by Jade Alters
We walk around the baby store for what feels like hours, and Jared keeps his arm around my waist. I’m happy in a sleepy way; contented and feeling more peaceful than I ever have. When I find a little stuffed cat that looks like a panther, I make a noise that sounds like a whimpering cat. Freddie buys me the stuffed kitty.
I thought they were being silly at first, but then everything starts looking too cute and like something I need for the baby now. I limit myself to one very adorable onesie and a couple of books about pregnancy. Though I know there are couple things specific to shifters, I’m going to have to scope around online for books about how to handle a shifter pregnancy. For instance, I know my appetite is about to get absolutely ravenous. I’m not sure the guys quite realize how hungry pregnant shifter women get or how intense they get about their hunger. If the house isn’t stalked with meat...I’m going to be getting grumpy.
I’m actually about to mention the thing about the meat to Jared on the way back from the baby store, when he turns the car away from the road back home.
“Hey, where are we going?” I say rubbing my eyes. Sleep is the other thing. I’m going to need much more of that soon too. I’ve heard stories about pregnant shifters falling asleep standing up, abruptly dropping off while in line at the store. Some say you have to stop driving after the fifth month, just in case you fall asleep.
“We’re going to the store,” Jared says.
Freddie leans into the front seat from the back and says, “Are we buying a ton of meat for Hope?”
“Yep.”
“Okay, good.
“You think of everything,” I tell him, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
By the time we get back home, I feel like we have everything we could possibly need for the time being. But the guys aren’t done yet. I stretch, shuffling into their living room, and Dylan takes my hand, nodding to the stairs.
“Hey, we want to show you something,” he says.
Dylan leads me up the stairs, and the guys follow. Everyone seems very pleased with themselves, and I can guess what’s coming. It’s making my heart pound, and I realize the whole of my future is coming together. This is the way things were always meant to be. I’m going to live and love and share with these four men and raise our child and learn to be a better witch. And I get to do it all in this lovely house in the middle of the woods where I can run and hunt and feel so free. I can’t imagine a better life.
“Keep in mind,” Dylan says, as he leads me down to the turret room. “None of us are exactly professional designers. But we did our best.”
“Don’t spoil it!” Max says.
“I think she knows what’s coming,” Jared says, chuckling.
Freddie says, “Speak for yourself, Max. I could easily have been an interior designer.”
I bite back a smug smile. The four of them are so predictable sometimes but in the most adorable way. My eyes are welling up with tears, and I don’t even know if it’s because of how sweet my men are or pregnancy hormones. Probably both.
But when they push open the door to the turret room, I catch my breath.
I can’t say that all the decor and the furniture are exactly what I would have chosen myself, but in a way, I like this better. They’ve done it all just for me, and I can tell how much thought they put into the cornflower blue curtains, the luxurious bedding, and the books on a shelf. Even the area rugs are new. I wander inside the round room with its beautiful view of Foggy River and plop down on the bed.
“It’s perfect,” I whisper. “I love it.”
“Really?” Freddie lights up, and all four of them crowd around on the bed, wrapping me in a hug.
“We just want you to feel like you’re home,” Jared says in my ear.
“I am.” My heart swells in my chest, and I shut my eyes, basking in the affection of my mates. “I am home.”
Epilogue
Epilogue: Hope
About eight months later…
“Push, Hope!’
Whoever invented childbirth should be dragged out into the street and shot. I’ve been given potions, and the guys have cast a few spells to help the process along. It doesn’t hurt too badly, but it’s been hours, and I am tired.
“I know I’m supposed to push, you son of a bitch!” I shriek, and the bed shakes a little bit.
Apparently, panther shifters can get a little moody when in labor, but I’m pretty sure the guys know not to take it personally. The scarier thing is the powerful magic coursing through me. It keeps moving the bed and making the lights flicker. My pregnancy paranoia is half afraid some little demon is about to come out of me. But I’ve done enough research by now to know that this is just how shifter labor goes. Especially when the father is a wizard.
Who the father technically is, is a complete mystery, and we’ve all made peace with that. They really aren’t territorial about their genes or anything. They are equally all fathers to this child.
It warms my heart. Or anyway, it warms my heart most of the time. Right now, I just want to kill something with my bare hands.
“I see a head!” Jared shouts. He actually jumps up and down.
I’m giving birth in Jared’s room since it’s the biggest, a mass of pillows supporting my back, my legs wide open. I am sweaty, and I am tired, and this baby needs to get out of my body. And Jared is jumping up and down.
The kid takes a whole other hour to come out, and when it’s over, I feel as if every bone in my body has turned to liquid. Somehow, I have enough strength in my arms to hold the adorably slimy little newborn, who Max carefully wraps in a blanket after snipping the umbilical cord. He’s ignoring the tears streaming down his face as he looks at his new baby, sniffing and blubbering. Soon, everyone in the room is crying, including the infant.
“Here’s your daughter, Hope,” Max whispers. The guys all crowd around as Max hands me our baby. She’s got little bags under her tired eyes, and her cries turn into plaintive little whimpers when she’s in my arms.
“Hey, little girl,” I whisper. Dylan reaches over and wipes a tear from my cheek. Everyone cuddles up on either side of me and we marvel at the new baby and how absurdly cute she is. I can’t decide who she looks like, and maybe it’s too early to tell. I almost wonder if our bond makes her, even biologically, somehow the daughter of all four of my mates.
“Did you settle on the name?” Jared says.
I’m about to tell them the name I picked, but instead, I remember that somebody needs to call my mom. “Send a picture to my mom!”
Freddie spreads a blanket over my legs and nods at Dylan who takes a nice close picture of me and the baby. “She’s been calling every five seconds,” Freddie says laughing.
“She’ll be so happy to visit,” I murmur to myself.
It took a few conversations to fully explain that not only did I have four mates but, also, that none of them were shifters. My mother wasn’t thrilled until I reminded her that my dad was a shifter, and he was no prize. She couldn’t deny that. Since then, she’s been up to visit several times, doting over me in my pregnant state. She wanted to be here for the birth, but then she caught the flu.
But I’m excited for her to visit. I can see the pride in her eyes when she’s around me and my mates.
The very idea of picking a name seemed impossible to me with so many differing opinions. I think the conversation we had most often while I was pregnant was the topic of what to name the kid. We went over it and over it and argued back and forth. Finally, Jared decided that I should decide and that the guys would all give me their top five names if I even wanted their feedback.
That didn’t seem fair to me, but short of some legal arbitration process, it was the only way to avoid bloodshed.
“I did,” I say softly. I’m still staring at my daughter. I can’t seem to look away.
She’s absolutely beautiful.
Just like me, I think to myself.
“So?” Jared says. He kisses my hair. We can still feel each other’s
feelings sometimes. Even now, I can feel love coursing so strongly through us that it’s overwhelming. I kiss my daughter’s forehead and nestle back into the pillows, snuggling closer to Jared and Dylan who are cuddled up to me. “We’re dying here. What’s her name?”
There was one name that was on everybody’s list once they finally turned in their top fives. It seems perfect, and when I said it to myself, imagining the daughter we would have soon, I knew it was the right choice. When I look down at the little girl whose bright eyes are now dancing as they gaze into mine, I’m absolutely sure.
“Faith,” I say softly.
“Yes,” Max says. “I really wanted Faith.”
Everyone laughs and agrees it’s the perfect name. We all rest for a while cuddled up with Faith, basking in our love for each other and the bond between us that will never be broken.
Afterword
A Final Note from Jade:
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Also by Jade Alters
Other books in the Mates & Magic collection :
The Sharing Spell
You might also be interested in some of my other collections :
The Descendants
Shared by the Four
Desired by Four
Fate of Three
Fated Shifter Mates
Mated to Team Shadow
Mated to the Clan
Mated to the Pack
Protected by the Pack
Claimed by the Pack