Chapter 462

“Hey,” I growl, pointing my finger between Rafe and Jesse, starting to get pissed. “I am here for Jackson – I have been very kind throughout all of this huge, insane surprise tonight –“

“That boy has been there for you, Ariel,” Rafe interrupts, still very, very serious. “And you dragged him through some pretty devastating mud over the past couple of months –“

I squeak in protest, turning to stare at my brother with my mouth open. “I so did not!”

“Two other mates?” Rafe says, arching an eyebrow at me.

“Both of whose marks you got before Jackson’s?” Jesse adds, forcing me to spin to glare at him in turn.

“None of which was my fault!?” I counter, glaring hard.

“We’re not blaming you,” Rafe says, and I turn back to him. “I’m just saying – if you’re not completely there for Jackson – without hesitation, without question – I’m going to judge you for it. Hard. That guy has been at your side through a great deal of stress. He deserves the best in turn from his mate.”

My mouth suddenly turns down in a worried frown. “Do you…are you saying this because you seriously think I’m not going to do that? That I need to be told how much Jackson loves me and how good he is to me? That I’d just be good to him in turn because of forced reciprocation!?”

“No, Ari,” Jesse says, scootching closer and putting a warm hand on my shoulder. I turn to him now, that desperate frown still curving my lips. “We’re just saying – if you were considering taking your time to work through your own emotions on this – don’t. He’s going to need your full and unconditional support right from the start.”

“Well, he’s got that,” I whisper, staring at Jesse.

“Good,” he says, nodding deeply to me.

My brother and my cousin both sigh and simultaneously sit back in their chairs. But I am not yet so relaxed. “Where is this all coming from!?” I whisper.

Rafe shrugs, looking down into his glass. “You have…a bit of a jealous streak, Ari,” he says with a shrug. “You’re going to have to share him now, a little. And I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

I scowl a bit, slumping back into the cushions, hating that my brother and my cousin know me so well. “You sensed that already, did you?”

“You’ll be fine,” Rafe says, smiling at me softly. “Your heart always wins out in the end. For what it’s worth, I think you’re going to be a great step-mom.”

I go a bit still at the words. “Step-mom,” I whisper, staring at him. “Is that…is that what I am now?”

Jesse laughs – cackles really – and raises his glass to me. “To Princess Ariel – step-mom galore. It looks good on you, cousin!”

I laugh shakily and raise my glass too, shaking my head and then drinking the rest of the contents down. Rafe gets up to get the rest of the bottle, correctly sensing I might want a refill.

“She’s really cute, isn’t she?” I whisper, looking over at Jesse and wrinkling my nose.

“Oh, come on, with those genetics?” Jesse gives a casual shrug and smirks at me, holding my gaze steadily. “How could she not be?”

“It could have gone very bad,” Rafe says, coming over and splashing more wine into my glass. “She could be like a big, hulking four-year-old girl, all muscles and pigtails –“

Jesse and I both burst out laughing and I smack at Rafe as he laughs and goes and sits down, grinning at me.

“You leave my step-kid alone,” I growl at my brother, whose smile deepens. “You’d better be nice to her too.”

“Oh, no risk there,” Jesse says with a happy sigh. “It’s much less pressure to be a step-cousin once removed.”

I huff a laugh and sip at my wine as I shake my head at my cousin.

“But,” Jesse says, raising his glass again to me in toast. “I think that you’re going to be great, Ari. I think this is weird, and challenging, but that…I don’t know. I think that it could be really good.”

“Mom always says babies are a blessing, however they come,” I say on a sigh, looking down into my glass, hoping that she’s right. Hoping that I can do this – support Jackson, and help to raise Marigold, and play the roles in their lives that they need me to be. Inwardly, even as I quail, I feel myself step up to the challenge.

Because I want to do it. As strange and as fast as it all is – I want it.

“What babies are blessings?”

My dad’s voice echoes from the door and I jump a little spinning towards him. My eyes go wide and my face goes a bit pale as twin smiles break out on Rafe and Jesse’s faces – both wicked, both desperately interested to see how this goes down.

“Pour yourself a drink, dad,” I say on a sigh, gesturing towards the bar cart. “We’ve got some news for you.”

Dad stills at the door, glaring between Jesse and Rafe. “Who got who pregnant?” he growls, suspicious. “God damn it, I told you boys –“

I burst out laughing, luckily blotting the rest of that sentence from my hearing even as Rafe and Jesse nearly burst up from their seats, protestations of innocence already on their lips.

“Fine, fine,” dad sighs, waving his hand at them and striding quickly for the bar cart. “God damn it, if this is going to be a long story, at least let me get a drink first.”

“Oh, are we having drinks?” Mom’s voice rings out as she comes into the living room, her face blissful, her cheeks flushed. “Yay! I’m glad I’m not too late.”

Dad narrows his eyes at her as he finishes splashing whiskey in a glass, grabbing next for the bottle of wine she likes next. “Well, you look…suspiciously cheerful, Ella.”

“And beautiful,” she says on a happy sigh, stepping close to dad and pressing herself to his side as she looks up into his face. “You forgot beautiful.”

“How could I,” he murmurs, smiling down at her with a great deal of love on his face, making my stomach flutter at the sight. God, to love someone that intensely for twenty-five years…

Will Jacks and I get to be that happy? Inwardly, I desperately hope so.

“I don’t know how you forgot,” mom murmurs, grinning at she accepts the glass of wine from his hand. “But you’re a terrible brute. You owe me an apology.”

Dad hums his agreement, his eyes flashing over mom’s face as he takes the first sip of his drink. “Bright eyes, flushed cheeks, utter happiness…this can only mean one thing. Where are you hiding the baby, Ella?”

“Oh, in Ariel’s room,” she says, grinning up at him.

Dad goes still in shock when he realizes that she’s not kidding and then whips his head over to me.

“I’m gonna let you all handle this,” I say on a sigh, standing up and moving quickly to my dad, standing on my toes to press a kiss to his cheek. “After all, I’ve got to go say goodnight to my step-kid.”

Dad stares at me in shock as mom laughs and kisses me goodnight. I wave to them all over my shoulder as I head down the hall, my nearly-full glass of wine still in my hand.

“She’s…she’s kidding right?” I hear my dad ask. I laugh a little, shaking my head as I reach for my door.

“Nope!” mom replies, her voice humming with happiness. “Isn’t it great? A fresh little baby! Come sit down, Dominic, and I’ll tell you all about Marigold.”

“Who the hell is Marigold!?”

I grin and push open my door, grateful to my mom and ready to face my mate.

And, indeed…my step-kid.