“I don’t blame him. I have no idea what I would do if something happened to my mom.” Alex looked out the window as they drove over the border into the weare-territory. “My family is my everything, and all I do, I do for them.”
Getting to Know My Dance Partners
Charlie’s bedroom was decorated eclectically, with a hodge-podge of styles and aesthetics. The wall behind his bed was covered in band posters and pages ripped from what appeared to be a guitar enthusiast magazine. On the other three walls hung gorgeous, expensive looking paintings. His furniture was all contemporary and high-end, but strewn about the floor were t-shirts, worn out jeans, and a pair of converse that looked like a dog got to them. It seemed, to Alex, that Charlie was caught between two worlds –– the world of wealth and politics, to which his father belonged, and that of a wannabe, carefree rock star.
She spent close to an hour in Charlie’s room, snooping, but eventually grew bored. Her instructions were to stay locked in his room until the brothers came home, but who knew when that was going to be? She decided there was no harm in sneaking down the hall and stealing a quick peek into the bedrooms of the other two Armstrong brothers. She would, after all, soon be sharing with them the most intimate thing any woman has to offer. Poking around in someone’s bedroom didn’t seem that invasive in comparison.
Theodore’s room was smaller than Charlie’s, and simpler. He didn’t have any posters or paintings on the wall. In fact, there were really no decorations at all. There was a bed, a desk, a chair, and a massive bookshelf, which was overflowing with books. Each shelf held dozens of them, stacked every which way, crammed into every open space. Those that did not fit in the shelves were piling up on the desk, the floor; there was even a small pile beginning on his bed.
Alex smiled.
I wonder if that’s what sold Teddy on me, the fact that I work in a library.
She used to be a big reader when she was a kid, but now, living the way she did, seeing the things she’d seen, books were not the escape they once were. They only reminded her of how limited her options were.
Xavier’s room was exactly what Alex expected –– orderly, practical, and boring. There was no clutter, no design aesthetic, no personality. The only piece of décor was a small painting that hung on the far wall. It was of a beautiful seascape, with a lighthouse off in the distance. It didn’t appear to be professionally done. Alex thought maybe Xavier painted it himself, although he didn’t exactly strike her as the artistic type. He was, by far, the most stoic of the three brothers, the most like his father.
Feeling that what was supposed to be just a quick glance had now turned into a full blown snoop session, Alex decided it was time to return to Charlie’s room, where she belonged.
She slipped back into the hallway and heard the front door open.
“Yes, yes, come on in.” It was Bartholomew. Alex froze. “My boys will be returning any minute now, and I want the food to be ready for when they are finished with the ceremony. The kitchen is right through that door.”
She heard a slew of footsteps pattering across the tile floor of the front room. Bartholomew must have hired some caterers to feed them after the ceremony, meaning he and all these strangers were going to be there when the brothers arrived. Alex’s mind raced as she tried to figure out where exactly she should go from here. The brothers would look for her in Charlie’s room the second they got home, and if she wasn’t there, they might start to panic. The only problem was the hallway that stretched from Xavier’s room to Charlie’s opened up in the middle and was perfectly visible from the entryway. No, running to Charlie’s room was not an option.
Instead, she opted to hide in Xavier’s room. His closet was neat; all his clothes were organized by color and style. Pushing past the impeccably pressed suits and button downs, she made her way to the back corner and curled up into the smallest shape possible.
Even if the brothers found her in a timely matter and without raising any suspicions, one major problem still remained: the other woman. How were they supposed to sneak her out the back door of the house without being seen? And wouldn’t Bartholomew expect her to join them for lunch after the ceremony?
Alex pushed those concerns out of her head. Nothing good would come of having a panic attack, here and now, while she was hiding in some weare’s closet, waiting for him and his brothers to come home so they could try to impregnate her.
All the she could do was sit, wait, and try not to forget how to breathe.
It took them nearly an hour to find her. The brothers arrived home not long after their father did. Alex heard the slam of the front door. Their voices were muffled. She couldn’t make anything out at first, then she heard Bartholomew’s booming voice echoing through the house, welcoming them home and greeting the “soon to be mother of my grandbaby.”
Again, their voices became muted. They stayed down there, talking, for twenty plus minutes. Finally, she heard someone ascending the staircase.
“I’m just going to change.” It was Charlie. “I’ll be right back down.”
It took everything in Alex’s power not to yell for him. She bit down on her bottom lip to keep herself from making any noise. She heard Charlie walk towards his room, then a few minutes later she heard his footsteps again in the hallway. Slowly, she slipped out of the closet and walked towards Xavier’s door. She reached for the handle when she heard another voice.
“What’s going on?” Teddy was upstairs now too.
“I don’t know, she isn’t in my room,” said Charlie.
They were just outside of Xavier’s door, whispering. Alex carefully grabbed the door handle and turned it as quietly as possible. She didn’t want to scare either of them, in case they yelled.
Opening the door just a few inches, she peered out with one eye. Charlie was staring back at her. He grinned.
“There you are!” He and Teddy filed into the bedroom and closed the door behind them. “Why weren’t you in my room?”
“I was in the hallway when I heard your dad come home,” said Alex. “I just ran into the room that was closest and hid.”
“Sorry about that,” said Teddy. “We had no idea he was planning all this. He wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Well, mission accomplished.” Alex sighed. “So what are we going to do?”
“Exactly what we planned to do.” Teddy glanced over his shoulder at the door, then continued. “We will bring Cassandra up with us, and she’ll stay in one of our bedrooms while you and us, you know... complete the ceremony.”
“We’ll leave her in here and do it in my bedroom,” Charlie suggested.
“No, I am not having this ceremony under the watchful, black-rimmed eyes of those guys from your punk band posters,” said Teddy. “We’ll use my bedroom.”
“How are we even going to do that with all those books on your bed!” Charlie shook his head. “How about we do it in here and Cassandra ––”
“Wait a minute. We’re all going to do it... together?” Alex looked back and forth from Teddy to Charlie. “Like, you’ll all be in the room with me when we...”
“Uh, yeah.” Charlie rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s how it’s traditionally done with brothers.”
“Oh. I see.” Alex looked down at her feet.
“Does that make you uncomfortable?” Teddy asked.
“No, I mean, we should do it however it’s supposed to be done, I guess. Have you done this before?” They shook their heads.
Charlie’s cheeks were starting to turn red. “I mean, she does have a point. It might be a little... awkward, having you guys with us when she and I... And vice versa. Maybe we should separate.”
“So she hops from each of our bedrooms.” Teddy nodded. “That could work. We’d be more comfortable, being in our own rooms.” He winked at Alex. “Might make us perform better.”
Alex ignored his flirting. She wasn’t here for pleasure; she was there to change her future. “Look, I don’t care how we do it, but
we got to do it fast.”
“I’ve got it.” The voice came from the doorway behind them. Xavier had come in without them noticing.
“Jesus, Xav!” Charlie put a hand to his chest. “You scared the crap out of us.”
“Here’s what we’ll do,” he said, walking into the middle of the room. “Father is busy with planning the after party. I sent Cassandra to Charlie’s room. Alex, you and I will start, since you’re already here. Then, you’ll move onto Teddy’s room. Then you’ll move to Charlie’s room, and Cassandra and Teddy will come to my room and we will wait for you here. Does that make sense?”
“How fun,” said Teddy. “It’s like musical chairs, but with sex partners.”
Xavier gave him a look. “What a lovely image, thanks for that.” He looked at Alex. “I’m sorry this has gotten so out of hand. I know you are in a very odd, vulnerable position here, and I don’t think any of us would be angry with you if you chose to walk away.”
Alex looked at the three brothers. “You’re going to help me, and my family, right? You won’t go back on your word?”
“Technically, it was only Charlie who promised we would help your family,” said Teddy. Charlie punched him on the arm, hard. “Ow. Okay, okay. Yes. We will give you whatever you want.”
“Within reason,” Xavier added. “If you get pregnant, we will take great care of you and your family. We promise.”
“Then I’m in.” Alex clapped her hands and rubbed them together. “Let’s get this game of musical chairs going.”
Growing Up
Alex never made it back to work that day. Given the unexpected hiccups in their plan, what was supposed to take less than half an hour, ended up taking nearly two. Then, after all was said and done, Alex had to wait, hiding yet again in Xavier’s closet, until the catering staff all left and Bartholomew returned to his study. At that point, it was already early evening and the library would be closing up.
“Is your boss going to be upset?” Charlie asked as the two of them sat in the town car, parked a few blocks from Alex’s house. He insisted on riding with her, making sure she got home okay.
“I doubt he even noticed.”
Charlie stared down at his hands. “I enjoyed... our time together.”
“Yeah, it was nice.” Alex smiled. It hadn’t been her first time –– not by a long shot –– and she was sure it hadn’t been his either, but it was different. They both felt it. Being with someone outside of your species was an entirely new experience. “You were all... good...” Alex laughed. She put the back of her hand to her cheeks, which were burning up. “Sorry, is that a weird thing to say about your brothers?”
“This whole thing is pretty weird, if you think about it, which I’ve been trying not to.” Charlie laughed as well. “My dad is very traditional when it comes to this community. Breeding ceremonies are not really done like this anymore in most other weare communities.”
“What are we going to tell him? If I end up getting pregnant, I mean.”
Charlie let out a long, tired breath. “I don’t know. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, we can all just relax. You go home, lie down, and focus on growing a baby.” Alex gawked at him and now Charlie was the one who looked embarrassed. “Sorry, that definitely was a weird thing to say.”
Alex opened the door. “I better get going. I have a very important, very scary family meeting I have to get to.”
“Before you leave, I have something.” Charlie fished in his pants pocket and pulled out a small coin purse.
He handed it to Alex. It was heavy in her hand, obviously full. “But why? We don’t even know if it took.”
“Just take it.”
She examined the purse. “This is beautiful.”
“It was my mother’s. The coins inside should be enough to get your family by for the next little while. Until Joel can find a new job.” Charlie smiled sadly. “And you can sell the purse too, if you want. The lining is real silk and the metal clasp is plated in real gold.”
Alex grabbed Charlie’s hand. “I would never sell this.”
She got out of the car and closed the door.
Charlie rolled down the window. “So, we’ll check in on you in a few days. See if you’re showing any signs of being pregnant. Does that sound good?”
“A few days?” Alex frowned. “Won’t it take longer than that for me to start showing signs?”
“Did nobody tell you?” Charlie asked. “Werewolf babies grow a lot faster than human babies. You’ll be starting to get symptoms maybe as early as tonight.”
“So then, how long will it be before I give birth?”
“Three months. Maybe four.” Charlie beamed up at her. “Just think, in a matter of weeks, you’re going to be a mom.” He waved at her, rolled up the window, and drove away.
Alex looked down at her belly. “Holy shit. I’m going to be a mom.”
Her five fathers and mother were all already eating dinner by the time Alex got home. She’d gone for a long walk after Charlie left her. She needed some time to herself, to think about the afternoon’s events, and most importantly, how she felt about them.
Once she walked through the door to her house, she had already organized her various feelings into three categories: feelings of excitement, feelings of confusion, and most overwhelming of all, feelings of fear. Having them divided into these groups somehow made it easier for Alex to analyze them, which she knew she needed to do before she broke the news to her mother. If Alex approached the subject without really understanding how she herself felt about it first, she knew her mother would notice her insecurities and jump on them.
She ate her dinner in near silence, avoiding Joel’s constant glances at her from across the table. Her mother tried to ask multiple times how Alex’s day had been, but she only provided a few non-committal, one word answers. When they had all cleared their plates, Joel cleared his throat, and announced that he and Alex had something they needed to discuss with everyone.
Alex stared wide-eyed at her father, suddenly doubting everything. “Joel, maybe we should––”
“I got fired.”
“You what?” Uma was standing by the sink, drying the dishes. She put the plate she was carrying down carefully and turned back towards the table. “How? When?”
“Yesterday.” Joel didn’t look up. “It was a misunderstanding, I tried to explain to my boss the circumstances, but he didn’t want to hear it.”
“But what exactly happened?” said Pete.
“Some of the guys started something. They were running their mouths, and I just snapped.”
“Oh, Joel.” Uma was wringing the towel in her hands. “What are we going to do? Without your paycheck...”
Joel brought his eyes to Alex’s. “Care to chime in?”
They all turned their gazes on her. Without thinking, she put a hand protectively over her belly. “I did something a little crazy, but before I tell you, I just want to say that I did it for us, and it’s already turning out to be a good investment.” Alex pulled the coin purse from her pocket and dropped it in the middle of the table. “That’s enough to help us get by until Joel can find a job, or, until I figure out whether or not I’m pregnant.”
A heavy, unnerving silence wafted through the Greenford kitchen. Alex decided she would break it and charge through the rest of her explanation. “Earlier today I partook in a traditional werewolf breeding ceremony. The three Armstrong brothers, they are the sons of the head of the Swan City weare council, asked if I would be their breeding partner for this very important ceremony. We made an arrangement that if I do get pregnant, they will provide for me and for all of us until the baby is born –– potentially afterwards, depending on how involved we would like to be in the baby’s life.”
Uma put the dishrag down on the counter and leaned back against the sink. Her breathing seemed labored; her face drained of blood. “Please, Alex, tell me you are making this up. Tell me you and Joel cultivated some elaborate
prank, that this is just another one of your ridiculous antics you two get into when you’re bored.”
Alex said nothing. Joel shook his head.
“Oh, god.” Uma clutched her chest. “I think I’m going to have a heart attack.” Clark and Adam stood up and went to her side. They instructed her to lean over and breathe deeply. Pete got her a glass of water and William repeated a calming mantra in his soothing voice.
Alex allowed her mother a few minutes of panic and despair. She knew this was exactly the type of thing Uma was afraid would happen to her precious daughter.
“Listen, mom. I need you to understand, this was my choice. They approached me with the idea, gave me some time to think about it, and I decided to it was the best option for us.”
“Is this is because Joel lost his job?” said Pete. “You shouldn’t have run off and done something so stupid without talking to us first! We could have figured out another solution.”
“It had nothing to do with Joel losing his job.” Alex’s voice came out angrier than she meant, but she was not about to let Joel meet the consequences of her actions. “I decided to do this before I knew anything about him getting fired. You guys, I need you to hear me, actually hear me.”
She looked directly at her mom. “This is a good thing. They are good men, the Armstrong brothers. They have been nothing but kind to me since the moment we met. Swan City is on the verge of a complete social and political collapse –– we all know it. Between the ration cuts, the corruption, and the violence, something needs to change. It’s time we set aside our differences and our fears, and work towards a better future with the weares. You won’t convince me that I made a mistake, and you won’t change my mind about going through with this plan. So.” She moved her eyes around the room, staring intently at each member of her family. “You can either support me or not, but I don’t care to hear anyone else’s opinion on the matter. It is not up for debate.”
The BabyMakers’ Shared Property Page 7
