Four days later, the power was back on and Henry came home from his first day back at work to find Timber asleep in the upstairs bathroom in her wolf form. Henry wasn't too worried. She had been spontaneously falling asleep in random places since she had gotten sick on Sunday. As a result, she hadn't left the house except for the hunt on Monday night which ended early when Timber vomited and gave them away to the deer they were tracking. She had managed to take the Halloween decorations down but the box was still in the living room. Not much else around the house was getting done except food and dishes.
Henry lifted her up to put her in bed when he noticed how light she was. As a wolf, Timber was two hundred and fifty pounds of pure muscle, though it felt to Henry as though she had lost twenty pounds in just three days. Immediately worried, Henry set her in bed and went downstairs to call Grace.
"Hello, Henry," said Grace's voice through the phone speaker. "Is everythin' alright?"
"Could you come over after work?" asked Henry. "There's something wrong with Timber. She's been really sick and has been falling asleep randomly for almost a week. Today I found her in the bathroom but when I picked her up, she felt too light. She wasn't this light three days ago."
"I'm off right now," said Grace. "I was just gettin' into my car. I'll be right over, Honey. I need to stop at home to get a few things first."
"Thank you," said Henry.
He hung up the phone. Realizing that he was hungry and Timber was in no condition to cook, he went to the refrigerator only to find it half empty and disheveled. Startled by the lack of food and usual organization, he tried to visualize what they had the last time he looked. Then he realized Timber had developed an eating pattern. He did some digging in the once neat pantry and noticed all the mason jars of marinara sauce were gone but there were still plenty of noodles. There were pizza rolls missing from the freezer. Everything with marinara and tomatoes had been eaten as well as all of the unfrozen meat.
Henry was completely confused. If Timber had been eating so much, why was she losing weight? He looked into the garbage and found the meat wrappers and food containers ripped to shreds which told Henry that Timber was in her wolf form and using her claws and teeth to open the food. He also found small bits of glass and drips of marinara sauce. Henry could only conclude that Timber had smashed the jar against the cabinet and licked it up from the floor and the cabinet side.
He looked outside and peaked into Timber's herb garden and saw paw marks in the dirt and then he noticed that one of the plants had been chewed to shreds but not eaten. He had never known Timber to behave like this. She was usually organized and clean and cautious about how much she ate after she had lost weight and worked so hard to tone her figure. Henry just stood in confusion as he tried to make sense of Timber's odd behavior. It was almost as if she had been losing herself to her wolf and forgetting who she was completely. She seemed to be running on the instinct to eat but that didn't explain why she formed a pattern. Henry pondered furiously until his head hurt.
Thirty minutes after he called Grace, the doorbell rang and Henry let her inside. She was carrying a large white box in her left hand that Henry knew was the medical kit she had put together specifically for Timber. Grace stepped over the threshold and set her kit down on the coffee table before looking around for her niece.
"Where is she?" she asked.
"Sleeping upstairs," said Henry. "I went to the fridge to get food, earlier. It's half-empty. She's been eating like crazy the last couple of days but she's losing weight. She's also staying in her wolf form. I found a jar of marinara that looked like Timber smashed open. I checked her for a fever but she's normal."
"Is there anythin' else Timber is doin' that is abnormal?"
Henry showed her the fridge and the pantry and the garden. He told her that Timber had also been wrapping herself in a ball to sleep at night which was something she never did even during her monthly cycles unless she was cold. Grace seemed to be putting pieces together in her mind. Henry trusted her to be able to treat Timber and fix the problem, whatever it was because she had been Timber's nurse for thirteen years and knew her system better than anyone.
"Bring her down please, Henry," said Grace, opening her box and grabbing gloves.
Henry went upstairs and touched Timber's nose gently. She opened her eyes and looked up at Henry with heavy eyes and grunted her displeasure at being disturbed. Henry told her that her aunt was downstairs so Timber stretched, yawned, and crawled out of bed weakly. She looked beyond exhausted. Her four legs trembled. She stumbled to her husband and looked up at him for help. Henry picked her up and carried her down to Grace. When Henry was in front of Grace, he set Timber gently on the area rug and she lay down.
"Can you Turn?" asked Grace. A moment passed and Timber shook her head no. "Lay on your side for me, Timber."
Henry sat beside her as she stretched out on the floor. Grace checked her temperature and her pulse. Then she checked her ears, eyes, and her mouth, and then began feeling around her throat. As soon as Grace touched the stomach area, Timber began growling and snapping her jaws. She lifted her head toward Grace but the brave Southern woman seemed unafraid. Henry looked at Timber's face to see her eye was on Grace and her sharp teeth were showing but she was not attacking. Then Henry saw a taser resting within Timber's line of sight.
"What's happening?" asked Henry.
"She's fightin' with her wolf right now but I'll be fine. She's done this twice before. The first time, she gave me this." Grace lifted her arm and Henry saw an old, mangled scar in the shape of a smaller canine jaw. "The second time I was prepared and I tased her. Her body is goin' through major hormonal changes. She doesn't know what she's doin' but she'll remember what'll happen if she tries to hurt me. There we go. We lost you for a moment Timber, Darlin'."
Timber was quiet again and she lay her head back down and shut her eyes. Grace resumed her work. She stopped at the lower abdomen and froze. She looked up at Henry with slight worry and then back at Timber. Henry began to panic. What was so wrong that Grace was worried? Would Timber be okay? His heart raced so fast it was painful.
"Timber," asked Grace. "Have you had your regular cycle this month?"
Henry looked down at Timber as she shook her head no. Henry nearly fainted. It wasn't possible...
Grace took a white instrument out of the bottom of her box and a tube of gel. She plugged the instrument into her phone and opened the gel.
"What is that?" asked Henry.
"It's a portable ultrasound machine. I bought it a long time ago but I usually use it to check Timber's bones while she was growing. The last time I used it was when Timber fractured her ankle durin' a cross country race."
Henry looked down at Timber. She was laying still and watching Grace.
"I'm goin' to put some of this on your abdomen," said Grace to Timber. "It's goin' to be a little cold."
Timber shivered as the gel touched her. Henry couldn't move. He had to be wrong.
Grace put the instrument to Timber's abdomen and felt around until she found what she was looking for. Coming through the speakers of the machine was the unmistakable sound of a tiny heartbeat. On the screen was a tiny image. It looked like a little unknown creature shaped like a bean that was inside Timber's body. Henry's mind went completely blank and he could not take his eyes off of Timber's abdomen.
"Henry!" said Grace loudly. "Did you hear me?"
Henry's eyes looked up at Grace.
"S-s-sorry." He stuttered.
"Timber is pregnant," said Grace. She looked both over the moon ecstatic and terrified. "I'm not equipped to handle this and she can't see a regular OBGYN. She has to see someone from Haven."
"How soon?" asked Henry.
"As soon as she can," said Grace. "If I remember right, wolves only carry for about two months but Timber might be different. I'd say the baby is due around Christmas but I could be wrong. I can monitor her for the next several days but after that, she needs to be seen by a professional, trained to deal with non-human pregnancies. She should be able to Turn back soon. I can give her herbal tea to help with nausea. In the meantime, Timber, you need to stay in bed. Watch TV all day for the time being if you have to. No deep cleanin' or carryin' anything heavier than five pounds. You'll have to stop workin' out in the morning too though stretchin' should be fine. I would recommend doin' yoga if you want to still get in some form of exercise."
"Why?" asked Henry.
"I don't know how Timber's body will react to a growin' fetus," said Grace matter of factly. "It's just a precaution to reduce the risk of a miscarriage."
Miscarriage? Henry didn't want to think about it. He could barely handle the news that Timber was pregnant. He looked at Grace. She had come out of what Timber called her "doctor mode" and was showering her niece with affection. She was now bright-eyed and hugging Timber's head and running a hand down her neck.
"Oh, this is so excitin'! Timber's havin' a baby! Goodness, gracious. Lord have mercy! I can't wait! Now I need to get home," said Grace, breathlessly. "I'll bring over some herbal tea later. You can go back to sleep Timber. A baby! Oh my goodness! You're havin' a baby! I'm goin' to be a gra'ma! Oh, my stars! I need to call Mama!"
Grace left the house in such a wonderful mood but Timber and Henry just looked at each other. Henry could not wrap his head around it. He never thought he would ever be a father. He wanted to have kids but he was unable to. Now, his wife was unexpectedly pregnant.
Three days later, Timber was back in her human form thanks to the herbal tea that Grace had brought over. She was still tired but she was gaining weight back since she wasn't vomiting so much in the mornings. Henry had not spoken to Timber at all since he found out she was pregnant. Once the shock wore off he began to get angry. He was trying hard not to lose his temper but it was proving to be difficult. Even as a Wolf Lord, if Henry Turned into his small wolf form instead of his large form, Timber could rip him to shreds. She was a highly skilled killer in her original form and Henry knew her well enough to know that Timber would kill him to protect the baby if she had to.
Timber spent several hours in the kitchen making him his favorite dinner that night in an attempt to cheer him up. She had done up her hair and put on her new dress. She had assumed that he was simply too worried to speak so she did her best to put him in a better mood. She had tried to assure him many times that she was going to be fine and that the baby was going to be strong but nothing worked. As Henry sat down to dinner, Timber asked the question he had been hoping to avoid.
"Henry, what's wrong?"
Henry replied before he could stop and think about the words coming out of his mouth.
"Who is he?"
"I'm sorry?" said Timber gently, tilting her head in confusion as she gazed at him.
"Who is he? What is his name?"
Timber dropped the wooden salad bowl she was carrying to the table. Lettuce, carrots, and cheese fell all over the floor, tomatoes rolled, and the croutons tumbled. At first, she was shocked into silence. Then the meaning of Henry's question hit her and she grew angry.
"Really?" Lightning flashed dangerously in her eyes but Henry was too angry to back down.
"The man who got you pregnant," said Henry crossly. "It wasn't me. I can't have children of my own. The Highers made sure of it."
"I haven't slept with anyone but you," said Timber defensively. "You're the only man I've ever been with in my whole life."
"Obviously not," said Henry scathingly.
"How can you even think that way?" demanded Timber. "This is your baby!"
Henry could see tears forming in her angry eyes. She was furious and broken-hearted but Henry found not even one ounce of empathy for her.
"No, it's not," insisted Henry. "There's no possible way for me to father a child."
"How do you know it hasn't changed," inquired Timber forcefully.
"Because we've been together for over five years and you didn't get pregnant until after Ashley got pregnant," snapped Henry.
"That's what you think? Are you insane? Henry, I haven't been with anyone else! This baby is yours."
"Stop lying to me!" yelled Henry.
His fist flew across the table and made contact with Timber's vase full of blue hydrangeas. It shattered before it fell over and the sound of breaking glass made Timber flinch violently and close her eyes for a second as she ducked and covered her head.
"I'm not lying!" she insisted to the floor. Tears fell at her feet. "What is wrong with you?"
"I'm married to a whore!"
"I'm not!"
"You damn sure are!"
He got to his feet so fast, the chair crashed to the floor. He took one step forward with clenched fists and his frightened wife reacted to his threat. Timber Turned suddenly and cut a long, shallow gash into his leg before Henry could even process that she moved. He fell to the floor in a heap, holding his bleeding leg. He looked up and glared dangerously at Timber. She was standing over him looking conflicted.
"Out! And don't you dare come back!"
Timber hesitated only a moment before she spun around and ran out of the back door through the flap she installed for herself. Henry had no idea where she would go but he had a feeling she would go hide in Johnson's Park for a while. He didn't really care at that point. He was still convinced that Timber had cheated. He looked at his leg. Timber didn't injure him as badly as she could have but he was still bleeding enough to need a large bandage. Henry cleaned it, covered it with a hand towel, and wrapped it with a bandage to hold it tight.
He sat down in his recliner thinking about the fight. While he was still certain he was right, he thought he had gone about it the wrong way. At least, he should not have called Timber a whore. He realized too that he had scared her by shouting and standing up as quickly as he did and that was why she injured his leg. He rested his head on the back of the chair and sighed. As he thought about Timber and the mystery man, he began to regret marrying her and he grew angrier. He slammed his fist on the end table and it smashed to the ground in pieces with the lamp and Timber's photo of herself and her friends surrendering forcefully to gravity. Glass and splintered wood littered the floor beside him but Henry did not care.
Twenty minutes after Timber left, there was furious banging on the front door. Henry groaned and got to his feet. He was not in the mood for company but the banging would not stop. He limped to the door, opened it, and immediately received a fist in the face. Henry went down but got back up quickly only to see Dresden in the doorway looking livid.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" demanded Dresden as he stepped inside and slammed the front door shut so hard, the glass shook. "Timber shows up at my house in tears looking for Xianna. Then she tells me she's pregnant and you're accusing her of cheating!"
"I can't have kids, Dresden," said Henry angrily. "You of all people know that. How else could Timber be pregnant if she didn't go off and sleep around with some other guy."
"Timber has done nothing except love you," Dresden argued loudly.
"Except cheat on me," said Henry coldly. "I'm not home all day. Timber is. Who's to say that she didn't violate our bed?"
"Are you stupid, Henry? Timber is pregnant and you're the father!"
"I can't get Timber pregnant! It's impossible!"
"You're not a werewolf anymore," Dresden reminded him. "You're a Wolf Lord. How do you know that the surgery didn't reverse itself during the transformation?"
Henry froze. He hadn't thought about that. Was it possible? Could the surgery really have reversed itself? His other scars had disappeared and the feeling returned to his fingers so it made sense that what Dresden was saying was accurate. Henry was filled with immediate regret. He collapsed to the floor in tears. What had he allowed to happen? Why couldn't he stop to see reason? Everything Timber did was for him. She always put him first, even when she was sick. She loved him so much that she was willing to tear apart her fingertips and do hard manual work just to make sure that he had clean laundry. She wouldn't have cheated. Henry could not take back what he said, however, and Timber would not forget his words anytime soon.
"I'm sorry," cried Henry. "Oh, my God! I'm so sorry! What have I done?"
"Look, I know that finding out Timber is pregnant was a big shock, but you should have realized that she is nothing but dedicated. Timber has risked her life for those she loves, including you. She would not go and have sex with some guy when it's you who has her heart."
"I need to apologize," pleaded Henry urgently. "I need to see her and apologize."
"You're going to have to wait," said Dresden. "She's already made it clear she doesn't want to see you right now. I've never seen her so broken. You really hurt her, Henry. On top of that, now she's terrified of you. I mentioned your name and she flinched. You destroyed her. First, you force her to hide under the bed then you force her out of her home. You're a right ass, Ferdinand Santelli. Now, I'm going to go home and leave you to figure out what to do. When and if Timber is ready, I'll bring her to you. You just be thankful that she came to me and Xianna instead of going to Grace. You'd be a lot worse off than how Timber left you."
Henry was left alone with his thoughts. Timber was right. He was being stupid. He just hurt Timber more than he ever had before. He sat in the middle of the living room floor with a black eye, a wounded leg, and a broken heart. Tears flooded his eyes and fell to the floor, creating a small puddle at his knees. How could Timber ever forgive him after everything he said?
It kept playing through his mind. "Who is he? The man who got you pregnant... It wasn't me...There's no possible way for me to father a child... Stop lying to me... I'm married to a whore... Out! And don't you dare come back!" He had been so cruel to her. He had yelled at her and charged at her and in doing so, made her afraid of him. He had never yelled at her like that before and Timber had never done well with yelling.
Henry tried to go on with the rest of his day as normally as he could but it was in vain. He had never felt this way before. The combination of self-directed rage and heartache was threatening to overtake him as the minutes ticked by slower than molasses going uphill in winter. He fixed himself a sandwich and forced himself to eat even though he wasn't hungry. He sat in his chair, drinking from his bottle of Jim Beam, trying to numb the pain as he watched the clock. He accidentally gripped his empty bottle too tight and the soda-lime glass shattered, cutting into his hand. The physical pain was nothing to him.
He got up and went upstairs to wash his hands, leaving the glass everywhere. Henry washed the blood from his hands and rinsed the cuts. He looked up at the mirror and, for a second, he thought he saw Timber looking back at him. He snapped, yelled out in anguish, and punched the glass with his fist. He went on a rampage in the bedroom, throwing a lamp across the room where it shattered against a framed picture Timber had found at the thrift shop, leaving the glass broken into large shards. He picked up the corner chair and smashed it against the wall, not only breaking the wooden chair behind repair but creating a gaping hole in the drywall. He threw the legs aside in a fury, knocked over another lamp, stood for a moment in silence, heaving as the adrenaline left his body, and fell back onto the bed in tears.
That night was a sleepless night for him. He kept checking his phone, in hopes that Timber would contact him. He sent her a text message apologizing for his stupidity before he crawled into bed. It was dawn and he had not heard anything from anyone about Timber. He kept thinking back to every argument that he had ever had with Timber. He knew he had a temper but he had never been so ruthless. No matter what they were fighting about, or how long they were arguing, Henry had never forced Timber to feel threatened enough to attack him.
By sunrise, Henry was convinced that Timber was never coming back. His grief was taking over. He thought about the hurt Timber had gone through the last few months. Watching him go through intense pain as his werewolf left and the Wolf Lord took over, having to physically stop him from killing Sebastian in the alley, watching his grief take control of him after Diana's murder, and now this. Timber couldn't recover from this. There was no way. The next time he saw his wife, she would be holding divorce papers.
Over at Xianna and Dresden's, Xianna had come from work to find Timber on her dark blue couch watching the fish in the tank behind her. She was so still, Xianna was immediately worried. Dresden came up to her and quietly explained the pregnancy and the fight and that Henry had scared her so badly she was afraid to go back home.
"I'm going to punch him in the face!" said Xianna angrily.
"I already did," said Dresden. "Right now, Timber needs you."
"You're right."
Xianna sat beside Timber slowly and remained still until Timber looked at her. Her brown eyes were emotionless and far away. Xianna took Timber in her arms and suddenly remembered something that Timber had told her about her mother a long time ago. So Xianna began braiding Timber's hair. When she was finished, she looked around at Timber to find her crying.
"Timber," said Dresden, coming into the room from the hallway, "you are welcome to stay for as long as you need. I'll sleep out here on the couch. You and Xianna can have the master. Do you want me to call the other girls?"
Timber looked at Xianna and nodded.
"How about Grace?"
She shook her head and Dresden bowed his head and excused himself. Timber could hear him call Ashley, Gina, and Kendra. He told them that Timber was at his house and she needed them all as soon as possible. Timber appreciated it. She had never felt so defeated, insulted, and brokenhearted in her life. She could think of nothing to say to Xianna so she just leaned into her and sobbed.
Kendra was the first to arrive an hour later. Then Ashley, forty minutes after that, and two hours later, Gina arrived. Dresden came back from the store just after Gina got there with his arms full of ice cream, chocolates, salty chips, and juice. He just emptied the bags onto the side tables in the bedroom and brought utensils and glasses.
"Thank you, Babe," said Xianna.
She and the others forced Timber to her feet and brought her to the master and helped her into the middle of the king-size bed. They handed out the ice cream and poured Timber a glass of juice. Timber forced herself to eat some of the chocolate ice cream.
"So what happened, Timber?" asked Gina.
"I'm pregnant," said Timber. The three girls squealed happily and hugged her but stopped when they realized that she wasn't smiling.
"I don't understand," said Ashley. "Why do you look so miserable? Why aren't you celebrating with Henry?"
"You've put your nose on the problem," said Timber. "Henry has convinced himself that I cheated on him and this baby isn't his." The room was suddenly full of swear words and curses. "He smashed the stuff on the table and he scared me. Then I hurt his leg. He screamed at me to get out and never come back."
Timber began sobbing again and shifted into her wolf form. She continued sobbing and whimpering. The group covered her in their arms until she calmed down. She was offered the rest of her chocolate so she put it between her paws and licked it up with her tongue. With all the sweet and salty junk food filling her up, and the closeness of her friends, Timber began feeling a little bit better and she regained her human form.
What really got her to feel better was trash talking. She knew it wasn't ladylike and she was above it normally but at that moment, she didn't care at all about being good. She and the girls spent an hour trash-talking about Henry even though most of what they were saying was invented and they all knew it. The only thing that was true was the complaints about his temper. They all knew that he held back but they agreed that he crossed a line when he moved angrily toward his wife. By nine-thirty, the sweets and snacks were gone. Timber and her friends had gone from sad to angry and sad again. A knock on the door startled them a little and Dresden poked his head in.
"Timber, come here. I have something for you."
All five girls got out of bed and followed Dresden into the garage. He handed Timber a pair of boxing gloves that belonged to Xianna. He put on his pair.
"Come at me," he said. "I won't do anything but block. Just let everything out."
So Timber took all her aggression out on Dresden. She punched and kicked with everything she had. She neglected form and skill and let her limbs move freely. She was forcing him back but, true to his word, he only blocked her. She yelled and cried until she was too exhausted to remain human and she shifted forms but she kept going until she collapsed to the floor in a steady stream of tears. Dresden threw down his gloves.
"There. It's all out," he said. "She's too tired for irrational behavior now. Tomorrow, depression will hit but the important thing is that she is out of the aggressive stage now."
"Let's get her to bed," said Ashley. "If you don't mind, Dresden, I think we all want to be here when she wakes up in the morning."
"I know and it's alright with me."
So, just like they were kids again, Timber, Ashley, Xianna, Kendra, and Ashley fell sound asleep beside each other. The feeling of being surrounded by people who loved her cheered Timber up a great deal and as she fell asleep, she thought not of Henry, but of the wonderful women around her and she smiled.