Beloved

30

Gaia's third appointment was going smoothly. She was in good health and she had even gained a few pounds.
"Alright, are you ready to see your baby?"
Gaia and Dante both smiled and said they were ready. They were clinging to this little bit of normalcy with all they had in the face of all else they'd recently been made aware of.
The doctor instructed for Gaia to lay back on the exam table and lift up her shirt, while she turned the sonogram machine on and slathered gel over Gaia's abdomen. Then she lightly pressed the wand to the gel and glided over Gaia's skin.
"Ah, there we are," The doctor exclaimed, "and I can see by the size and development you are in fact five weeks along....Hmm, that's interesting."
Gaia and Dante both peered at the image on the screen, which just looked like a grainy black and white image. The view didn't change much as the doctor moved the wand about, though there seemed to be two distinct bright dots the size of bouncy balls amidst the static.
Dant'e brow rose as he stared at the screen, "What's interesting?"
The doctor pointed at the screen directly beneath one of the brighter dots, "There's a baby here," she moved her finger toward the other bright dot, "and another here." She moved the want around some to get different angles.
Dante and Gaia both gaped and exchanged a look.
"Yep, definitely two. You're pregnant with twins, and it looks like they're fraternal. We don't know the sex of either until your third month." She turned her head to look at the couple, "Would you like a photo of this session? I can print one out right now."
His eyes still glued to the screen, Dante nodded absently, "Yeah, sure."
The doctor pressed a button on the machine and grabbed tissues to clean the gel from Gaia's belly. "Okay, with twins you should expect for everything to be a bit more intense than if you were just pregnant with a singleton. You will gain more weight, you will tire more easily, your appetite will be increased, you can also expect to be more emotional. Instead of larger meals, I suggest you eat more frequently. Think several large snacks through out the day. Also, as small as you are, you may not carry through the full twenty four week term. They may decide they're too cramped to stay in the womb by twenty two weeks or so." She tossed the wad of tissues into the trash and watched as Dante helped Gaia sit up and she readjusted her shirt. "Your ceremony was lovely, and it will be your last shift for awhile. Do you have any questions for me at this time?" She nodded when they both said 'no' and said, "Good. I'll see you in two weeks." Then she left the room, leaving the door open behind her.
Gaia looked up at Dante and smiled at the soft look on his face for her. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his body with a sigh. Gaia wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.
After several minutes they wordlessly released each other and left the room to make their next appointment and collect the photos.
Opening the car door for Gaia, Dante said, "Ice cream?"
Gaia nodded and flashed him a smile, "Yeah, but tacos first."
Dante shut her door, chuckling. When he slid into the driver's seat, he grinned at her, "Tacos and ice cream is going to be our doctor appointment date?"
"You know it. At least until my cravings change."
"Well, turn on our phones and see what we missed," he handed her his phone and started the car.
Gaia turned on Dante's phone first since it was already in her hands, and read him the text from his father. She typed in the answer he dictated. Then she pulled her phone out of her pocket and found she had texts from her mother, Darla, Randall, and Kayleigh, as well as her new friends Rosalyn the fey girl and Borghilde the dragon girl. By the time she'd answered everyone, Dante was pulling into the Mexican restaurant parking lot.
When they returned home, they went directly to Dante's office and Gaia got comfortable on the couch. Dante called his father and put the phone on speaker so they could both hear.
Dante's parents had returned to their council duties a few days after the ceremony, arriving well ahead of the meeting with the Wicca delegates. Apparently the fey had been correct that the council and Wicca would deliberate the various options and take their time, avoiding rash decisions at all costs. Deciding he wanted to get ahead, Florian approached the historians almost as soon as he arrived.
"Why was your phone turned off, Dante," Florian demanded.
"We were at the doctor appointment," Dante answered calmly. He walked to the couch and sat beside Gaia, pulling her to his lap.
"Did you learn anything?"
"Gaia's healthy and pregnant with twins."
Florian heaved a weary sigh, "I figured."
"Why? What have you learned," Gaia asked.
"You have Gaia in on the call," Florian stated, alarm straining his voice.
Dante frowned, "This concerns her. Of course she's part of this call."
Florian was quiet on his end for a moment before saying softly, "The historians think they've come across some information detailing the time before and during the construction of the gates. I've emailed you their findings. I want you to read through it all very carefully. Call me if you have any questions." Then his side ended with a soft click.
Dante exchanged a look with Gaia, then he stood, carrying her with him as he went to sit in his desk chair. He turned on his computer and clicked on his email, finding and opening the message from his father.
Their embraces on each other tightened as they read the email together. Reaching the end Gaia blinked back tears and stifled a sob as Dante pulled her against this chest, tears streaming down his own cheeks as he cradled her head against his neck and let her wail her sorrow until she was spent.
A little more than an hour later, Dante carried Gaia to their bed and pulled the blanket over her. He knelt beside her for a few moments to ensure she wouldn't wake as soon as his touch left her, then rose and went outside, stripping his clothes off along the way.
Stepping outside he leapt from the porch, shifting mid jump and ran blindly. Not wanting to be away from Gaia very long lest she awaken and find him gone, he shifted to his human form and took his anger out on the trees, felling two large trees before collapsing to his knees and bellowing his rage. Feeling somewhat more level he shifted into his wolf again and ran back to his house, dressing on his way back to his office, where he made a call.
"Son."
Dante's voice was emotionless. "We read your email."
"I'm so sorry, son. Do you have any questions."
"I think it's pretty clear."
"Nothing is certain."
"You think there may be a loophole?"
"I don't know, but we can't give up hope. How's Gaia?"
"She's passed out. I'll be calling her mom and friends to tell them she'll be needing them."
"How are you?"
Dante barked a joyless laugh. "How would you be?"
"Not as calm as you seem to be."
"I punched down two oaks."
"Ah. Then I'd probably be doing about as well as you are. Son, I am so sorry. I have to go. I'll let you know whatever else I find."
"Sure, thanks. Talk to you later, dad." Dante pressed the button ending the call and sat back in his chair, stroking his lower lip with a finger and stare at nothing for a few minutes while his brain worked.
Hearing the bedroom door open and a soft sob, Dante shot out of his chair and darted into the hallway, meeting Gaia at the threshold of their room. His heart broke to see fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. "Baby." He knelt before her and gently cupped her face with his hands, wiping her tears with his thumbs.
Gaia blinked, raising her hands to his, "I-I had a dream you'd left, you-you didn't want-"
Dante swiftly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his lap as he sat on the floor. "My beautiful little mate, I'm here. Now, I did leave the house for a short while because I needed to process this in my own way, but I am NOT leaving you. I am with you, and I will be beside you, every step of the way. Understand?"
He felt her head nod against his chest. Her breathing was shaky and she was hiccuping softly. He kissed her head. "I really need you to understand, Gaia. I choose you. I will always choose you. I know I was an idiot in the beginning, I know I broke your heart, but baby girl, I really need you to accept that I've come to my senses and you are mine. You are my everything. You are my soul, and I will choose you every time."
Gaia took a shaky breath and snuggled deeper into his embrace, "I understand."
****
"Are you ready, baby girl? Everyone's waiting."
Gaia nodded and followed him to the car.
***
Damian, sitting thigh to thigh beside his mate on one of the logs a little ways back from the small bonfire, eyed the vampires and dragons with suspicion. He wasn't too certain about the three shorter people, either, only knowing they weren't human. Angelica leaned close and asked if he knew what the other species were doing in Dante's territory. Damian shook his head, saying, "I don't know what we're doing here, let alone anyone else."
Scanning the rest in attendance he knew he wasn't the only alpha who'd been invited, nor the only one who seemed confused. Only Dante's betas, Colton and Darla, appeared at ease with the other species. Everyone else, including Dante's gammas, were as confused as he and Angelica, scanning everyone nervously while they waited for Dante and Gaia to arrive.
Damian nudged Angelica, "Let's go talk with your twin. Maybe he knows something." They stood together and walked over to stand with Randal, who hugged Angelica.
"Anyone know what's going on," Damian asked.
"We're just going to have to wait for D and G," Colton answered, "They're on their way."
Darla was hugging herself and shuffling her feet, obviously nervous about something. Lucas was frowning at her and clicking his tongue, obviously not in on whatever this meeting would be about.
"It's a little odd they aren't here, yet," Alpha Gregory grumbled. "They're hosting, they should've been the first here."
A car pulling in drew everyone's attention.
"That's them now," Randal said.
Everyone watched as Dante helped Gaia out of the car and approach the bonfire. Everyone noticed the pall of sadness embracing them both as Dante led Gaia toward their friends and allies. Dante nodded at Darla who grabbed Gaia into her embrace.
Dante swept his gaze over the attendees, "Thank you everyone for coming. I'm sorry my luna and I are a bit late, but that couldn't be helped. I know everyone is curious, so we'll begin. I'd like to start by handing the floor to the fey, and dragons, then I'll share what we've since learned. Rosalyn, would you please begin, then hand the floor to Baldur?"
Rosalyn jumped up on an upright log and went into great detail of the upcoming threat. When she was finished, she nodded at Balder and jumped off the log to stand with her kin. Balder, standing head and shoulders taller than everyone else, didn't feel a need to balance on a log. He branched out the significant details Rosalyn had touched on, and when he was done, he asked if anyone had any questions.
As Baldur spoke, Gaia reached for Dante's hand, knowing he would be speaking soon. Dante gave her hand a squeeze and smiled at her. She rubbed her forehead against his arm and readily pressed herself against him when he wrapped his arm around her.
The attending Alphas had questions.
"What are we to possibly do about this?", "Collapsing gates?", "What do you mean 'dark creatures'?", "Are you calling us to war?", "Why hasn't the council said anything about this?"
Dante cleared his throat, quieting the crowd and bringing the focus back to him. "The Wicca approached the council eleven weeks ago and they are deliberating on what steps should be taken, but we all know how the council can quibble. My father was here when we were first approached by these nine and upon returning to the council he spurred the historians to research everything they had in hadn't and go out looking for any other clues. What they found were detailed papyrus and sheepskin scrolls dating before the initial erection of the gates.
"Each of our species, except the vampyr and humans, hails from other realities. These other realities were taken over by dark creatures that originated from a different plane of existence in one of those other realities, and began to cross the others. From thousands of realities, there are eight still untouched by the dark creatures, including this one, but only this one is suitable for all the species represented here tonight. There are fey and dragons in those other realities guarding the merger points of those realities, or where the gates extend from here to there, but our kind, wolves and other shifters, and the humans and vampyr can only exist and thrive here in this reality.
"At the time the gates were first erected, over a hundred thousand years ago, it wasn't known how long the protection would last, but they did know the protections would eventually break down and the gates would weaken. That's what we're facing. What needs to happen is a new set of gates will need to be erected at the point where the old gates stand."
"And just how, exactly, do we do that," Alpha Gregory asked.
"My mate will...be doing that," Dante's voice held a slight tremor, "among her wolf's many gifts is the ability to combine and channel the power of all the magics. In a little over a month she and I will be journeying to the gates so she can fulfill this purpose."
Damian eyed his childhood friend, knowing there was more, something painful. "What haven't you told us."
"The gates were made possible by more than magic," Balder said, his head tilted as he watched Dante.
"There will be a sacrifice," Gaia's voice was soft and hollow.
Every were's gaze shot to Gaia, wide with horror.
"Oh, no!", "NO! I don't give a-", "The goddess wouldn't!", "you are not sacrificing my friend!"
"No, Gaia won't be sacrificed," Dante's voice was rough with emotion. He rested the palm of his hand on her swollen belly, "She's fifteen weeks pregnant with twins... A very special pair of blessed only Gray star can produce."
Horror and sympathy washed over every were in the gathering as they watched Dante pull Gaia into his embrace and rest his head against hers. Those with mates clung to them as one lost at sea grasps a float.
The dragons and fey closed their eyes or averted their gaze. Their close affinity with the current gates had given them a hint something of the sort might be a factor in the creation of the new gates, and learning several weeks before the beloved blessed was pregnant had solidified their suspicions.
The vampires stood emotionless as statues, watching everyone with mild curiosity. The only species to not reproduce by copulation, they had no experience to reference this strong reaction by the others present.
The crackling of the small fire was the only sound for many moments as the assembled group processed what they'd just learned.
"Oh, goddess," Angelica whispered, breaking the silence. She turned and buried her head in Damian's shoulder, clutching his shirt. He wrapped his arm around her waist and cradled the back of her head with his had, kissing her cheek.
As though Angelica's outburst spurred him, Dante spoke once more, "We don't know how long we'll be gone, but we hope the Alphas we've invited here this evening can give assistance to my Betas and Gammas."
"Of course," Alphas Gregory and Damian asserted immediately, the other alphas in attendance voiced their readiness to lend assistance to their ally as well. "Whatever we can do to help," Gregory locked eyes with Colton and Randal.
"We'll make sure everything's in order before we leave," Dante said.
"Don't stress yourself, D," Damian rasped. "I'm sure we can take care of whatever comes up."
"Thanks," Dante nodded, "Does anyone have anything to add, or any questions?"
A round of 'nos' answered him. "Then I thank you all for being here. I hope everyone has a safe journey home." Dante looked over the crowd and gave a nod, then walked with Gaia back to their car.
***
"We've been seeing some heavier rogue activity at the border," Randal reported. "Monitoring the blind spots with more frequent patrols is working, but we've determined where extra cameras could be set up, and I'm looking into other surveillance options."
Dante nodded, "We haven't actually been attack, though, right?"
"No, we've managed to catch every attempt along the border and fight them off."
"Keep doing what you're doing Ran, it seems to be working," Dante gave his gamma a weak smile. He turned to his Beta, "What's going on with the training?"
"We have a new batch of potential warriors come of age over the past couple of months, fifteen look to be strong warriors, of the other thirty-three, ten look promising as warriors and the rest will eventually be drawn to other areas of expertise. Of those in training I've seven ready for promotion to warrior and five to scout."
"Good, that's really good. Give me a date before I leave next week and I'll be at the promotion. Have their assignments ready and passed to Randal." "Sure thing," Colton said.
"Hey, how's the project," Randal asked.
"Yeah, everyone's excited," Colton said, "it'd be nice to give an update."
"The base has been carved out and the foundation set, and they're ready to begin building," Dante's brow rose, "it's good to hear people are excited for it. My dad didn't think it'd be very popular with the human city offering so much of the same, but my family's been a bit out of touch with the needs of the less fortunate for a few generations."
"I love you mom, but it's good to have a Luna with nugget's background," Randal grinned. "The entire pack loves her."
Dante's smile showed his pride and love for his mate.
"How's she doing? Really," Colton asked.
"She's doing a little better since we stopped seeing the doctor. We both are. Those visits were just too painful." Dante rested his head on the back of the chair, staring up at the ceiling. "We've been dreaming of them." A wistful smile played on his lips. "Every night over the past month. That's been a massive help to both of us, to at least spend time with them before... before," Dante choked back tears and couldn't finish the sentence. He covered his face with his hands for a moment, then slowly wiped them down to his chin.
"I can't even imagine what you two are going through," Randal said.
"You want to shoot some hoops tomorrow," Colton asked.
"Hell yeah," Dante exclaimed, siting upright and making eye contact with his friends.
"Sure," Randal agreed
"It smells like dinner is about done," Dante announced. "Let's go see what the others are up to."