by R. E. Butler
She tilted back her head and stared at the trees over their heads, and then she sighed deeply and lowered her head until she was looking at them. “I’m not on birth control.”
Fate frowned and glanced at Wyked, who looked as confused as he felt.
“I don’t understand,” Wyked said. “Why would you be worried about being on birth control?”
“Yeah, I mean we haven’t had sex in three years, so there wouldn’t be any reason for you to be on it.”
Her cheeks flamed crimson, and she ground her molars, making a muscle in her cheek jump. “No, it’s not that. Or it’s not just about that. We’ve never talked about having kids. We’re going to start living together on Saturday, and I’m not on anything that would prevent me from getting pregnant.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to get pregnant?” Fate asked.
She let out a little frustrated grunt. “I’m not saying this right. There are two of you, and only one of me. And I can only have one kid at a time, and I was wondering if you’d know if a child belonged to one of you or not. I’ve been wondering if I have a baby with one of you, will the other will be jealous? Should we use condoms for one of you until I get pregnant and then switch to the other using condoms, so you each get your own baby?”
For a long moment, no one said anything. Her words hung in the air between them, a question that he’d never given much thought to but that clearly had been worrying her.
“Kitten,” Wyked said, lifting her hand to his lips. “First of all, we’re identical twins, so unless a cub happens to take after one of us as he or she grows up, I don’t know that we would be able to tell if a cub was mine or Fate’s unless we did some kind of DNA testing. And that’s not something that Fate or I would ever want to do.”
Fate nodded. “Any children you have will belong to all three of us. They’ll all be precious.”
She blinked rapidly a few times, and her eyes shone with unshed tears. He drew her against him, and Wyked moved to her back, caging her between them. “Oh, sweetheart,” Fate murmured. “We’re going to have a wonderful family.”
She sniffled and rubbed her cheek against his chest. “I just don’t want either of you to resent me or each other.”
Fate said, “We won’t.”
“Besides,” Wyked said, lowering his voice, “we want to come inside you. We don’t want there to be anything between us.”
She lifted her head, and Fate brushed the tears from her cheeks. “I don’t want there to be anything between us either.”
“Good,” Fate said. “But if you ever need or want to take a break from the possibility of getting pregnant, you only need to let us know. You’re utterly in charge.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m really not.”
“What? Of course you are.”
“No, if I had my way, we would have made love that first night we were together, and I’d already have had a kid or two.”
Her smirk told him that her worries and sadness had eased enough to joke.
Wyked growled. “Tempting little kitten.”
“Thank you,” she said. She rose onto her toes and kissed Fate and then turned to kiss Wyked.
“For what?” Fate asked.
“For being wonderful. I’m the luckiest mountain lion in the world.”
“And we’re the luckiest panthers,” Wyked said. “To have such a beautiful, amazing lioness to call our own.”
Chapter 5
Saturday could not come fast enough in Jilly’s opinion. Even though she’d been busy for the last three years, the time had dragged sometimes. The good thing about the long wait to consummate their mating was that she’d had the opportunity to get to know her mates, and she now counted Wyked and Fate as her best friends.
She rolled out of bed and reached for her phone, smiling at the texts from her mates, the clan, and the pride. She wished she’d been able to spend the night with Wyked and Fate, but in following with human wedding traditions, they weren’t allowed to see one another until the ceremony, which started at twelve thirty in the afternoon. Just a few short hours away.
There was a knock at the door, and Rue, her step-mom, said, “Are you up, honey?”
“Yeah, come in.”
Rue opened the door and just behind her was her father. “Happy birthday,” they said in unison.
“The whole pride is waiting for you downstairs for breakfast, but we wanted to bring you something special first,” Rue said. She handed Jilly a box wrapped with silver paper and tied with a lacy, white ribbon.
“Thanks,” Jilly said. She scooted back on the bed, and John and Rue sat on the edge and watched her pull the ribbon and tear the paper. Inside the box, buried under tissue paper, was a red satin box, which opened to reveal a silver necklace with a pink gemstone heart.
Jilly lifted it from the box and held it up, smiling as the sunlight reflected off the pink stone. Rue pulled a matching necklace out from under her shirt collar and said, “I wanted you to know that even though you’re not my daughter by birth, you’re the daughter of my heart and I love you very much.”
Jilly moved to Rue and hugged her, eyes stinging with tears at the sweet and thoughtful gesture. “Thanks, Mom. I love you, too.”
She hugged her father, and he said, “I’m so glad you’re here to celebrate your birthday with us.”
If things were different, if her life had stayed on the path that had been set for her by the female mountain lions when she was a child – poisoned with their claws until she felt zero emotions and only wanted to further the purity of their kind – she’d never know her father or her brother, and her father wouldn’t have met Rue and her son, Domino.
“I’m thankful I’m here, too. This has been the best three years of my life.”
She brushed at the tears under her eyes and smiled, holding out the necklace for Rue to put on her. She touched the pendant and said, “It’s so pretty. I love it.”
“It looks beautiful on you,” Rue promised.
“We’ll leave you alone to get dressed. See you downstairs,” her father said.
Jilly stood and walked to the dresser. She looked at her reflection in the attached mirror. She didn’t feel any older than she did yesterday but she supposed that was the way of birthdays. She’d been waiting three years for this birthday, and now it finally arrived. She anticipated a lot of things about the day, but for now she needed to concentrate on celebrating her birthday with her family and friends.
Changing out of her pajamas into a pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt, she found her favorite sandals and then headed to the bathroom. After brushing her teeth and fixing her hair into a ponytail, she headed downstairs. As soon as she hit the bottom step, the soft conversation she’d heard from the kitchen quieted.
“Happy birthday!”
Pride and clan members filled the kitchen, and the cheering was so loud that it felt like it shook the house. Everyone sang “Happy Birthday to You,” and her young cousins purposely sang extra loudly and blew noise makers at the end. She was smiling so much that her cheeks hurt.
“Thank you, everyone,” she said when the song ended and the noise died down. “I’m so happy I get to share this day with you all.”
She went around the room, accepting hugs and kisses from her family and the pride and clan members. She’d never felt so loved by so many people.
“I’m glad you could come,” she said to Dionne.
“Well, the boys made us promise to send their love and birthday wishes to you,” she said. “They were really disgruntled at not getting to say happy birthday in person to you.”
“They can wait four hours,” Dag said with a chuckle. “Impatient cubs.”
“I miss them, too,” she said.
“Come sit at the head of the table,” Ben, one of her cousins, said, pulling out the chair for her.
She sat and he pushed in the chair. Henry and Domino joined her, and Henry presented her with a crystal tiara that twinkled in the overhead light. “Every girl shou
ld be a princess on her birthday,” he said, setting it on her head.
“Aw, thank you.”
Although the table in the boarding house kitchen was long and could seat a lot of people, only Jilly’s family joined her, filling all the chairs. The rest of the pride and clan members filled their plates and headed outside to the picnic tables to enjoy the morning sun.
“Now for your extra special birthday breakfast,” John said, “Rue and Lisa made you all your favorites.”
Jilly looked at the goodies on the table and said, “I’ll take a little of it all!”
John filled her plate with chocolate chip pancakes topped with whipped cream and sprinkles, strips of crispy bacon, and a glass of yogurt topped with fruit and granola.
When he set it in front of her, she said, “Thanks, Dad.”
“Anything for my little girl.”
“Dad,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“What? You’ll always be my little girl. No matter how old you are.”
“That’s sweet,” she said. “You’re the best dad.”
While the meal progressed, her family shared their favorite birthday memories. Her favorite had been when she turned five and her father had taken her to the zoo. He’d let her have her pick of stuffed animals in the gift shop, and she’d brought home a panda. Then her uncles and cousins had surprised her with a cake frosted with pink icing. She didn’t have a lot of happy childhood memories because her emotions had been so stunted, and all the things that should have made her happy only made her angry.
“I think this will be my new favorite,” she said. She swirled the last piece of bacon into the maple syrup on her plate and finished it. “I’m stuffed! Everything was delicious.”
“Now, let’s do presents!” Rue said.
“You already gave me my gift,” Jilly said.
“Yes, but you have other gifts coming your way.”
Dag and Dionne returned to the kitchen and joined the group as Jilly was handed gift after gift from her family and friends. From her father, she’d received a photo album of all the pictures he’d ever taken of her.
“I made myself one, too,” he said with a smile.
“I love it, Dad. Thank you.”
Her brothers gave her a basket of her favorite body wash, lotion, and hair products, her younger cousins gave her a gift card for an online music app, her aunts and uncles gave her a lavender cashmere sweater, and her older cousins gave her a manicure set.
“This is from Wyked and Fate,” Dionne said, setting a long black velvet box in front of her.
Jilly opened it and gasped at the beautiful charm bracelet inside. She lifted it from the box and looked at the charms. There were three – a heart, a house, and a butterfly. Dionne fixed the bracelet on Jilly’s wrist and said, “There’s a note in the box for you.”
Jilly pulled out a small roll of paper that was tied with a tiny piece of twine. She read the note out loud: Dearest Kitten, we wish you the very best of birthdays from the bottom of our hearts. The bracelet is a symbol of what you mean to us: the heart is symbolic of the love we have for one another. The house is because where you are is home for us. And the butterfly is because we’ve watched you blossom in the face of adversity these past three years, to become the beautiful, amazing female you are. With love always, Wyked and Fate.”
Jilly smiled at Dionne. “They’re so sweet.”
“It runs in the family,” Dag said with a wink.
“Please tell them I love the bracelet.”
“Will do,” Dag said.
“Now, what do you want to do?” John asked.
Jilly glanced at the clock on the wall. It was nine thirty. She was planning to start getting ready for her wedding at ten, which left her only a little more free time.
“I want to play video games with my cousins.”
John grinned as her cousins cheered. She followed them into the family room where she sat at one of the couches and was handed a controller. Ben and Owen sat on either side of her, and her other cousins – Brian, Nathan, and Kevin – sat on another couch.
“Room for two more?” Domino asked as he and Henry walked into the room.
“You bet! I’ll kick their butts and then I’ll kick your butts,” she said.
“Never,” Henry said. “We’re undefeated.”
Nathan said, “You have to let her win because it’s her birthday.”
“Yeah,” Kevin said. “I think it’s a law.”
“Okay, so you’ll let me win on my birthday?” Henry asked.
“Yeah, right. Only girls get special treatment on their birthdays,” Owen said.
“That’s sexist but sweet,” Jilly said. “We’ve only got a half hour, so game on!”
* * *
Jilly stepped out of the bathroom with her hair in a towel and her robe tied tight around her waist. She hurried to her bedroom, where she changed into her wedding-day lingerie – a white, lace corset and matching panties. Because it was the end of August and brutally hot outside, she opted not to wear pantyhose and chose sandals instead of heels.
She put on her robe just as there was a knock on the door.
“Ready for your hair and makeup?” Rue called through the door.
“Yep, come in.”
Rue walked in followed by Jilly’s Aunt Lisa and cousin Callie. Lisa was the pride’s official party arranger. She’d planned several weddings, baby showers, and birthday parties, and she was also great with hair. Callie loved to do makeup and had offered to handle Jilly’s.
“I brought a few different polishes,” Rue said as she set a shoebox on the dresser. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted a nude color or clear, or maybe pink?”
“I think a pale pink would be nice,” Jilly said.
Her family got to work getting her ready. She wasn’t used to being primped and pampered, but she enjoyed the attention. While they worked, they shared stories of their own weddings.
When her makeup, hair, and nails were finished, Lisa took the wedding dress out of the closet and unzipped it from the garment bag. The ladies helped Jilly into the dress, careful not to smear her makeup or mess up her hair. The spaghetti-strap dress had a fitted bodice with embroidery and pearls and a layered skirt that made her feel like a princess.
She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. “It’s too bad that tiara was fake. It would have been nice to have a real one for today.”
“Maybe your mates can get you one for your first anniversary,” Callie said. She pulled up sections of Jilly’s carefully curled hair and fixed it at the back of her head with a crystal clip.
“Do you have everything?” Lisa asked, glancing at her watch.
“The dress is new,” Jilly said. “The florist wove Lisa’s grandmother’s pearls into my bouquet so that’s my old item. For blue, my sandals have little blue crystals in the shape of flowers on them.”
“What about borrowed?” Callie asked.
“Oh!” Jilly said.
“Here,” Callie said, slipping a ring off her right hand. “It was my mom’s, and you can borrow it.”
Jilly slid the ruby ring on her finger and said, “Thank you. Why do we do these things anyway?”
“Well,” Lisa said, “it’s tradition. Something old is for remembering the past, something new is looking to the future, something borrowed is to borrow happiness from another person, and something blue is for fidelity.”
“They used to also say you had to put a coin in your shoe for luck,” Rue said. “I don’t think that would be very comfortable, though.”
“I’ll skip the coin, but I like the other traditions,” Jilly said.
Lisa picked up the bouquet from the holder on the dresser and handed it to Jilly. “Are you ready, honey? It’s time to go.”
“I’m so ready,” she said.
The trio walked with her out of the bedroom and helped her down the stairs since she couldn’t see past the fluffy skirt. Her father waited at the bottom of the stairs in a tuxedo, his eyes shining
with tears and a sweet smile on his face.
Rue, Lisa, and Callie wished her luck and headed outside, leaving Jilly with her father.
“You look so beautiful,” he said. “I can’t believe that my little girl is getting married today. I feel like just yesterday you were toddling around and asking for piggy back rides. Where did the time go?”
Jilly shook her head. “I don’t know. Time never waits. It just keeps going. Thank you for being a wonderful father. You never gave up on me, even when I disappeared. I never doubted for a second that I could come to you and you would take me back. I’m sorry for the time we lost, but I’m grateful for the time we’ve had. I’m who I am because of you and your love.”
“I love you, Jilly. You’re the best daughter a dad could ever hope for, and I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become.”
“Ah, I’m going to cry,” Jilly said, fanning her face with her free hand.
“Sorry,” he said, sniffling. “I didn’t mean to get all mushy on you.”
“That’s okay,” she said, taking his arm. “I don’t mind a bit.”
They walked through the foyer and into the kitchen, stopping at the back door that led to the screened-in porch and then the yard, where the entire pride and clan gathered for her marriage and mating ceremony, along with their bear shifter friends from out of town. The pastor, Giselle, a bear shifter, had married other pride members, and Jilly was so thankful to have all of their support and love.
Henry held open the door to the porch and smiled. “Love you, sis,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
As she and John walked across the porch, Domino held open the door for them, grinning broadly. When they stepped onto the grass, the classical music that had been playing switched to the wedding march, and the crowd stood and turned to face her.
Heart pounding, cat prancing with joy, she walked down the aisle to her mates and to her future.
Chapter 6
The morning of their mating and marriage ceremonies had taken forever to arrive in Wyked’s opinion. It had been torture waiting three years for Jilly, but it was a panther custom that dictated everyone in a mating had to be at least twenty-one. He and Wyked were a year older than Jilly. He’d often wished that she were older so they could have mated sooner, but he knew that waiting this long was good for them. It gave them an opportunity to really get to know one another. He was closer to Fate now, too, because they were living in the RV and planning their lives together while they waited for Jilly’s birthday. Jilly had definitely hated the wait, too, and it pained him to see her twisted up about the timing, but it was for the best – something he had to keep telling himself, when it would have been far easier to mate her and say to-hell with tradition.
