The BabyMakers’ Shared Property

by Hollie Hutchins

  Uma, Alex’s dads, and the brothers followed her. Bartholomew went into the other room, calling for the chef.

  “Eli and I are going to go check on Winnie,” said Hera at the foot of the stairs. “She’s upstairs. We’ll be back down in a minute!” She looked at Uma. “Don’t tell her the good stuff till’ I get back.”

  Uma laughed. “You got it.”

  They all found a seat, Alex taking the large, plush recliner. She leaned back, bringing the chair into its reclined position and her feet up. Charlie rushed to her side and gently touched her ankle.

  “What happened?” He ran his fingers gently over the deep red, bloody marks from where the cuffs had dug into her swollen skin. “We need to get a doctor.”

  “Seriously,” said Alex. “I’m fine. I don’t want to see a doctor right now. I just want to sit with my family and hear the epic tale of how they came to the rescue.”

  “But––” Charlie began.

  “No buts.” She reached out and ran a loving hand through his hair. “Please, let me just sit here and listen for a while.”

  He nodded. “Okay. Sure.”

  “Well then,” said Alex. “First thing first, I want to know whose dumb idea it was to start a fire.”

  Joel tucked his head into his chest, shamefully, and lifted an embarrassed hand. “Yeah, that was my bright idea. Not exactly my best moment.”

  Alex let out a loud belly laugh, which felt so good; she didn’t even try to stifle it. Soon, the whole group was laughing, Joel too. Through chuckles, he tried to plead his case. “In my defense,” he argued. “I really didn’t think it would spread so quickly. Who knew grass could catch fire like that?”

  That sent them all over the edge. They laughed until they had tears in their eyes and aches in their stomachs, and Alex got a glimpse of what life might be like for them all in the future; one big happy family.

  The Little Wolf Arrives

  It was in the middle of a restless night, as Alex tiptoed through the guesthouse living room, trying not to wake her mom who was staying on the pull out couch, on her way to raid the fridge, when the baby decided it was ready to greet the world. The first contraction was somewhat small, not dissimilar to the Braxton Hicks false contractions she’d experienced a few days prior. She breathed through the pain and managed to suppress her groan. It passed, and she continued to scavenge.

  A mere minute later, just as she was about to bite into her apple, a second contraction came, this one radiated through her entire body and was quite possibly the worst sensation Alex had ever endured.

  Bent over the counter, leaning her weight on her arms, Alex yelled for her mom. “Mom, wake up! Wake up!” Uma was awake and on her feet in seconds. “The baby is coming.”

  “I’m on it.” Uma grabbed the phone and called the main house. After informing them, she wrapped her arm around Alex’s waist and led her to the door. “They said Nigel will be outside as soon as possible. He’s going to take us to the hospital, and––”

  Alex stopped at the living room couch and leaned over it. “Ah oh.” She was sweating profusely. “I can’t make it to the car. I can’t –– Aaaaarrrrrgggg.” Her mother took her hand and coached her to breathe through the pain.

  “Just get through this contraction and then we’ll hurry to the car.”

  The contraction passed, but only a few seconds later a third one began. There was a knock at the door.

  “Come in!” Uma yelled. “Just come in!”

  Nigel attentively opened the door and poked his head in. “I have the car ready for Ms. Greenford.”

  Alex opened her mouth to say thank you, but instead emitted a scream. Her mother held onto her arm as she eased herself down to the ground. “It’s coming right now. I won’t make it to the hospital.”

  “I’m here, I’m here. What’s going on?” A face appeared over Nigel’s shoulder. Hera was wearing an expression of excitement mixed with fear. “Is everything okay?” She and her family had been staying in the mansion ever since Alex was abducted. “Why aren’t we going to the hospital?”

  “She says she can’t make it,” said Uma.

  Hera pushed passed the stunned driver and sat next to Alex. “Okay then, let’s do this here. Uma, you go get pillows and towels. Nigel, you get the brothers here now!” They did as she asked. Hera grabbed Alex’s hand. It was the one she’d burned two days earlier. It was still bandaged and Hera was careful not to squeeze. “Hey, don’t be scared. We got this. Just remember, I gave birth to a weare at the same time that I went through the transformation of becoming one myself.”

  The current contraction stopped and Alex frowned at her friend. “So what you’re saying is things could be worse?”

  “Exactly.” Hera used her sleeve to wipe some sweat from Alex’s forehead. “Now push.”

  “She looks a lot like her namesake,” Bartholomew said looking down at his granddaughter. “Yes, you do,” he cooed. “You look just like your grandmother, sweet baby Miranda.”

  “She has mom’s eyes,” said Charlie. “Just like me.” The three brothers and Bartholomew were gathered around Alex’s bed. Uma had gone to call Alex’s dads and Hera was talking to the doctor, who arrived seconds after Miranda was born.

  “Well she has my nose,” said Teddy.

  “And my eyebrows,” added Xavier.

  “Okay, okay.” Alex reached out for her little wolf. “Enough of that.” Bartholomew handed Miranda to her mother. “The important thing is that she’s healthy.”

  They all nodded in agreement. Miranda started to cry. “Maybe she’s hungry,” suggested Alex. “I’ll try feeding her again.” She looked at the Armstrong men and offered an apologetic smile. “Would you mind if I fed her in private? I’m still getting used to the whole breast feeding thing and it’s all a little embarrassing if I’m being honest.” She wasn’t exactly being honest. Honestly, all she really wanted was some time alone with her baby. It had been nonstop commotion and visitors since she went into labor, and what she needed, and what she thought Miranda needed, was just a moment of peaceful, mother daughter time.

  “Yes, of course,” said Xavier. “We’ll get out your hair. There are still some last minute things that need done in the nursery anyway.”

  They filed out of the room and closed the door softly behind them.

  Miranda was still crying, quieter now. Alex ran the back of her finger gently down her baby’s cheek. “Shhh, shhh. It’s okay. You’re okay.” The crying stopped and Miranda fell back asleep. “Yeah, that’s all you needed,” Alex whispered. “Just some time to yourself. Better soak it up while you can. We’re not going to get a lot of private time, you know? With such a big, nosey family like this one. No privacy at all. But you know what you will have?” Alex smoothed some of Miranda’s fine hair out of her face. “All the love in the world.”

  She bent her head over and lightly kissed the baby’s forehead. She’d only just met this little girl, and Alex already knew she’d move heaven and earth for her. She stayed like that, staring at her little miracle and daydreaming about what type of person Miranda would grow into, for a long time.

  Uma came in eventually and took the sleeping baby from Alex. She placed Miranda in the crib next to the bed. “You should get some sleep,” she whispered to her own baby girl.

  Alex nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll try.” She shimmed down on the bed and curled up on her side. She was asleep in seconds.

  “And how does the defendant plead?” the judge asks.

  The sheriff says, “not guilty.” The whole courtroom goes up in flames. Alex is trapped. She has Miranda wrapped up in her arms and she’s screaming for the brothers. They can’t get to her.

  Suddenly, someone is next to her. It’s the sheriff. He cackles in her face and rips Miranda from her arms. She tries to reach for her, but he disappears into the flames. The fire is creeping closer and closer to her, flames licking at her. She felt her hand burning again, like it did when she grabbed the door handle.

  T
he burning sensation permeated her whole body––

  Alex woke up in a pool of sweat. She threw the covers off and went to the crib. Miranda was fine, sleeping soundly. It took Alex a long time to cool down. She pulled a chair up to the crib and watched her baby’s chest expand and fall. Her little wolf was nearly two weeks old now, and was growing like a weed.

  The morning sun came through the cracks in the blinds and Alex knew Miranda would be awake and crying for food soon. There was no use going back to sleep. She wanted to go put a pot of coffee on, but couldn’t bring herself to leave her baby’s side.

  A moment later, as if he could read her mind, Teddy came into the bedroom carrying a full mug and a croissant.

  “Oh,” he whispered. “I didn’t know you were up. I was just going to leave this by your bed.”

  Alex reached for the coffee. “I had a bad dream.”

  Teddy handed her the mug. “Careful, it’s hot.” He sat down on the bed across from her chair. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Alex took a sip and shook her head. “Not really. It’s just the same one I’ve been having since Miranda was born.”

  “We’re going to get him,” said Teddy. “Don’t worry.” He let out a small chuckle. “Besides, if we don’t get him behind bars, I’m pretty sure Charlie will kill him. Either way, problem solved.”

  “I know I should encourage Charlie not to do something crazy, but a part of me knows I’d feel a lot safer if Brown was dead.” She looked back down at Miranda. “But don’t tell him I said so.”

  Teddy made the shape of an X on his chest. “Cross my heart. I brought more than coffee, you know. I also come bearing good news.”

  Alex raised her eyebrows.

  “We got a call from Sasha Pearl late last night.”

  “Sasha Pearl?” asked Alex.

  “It’s the other woman we found in the attic.” His whispers grew into a mumble. Alex put a finger to her lips. He lowered his voice again. “She said she wants to testify. She talked to a lawyer friend of hers who said she had a rock solid case. He said there might be a chance they could find her baby, if they can put enough pressure on Brown and get him to talk. All the women could get their babies back.”

  Alex nearly raised her voice, but stopped herself just in time. “That’s amazing,” she whispered. “She will make the best witness, seeing as she has nothing to do with weares, which unfortunately, will make her more trustworthy to a lot of juries. Has your dad figured out if they can hold a joint trial?”

  “He’s working on it,” said Teddy. “The whole Swan City police department is in disarray since news of the sheriff’s extra-circulars got out. They have someone new in charge. A woman. My dad says he’s heard of her, says she’s supposed to be one of the more reasonable humans in the department. So, that’s a good sign.”

  “It is.” Alex took another sip. “Have we heard anything from Mary and Charlotte?”

  “Charlotte called and has organized a time to come talk with our lawyer. Mary’s husband called to tell us she’s still in the hospital. Her recovery is going to be a long process. Apparently, there was trouble when she went into labor and they had a doctor come and perform an emergency c-section. Her scar got infected.”

  Alex covered her mouth. “Oh my god.”

  Miranda made a hiccupping sound in her sleep, but did not wake. The sound of crashing dishes and Charlie cursing himself, loudly, came from the other side of the door. Miranda immediately started to wail, telling the whole house exactly how she felt about such a rude awakening.

  “He was attempting to make you breakfast.” Teddy stood up. “I better go check on him. You good?”

  Alex collected her baby girl from her crib and gently rocked her. “I’m fine. She’s probably just hungry.”

  Teddy slipped out of the room. Alex could hear a muffled argument being had between the two brothers. She sat back down and brought Miranda to her chest. The baby started suckling. “There you go, sweet girl,” Alex cooed. “You were just hungry, that’s all.” She noticed Miranda felt heavier in her arms than she had even the night before.

  She was growing fast.

  The doctor had informed Alex that weare babies grow up nearly twice as fast as human babies. Since Miranda was half weare and half human, the doctor split the difference, and told Alex to expect her to grow one and a half times as fast. She hoped the doctor over-estimated. She wanted to have her little wolf stay little for as long as possible.

  Alex wanted to keep her small and safe. The older Miranda got, the more she would look like a girl, and who knew what kinds of trouble that would bring her in the future. Before getting abducted, Alex was beginning to think the world might actually be changing. She’d allowed the security and contentment she felt in the weare territory to seep into her heart and dull her awareness. After hearing the sheriff’s words, after seeing what extreme lengths people were willing to go to, however, Alex realized what a fool she’d been to ever let her guard down.

  Under One Roof

  “Here’s what I am proposing,” said Teddy. They were having another impromptu family meeting over breakfast in the main house. Joel was watching Miranda in the guesthouse. “The nursery is complete, and Joel and his guys are finishing up the last touches on the bedroom next door for you, Alex. We had a door put in that leads directly from your room to the nursery. You two can move in this evening.”

  Alex ran her tongue across her bottom row of teeth. “Is the crib on wheels?”

  “Yeah, it is,” said Charlie. “So you can wheel it into your bedroom anytime you like.”

  “Then I’m in,” said Alex. “It will be nice to be closer to everyone. Plus, hopefully this means I won’t have to be the only one who gets up to change diapers all night.”

  “Hey,” said Uma. “I’ve been getting up too.”

  “Which brings me to my second issue,” said Alex. “What about my mom?”

  “She’s welcome to stay in any of our guest rooms here, or keep the guest house for herself,” said Xavier. “Whatever is easiest.”

  “Actually, on that note, I had an idea I wanted to suggest,” said Bartholomew. “What if we expanded the guest house, and all your parents could move in?”

  Alex nearly choked on the piece of scrambled egg she’d been chewing on. She managed to swallow with the help of some orange juice. “That’s incredibly generous, Bartholomew. Thank you.”

  “I’d have to talk to my husbands, of course,” said Uma. “I’m not sure it will work, realistically, with all their jobs and responsibilities in Swan City.”

  “I understand,” Bartholomew nodded. “It’s just something to think about. Now, on to the next bit of business.” He looked to his eldest son. “Xavier, would you like to take the floor?”

  “Yes, right.” Xavier cleared his throat. “Dad and I have been discussing the idea of throwing a party, to celebrate the birth of Miranda. I know you guys have your reservations, especially after all that’s been happening lately––”

  “Reservations?” Charlie gawked. “I have more than just reservations. I have a horrible, dreadful feeling about this. It’s a terrible idea.”

  “Okay, Charlie, no need to shout,” said Xavier. “I was just trying to have a discussion. I know it’s a scary, dangerous time for us right now, but that’s why I think this is the perfect time to put on an event such as this. We need to find a way to bring people together, and to show that we are not afraid of those who are trying to stop our way of life.”

  “We will take every precaution available,” said Bartholomew. “To make sure no harm comes to Alex or the baby. Miranda doesn’t even have to attend the party. She could be somewhere else entirely, if it makes you feel better.”

  “I for one think it’s a great idea,” said Uma.

  Everyone stopped eating or sipping and stared at the woman. Alex was glad she hadn’t just taken a bite, or this time she would have actually choked. “Mom, really? You think this is a good idea?”

  “I do.�
�� Uma nodded her head. “I think it could be just what the citizens of Swan City need. You guys haven’t been to the human territory lately, so let me enlighten you: it’s a madhouse. News of the sheriff has traveled fast. All anyone can talk about is the upcoming trial. The new head of the police department keeps holding community outreach meetings, to try and get a sense of what people want to do going forward. My husbands have attended every meeting, and the overwhelming message coming out of them is that something needs to change. Things have gone too far, and the humans know it. They are scared about what will happen if we don’t try something new. So, I agree. I think now is the perfect time to have a big, all-inclusive party.”

  “Thank you, Uma,” said Bartholomew. “I appreciate your support and would love to get your input on planning the party.”

  “Hang on a second,” said Charlie. “Does that mean it’s just decided then?” He looked at Alex, his eyes pleading with her.

  “I don’t know.” Alex ran a hand through her hair, and she realized, somewhat distracted, that this was the longest it had been in years. “I see both sides. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared by the idea... But, that being said, this isn’t really about me anymore. It’s about something much bigger. I want to see the plans for party security and I want to figure out exactly what we’re doing with Miranda before I agree.”

  “Completely understandable,” said Xavier. “I will have our security team draw up a plan for the night. You and Uma can meet with them and figure out where the safest place would be for Miranda. And for you.”

  Alex grabbed Charlie’s hand. “Let’s just keep an open mind, okay?”

  He kept his eyes on his plate. “Fine.” Finally he looked at her. “But if we have this party, I’m not leaving your side. Not for anything.”