by Aspen Grey
“Or three,” Keiran replied. I looked over at him and saw him giving me a funny look.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked him. Keiran just shrugged.
“I dunno,” he replied. “It’s just – I’m huge, and I’ve been having this feeling that I haven’t been able to shake.”
“That we’re having twins?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, wouldn’t that be something,” Mikey chimed in from the back seat. “Talk about having your hands full.”
I must have looked stunned or weirded out based on the way Keiran was looking at me. “What? You wouldn’t like that?”
“Huh?” I replied quickly. “No, of course I would! I just – I just hadn’t thought of that. That’s all.”
Keiran smiled as I pulled out onto the road leaving the airport. It had been so long since I’d been out of the city that I’d almost forgotten what the world was like outside of Los Angeles.
After everything that had gone on, between the roller coaster ride with Keiran, the case and then the kidnapping, things had felt a little claustrophobic, and being out here with the snow and the pine trees was nice.
Maybe we’ll go for a nice run together, I thought as I gazed into the distance at the wide-open landscape.
“Take a left here,” Keiran told me. “I know a place.”
26
Keiran
A greasy sausage and egg sandwich never tasted so good. It was like a thousand little orgasms igniting across my tongue. I was on my second sandwich, and the cook was whipping me up a third. Everyone else was eating to be polite, but I was absolutely ravenous.
“Twins,” I told Cole through a massive bite. “It’s got to be. There’s no way I’m this hungry just for one baby.”
“Unless it’s a really big baby,” Daphne suggested, sipping her milkshake. I liked having her around. She was barely fifteen, but she had a real maturity to her that I hadn’t expected.
When Mikey had first brought her to the house, she was dressed like she’d just gone into a thrift shop in Beverly Hills and grabbed whatever she could and ran for the hills. And honestly, that probably wasn’t far from the truth.
She’d had a pair of purple leather pants, a floral tank top and an actual fur coat that she wore off her shoulders. It hadn’t made much sense in the Los Angeles weather, but out here she was loving it.
She’d had a pair of sneakers that were probably white at one point, but Mikey had picked her up a pair of boots for the trip. She had a pixie cut, and her hair was bright purple, so bright that she was probably staining her pillowcase and sheets every night.
From what she’d told us, she’d run away when Mikey was going through his drug issues. She’d bought a fake ID and started working – washing dishes, waiting tables, doing whatever she could to make it. After seeing the problems her father had, she wanted to stay as far away from that sort of thing as she could.
I could see there was a lot of unresolved tension between them still, but that both of them really cared for each other and wanted this to work. Cole and I were both pulling for them.
The crowd was thin tonight. A few humans, but a couple of foxes had come in after we’d taken our seats and were sitting in the booth at the opposite end of the diner. One was an alpha, with long red hair, who held himself like some sort of king or something. And the other was a woman, with a beautiful head of red curls and a face full of freckles.
“You think we should introduce ourselves?” Mikey said, almost sounding annoyed. They had made no attempt to hide their stares since they’d come in, and it was making him nervous.
“Be my guest,” Cole shrugged, sipping his ginger ale.
“What’s his problem? I should go over there and smack him in the mouth.”
“Dad, don’t!” Daphne protested, taking Mikey by the hand. “It’s really not a big deal.”
It was strange to run into a couple of foxes at our first stop from the airport. Maybe they’d picked up our scents and had come to investigate. Foxes can be quite territorial of their lands, and if they had a den around here, they might have been concerned about what we were up to.
But I actually wanted to introduce myself. They seemed nice to me, especially the woman. There was something warm about her, motherly, like she enjoyed taking care of people. I caught her eye and gave her a half smile, which she returned eagerly.
“She seems nice,” I said, stuffing my face with more sausage and egg.
“If they’re still here before we go, we’ll say hi,” Cole said. “Keiran! Are you all right?”
A sharp pain ran through my stomach and I dropped my sandwich on the table. Yolk splattered all over my shirt.
“What is it? Is the baby coming?”
Every muscle below my chest spasmed. It felt like a giant had his hands in my guts and was twisting as hard as he could.
“Ah! It hurts. It hurts!”
I felt something wet between my legs, like I’d just peed my pants. Something splashed against my feet.
“Oh, yeah,” Mikey replied, pulling his feet back. “Your water just broke.”
“Oh, God!” I yelped. “I can’t give birth in a diner!” My heart chattered in my chest like a ping-pong ball, and I was starting to hyperventilate.
“Just breathe,” a voice said beside me. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up into the warm smiling face of the female fox. “Just breathe, sweetheart. I’m a doctor and a healer. You’re going to be fine.”
“It hurts!” I gasped as another contraction hit me. “I can’t have this baby here!”
“I know it does,” she said soothingly. “We have a car outside. Red is pulling it up out front right now. We have a house nearby and we’re going to take you there.”
“Wait a second, who are you guys?” Cole said quickly.
“I promise you we are your friends,” Osana said firmly. “You’re his mate. I understand your concern, but we’re here to help. We were passing through when we caught your scent. We’d just wanted to introduce ourselves, but this is what I do. You wouldn’t believe how many sweet little babies I’ve brought into this world.”
Cole looked at her, trying to figure out if she was telling the truth. But the warmth in her eyes was real, and what she was saying made sense. They had no reason I could think of to lie to us, and we both knew there was very little time to act.
“Okay,” Cole replied, helping me to my feet. “Come on, Keiran. Let’s get you out of here. What did you say your name was?”
“Osana,” the woman said with a smile. “My name is Osana.”
27
Keiran
I didn’t feel like I was going to make it to wherever our new friends were taking us, but Red, the alpha seated beside me at the wheel, had assured me we would.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said in a strangely regal fashion, almost like he’d been plucked out of another time. “We’re here. We’re pulling in now.”
I groaned as he turned the truck up a steep slope and a fresh wave of nausea hit me like a wet sock to the face.
“Kill me, Cole,” I muttered, leaning my head against his shoulder. I felt the laughter in his chest.
“No, you’re not going to die, babe,” he replied, petting my head in a slow rhythm. “You’re going to have our baby—”
“Babies,” I corrected him as the truck lurched over a bump. “Our babies.”
“If you say so,” he replied, stroking my cheek.
The ground leveled out and I felt the truck slow to a stop. Opening my eyes, I took Cole’s hand as he pulled open the passenger door and helped me out. I could barely register what was going on, but we were at some sort of cabin in the middle of the woods.
It looked fairly new, like it had been built during the summer, but all I cared about was getting in the front door and finding a place to lie down.
I glanced over my shoulder as Mikey pulled up in the car Cole had rented. He and Daphne hopped out and raced over toward us.
<
br /> “Osana!” Red barked. “The door!”
“I’ve got it!” Daphne replied, leaping up the steps and pulling the door open. I slid inside and felt Osana’s hand on my arm.
“This way, honey,” she told me, pulling me through the living room and into a small room that looked like a patient’s room at a doctor’s office. It was painted in soothing baby blue with a floral pattern where the walls met the ceiling. “Lie down right here.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I practically hurled myself onto the thing. It was something like a cross between a table, chair and a bed, and as I lay back, Osana pulled something beneath me and the back reclined so I was lying down.
“Okay, let’s get these off you,” she said as the rest of my group poured into the room. “Ah! Immediate family only! Sorry, everyone. I just don’t have the room in here.”
She motioned to Cole, who came over by my side. I grasped his hand with all my strength and stared up into his eyes.
“We’ll be outside, Keiran!” Mikey called out.
“Good luck!” Daphne added. “I’m sure it’ll be fine!”
“Thanks, guys!” I yelped through clenched teeth as another contraction turned my guts into jelly.
With one swift motion, Osana had my pants off and my legs spread, my feet secured in a pair of stirrups at the base of the bed.
Well, there goes my dignity!
It didn’t matter. I was in labor. The love I shared with Cole was coming to fruition and we were about to be parents. I was about to be a father.
“Oh, wow, this baby wants to be out!” Osana said, placing a wet washcloth on my forehead. It was a simple gesture, but it felt like heaven. “Now, I need you to take control of your breathing for me, okay? Long, deep breaths. In, count to four, then out and count to four. Can you do that for me?”
“Sure!” I groaned sarcastically. I opened my mouth and sucked in.
One, two, three, four, I counted, filling my lungs. The air had a soft scent of ginger. I breathed out.
One, two, three—
“Ah!” I cried out as another contraction interrupted the Zen-like state I was trying to achieve.
“Okay, this one is coming,” Osana told me.
“This one!?”
“Oh, you’re having twins, sweetie,” she told me with a smile. “Didn’t anyone tell you?’
“I told you!” I laughed, smiling into Cole’s eyes. “Didn’t I tell you?
The strongest contraction of them all hit me like a wrecking ball and I howled in pain.
“Push, Keiran!” Osana shouted. “Push with everything you’ve got!”
“Ah!”
I did as I was told, clenched my teeth, gripped Cole’s hand as hard as I could and pushed. The swell of the pain was equaled only by the enormous sense of relief as my first baby came into the world.
“There he is!” Osana cried out.
“Let me see him!” I gasped. “Let me see!”
Osana slid a towel beneath me, then lifted her arms and my entire world changed as I laid eyes on my first child.
“Oh, Cole…” I muttered as she handed him to me. “He’s beautiful.”
He was the smallest, most innocent thing I’d ever seen in my life. A tiny pink ball of soft skin, covered in all kinds of yucky guckiness, but I didn’t care. He was mine.
I looked up at Cole, expecting him to say something, but all he could do was smile. He reached out and stroked his son’s head gently, and I saw the tears welling up in his eyes. Even a big strong alpha can be a big softy when the moment’s right.
“He smells so good,” I mused, almost forgetting I was still in the middle of giving birth. But nature had no intention of letting me get out of what was going on, and another contraction jolted me out of my stupor.
“Here comes his brother!” Osana cried out. “I need you to push for me again, Keiran! You’ve done so well, just push one more time!”
“I love you so much, Cole,” I told my mate, holding his son, staring up at his beautiful green eyes. How many times had I lost myself in his gaze, fallen asleep in his arms, given my body to him? And now I was going to give him children. I was going to give him my love in a whole new way, and we were going to be a family together.
“I love you too, Keiran,” he replied, kissing my forehead.
The next contraction flooded through me, but I met it like a warrior, greeting it with a push of my own. I’d done it once, I could do it again.
A family, I thought as I pushed with all my strength. We’re going to be a family.
28
Cole
“You wouldn’t believe me right now, Dominic,” I laughed into the phone. “I’m sitting by the fire in a cabin in the Maine woods, in a goddamn rocking chair, rocking my twin baby boys to sleep.”
“Sounds like one of those stock photos you find on the internet,” he laughed. “A far cry from a night at the Fox Hole, eh?”
“You know, Dom,” I laughed. “I don’t miss it at all.”
“Well, that makes one of us,” he replied. “What are their names, by the way?”
“Zach and Dorian,” I told him.
“Alphas?”
“Alphas.”
“That’s only right,” he chuckled. “I can’t see your sperm knocking out a couple of omega twins.”
I tried not to laugh too loud and looked over my shoulder to the couch where Keiran was fast asleep beneath one of Osana’s Afghans. He’d been up at one thirty in the morning, and then again at three. Neither of us had gotten much sleep. I covered for him at five so he could sleep in until seven thirty, which was late for both of us at this point.
The boys were hungry and had been feeding all day and we’d been spending all our time looking after them. It was what we wanted to do, of course, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t tiring. I’d seen the sleep in his eyes and told him to take a nap while I watched the boys. Of course, as soon as he’d gone to sleep, they had too.
“How’s life up there in Canada?” Dominic asked.
“You know what? It’s really nice,” I replied. “The foxes we met are good people. They’ve got their own cottage up here on the mountain, and are really close by to a pack of wolves that they basically share the land with.”
“Wolves?” Dominic asked. “No shit? I figured out there in the sticks, the foxes and wolves would be fighting with each other over land or whatever.”
“Nope, they get along great,” I told him. “Their pack leader, Tate, is a real nice guy. He’s like a woodworker or something and told us he’d build us a crib for the boys.”
“Yeah, and charge you a fortune.”
“No, not at all,” I replied. “He’s not like that. Seriously, he’s a good dude. You should come out and visit or something.”
“No, thanks,” Dominic scoffed. “I like my balls the way they are, not blocks of fucking ice.”
“Blowing any of that settlement money yet?” I asked him. The cash from the case was coming in and the firm had started cutting checks. I hadn’t done anything with mine yet, but I was sure Dominic had.
“New Lambo,” he chuckled, meaning Lamborghini. “Painted the son of a bitch with rainbow flowers, because…why the fuck not?”
“If the world didn’t know you were a fruit before now, they certainly do now!”
We both laughed. Letting the world know that he was out on the prowl, single and ready to mingle, or whatever cliché phrase he was using to describe himself at the time, was definitely Dominic’s preferred way of living. I didn’t see him settling down any time soon.
Behind me, I heard Keiran stir and moan and looked over my shoulder to see him roll over onto his back and brush the hair from his face.
“Hang on, Dom,” I whispered. “I think the ol’ ball and chain’s awake.”
“See?” he roared with laughter. “You’re already fed up with him!”
“Oh, shut up,” I replied.
“I’m just shittin’ ya.”
Keiran was defi
nitely awake. He sat up on both elbows and looked around the cabin.
“What time is it?” he asked.
“I gotta go, Dominic,” I told him. I hung up the phone and smiled at Keiran, who looked like he could probably sleep for another four days. “Just past six. Osana was wondering what you’d like for dinner.”
“Oh, who cares,” he replied, waving a hand carelessly in the air. “I could eat a dead donkey’s carcass right now with nothing but a little ketchup. How are the boys?”
“They’ve been a couple of little angels,” I told him as he got up and came over to my side.
“Of course they have,” he smiled, taking Dorian in his arms. “As soon as I go to sleep they behave.”
Dorian’s eyes opened as he looked up at Keiran, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling like an idiot. People who don’t have kids really can’t understand the insane amount of pleasure that having a family brings you.
I had no idea until the boys came. I knew I was in love with Keiran, and I knew I wanted him to have my babies, but until they actually showed up, I couldn’t have imagined the feelings that would be pouring out of me.
“We’re a long way from Los Angeles,” I said with a laugh.
“We sure are,” Keiran replied. “Gonna build an addition on the cabin to put a dungeon in?”
I chuckled. “Why, you wanna be tied up again?”
“What do you think?” he replied, raising an eyebrow.
“I think you’re exhausted from the boys.”
“That’s true,” he nodded. “But I’ve still got needs. Haven’t you been itching to show me who’s boss?”
“Maybe…” I smiled coyly.
Keiran winked back at me as he rocked baby Dorian back and forth in his arms. Both of the boys had super blond hair, and the red was starting to slowly come in, but Dorian was starting to go red like me. How poetic would that be if Zach was blond like Keiran and Dorian was red like me? They both had Keiran’s eyes, though, that same beautiful amber I’d fallen in love with.
