by R K Knightly
She giggled, her soft body limp against his.
"What if I told you that you didn't have to try so hard next time?" she asked him through her giggles. "Would you fuck me less frequently or with less abandon?"
"Baby, if I ever give you less than my all, I'm having my sac amputated and becoming a fucking eunuch."
That made Elle laugh even harder. Full-on belly laughs that made her separate from him to clutch at her stomach.
"Good, because now you can't tell me you won't touch me when I tell you I'm pregnant," she told him, still laughing.
"What?" He wasn't sure if he had heard right.
"You heard me," she said. "I'm pregnant. We're pregnant."
Chapter 39
"You're pregnant?"
"Yes."
"With...with a baby?"
"No, I'm having a panda," Elle said, rolling her eyes. "Of course, with a baby. Your baby."
"My...you're not fucking with me right now, are you?" he asked, his eyes growing a bit narrow with suspicion.
"I would never do that," she told him. "We. Are. Having. A. Baby," she reiterated slowly to him.
Elle watched as the reality of the situation seemed to sink in. His face slowly lit up with a grin that threatened to split his head in two and he barked out a single, loud laugh that made Elle flinch slightly at its suddenness.
"Baby! We're having a baby!"
Elle nodded at him and pecked him on the lips.
"Congratulations, Daddy," she breathed against his mouth.
He kissed her again, this time taking it deeper for a moment before pulling back.
"Fuck," he breathed out. "I didn't think I could love you more than I did, but...a baby? Elle, you've given me everything I've ever wanted. I'm one lucky fucking bastard to have found you."
"Technically, your Beta found me," she told him with a smirk.
"And thank God that asshole doesn't listen to my instructions very well," Liam said. "If he had, you'd be...well, I don't want to think about that." He paused. "A baby..."
It was almost a chant – as if he still couldn't believe it.
His little reverie was interrupted by an annoying buzzer going off in the kitchen.
"Crap! The pies!" Elle scrambled up from her spot on Liam's lap before he could stop her. He didn't give a shit about pies right then and only wanted to hold his world close to him for a moment more.
"We can buy store bought if they get ruined," he protested as she pulled her clothing on quickly. "I'd rather keep you in my arms right now, so fuck the pies."
"Store-bought don't taste the same as homemade!" she protested and scurried into the kitchen amidst Liam's grumbling protests.
Fortunately, the pies weren't burnt and Elle pulled them out of the stove and turned it off. She settled them on the countertop over some potholders to cool.
Liam strode up behind her as she was setting the last one onto its potholder. He was wearing only boxers and had curled his arms around Elle before placing a soft kiss to her hair, then drinking her scent in.
"Have you gone to see Dr. D'Amato yet?" he asked. She nodded, bumping his nose with her head.
"Yes," Elle replied. "She told me I'm about four weeks pregnant. I'm due around mid-July."
"When did you go see her?"
"Earlier today," Elle said. "I've been so tired lately I decided to visit her and she gave me a pregnancy test and then did a sonogram. Look."
She pulled out a small black and white photograph that looked for all the world like a test pattern on an old TV. In the middle, a darker, rounder area could be seen with a little white blip inside it.
"This is our baby?" he asked and took a few deep breaths, his eyes growing slightly wider.
"Yep," she told him. "That little area." She pointed to the dark part of the photo with the white blip. "You can't really tell it's a baby yet, but he or she is in there."
Elle was suddenly dizzy as Liam spun her around and crushed her body into his in a strong, fierce embrace.
"Thank you," he whispered softly into her ear and felt her hug him back.
"You're...welcome?"
Liam smiled before chuckling softly.
"I mean, I never thought I would get to have this," he told her. "The last few years have been uncertain ones for me. I...everyone was always asking me what I was going to do about the Alpha position...if I was going to take a chosen mate or simply give the position over to Blake or another relative. I never...fuck, Elle. You've given me so much since you came. You turned a surly, bitter Alpha into an ecstatically happy one. When can we tell my parents?"
Elle smiled and pulled back from him a bit.
"I thought Thanksgiving Day would be a good time," she told him. "You know, something to be thankful for?"
Liam leaned down to kiss her.
"As always, you are right on the money, little mate."
∞∞∞
"Oh my! A grandbaby!"
Liam's mother started to cry and Conley patted her shoulder gently, an approving and smug little grin on his face.
"Knew you had it in you, son," Conley said with a wink.
They were Skyping on Thanksgiving morning with Liam's parents, and it was bittersweet. She wished she could have told her parents as well, but it was still too risky for them to communicate directly. And if word were to get out to Jeremiah about her pregnancy – it wouldn't be good.
This was the first time Elle and Judith Stark had spoken – sort of – face to face, and Judy had taken to Elle just as well as her mate had. Liam had basically blurted out news of the pregnancy after brief hellos were exchanged, and it was all Judith could talk about. Not that Liam minded at all. He was still puffed up with pride over his impending fatherhood. Still, he let the two females talk for the most part, and he and Conley stood in the background of the conversation just watching as Judy gave Elle advice on what to eat, what not to eat, morning sickness, and swollen ankles.
"Olive juice?" Elle asked as one point.
Judy shook her head, amused.
"For some reason, it worked better for me than ginger ale or crackers when I was pregnant with Arden," Judy told her. "I had a real hankering for black olives and capers and I could eat a whole tin of them then drink the juice down like it was soda."
Morning sickness was weird.
Since it was still morning and the turkey was already in the oven cooking, they were taking a moment to tell Liam's parents about the baby while waiting for Colleen and Blake to come over to help with some of the side dishes that couldn't be pre-made – like mashed potatoes and the green bean casserole.
"Olives do sound good right now," Elle said. She could feel saliva filling her mouth at the thought. And those little sweet pickles you had at cocktail parties. Yum.
Judy just nodded sagely and her eyes flickered to Liam, who was standing in the background.
He sighed and walked out the door before Elle could say anything. Luckily, the nearest grocery store had open hours on Thanksgiving.
And so it begins...
Judith continued to speak with Elle for a while as Conley observed and occasionally gave some input – all of which was dirty. After about twenty more minutes, they had to cut the call short.
"Dear, we would love to talk more, but we are expected at Arden's soon and she is very strict on punctuality. Even with her parents," Judy told Elle with a wink.
"I understand," Elle said with a smile. "Colleen and Blake should be here any minute to help me and I have no idea when Liam will be back. I should probably at least start peeling potatoes and washing the greens."
"We will chat again with you soon, dear," Judith told her as Conley smiled back at them both.
They got off the line just as a knock was coming from the front door. Elle closed the laptop after shutting it down and called out to her guests that she was coming.
"Hey! Happy Thanksgiving!" Elle cried and threw open the front door. Her two front door guards were standing on either side of the door like sentries
to some secret military outpost. She had made sure that they were warm, though their increased core temperature guaranteed they would not become a petrified wolf-cicle.
"Gobble gobble!" Colleen exclaimed as she walked into the house with two pies and a hesitant Blake in tow.
"Where's the Bossman?" Blake asked as he kicked the snow off his boots before entering the home.
"At the store picking up some last-minute things," Elle said quickly and escorted the Beta into the living room so he could sit while she and Colleen chatted in the kitchen. "He should be back soon. He didn't have much to pick up."
Blake immediately made himself at home by turning on the television and starting to flick through the channels to get to one of the football games. Once the sportscasters’ voices were heard, Blake messed with the volume a bit until he was content.
"So, what haven't you started yet?" Colleen asked.
"Well, I haven't started anything," Elle admitted. "I was busy chatting with Liam's parents. The turkey's in the oven though, and that's half the battle."
Colleen and Elle started to grab some paring knives and set to work on the spuds, quartering them once they were rid of their skins and placing them in a large pot to boil later. They chatted merrily about the upcoming Christmas holiday when another knock sounded at the door.
"That'll be Trace and Helene," Colleen said. "He mentioned that Helene wanted to come over to help as well, and he won't let her out of his sight unless absolutely necessary." She rolled her eyes and Elle knew there was a story there.
"What's his problem?" Elle asked.
"Helene wasn't pure enough for him when they met," Colleen said, scoffing a bit. "She'd had a couple of serious boyfriends before and wasn't a virgin. He had a bit of a shit fit about that, but he's over it now."
"That's rich, coming from the king of one-night stands," Elle said in a low voice as she moved toward the front door to greet her guests.
∞∞∞
Dinner came out better than expected in Elle's humble opinion. She had helped her mother with turkeys on Thanksgivings before, but she’d never had to do it all by herself. Fortunately, Helene and Colleen were there to assist with their opinions and Colleen's not-so-subtle bullying about temperatures and basting.
They were all finishing the last of their meals when Liam abruptly stood up and almost yanked Elle from her seat next to him. It may have been customary for the hosts to sit at either end of the table, but Liam hadn't been able to stand by that tradition. Not when he had a pregnant mate. He was certain to be anxious over her twenty-four seven.
"We have an announcement," Liam said abruptly. "Elle is pregnant."
There was stunned silence. When no one spoke, he repeated himself. "We're having a baby."
There was another shocked pause before Colleen squealed and everyone jumped in place.
"I knew it!" Colleen cried out as she leaped up from her chair. She rushed over to Elle and gave her a huge bear hug until Liam had to remind her that, though wolves were sturdier than humans, they still needed room for their lungs to expand for oxygen to be taken in and transported throughout her body.
"Are you going to find out the sex?"
"Do you have morning sickness?"
"Do you want a boy or a girl first?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course, she wants a boy first! Liam needs an heir."
Helene and Colleen squabbled back and forth while the men congratulated Liam. Even the quiet Caleb was more verbose and grinning at the couple's good fortune. While it was true that an Alpha's mate made them stronger, an heir made the whole pack strong.
"When are you going to tell the whole pack?" Blake asked as he shook Liam's hand before giving him a congratulatory chest bump.
"Honestly haven't thought about it much," Liam said, his smile still wide. "I'm still getting used to the idea of being a father."
"Couldn't have happened to a more deserving man," Trace told him graciously. "And I want to thank you as well for kicking my ass about Helene. I...I was being a stupid, egocentric shithead. And I honestly can't wait to see which flavor that little gal of yours pops out."
"You have a preference?" Caleb asked. Liam shook his head.
"A couple of months ago I didn't think this was possible," he said. "Boy...girl... It doesn't matter. This baby will be loved."
"That's for sure," Caleb agreed with a smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. Liam shrewdly determined his single friend’s hesitance.
"When warm weather comes, I want you to take a fucking hike, Caleb," Liam said seriously.
"Huh?" That had surprised Caleb.
"Go on a trip," he clarified. "Find your mate. You're old enough to have found her and I can’t keep the Elders off your ass forever. You'll be made to go to The Claiming this upcoming year if you don’t get on it."
"I know," Caleb said grimacing. "Maybe if I did go, I'd find one there?"
"Or maybe your true mate is still too young to participate," Liam reminded him. "You do remember what happened with that Alpha couple on the west coast a few years back? Messy stuff."
They did remember. It was a black mark on their history. True mate versus claimed mate, with another male also wanting the female in question. Bloody battle and two packs completely liquidated in the process. It ended with the true mates being together, but not until all-out war had been waged and packs annihilated. To make it more interesting, rogues had been thrown into the mix when they had been promised things that no man should be promised.
Caleb nodded after thinking about that. "Once the weather warms, I'll make my way west. I just...I have a good feeling about the mid-west."
Liam figured that when a man's inner beast had a hunch, it was best to go with it.
After things had quieted down, Elle and Colleen went to get the deserts, and everyone was able to get a few slices of their favorite pies. Pumpkin was always a favorite, and thankfully there were two of that particular treat.
The guests all stayed until late that night, celebrating.
And all of them thought that Thanksgiving this year was indeed a particularly joyful and thankful one.
Chapter 40
Elle groaned and put her head over the toilet again as she emptied the meager contents of her stomach into the porcelain bowl.
It was a week after Thanksgiving and the whole olive/sweet pickle diet was not working out well. Not well at all. Oh, they were tasty, but they didn't keep Elle from wanting to bow to the porcelain God at all.
Once the toilet was flushed, Liam came back into the bedroom with some crackers and a ginger ale for her.
"No one told me that impending fatherhood came with a fuck-ton of guilt when your woman is constantly vomiting up everything she eats," he told her, frowning.
"No need to feel guilty," she told him as she nibbled the corner of a cracker. "I wanted this too and knew it was part of the territory. Evelyn said morning sickness is the sign of a healthy pregnancy. It only lasts a few weeks, usually."
At least she hoped it did. There was nothing lovely about seeing your breakfast, lunch, and dinner make an encore appearance.
Elle sipped the cold ginger ale and let her stomach settle before venturing another bite of cracker. At least she didn't feel nauseated anymore and she decided that pickles and olives were probably not going to pass her palate again any time soon. The sweet pickles definitely weren't so sweet when they were accompanied by a round of stomach acid.
Elle sat back on the bed and sighed before picking up the novel she had been reading before bed last night. In the past week – when she wasn't scrubbing floors, windows, and walls, and in general nesting her ass off – she was reading some books from Arden's bookshelf in the next room. The two females had similar tastes, thankfully.
Liam docked Elle's iPod onto the speaker system and played the music low in the background. She liked to have it playing when she read, though why it soothed her so was anyone's guess.
The past week's weather had almost sn
owed the two of them in, and even with many of the pack shoveling paths between the houses, it was still difficult to get anything done. Just as soon as a path was cleared, the wind blew more snow over it, so Liam had decided to work from home. He had many of his files on a small server and only needed to make sure his WiFi connection was secure to get the documents he needed.
Since he had his MacBook Pro at home, he decided to set up a work station in the bedroom like a lazy lay-about while he monitored his female's bathroom habits. He didn't like seeing her this ill, though he knew it was natural. Liam had interrogated Evelyn D'Amato, who assured him that the morning sickness was not only a passing phase, but a good symptom of pregnancy to have.
After a couple of hours, Elle decided she could go for more food and got up from the bed only to have a dizzy spell. That too was normal, but Liam wasn't having any of it.
"What do you need?" he asked, as he made sure Elle laid back down on the bed. He didn't need her falling down and hurting herself while she was in this condition. It's not like the good doctor could beam herself through the numerous snow banks and walls into their home.
"I just wanted more food," she said as she sighed and opened her book back up. She was used to Liam's constant coddling over the past week.
"Crackers? A sandwich?" he asked. Those were things he could get for her. Ask him to cook a chicken or braise a steak and he'd probably burn the house down.
Well, at least that would deal effectively with the accumulating snow that was making the large home almost invisible through the growing drifts.
"Crackers with peanut butter and jelly," she said, and went back to reading. "And I want chamomile tea."
"At your service, Madam," he told her and left the room with a gracious bow to get her a light lunch.
The snow had stopped falling the night before, but the wind made travel difficult. He was suddenly very grateful that Elle was due in the summertime and not anytime soon. Having to get her to the pack clinic would have been a mean feat in this weather.
Still, Evelyn's cell phone number was on Liam's speed dial. Just in case. He didn't trust just the mindlink to get in touch with her.