by J. E. Cluney
I cursed as I remembered we weren’t hooked up to anything, and hurried out of the bathroom, ignoring the grumbles of my men and Darcy asking me if I was okay.
I shoved the door of the camper open, barely making it two steps before I hurled.
Guess that pizza hadn’t agreed with my last night.
I trembled as I stepped back and sat down on the camper step, holding my head between my legs as the sickness washed over me.
“Hey, you okay?” Darcy murmured as he appeared behind me, kneeling down and rubbing my back.
“Don’t think the pizza liked me,” I groaned, hating the burning sensation in my throat.
“Want me to get you anything?” he asked gently as I felt the camper shift under the weight of the other two men.
“Water, please,” I mumbled.
Darcy moved to fetch me some water as Tyler and Jackson sat down at the table. I could feel them both peering at me with concern.
“Anyone else feel sick after the pizzas?” Darcy asked, and was met with resounding nos.
Fuckers. Why did I feel like I had a demon trying to rip open my stomach then. Okay, fine, that was a little dramatic. But still, I felt like I needed to throw up again.
I waited for the nausea to pass, accepting the water from Darcy and washing my mouth out before drinking some.
I finally felt well enough to have breakfast, and Tyler informed us that Brad had already left for work, and Harmony was at school.
They wanted to go into town and check the place out, but the sickness hit me again, and I begged them to go without me. I just wanted to stay in bed and sleep today. I must’ve caught some bug.
“We’re not just going to leave you,” Jackson sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed, stroking my knee as I lay curled up in a ball.
“I don’t want to ruin your holiday. You guys go, I’ll just rest. Besides, staying with me won’t do you any good. I’ll just be sleeping anyway,” I argued, hating how they were willing to give up their planned day out just to take care of me.
“You need someone to look after you,” Darcy stated.
“No, I don’t. I just feel a bit sick, it’s not the flu or anything. Please, go out and have fun, and take pictures so I can live vicariously through you guys today,” I groaned as I waved them off.
“Are you sure?” Jackson murmured as he gave my thigh a squeeze.
“Definitely. I just want to be alone while I feel sick,” I grumbled.
“I don’t want to leave you,” Darcy argued.
“One of us can stay,” Tyler suggested.
“No, don’t make me get cranky, you all go. If I desperately need you, I’ll call,” I growled, getting frustrated with them.
I just wanted to rest, praying this sickness would pass.
“You sure? We can just find something else to do today,” Jackson murmured.
“No. Do the hikes and the falls, just take pictures for me,” I muttered.
They seemed to catch on that I was getting annoyed with them, and they set about getting ready as I huddled under the blanket. At least Brad had allowed us to plug into power, therefore we had the air-con running.
Finally, the trio left, and I tried to relax as my stomach churned. I’d only eaten a tiny bit of the scrambled eggs that Darcy had made, but it seemed my belly didn’t like that.
The urge to throw up came in waves, but it passed before I got to the camper door the first few times, so I ended up grabbing a mixing bowl from the cupboard over the sink and sitting it on the bedside table just in case.
I lay in bed, regretting the pizzas last night, even though they’d been so good.
Why were they disagreeing with me? And why had the boys been fine? This was so unfair, why did it have to happen to me on our holiday?
A knock on the camper door made me groan, and I fought through the nausea as I headed over.
“Hey, the boys told me you weren’t feeling well, throwing up a bit. I popped into town to see a witch friend, picked up this potion for you. It should help,” she smiled softly as she offered me the warm mug.
“Thanks,” I mumbled as I accepted it and sipped the sweet liquid.
It eased my nausea almost instantly, and I sighed gratefully.
“Just started, huh?” Jenny mused as she stepped aside so I could exit the camper too.
I stepped out into the warm morning air, relaxing as the sun hit my skin.
“Yeah, think it might’ve been the pizza,” I murmured as I took another sip.
“Really? We’re all fine,” Jenny frowned as she crossed her arms, her eyes trailing over me in concern as she pursed her lips. “Come inside, I’ve got something else for you.”
I followed her back into the house, where Rose was lying on a blanket under one of those baby gyms with toys hanging off them. She was sound asleep, amazingly.
“Here, sit,” Jenny instructed, and I sat down on the stool at the kitchen counter as she hurried off down the hall.
I continued sipping the sweet potion tea, beyond thankful that the sickness was fading away.
Jenny returned quickly, handing me a small slim object.
“Really?” I frowned as I held the stick up.
“Yep, it’ll work instantly, go try,” she said with a wink.
My heart skipped a beat as I eyed it nervously. Surely not…
I drew in a deep breath and headed for the bathroom, my mind a mess.
I sat down, not sure if I wanted it to be true or not as I tried to pee.
I bit my lip as I managed a small tinkle, and I pulled the stick up once I was done, staring at it with bated breath as the first line started to appear.
Yeah, this was absurd. I was on top of my pill cycles, although, I wouldn’t lie, I’d taken the last few rather late in the day due to our holiday and being thrown out of whack with timezones.
I stared at the two lines, disbelieving what I was seeing. Surely it wasn’t possible.
I trembled as I stood, unable to figure out how to feel as I took the stick out and washed my hands before trudging to the kitchen.
“So?” Jenny beamed at me.
“How accurate is it?” I asked timidly.
“One hundred percent, special witch ones,” Jenny stated.
Fuck.
I’ll be damned.
I sat down on the stool as I set the test on the counter, and Jenny lit up.
“I was sure of it, you were so clucky, and then the sickness started. You might only be a few days too, these ones pick them up immediately, no waiting a few weeks,” Jenny exclaimed.
“I haven’t even spoken about kids with my guys,” I mumbled as I stared at the test.
A part of me wanted to be excited.
I was pregnant. I was going to be a mother, something that oddly felt right.
But what about my men? Were they ready? And who was the father? Would that even matter?
“So, any idea who it might be?” Jenny asked as she leaned on the counter.
“It could be any of them,” I murmured as I bit my lip.
“You’re not excited?” Jenny frowned, reaching over and placing her hand on mine.
“I don’t know how they’ll feel about it,” I admitted quietly. “I want to be excited, a part of me is, but I’m also…” I pursed my lips as I tried to figure out what I wanted to say.
“Scared?” Jenny offered, and I managed a small nod.
She gave me a tender smile as she stroked my hand with her thumb.
“They’re your mates. They’ll be overjoyed by this. Although, I’m interested to find out which one is the father,” she mused.
“Me too,” I admitted. God, I was pregnant.
Holy hell. That was a lot to process.
“Should I call them?” I asked nervously, hating how on edge I felt.
“If you don’t you’ll just spend the day stressing about it. You might as well call them, get them to come here. I can take Rose out for a few hours, go visit my mother, if you’d like the privacy,
” Jenny suggested.
“Okay, that might be best, but can you stay with me until they get here?” I asked, hating how my chest was tightening.
“Of course,” she said reassuringly as she gripped my hand. “Relax. They love you, this is only going to bring you closer together.”
“I hope so.”
17
Jackson.
God, seeing Topaz throwing up had me feeling shitty for her. Of course she’d get sick on our holiday. But she was adamant we still go out, and we gave in when it was clear she was starting to get pissed about arguing with us.
“Do you think Topaz is okay?” I asked as we reached Gardners falls. We’d parked in the designated parking lot and walked down the rocky path, the sound of gushing water guiding us.
“I don’t know,” Darcy admitted as he eyed some teens who’d clearly skipped out on school for a day of swimming and jumping off the rocks on the other side of the big pool of water.
The falls weren’t too powerful thankfully, and I tugged off my shirt as I eyed the tempting, dark water.
“I don’t think it was the pizza though, everyone else is fine,” Tyler noted as he frowned.
“Maybe she’s still recovering from healing you?” I suggested.
“Maybe.” Darcy chewed his cheek as he stared at the water.
I took the first steps in, finding the water quite cool in the shadows here, but it was refreshing.
Tyler joined me, then Darcy finally jumped in.
We chatted about things we wanted to do, and about Topaz. As soon as Darcy said he wondered how she was going, his ringtone sounded off.
He waded back to the edge of the water and clambered out, finding his towel and drying off before answering it.
His face twisted with concern and worry, and Tyler and I exchanged glances before swimming over and climbing out.
“Topaz wants us to come home. She says it’s not urgent but she needs to talk to us,” Darcy said once he hung up.
“About what? Do you think she’s sick?” Tyler asked worriedly.
“No idea, she just told me not to worry,” Darcy said, looking quite confused.
My mind reeled as to what was going on. Had something else happened? Maybe the Pride had contacted her and there was something wrong at home? Or maybe she was quite sick and needed to see a witch or something.
Tyler rattled off possible reasons as my mind churned more out, and Darcy was getting frustrated since he didn’t know.
We hurried back to the car, and I knew despite her saying for us not to worry, we were worried.
After all, she was our mate, and it was our job to take care of her.
18
“Are you okay?”
I smiled softly as Darcy rushed through the front door.
“I’m fine, I told you not to worry,” I chided him.
“Of course we’re going to worry,” Jackson stated.
“Well, I need to take Rose out to see my mother, so I’ll be back soon,” Jenny said quickly, causing the guys to give her odd looks as she collected Rose and the gear she’d already gotten prepared and hurried out the door.
“What’s that about?” Tyler asked.
“I wanted to talk to you guys,” I murmured as I looked down at the stick squashed between my legs as I sat on the couch.
“What’s wrong?” Darcy frowned, those hazel eyes filled with worry.
They all looked confused as they crowded around me. Darcy and Tyler sat on either side of me, while Jackson sat on the coffee table before me.
I had no idea how to bring it up as I bit my lip, my chest constricting. Hell, even my eyes stung a little, which I had no idea as to why.
I finally just drew in a breath and held out the pregnancy stick, not saying a word as they all stared at it.
“You’re pregnant?” Jackson whispered.
I gritted my teeth and nodded, unable to meet their gazes.
“We’re going to be dads,” Tyler said, and his tone made me finally look at him. He was grinning stupidly as he eyed the stick, before focusing on me and wrapping his arms around me.
I let out a soft, relieved laugh as he laughed, and Darcy joined in on the hug.
Jackson waited until they let go of me before hugging me, a grin spreading ear to ear.
“This is amazing, T,” Darcy exclaimed, clearly excited. “You’re going to be a mom. Hell, I’m going to be a dad,” he mumbled, shaking his head in sheer shock.
I felt all the worry and tension leave me like a popped balloon as they all chuckled and grinned at one another.
Jenny had been right. There was no need for me to worry at all.
“Do you know who’s it is?” Darcy suddenly asked, as if it had only dawned on him that they weren’t all going to be the father.
“No idea,” I sighed.
“Doesn’t matter, we’ll all love them the same,” Jackson said, delighted as he gently took the test from my hands like it was a treasured trophy.
“A dad, wow,” Tyler whistled. “Man, this kid is going to be so spoilt.”
“Three dad’s, yep,” Jackson chuckled.
“I’m more concerned about the triple amount of dad jokes,” I snorted, and they all laughed.
“Hey hungry, I’m dad,” Tyler snickered.
“Please don’t start,” I groaned, and they all took turns hugging me again.
I couldn’t help but grin as they showered me in affection and kisses, still wowing at the revelation I’d given them.
“We should pick out names,” Tyler declared.
“Maybe we should wait a few months first,” I said. Always best to make sure it was a pregnancy that was going to stay.
“Stefan,” Jackson tossed out.
“Annabelle,” Darcy grinned.
“Taylor,” Tyler said.
“That’s too close to your name,” Jackson chuckled.
“Well, Darcy’s name is after a fluffy white cat at the vet,” Tyler shot back.
“Hey, it’s a beautiful name,” Darcy defended himself.
I just laughed, loving how they continued throwing out names and exclaiming all the things they were going to do. It made my heart swell with joy and love as they spoke of all the trips they’d take their child on, the things they’d teach them, whether they were a boy or girl.
As I stared around at them, I felt the tears stinging my eyes again.
Not from worry or stress, but from sheer joy, love, and gratitude.
My mates were perfect.
“Aw, don’t cry baby,” Tyler noticed me on the verge of tears, and as he pulled me into a hug, I couldn’t help it, I burst into tears.
“I’m just happy,” I sobbed, smiling through my tears as they chuckled and wrapped me up in an awkward three-way hug.
“Won’t lie, my mother was a monster during pregnancy, so this will be fun,” Jackson chuckled.
“We’ll take turns handling the hormones,” Darcy said.
As I sat squished between the three of them, I knew life was only going to get better.
This child would have a wonderful family, with three amazing, loving fathers.
This was definitely going to be my favorite holiday.
* * *
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