The next chapter won't be up until Friday of NEXT WEEK (Feb 1st). Posting for an update isn't going to make it magically appear lol.
***
After I filled Nikki in about the lack of change in the baby girl's position, Mikko changed the focus of the conversation completely. "Follow me to my house so you can get settled in before the party."
Nikki and I stared at each other and asked "What party?" simultaneously.
"The pack is coming together to meet you."
"An earlier warning wouldn't have been better?"
He shrugged. "Follow."
Nikki handed Mike their car keys. She was going to ride with me because Mikko was going to take one of the trucks parked outside. The truck was probably his.
Nikki and I were both irritated when we got back in the car to follow him. We didn't say anything, but we both huffed ever so often, thinking about this dumb party. We didn't like parties sprang on us without a good amount of advanced warning. Especially now that it took me so long to get changed and ready.
"I hope he has clean sheets," Nikki muttered as we pulled up.
"Me too, cause I'm not cleaning them." I agreed unhappily.
***
Mikko's house wasn't as spectacular as Finn's. It was significantly smaller, being that it was just one story. It had the log cabin look and feel just like Finn's had, but that's how most of the places I had seen out here looked. The outside of Mikko's house didn't suggest that there was going to be anything special inside... some of the windows were all boarded up. This place looked abandoned.
I brought in my suitcase while Nikki and Mike brought in some boxes. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the interior of the house didn't look abandoned.
Maybe he really did spend his time cleaning…
Mikko was already inside, but he left the doors open for us at least.
"Where do we go?" I asked the other two when we walked in. There was no sign of Mikko.
"This way." I heard Mikko's voice come down from the hallway to the right.
I glanced at Nikki before going towards where I had heard Mikko's voice.
"This place doesn't look as bad as I thought it would." Nikki ran her finger over the sill of the window next to the front door. "The boarded windows suggest someone hasn't been here in a long time."
"But they were here last night." I reminded her.
"I didn't need to have my memory jogged." Nikki started following behind me. "I didn't assume they'd be cleaning."
When I got to the door, I was tired again. "This is exhausting."
"It's not that bad. Your home was more of a walk than this," she said, surprising me by not catching on to what I meant.
I wheeled my bag to the one door that was open. Mikko had one of the boards from the inside of the windows in his hand, but the wall behind him didn't look damaged from a board. It was a pretty nice sized room that, by the lack of any kind of décor, had obviously been a guest room.
"This is it." He held the board as he looked at me. "Later you can set up the nursery."
I nodded and took in the room. There was nothing special about it. It fit the king size bed easily, but that was the only thing in the room. I could probably fit a dresser and a couple bassinets in here easily.
Mikko motioned toward the mattress with the huge board. "The mattress is brand new." There was even the plastic around the mattress. "And there are a few sets of bedding in the closet. Just choose whichever you want and I'll get rid of the rest."
I nodded and moved so Nikki could come in. She looked around unimpressed. "It's pretty bare bones in here."
Leave it to Nikki to make me smile.
Mikko left the room with the board to let us get settled in. Nikki opened the closet and pulled out three bags of bedding. "Which one?"
She immediately pulled away the one with the busy print, knowing I wouldn't like it, which left me with a light purple, flowery set and a light blue set with thick dark blue striped across it.
I pointed to the blue. It felt calmer to me. I needed some calm in my crazy life.
She nodded and tossed the extra bedding sets to her mate. "You can go relax babe. We're going to put some things away."
He nodded and took the sets with him. He wouldn't want to stick around anyway. It was probably uncomfortable for him to be here, not with his pack, not on pack land, in the house of another dominate werewolf.
"We'll need to get some decor before I leave."
"We have two nurseries to put together before you leave." I couldn't put two nurseries together and get enough rest in to keep the babies from being born before they were ready.
Nikki and I spent maybe an hour getting my room in order. My belongings were still in boxes, but my bed was made and ready to provide a nap.
I knew Nikki wasn't tired, so I kicked her out to get settled into her room. I waited until she was out of the room before lying down and taking a nap. I was just so tired all the time.
A nudge woke me up in, what felt like, seconds. Mikko was standing next to my bed. "You should probably start getting ready."
I stretched, not feeling completely rested. But I sat up. "Where's Nikki?"
"In her room getting ready."
I grabbed my walkie talkie. "I'm up," I told Mikko. "I'll be ready in an hour or two."
He nodded. "Need anything?"
I shook my head. "No, I think I'm okay."
I knew Nikki would have her matching walkie talkie as I pressed the button that would make her set beep annoyingly. When I heard it from my open door, I smiled. She cursed then came into my room with a glare.
"That's really annoying."
By the time I was ready to go, everyone else had been waiting for a while. Luckily no one complained about how long the pregnant woman took to get ready.
***
Getting back to Finn's wasn't a big deal. Post nap I knew I wasn't going to be a risk for wanting to go home early. I should make it through the party at least.
Finn's home was crowded when I looked in through a window as we pulled up. There weren't many cars here. Most of these wolves had changed and ran here.
I was very nervous about meeting strange wolves, but I followed Mikko into the house anyway.
Someday these wolves were going to be my pack members. For now, they'd become my friends and eventually, maybe, I would trust them with the care of my children... maybe.
I tugged off the big jacket I was forced into. Nikki hung it up beside the door and pushed me in the direction that Mikko went.
She squeezed my shoulder. "Think of it this way, at least you're not a werewolf from another pack. My wolf is telling me I shouldn't be here. It feels like I'm cheating on my pack." Nikki had probably caught onto my apprehension.
I smiled back at her. "Well, get used to them. They're going to be around whenever you come to visit."
She gave me a reassuring smile back. "We'll get used to all of this soon enough."
We followed the direction Mikko went, which was into the huge living room with the fireplace I loved. This room was full of werewolves; even more than I thought was possible to fit into it.
Fortunately, not everyone looked at me immediately. I would felt like the cow up for slaughter. I heard an excited squeak, so I looked in the direction to see a woman bouncing as she made her way towards me. This was Madeline, the other sister of the Madill's.
"I have been waiting for a niece or nephew for a lifetime!" She was in front of me in an instant, not bothering to curb her werewolf speed. "I never thought the first would come from Mikko!"
She reached for my belly. I readied myself for the unwelcomed touch, but a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.
"Cool it," Mikko said beside me. "You have to be gentle."
The woman looked at Mikko with a glare. "I was being careful."
He shook his head. "You were excited. You're not careful when excited."
She huffed much like a child. "I. Am. Careful."
He took her hand and brought it lightly to my stomach. I felt his hand clench at my back, taking a good grip on my shirt. Was he planning in pulling me back? Does he not trust his sister to control herself? She is a very old werewolf, shouldn't she have that control? Or is she too old and slowly losing it?
When she backed away, she twirled and looked in the direction of her father. "Can you believe it Daddy?!" she said gleefully. "A baby!" She screamed. "I'm so excited!"
She screamed and jumped up and down a few feet from me while Nikki and I exchanged a look. There was something Mikko hadn't told me about his sister. Is she just excited? Maybe she is just hyperactive…
Mikko pulled me a couple of feet away from the bouncing woman.
Finn came over to calm his daughter. "Time to bring it down a few degrees love."
She beamed at her father. "I know, I'm just so happy."
Finn smiled at his daughter, then looked at me. "We're all happy about the baby." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Why don't we go get your surprise ready?"
Again Madeline beamed. "Oh yeah! Let's go!" She practically dragged her father away.
For the better part of an hour, I didn't move three feet away because I was constantly approached by the different members of the pack. They all seemed really nice, but I just couldn't stand anymore. The pain in my back was peaking and my legs would have started shaking if I stood any longer.
Mikko cut off whoever planned on approaching me next with the politeness of a gentleman, which was something I wasn't used to. He brought me to the sofa in front of the fireplace. The pack members interacted like a family. This was really nice to be around. My children would have a great life growing up around these people... when they were out of me so I could get past this pain.
Nikki leaned over the back of the couch and rested her chin on my shoulder. "How's the back?"
"Knives are in it."
Nikki pushed me forward, put a pillow against my back, then let me lean back again. The extra support was amazing.
"You should've said something." Mikko sat down on the floor between me and the fireplace. "Wolves don't understand the constant aches you have because of pregnancy. For werewolves, pain lasts for healing time and during the change. Other than that, wolves have no pain."
"Because you heal quickly."
"Because we heal quickly," he agreed with a small smile.
A woman sat down beside me, putting her hand on my belly and earning a glare from Mikko.
It was Abigail who was sitting so close to me. I nudged her away. "Not now."
She pursed her lips unhappily. "Awe, come on. I just wanted to formally welcome Mikko's child and its mother to the pack."
I rolled my eyes. "Well I haven't given birth and I am not a wolf just yet."
Abigail smiled at me. "It doesn't matter sweetheart. We all know you're Mikko's," she leaned in, "even if he's not yours."
Mikko was up in a second and had Abigail by the back of her neck, pulling her off of the couch and away from me. Nikki took the seat Abigail had been in. "That was a little funny."
"Her being dragged away like a bad pup?"
Nikki's smile broadened. "Yes."
We both started laughing. Then Philip made his appearance. "There you are." He smiled as he crouched down next to the sofa. "You're huge!"
I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "Thank you for that news flash Philip. I don't need to be told I'm huge. I have eyes."
His smile broadened. "You're even snippier when you're uncomfortable."
"I'd hit you if it did any good."
He put a hand on my belly. "Good thing it would do no good." He rubbed over the belly, probably surprised it was so big. As far as I knew, Philip thought I was only having one. "The nursery has been decorated, if you want to take a look at it."
I nodded. "Of course I want to see it. I didn't even know anyone had gotten started on it."
Philip stood up and held his hands out in front of me to take. I gladly took them since getting up was becoming more and more of a challenge.
He started to lead me up the stairs when Mikko and Abigail were coming back down. Mikko looked bothered, but when he laid eyes on us, his face went neutral. Abigail however, growled at me when she passed. Nikki returned the growl with an extra dose of threat in it. Nikki would get in a fight with Abigail before I did.
Mikko stayed at the top of the stairs. "Where are you taking Emily and Nikki?" Mikko asked his brother with tension in his voice.
"I'm taking them to see the nursery."
Mikko's tension disappeared as he smirked. "I'm not going to miss that."
"This is either going to be amazing, or really bad."
Mikko barked a laugh. "It's the second."
Nikki shook her head and huffed. "Well let's go check out the nursery and see what we have to go get."
That made me happy. I loved baby stuff now. Even if we have to go buy the boy everything, it’ll give me something to focus on. Philip helped me up and we walked upstairs to the nursery.
Mikko pushed the door open and leaned on the doorframe, keeping his eyes on my face so he wouldn't miss my reaction. I was so stunned at what I saw that I didn't even walk into the room all the way once I saw what a horrible room this was. It was so pink I had to squint until my eyes adjusted to the brightness of the color.
I shook my head. "This needs a new paint job."
Nikki nodded and made a face at the paint. She hated it.
"Does this shade hurt your eyes as much as it hurts mine?" I asked finally walking into the room.
Mikko was greatly amused with my expression. It was probably of pure horror. I could not let my children sleep in this room. "Even more so."
I opened the closet. "Need boy clothes, toys, another crib, more diapers."
Nikki looked through the drawers. "Stuff for baths."
I reached in the drawer and took out two bottles. "They can't be serious. Two bottles?" I sighed. "When can we go?"
Philip came into the room. I didn't miss that his eyes were marginally squinted. "I thought you were having a girl," Philip said as he looked at his brother.
I earned another look from Mikko that told me I said something I wasn't supposed to. "Emily is having twins."
Philip's jaw slackened as he looked back at the only pregnant belly in the room. "Twins? That's very rare Mikko."
Mikko nodded. "And a secret." That one was shot towards me. "Tomorrow we can go to the hardware store. You can pick out the paint so we can get started on that."
I nodded and put the bottles back in the drawer. "How long has it been since there was a baby in this pack?"
"26 years maybe." He shrugged. "Margaret was the last child born to this pack."
Philip smiled at his brother before rushing over and giving him a hug. "This is amazing brother."
Mikko smiled and hugged his brother back.
Philip let go of his brother. "I'll have some of the guys clear out the room so we can repaint it after the color is chosen."
Then Philip was out of the room, practically bouncing at the news of the twins.
Mikko looked over at me. "Others might know now. The twins were supposed to be a secret until they were a few months old. I didn't want Marshall's bounty to entice rogues once it doubles from there being two babies now."
I shrugged. "I was just saying what we needed. It's not like I did it on purpose."
Nikki patted my shoulder, so I looked over. She was already walking towards the door, spying on whoever was in the hallway. I crept closer to the door with her.
I was sure if the werewolves speaking in the hallway were paying any attention, they'd know we were spying on them.
There was a woman talking. She sounded mad. Nikki and I both had out ears pointed out the door, listening intently. I could see Mikko shaking his head at us from my peripheral vision. That wouldn't stop us from spying.
We were too damn nosey for our own good.
"She's critiquing the nursery I had to put together for that bastard child?" The woman hissed at Philip. I recognized her voice anywhere.
How dare she bad mouth my child! I could've beaten the woman up… if she weren't a werewolf.
Abigail, I mouthed to Nikki. Nikki nodded her head in agreement.
"You painted the damn nursery a neon pink Abi. What did you think? That she wanted to put newborns in glow-in-the-dark room?" It was Philip.
"Why couldn’t she just stay away from here? Why did it have to be Mikko who fucked her!?"
"You need to quit this infatuation with my brother. If he wanted you, he'd have you. He doesn’t. Get over it." Philip sounded annoyed.
"He doesn’t want that kid and he’s letting them stay here."
Mikko scooted past us quickly, stopping the conversation between his brother and the lover in its tracks. "You'd better be amending that comment with haste." Nikki and I hung around the doorway in the hall, witnessing the action about to go down.
"I'm just expressing myself Mikko!" She nearly shouted.
Mikko growled. "If I didn't want a child born I would've taken care of it a long time ago. Don't think for a minute that I would ever want you over my own child.”
“You just want her for her child. You don't even want her,” she said in a harsh whisper.
Mikko had the woman by her throat. He pushed her backwards down the hallway. When she tripped over her heels, he held her up by her neck and dragged her into the office.
Philip looked back at Nikki and me with a childlike smile. "She's in so much trouble."