Winds of Change

by Kat Keppeler

  Finn saw, the smile on his face bright enough to light the room.

  “I know.” He said, and he was instantly there to pull her into his arms. Rory was staring at Chance as if he needed a map and guide to figure out exactly what was happening.

  “Oh my god Skye! We’re having a baby!” Lee wept, springing from Chance’s grasp. He was there next to her too, arms wrapped around her. He could feel her fear and distress. Much to Lee’s surprise, Finn draped one arm over his mate and her omega. The smaller wolf stared up at Finn as if he’d been replaced by an alien.

  “It’s going to be fine… It’s all going to be fine. There’s nothing to worry about.” Finn kept trying to soothe her.

  “Baby? Wait... No fucking way!” Rory grabbed Chance suddenly, his grip on Chance’s shoulder tight enough to bruise. “NO FUCKING WAY!”

  Chance was utterly frozen in his seat, staring at Skye as she started to cry. She turned her face into Lee’s chest and her words were mostly incoherent. She was overwhelmed. There was excitement there, yes, but so much fear and uncertainty. Things kept changing and they were all changing so quickly. Finn and Rory were still tense around each other as often as not and Skye had barely gotten through telling her parents about the relationship and she’d been trying to figure how to smooth that all out and now there was a baby. Provided that the pregnancy held.

  “--and I could lose it!” Skye finished her rambled freak out against Lee before she turned her face into Finn’s chest, her shoulders heaving with sobs.

  Finn tried to hush her, holding her against his big chest. He made meaningless noises of comfort as he told her that nothing was ever certain but it was all going to be okay, regardless. Lee wept with her, sagging against both her and the large alpha holding them both up. Finn raised his head and looked at Chance and Rory.

  “If you two don’t get over here right now…” Rory jumped as if bitten, wondering what the hell Finn could possibly want when he realized the giant male was motioning toward Skye. Rory stood and pulled Chance with him, and Finn turned to deposit her into Rory’s arms.

  “Oh Skye, baby it’s all going to be fine. We’re all going to be fine. Don’t cry honey, don’t cry.” Rory repeated, his eyes meeting Finn over Skye’s head. An unspoken truce settled between the two of them right there and Finn just rested against the door frame holding Lee in his arms while the omega wept shamelessly. He was going to have a baby to spoil; a baby that was his. Oh, the chances were slim to none that it was going to be his biologically but the baby would be his in every way that mattered.

  Chance had been the quietest but he bracketed Skye between himself and Rory.

  “Skye,” he said firmly, causing her to look up at him, “If you don’t settle down, you’re going to be sick again and right now we’re all in the splatter range.”

  That drew a watery laugh from Skye and a deep shuddering breath. Chance rested his chin on her head, his arms around her and resting on Rory’s back while Rory mirrored his position. “So, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to stay here for a quiet night in with Finn. He’s the doctor and it’ll give us a chance to air out the house so there’s no repeat exorcist moment with the smell of shrimp. It’ll be banned until you’re feeling a bit more the thing. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out a lighter schedule for you as you’ve been looking a little pale for the last couple of days. Stop fretting, I told you before, any pups you have belong to all of us and hell, you’ve seen how we fuss over Caleb and Micah already. It’ll be fine, stop fretting. You need food and a nap, I’m pretty sure. Do you want anyone else to stay with you and Finn tonight?”

  Skye blinked and looked up at Chance in confusion. No one ever stayed with her when she was with Finn. He liked having her to himself. Her gaze cut unintentionally to Lee because he was the gentlest of all of her mates but she wasn’t sure that Finn would be up for that even just to sleep. “I… it’s okay.”

  “Lee, go get your pajamas.” Finn said which drew several startled gasps. Skye blinked at Finn from where Rory and Chance held her so tenderly. At their surprised expressions the large man just frowned.

  “Baby wants a sleepover, baby gets a sleepover.” He said dryly, pushing Lee into a standing position and swatting him on the rear. “Pajamas.”

  The large male stepped away to grab the door and pull it, seeing if could salvage the broken lock and door knob. “She already is on a light schedule, by the way, she can’t exactly strain herself lifting files from the cabinet or taking temperatures. I agree she needs a break, I’ll get Anna to help, but taking away all her duties is going to drive her crazy.”

  Rory frowned in the direction of Finn, but sighed. “We’re going to go get to cleaning the house now. We’ll wait to tell anyone, honey. We’ll wait ’til you’re ready.”

  Lee was already sprinting across the yard to get his pajamas, as he was told and Skye had relaxed. She slept best when tucked between two of her mates and as much as she loved her moments alone with Finn, it wasn't what she’d needed tonight.

  “Thanks… Finn.” Rory said softly, causing the big man to shrug.

  “Don’t mention it. I’m not doing it for you.”

  Rory knew in that exact moment that Finn would give Skye the world if she’d only ask.

  Skye held Rory tightly and then Chance before she let them go back to clean the house. She turned into Finn’s arms when they were alone and wrapped hers tightly around his waist.

  “How long have you known?” Skye asked softly, before she leaned back to look down at her stomach. There was just the slightest curve there, if she squinted and tipped her head.

  “About three weeks.” Finn admitted, his fingers tracing down her back. “I noticed that you were swelling a little bit. Also, taking naps at the drop of a hat. When you were snoozing on Miss Dottie’s medical file I had my suspicions.”

  He smiled at that, able to let the joy and excitement show on his handsome features. “You smell different too. Maybe stronger, but I noticed.”

  “Do you want to…” Skye asked softly, making a little gesture towards her midsection. “...is there anything you need to check? Want to check…?”

  Finn shrugged.

  “Not yet, it’s still early and you're exhausted. Before we go to bed I’m going to hit you with the Doppler, see if we can hear anything. I can hear Betty’s, I think there might be two of them in there. If I can make out something with hers I might be able to hear something with you.” He kissed her head then. “But don’t you worry, you’re going to be fine.”

  “So do you think it was when I was… ahh…” She wasn’t going to say ‘in heat’, nope, too human for that, “...fertile at the end of February? That would make the baby due in November right?”

  Skye paused and then a horrified expression crossed her features, “Oh, god, shifters don’t do accelerated pregnancies right? I still get nine months, don’t I?”

  She looked up at him then, tipping her head to stare up at his face, “On the bright side, I think Chance will absolutely give you enough money to get an ultrasound machine if you ask him nicely.”

  “Seamus has one in storage that looks like it came from the eighties.” Said Finn with a smile. “Grandest images ever, early eighties sonograms. I might ask him but there’s more important things right now than a brand new ultrasound machine. We might be able to make due.”

  “And the answer is no, we’re animals but still human too, remember. We do not have the standard animal gestation. Expect to come to full term.”

  Lee returned quickly, wearing his pink unicorn flannel pajamas and carrying a tray in his hands. “Betty made you some food. For all of us really but it’s just grilled cheese and juice. She says it makes her feel better… Mine has white cheddar on it and, no, I’m so not sharing.”

  He smiled as he teased Skye, coaxing a smile from her, and brought the tray into Finn's room to set it down. Finn motioned for Skye to follow knowing she had pajamas stashed in his dresser. She spent the night enough tha
t she had her own drawer. He snagged a sandwich while he left them alone to go find the Doppler that Betty kept borrowing.

  “Do I really look bigger? Finn said he noticed it a few weeks ago and started to suspect.” Skye commented as she pulled her tank top on and held her arms to the sides like that would make it easier for Lee to see anything.

  Betty was right, the sandwich was just the thing to settle the stomach along with juice and Skye realized she was actually starving. She let her arms fall to her sides and nuzzled Lee’s jaw as she picked up the food and drink from him, “Are the guys okay?”

  “We are all just fine.” Said Lee, who waited for her to come back to he could wrap his arms around her. “Just fine. Chance is the one who’s the most emotional now, he’s always wanted cubs. He's over the moon, honey. It’s too cute. And yes, I can see it now.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I know I can’t speak for Rory and Chance but I know they’re happy. So am I. I don’t have a shot of this one being mine, I know, but I feel so ready for it.”

  Finn returned, quietly letting them talk. He then sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Skye to lay flat. With one hand he raised her tank top and pressed the top of it above her pubic bone. Lee was waiting with bated breath as there was the swish of her heart. As Finn pressed the wand around another could be heard, too quick to be Skye’s and thumping with life.

  “One.” Said Finn, squinting. “Can you hear the second one in the background? I can make out two…” he moved it again and suddenly there was a ton of commotion as a third and louder heartbeat drowned out the other two. “Maybe three?”

  “Oh my god,” Skye said and went pale at the idea of three babies inside there. “Three? Three?!” She said, for a moment drowning out the sounds of the heartbeats fluttering on the monitor. They were all certainly not hers, too fast and too small to be from Skye herself.

  “But I’m so small still. How can there be three babies inside there?” There was wonder finally in her tone and she gave them a brilliant smile, “I’m going to be a mom… Finn, what about you? Is it going to bother you if it’s not biologically yours? I don’t mind trying until everyone has a baby that’s theirs by blood. I know… I know it can be a thing…”

  “Multiples are actually the norm, Skye. And it’s all in how you carry. Could just be they are stretching up now instead of out. Give them time, you’ll notice before you even know it.” He let the question fall away about the potential babies not being his, he did smile. When she had become fertile Finn had first crack at it, and probably the most in their frenzied love making.

  The omega cuddled against Skye, holding her gently as the big man walked around the room removing his coat and tie, then his shoes. He sat and lifted his pant leg to remove the prosthetic and prop it by the bed.

  “Methodical much?” Lee asked Skye about Finns bedtime habits as the large man suddenly began stripping. Skye knew better than anyone, Finn slept nude. Getting a look at a naked Finn for the first time made Lee gasp.

  “Oh my gooooood…” he whispered to her. “How do you walk the next day? Is he coming to bed naked?”

  Skye let out a sleepy giggle from where she was cuddled in Lee’s arms. She held hers out for Finn once he was naked to come join them in bed. Once he did, she nuzzled into his chest, her ass and back spooned against Lee’s stomach, “Sometimes I just don’t get up the next day and Finn works without me for the first couple of hours. He takes good care of me.”

  She gave Finn a smile that was full of love before she added to Lee. “You all do, I just try to return the favor.”

  Skye snuggled into the bed deeper and bit back a yawn, “And he has to make sure he gets everything done before the leg comes off. I’m trying to talk him into letting us get him a new one but he’s being thrifty about it.”

  “It’s a good luck charm.” Finn replied, his arm settling under Skye and Lee. After a moment Finn let out a grunt and said, “I appreciate your enthusiasm, Lee, but rest is in the cards. She needs sleep and if you keep with the exploring none of us are going to get that.”

  Lee let out a little bit of a chuckle, before his hand wrapped around Skye’s hip instead of Finn’s thigh where he had been trying to quietly cop a feel. Both of them were asleep within seconds, except for Finn who was quietly smiling to himself as he thought of what was coming. The pack was growing, his mate was pregnant. Life was good.

  Chapter Seventeen

  With the expectation of even more new lives to protect, the whole clan shifted into overdrive. By the end of the week, Chance had commissioned a construction company and the empty lot across the street became a muddy mess of construction equipment. The task of clearing away a rundown structure became something they could hear the beta fighting with the crew over for a few days from his office. Chance was even seen down at the construction site, hard hat on, really giving the contractors a verbal lashing over his expectations.

  Finn walked down at some point, hands on his hips as he watched Chance yell at the foreman about how ‘the bloody foundation was crumbling’ and how ‘you bloody cunts aren’t going to cut corners’. He stood behind the beta as the conversation grew heated, merely crossing his arms for dramatic effect. It was easy to look intimidating with the sort of height that Finn boasted as well as the corresponding breadth.. The foreman seemed to pause at the sight of Chance’s fury and a giant of a man that looked as if he might be able to press a dump truck.

  “Well, if we tear down the foundation the ETA’s going to be pushed out maybe six weeks.”

  Chance’s grumble was a clear complaint although, to his credit, he wasn’t actively growling.

  “Look, I want it fast and I want it done right, rip the foundation up and replace it. If you need more men, hire more men. I expect it to cost more because it’s an expense that we weren’t counting on but the deadline is simply not negotiable.” Chance was absolutely intractable and, after a bit of back and forth, his insistence on the matter was yielded to.

  “We’re going to have more workers and construction going on at all hours now,” Chance explained as he turned to Finn, reaching up to pull the hat off of his head and toss it on the work table with the plans that they’d been arguing over. He reached one hand up to fluff his dark hair back up. The side had started to grow out and he’d not yet shaved it back again. Chance was starting to look downright respectable at this rate. “But I want it done so she can settle in before she gets the nesting bug. Everything alright?”

  Chance walked away, leaving the mixed lot of construction workers to what they were doing so he and Finn could chat without prying ears. They were supernaturals by and large, like most of Belcrest, but they weren’t pack. “You don’t usually find me for social calls. Is Skye okay? The cubs?”

  “Fine. Pups are fine. Skye is fine.” Finn replied, walking behind Chance with that limping gait. “Looking to be about three, maybe, and I think Betty’s are a pair.”

  As if Chance gave a crap about that currently.

  “Slow down, pretty boy, I’m not as fast you are.”

  When Chance looked back with an eyebrow raised high, Finn made a noise of annoyance. “Well first thing’s first, I deposited the checks from this week’s take on your desk. I haven’t seen any real humans, Westmore girl brought the baby in not too long ago so there’s a Medicaid check you can expect soon. Don’t know how long that’s going to take. Only thing making my life easier is that by and large there isn’t a lot of insurance involved here. What checks we’ve got are on your desk, though.”

  Because how do you explain preternatural beings on insurance policies?

  “I have an old sonogram machine in the basement, probably has been in there since Die Hard hit the box office. It’s shit, fires up and works but looks like an eight bit video game. I need a new one.” He smiled a little as he said it. “For the pups, but also for other things. And…”

  Finn shifted uncomfortably for a minute. It was easy to mention clinic expenses. Personal ones, not so muc
h. “Well I need a new prosthetic.”

  “Thank god you’ve admitted it,” Chance agreed companionably as he slowed his gait to Finn’s limping one. They walked through the front door and Chance led the way into his office. The beta shut the door behind them both and waved Finn to take a seat since it would Chance a few minutes to open the safe and write checks. As Finn settled in a chair, Chance crossed to the big safe that he’d set up in the room. The new house would have one in his new office put in the wall because this one was a hideous monstrosity taking up room in the corner of the room. It worked for now, though, like so many aspects of their pack.

  Chance opened the door after he unlocked it. In addition to checkbooks and cash as well as even a few gold bars stacked in the base, the thing was filled with old leather books with a variety of clan markings on the leather bindings from long dead clans. He left the door open as he pulled out the checkbook and ledger and brought it back to his desk to open it.

  “Skye tasked me with trying to get you a new leg like my good looks might be somehow more effective than hers in convincing you. I think she assumes since I can bully her into doing what I want her to occasionally that it will work on anyone. It’s heartwarming, really, but misguided. I’m not sure how she hasn’t realized that she has you wrapped around her little finger,” Chance said that without judgement. Skye had them all wrapped around her fingers but part of her charm was her absolute ignorance of that fact. He sat back in his chair and reached for his glasses as he turned his head towards the computer monitor as he woke it up to open his finance program as well.

  “Well, that is really a lot harder than it sounds. We could just call up a doctor but they have too many questions I don’t think any of us feel like answering. So, there has to be a network somewhere and you would be the first person to know where I can find a shifter orthopedic doctor. I can’t really keep up with cubs with a prosthetic that pinches and has to be taken off every few hours.” Skye did sort of push his mind to it, but reality sounded better than ‘girl has you whipped’.