeon, Tara. You were already beautiful. I just enhanced it a bit.”

  The bell over the front door rang and Constance spun around to block Tara from view. “Riley Cooper, you get out of here right now! It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”

  Tara heard Riley laugh. “I’m just holding the door for Sherry and Addie.” He said as Addie bustled in with hands full of to-go cups of coffee and juice while Sherry’s arms were loaded with garment bags.

  “Lying in wait was what you were doing.” Sherry scoffed.

  “Thank you, Coop.” Addie said, “You can go now.”

  Riley sighed. “I’m going.” And then he yelled “I love you, Tara! I’ll see you soon!”

  Tara laughed. “I love you too, Riley.”

  Two hours later the women pulled up to the town office building in Sherry’s black SUV where Tara’s step-father Matty who had flown up for the wedding and Vahl waited to escort her into the council chambers where she and Riley would be married by one of the elders who had been ordained years ago for just such occasions.

  Addie had done a beautiful job with the decorations, the entire chamber smelled of cinnamon and apples and was adorned with bouquets of colorful fall leaves and ribbons, hollowed out pumpkins held bunches of mums, and the council table, covered in a white cloth held lit pillar candles surrounded by leaves and pinecones.

  She watched as everyone took their places, the council room full to bursting. The entire town had once again closed down, this time for the wedding. She noticed Sebastian Black had indeed made an appearance though he had tucked his large frame into a back corner. But when she spotted Riley, her eyes locked on him and there they stayed. He took both of her hands in his and whispered, “My God, sweetheart, you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I thank the heavens above every day that you’re mine.”

  She felt a prickle of tears behind her eyes but smiled happily up at the man she loved, “I love you, Riley. My life wasn’t complete until I found you.” Riley smiled and after that she noticed nothing more until the elder said: “I now pronounce you man and wife.” And to Riley “You may kiss your bride.”

  Riley placed a hand on her velvet covered belly and winked at her, “And not a moment too soon.” He said before he dipped her in front of everyone to kiss her deeply.

  The room exploded with the sound of applause, cheers, and even a few howls.

  Epilogue

  Three months later…

  “Are you ready for this, sweetheart?” Riley asked holding her hand and she nodded.

  “I’m excited, aren’t you? I want to know if I’m having boys or girls.” Tara said. “Plus it’ll give us a better idea of what we need for the nursery.”

  “Are you ever going to tell the rest of the family that we’re expecting twins or do you plan to wait until the actual birth to surprise them?” He asked chuckling, rubbing a hand over the mound of her belly.

  “I’d be surprised if they don’t already suspect considering how big I already am at this stage. But then again, I’ve been eating like a horse so they may blame it on my need for cheeseburgers.” She laughed.

  Doctor Bascomb turned and smiled at both of them holding up the bottle of jelly. “Shall we?” He asked.

  Tara nodded eagerly. Riley hadn’t been able to convince Doctor Bascomb to move his practice to them, but he had convinced him to come down once a month to keep tabs on Tara and the babies and when she went into her third trimester he planned to come down and stay in Riley’s cabin until after the babies were born. Every time he was in the area he grilled both Riley and Tim, the paramedic on emergency procedures should Tara need it and Tara felt confident she was in good hands.

  When Zack had come home on break and found out she was pregnant he had told her that he had helped in the delivery of a colt, a calf, and a half dozen pups so he was fully qualified to handle a niece or nephew, after all, how hard could it be? At which point Tara had laughed and punched him soundly in the arm.

  Tara lifted her maternity top and Doctor Bascomb tucked a towel in the waistband of her stretch pants before squirting her belly liberally with jelly. He applied the wand as he looked at the screen of his portable ultrasound machine. Immediately Tara could hear the whooshing of the heartbeats and she gripped Riley’s hand harder.

  “How do they look, Doc?” Riley asked, staring at the screen.

  “They’re looking great and right on target.” He turned the screen slightly and Tara tipped her head so she could get a better view. Doctor Bascomb pointed. “Now this lovely little darling isn’t shy at all, she’s showing off for us.”

  “She?” Tara asked excitedly while Riley just continued to stare at the screen. She patted his hand. “Your daughter is already a true shifter with no modesty whatsoever.” She said with a grin.

  Doctor Bascomb nodded and grinned, pointing at the screen again. “Since we already determined that you were having identical twins weeks ago this little love over here is a girl as well, but she’s shy.” He said with a chuckle.

  Riley picked up Tara’s hand and kissed it. “She takes after her mommy.” He had tears in his eyes.

  “Let me just get a few things here,” Doctor Bascomb said as he touched some buttons on the machine. “And then I’ll print you out some images for your babies’ first pictures collection.”

  When Doctor Bascomb finished and Riley had cleaned the jelly off Tara’s belly and straightened her clothes, they thanked the Doctor, took the pictures and told him they’d see him in a month before they bundled up against the winter chill and headed over to the diner where everyone had agreed to wait.

  It was more than just the family waiting for them. When they entered the diner it was packed with townspeople and Lucy looked frazzled as she yelled. “You need to get pregnant often, Tara if it’s going to generate this kind of business!” Lily, the feline shifter was even helping Lucy out, carrying around the coffee pot and refilling mugs.

  Addie stood up from her booth wringing her hands and asked “Well? Don’t keep us in suspense, Tara.”

  Riley stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her so that his hands were on her belly and kissed the top of her head. She looked over her shoulder and smiled before turning her attention back to the expectant faces. “We are having twin girls.”

  The room erupted with cheers and laughter. Jacob, that giant turd, even pulled out his cell phone and played the hallelujahs from Handel’s Messiah. Tara laughed and then they were surrounded by people. Hugs for Tara and kisses on the cheeks, pats on the back for Riley with “good job” thrown in there a few times.

  Tara saw Addie talking rapidly to L.J. and ticking points off on her fingers, while her grandfather listened patiently; a sure sign that Addie was working on a plan and giving out a to do list. Tara chuckled.

  Conner, Jacob, and Zack who was home for winter break, were laughing and patting each other on the back in congratulation as if they had something to do with it. Tara shook her head and smiled.

  The smile quickly died however when she saw that her father had his arm around Sherry, whispering in her ear while Sherry – that tough as nails bitch that everyone was so intimidated by – was crying, and Tara’s heart broke a little for the older woman.

  Tara gave Riley’s arm a pat, rose up on tiptoe to kiss his scruffy jaw and then extricated herself from his arms. Her father smiled at her over Sherry’s head as she approached and said “Congratulations, baby girl. This is such great news.”

  She looked at Sherry skeptically, and said “Is it?”

  Sherry wiped her eyes with one hand and grabbed Tara’s hand with the other to tug her close. “Oh, it is, Tara. I promise
you. It’s the best news we’ve had in a long time.”

  “Then why are you crying, Sherry? You know that this isn’t a slight to you, right?” Tara asked worried.

  Sherry gave Tara a watery smile and nodded. “Oh, I know, but you’ve given this town so much hope that the tides are turning; twin girls! I know everyone is hoping they’ll see an upswing in female children now. You have made our future so much brighter.”

  Tara shook her head and smiled. “All I did was get pregnant, Sherry, I didn’t cure cancer.”

  Sherry squeezed Tara’s hand. “What you did was prove that our kind still has a future. You are proof that a shifter could mate with a non-shifter as L.J. did, and even though a child born from that union may not be able to shift, that child could one day be mates with a pure blood and their children will be shifters. Before you we were facing the very real possibility of eventual extinction. You are proof that we will live on. I may not have been able to save this town, Tara Cooper, but you have and for that I will always love you. You may not have been my daughter, but you are the daughter of my heart and I am going to love you and my granddaughters to pieces. Thank you for them, thank you so much.”

  Tara felt a prickle of tears at Sherry’s praise and nudged her. “You and I both know that it’s the male that decides the sex. You should be thanking Riley.”

  Sherry snorted and nudged her back. “Coop’s head is big enough without unnecessary flattery.”

  Tara laughed.

  When they arrived back home, Riley kept a hand at the small of Tara’s back as they walked up the stairs and took up their favorite position on the bed: Tara on her side with Riley spooned behind her, one arm under her head and the other wrapped around her to rub her belly.

  Tara told him what Sherry had said and he chuckled. “I think we should get a plaque to commemorate your achievement. “ He said rubbing her belly “Tarvahla Mason Cooper, had sex and saved Malsum Pass.”

  Tara laughed. “We can put it just past the sign as you enter the town.”

  “I’ll put it to a vote at the next meeting; I’m guessing it’ll pass unanimous.”

  Tara chuckled and then sighed. “Girls, Riley, I can hardly believe it.”

  He rubbed her belly and she could feel his smile against her hair. “Have you had any thoughts on names?” He asked.

  She laughed again. “Grandpa told me absolutely no hippie names.”

  “What? No Peaches and Herb, or Wind Song and Rainbow? The man’s crazy!” Riley laughed.

  Tara laughed so hard she snorted and then laughed some more which made her have to get up to pee. When she returned she was still softly chuckling as she laid down again, this time facing Riley. “I was actually thinking we could name them Angela and Marisol.” She waited for Riley’s reaction.

  “Named for our mothers? I think that it’s perfect, sweetheart.” He kissed her forehead and then her nose. “You’re perfect.” Then he scooted down the bed to lift Tara’s top and expose the mound of her belly before he kissed it and said, “Can you hear me Angela and Marisol? Your mommy is perfect and so are both of you. You’re the result of how much your daddy loves your mommy, and I can’t wait to hold both of you in my arms.”

  When he crawled back up the bed, Tara was sniffling with tears in her eyes. “I love you, Riley Cooper, so much.”

  He pulled her close and kissed her. “I love you more than I ever thought possible, Tara Cooper. Thank you for coming to Malsum Pass to find me.”

  Tara smiled and snuggled closer. “You’re welcome.” She yawned and then whispered “And so the Princess and The Big Bad Wolf lived happily ever after.”

  Riley closed his eyes and smiled.

  THE END