Audrey
Twins. My beautiful baby girl, Amber. And my handsome boy, Adrian. Even though my water broke the same day as Sammie, Veronica, and Emily; I didn't give birth until the next day. The twins couldn't decide who wanted to get out first. So there was a bit of a wait. By 'a bit', I mean almost twenty hours.
Needless to say, I was very angry at Thomas. It takes two to tango. But I still blamed him. Everyone had already visited the babies; leaving only my mate and I in the room. He was holding Amber. She got Thomas' brown hair while Adrian got my black hair. Both had blue eyes and Thomas' tanner skin unlike my pale tone. They were gorgeous little bundles of joy. Much cuter than my friends' babies. But that's just my opinion.
My mate glanced at me. "Mommy looks tired" Thomas said softly as he gently rocked Amber back and forth. "She should sleep, huh?" he asked our daughter in a child's voice.
I waved him off, holding Adrian in one hand. "I'm okay" I assured him. Regardless of my words, Thomas took Adrian away from me. Due to the soreness, I couldn't get up; so I settle for scowling at him. Thomas placed the kids in their cribs and told me to sleep. "But-"
"Sleep" he demanded. Grumbling, I crossed my arms over my chest and turned away from him. The pain that shot through my body made me wince, but I didn't acknowledge it. "I felt that. You want me to ask the doctor for medicine?" Thomas asked. I shook my head. I didn't want medicine in my system if I was breastfeeding the kids. Even if the doctor says the meds are safe, I would refuse to take it. "Can I lay with you?"
Shaking my head, I pulled the blanket over my face. Honestly, I wanted him to come into bed with me. Just to feel those sparks. But I felt gross. My hair was still a mess. I was sleep deprived. Plus, I knew he would wrap his arm around my waist. I guess I was a bit self-conscious. I knew my body wouldn't be the same after pregnancy. The little pudge still on my stomach was enough proof. Sure, it was covered by my shirt. But he would feel it if we were in the same bed. It was different when I was actually pregnant. You could feel my babies inside of the womb. But now, it's just a bump. Not that large, but still noticeable.
Ignoring my deny, Thomas climbed into the bed. I attempted to push him off, but he caught my wrist in his hand. "Your wall isn't up" he mumbled, pressing a kiss to the inside of my wrist. I built up my wall, pushing him out of my mind. Thomas sighed and laced our fingers together. "I love you" he cooed, scooting closer to me. "It's just mommy-weight. It's from carrying our babies. You're still gorgeous"
I sighed and allowed him to pull the blanket off of my face. "I love you, too" Bringing his hand to my face, I pressed a kiss to the back of his hand. I took a deep breath before turning around so my back pressed against his chest. Our intertwined hands rested on my stomach as we both fell asleep.
***
"She's gonna make herself deaf from screaming so loud!" Jesse shouted, trying to get Amber to calm down. I was breastfeeding Adrian and Sammie was feeding Maili. Since Thomas was off doing Alpha stuff, Jesse was assigned to help up with the babies. I thought he would get used to it by now. But Jesse still freaks out about the kids. "Why are you crying?" he muttered, rocking my daughter back and forth.
Amber continued to cry in Jesse's ear. "Pat her butt. That usually calms her down" I suggested. Jesse shifted Amber in his arms before doing as I said. "See. Not that hard" I gave him a smile as she calmed down. Jesse sighed in relief, while I pulled Adrian out from under my nursing cover. After burping my son, I sat him on my lap. He stared at Jesse.
Jesse actually looked a bit creeped out. "Is he planning my murder right now?" Jesse wondered. Shaking my head in amusement, I rolled my eyes. He's two weeks old. Why would he be planning a murder? There was suddenly the unmistakable noise of a fart. "That was Amber. I swear" Jesse said quickly.
Laughing, I switched babies with Jesse so I could go change Amber. As I walked away, I heard Adrian start to fuss. "Good luck, Jesse" I sang, going up the stairs. Adrian started wailing and Jesse was muttering about the possibility of my son breaking his vocal chords. "Hi baby" I cooed, lying Amber down. She made little baby noises as I changed her diaper. I took my time, still hearing Adrian cry. That baby was already a Momma's boy. He can only tolerate Thomas for half an hour, tops. But for some reason, Adrian likes Sam.
When Amber was all clean, I slowly made my way back downstairs. When I reached the bottom steps, Adrian stopped crying. "What was Uncle Jesse doing to you?" I recognized Thomas talking in his baby-voice. Smiling, I stood in the doorway and watched him. Thomas faced Adrian towards Jesse. "Growl" Thomas instructed. Adrian let out a little growl that sounded like it came from a chihuahua. Honestly, it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. "Look. There's Mommy and Amber" Thomas turned Adrian towards me.
Adrian wiggled around, trying to get to me. "You don't like, Daddy. Do you?" I questioned, switching kids with Thomas. My mate rolled his eyes and told Amber to growl. She didn't listen. Amber opted for trying to suck on her father's fingers. "Nope. Daddy's fingers aren't clean" I said, pulling his hand away from her mouth.
Thomas smirked at me. "These fingers have done some dirty things"
"That's our cue" Sammie got up and shook her head at us before walking towards the stairs. "Jesse!" The guy scrambled to follow after his mate.
After a few moments, we heard laughter. "I get it now!" Jesse shouted. "Ow! Maili, tell Mommy it's not nice to hit peo- Ow! Stop hitting me!"
I laughed along with Thomas as Sam and Veronica came into the room. "I'm just saying. You spoil her too much. She doesn't need to be carried 24/7" Veronica told her mate as she walked in with Olivia in her arms. Ironic.
"Sam. Hold Adrian" I demanded. Holding in my squeals, I took the blonde baby girl from Veronica's arms. "Hi, Livvy" I cooed, kissing her head. She made little noises, waving her arms around. "You're Daddy's little princess, aren't you?"
Sam nodded in confirmation as Veronica rolled her eyes. "Tell this guy that he needs to let Olivia self-soothe" Veronica said, looking at me.
"You need to let Olivia self-soothe" He stuck his tongue out in response. I knew he probably wouldn't listen. "Where's Em?" I asked Veronica.
"Doctor appointment" I nodded in understanding. Eli has a check up every couple of days. He was out of the NICU and out of his incubator after a week of being born; but they still need to make sure he's developing right. So far, there haven't been any problems. "They should be back any-"
The front door opened and the family of three walked in. Eli was crying as Emily held him and patted his back. Emily came over to us, sinking down into the couch. She looked exhausted. "Babe. Go take a nap. I got him" Keith said, taking Eli from his mate's arms. She sighed and slowly got up. Eli calmed down after a couple minutes and fell asleep. "Bay. Can you go talk to her?" Keith asked, giving me a pleading look.
Nodding, I gave Olivia back to Veronica and went upstairs. I knocked on Emily's bedroom door before walking in. "He's fighting himself" Emily muttered as I sat next to her on the bed. I gave her a confused look. "Since Keith is a hybrid, Eli is a quarter witch. The witch side and his werewolf side are battling for strength. It's weakening him. We need to remove his magic or kill his werewolf side"
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders as she let a few tears fall. Soon enough, all of the girls came into the room and crowded around us. We all cuddled around Emily, telling her that Eli would be fine. "What should we do?" Emily inquired, looking around at us with her tear brimmed eyes.
"We can't tell you what you should do. That's between you and Keith" Sammie said softly. Emily sniffled and nodded her head in understanding. "Let's get you cleaned up" Sammie helped Emily off the bed and took her into the bathroom. Veronica and I watched them with sad smiles on our faces. It was horrible. They had to choose to destroy part of their son. It wasn't fair. I couldn't even imagine how they felt.
When we got downstairs, Emily's face was clean of tears but her eyes were still red. She walked over to Keith and he pressed a kiss to her temple as she sat next to him. "Baby time!" My eyes widened as I froze in my spot.
Everyone gave me a questioning look. "Gar's having her baby!" I squealed. They grinned as Keith offered to teleport us. To preserve his energy, he did couple by couple. Of course, I demanded to be the first couple. Thomas held Amber and I held Adrian. "Oh! The babies' first teleport!" Thomas shook his head at me before Keith worked his magic- literally.
Thomas and I walked through the front doors of the castle, meeting up with Jacobs. "Hello, little wolfie" he said, giving me a side hug. I greeted him as we quickly followed him to the hospital part of the castle. "How are the littler ones?" Jacobs wondered as we sat down in the living room closest to Gardenia's birthing room.
I smiled and handed Adrian over to him. Jacobs stiffened as if he didn't know how to hold a child. After a few moments, he slowly relaxed. I sat next to Jacobs, so Adrian could still see me and he wouldn't freak out. "Marco! I hate you!" Gardenia's voice shouted through the walls.
"I love you too, babe!" I have no idea why Marco was shouting; but he was. And it was kinda amusing. Soon, the others got here and we were crowded in the living room. It took about ten more minutes, before a doctor came out. He motioned us in. I practically ran inside, causing Thomas to laugh at me. "Meet William" Marco said, staring at the little baby boy in Gardenia's arms.
William had Marco's complexion, but Gardenia's eyes and hair. I could just imagine him being a little male version of my sister. "He's so handsome" Marco muttered, caressing his son's face with a single finger.
I smirked. "Did you shout 'I like your face'?" I questioned before bursting into laughter. Everyone around us also started laughing. It would be impossible to forget Marco's first sentence to his mate. He reddened and grumbled something about bullying. "Adrian. Meet your cousin" I cooed, bringing my son closer to William.
"Two minutes" Our heads all snapped to the door as David walked in with Lila in a wheelchair. "Why do babies all wanna be born the same day?" David questioned, looking exhausted.
I grinned. "You're in labor?" I asked Lila.
She nodded her head. "This one is mad at me 'cause I refused to do anything before I seen my new nephew" Lila said, jutting a thumb in David's direction. So stubborn.
Exactly two minutes later, David rolled Lila out of the room, telling us that they were in the room right next to this one. "My kids are the only ones with their own birthday" I boasted happily.
Mom shook her head at me. "It doesn't count. They're twins born the same day. So technically, they share the day with each other" I pouted as she laughed at me.
"Who wants to hold him first?" Gardenia asked, handing William to Marco.
"She broke my hand!" Dave shouted from the neighboring room, causing us all to freeze and start laughing.
Dad laughed as he and Mom shared a look. "Your mother broke my hand when she was giving birth" Dad informed us. Like father, like son. "Let me hold my grandbaby" Thomas and I both jokingly held our kids out for him. Dad shook his head with a scowl. "Smart asses" he muttered, grabbing William.
The newborn was passed around the room until the doctor came in to inform us that David's baby was born. After getting Gardenia situated in a wheelchair, we went over to the next room. "Look, Dale. It's your family" David cooed at the little bundle in his arms. Riley moved away from David so he could stand up.
We all smiled at the little boy as he was passed off to my mother. "Hi, Dale. I'm your grandma" Mom said softly. She suddenly froze. "Shit. I'm a grandma. I'm old" she muttered to herself.
I shook my head in amusement as I held Adrian closer to Dale. "Look at your baby cousin" I whispered to my son. He made baby noises as he stared at Dale. Someone cleared their throat behind me. Honestly, I ignored them and continued messing with Adrian and Dale. That was until Mom nudged me. "What?" I questioned, looking up. Everyone was staring behind me.
Slowly, I turned around to face my mate. "Audrey Bay Reed" Thomas started off, still holding Amber in his arms. The only difference was that Amber was holding a square velvet ring box. "The first time we talked, you came back from stealing my car. Since then, we've been through a lot. Your family, the kidnapping, my stupidity. We even survived my mother's crazy baby phase" I let out a small laugh, grinning at my mate.
Carefully, he knelt down and sat Amber on his knee while she still held the box. "I knew I would marry you the day that you bumped into me trying to run away from my dad. Then that worker at the hotel called you Mrs. Laney. That week, I bought a ring. And I've been trying to find the right time for this. I know how much family means to you, and since they're all here, I decided to do this now" Thomas explained. Holding Amber with one hand, he used his other to open the ring box.
It was beautiful. A white gold band with a sapphire in the middle, surrounded by small diamonds. Everyone was silent as Thomas continued to stare up at me. "You're my best friend. Sorry guys" Thomas said unapologetically looking at Sam and Jesse before looking back at me. "You're the last thing I see when I go to sleep and the first thing I think about when I wake up. I love you with every proton in my body. And it would be a dream come true if you would be the next Mrs. Laney"
With a grin on my face, I vigorously nodded my head. "Yeah. I'll marry you" Thomas grinned back at me before standing up. I shifted Adrian so I held him with one hand. Thomas did the same with Amber and I gave my mate a one-armed hug and a kiss. "I love you so much" I mumbled.
"I love you too" Thomas carefully pulled the ring out of the box and slid it onto my left ring finger. Thomas held Amber at arms length. "Mommy and Daddy are getting married!" She made little noises, sucking on her fingers.
Everyone began to congratulate us with smiles on every single one of their faces. "Aw. Mom" I cooed, seeing her tears. She sniffled and pulled me into a hug carefully so she wouldn't squish Dale or Adrian.
"You guys are so grown up" she cried out. "I love you guys; all of you" Mom said, her voice slightly cracking.
I wiped the few tears on my face. "We love you too, Mom" I mumbled, kissing her cheek. Taking a deep breath, I looked around the room at my family- the people I should've grown up with. However, even though it wasn't right, I still wouldn't change how I got here. The kidnapping shaped me into who I am. It's part of me. And I'm lucky enough to have made it back home.
This was where I belonged; with my friends, mate, and family.
_______________
This was long overdue! Whoops...
For those of you who messaged me about Riley's book. I'm extremely sorry that it's been soooo long. I'm working on it. It will be posted sometime this month, I promise.
Kayyyzzz Byeeezzz
~A.J.