Chapter 484

Marigold gives a little cry of distress, reaching for her dad, but Jesse holds her tight, whispering to her that dad’s fine, he’s just very, very surprised.

I let Jesse handle our daughter for a moment, going to my knees before Jackson and taking his face in my hands. “Jacks,” I whisper, turning his glazed eyes to mine. “Baby, are you all right?”

Something about this brings Jackson snapping back to me. “Ariel,” he says on a gasped intake of breath. “Are – are you fucking all right!?”

“I’m fine,” I say, all in a rush, crawling into Jackson’s lap and opening the bond between us, letting him see and feel that I really am okay – that everything with me is fine. I mean, beyond the fact that our entire reality just came shattering down around us again…I really am okay.

He groans, resting his head against me, his whole body shaking a little bit as he takes a deep sniff of my new scent. “Pregnant…” he whispers, barely audible. “You’re…you’re fucking…pregnant.”

“Yeah,” I say, my voice a tremulous little sound as well. “Yeah, Jacks. I…sure am.”

“Oh my god,” he groans. “How…how do I have two kids…”

I go a bit still in his arms.

He whips his face up to me.

I bite my lip, grimacing a little. “Do you want to…count again, Jacks?”

He whips his head back down to stare at my stomach, clearly turning inwards to his own wolf, checking on the bonds that have made themselves apparent in his own soul as well. And then he groans, collapsing against me again as he realizes a very important bit of information.

“Three,” he groans. “Oh my god, Ariel, there’s going to be three of them – they outnumber us –“

“I know,” I murmur, smiling a little as I cradle his head to me. “Luckily, none of them are literate yet, so…we have advantage for a few more years.”

He just shakes his head and groans again, pulling me close, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

“Oooookay,” Jesse says on a happy little sigh, pleased with the increased chaos of our lives, as he always is. I peer up to see him grinning at Marigold. “You want to help me get champagne, Goldie?”

She stares at him for a second, and then glances down at us, and then apparently decides that her father’s emotional meltdown is very boring. “Yes,” she says, giving Jesse a steady nod.

“That’s my girl,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to her hair and neatly stepping over me and Jacks to stride from the room. Jesse snaps his fingers at mom and Rafe, who sigh and go along with him.

“You have five minutes,” mom says, pointing down at me as she goes. “And then I’m doing a full-body health scan on you to make sure you’re as healthy as you need to be. You’re going to have to start eating fruit, Ariel – I’m not having my grandbabies come into this world all malnourished.”

I glare up at her a little as she flounces out the door. She just shrugs at me like she’s not going to stop being practical just because I’m pregnant and Jackson’s having a breakdown about it. Rafe follows mom, giving us both a big smile and pulling the door shut after him.

Jackson lifts his head and I turn my full attention back to him in the new darkness and quiet of the room. “You’re seriously okay?” he whispers, looking me over. “You’re…it doesn’t hurt?”

“No, that part comes later,” I whisper, running my fingers through his hair and grinning at him, privately very grateful to my mom for talking me down from my own panic so that I can help Jackson through his.

I grimace when he goes very still, his eyes again flashing wide, realizing that I’ve said the wrong thing.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” I say, taking his cheeks between my hands and pressing a kiss to his mouth. “I’m fine! And I’m going to be fine!”

“So, it’s not going to hurt?” he whispers.

“No, sugar, it’s going to hurt,” I say, twisting my mouth to the side and giving a little shrug. “The birth part is…notoriously painful.”

He groans, ducking his head against my shoulder. “I need…books. I need knowledge. I don’t know anything about pregnancy – I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t even know how long it takes!”

“About six months,” I murmur, resting my cheek on his hair.

But the feel of his soft hair against my cheek only lasts a moment as he whips his head up to stare at me, his panic renewed. “Just six months!?” he gasps.

“Rafe came in five,” I whisper with a little grimace.

Jackson just stares at me in horror.

“Jacks!” I say, laughing a little, putting my hands again on his cheeks. “It’s plenty of time. Millions of people have done this before, okay? And we’ve got an OBGYN in the family, and a magical healer. Everything is going to be totally fine!”

He just stares at me like those seven words are a lifeline. “Everything is going to be totally fine.”

“Yeah,” I say, petting his hair softly, smiling at him. “We can do it. We’ve got this. We’ve already got one to practice on for a couple of months – we’ll be totally prepared by the time these two come along.”

“Totally prepared,” he murmurs, nodding slowly, clinging to the hope.

We stare at each other for a long moment before he groans again, tugging me close, cradling me against him in that way I really, really love. He snarls a little, protective and possessive, and a great deal of happiness spreads all throughout me. We take a few more minutes there, together, checking in with each other and adjusting to this wild new reality.

“God, I can’t believe it,” Jackson whispers, shaking his head and running a hand across my stomach. “I – I’m not ready for this.”

“But you will be,” I whisper, biting my lip a bit, hoping that…that it’s just shock. That he’s going to be happy about this soon, that he might even…like it.

He looks up at me, sensing my emotions.

I just stay very still, not wanting him to feel pressured to like it if he doesn’t.

“Ariel, of course I like it,” he whispers, shaking his head at me. “I’m…fucking terrified, and I definitely need a computer as soon as possible – I have so much research to do – but the idea of having a little kid? Two of them? That’s…me and you, both?”

He shakes his head, holding my gaze…I think a bit lost for words.

“You like it?” I whisper, raising my hand and pressing it to his cheek.

“Ariel, you and the rest of the insane people you’re related to have long sold me on the concept of family,” he whispers. “If we can have that – if we can add to it…then yeah, I want that. I want that a lot.”

“Plus they’re going to be really cute,” I whisper, starting to smile.

“Are they?” He asks, frowning a bit.

I gasp, immediately offended. “Jackson!”

“Well, how do you know,” he says, leaning forward and laughing a little, winding his arms around me, pulling me closer. “You don’t know what they’ll look like –“

“Yes, I do!” I snap. “They’re going to look like me! And you!”

He wrinkles his nose, dubious. “I don’t know, Ariel, you’d better hope that these kids get my genetics – you Sinclairs are –“

“How dare you!” I gasp, pressing a hand to my heart and leaning away. “We are a beautiful family –“

“You’re all right,” he concedes, grinning at me, holding me tight as much as I squeak, livid, trying to wiggle away in my protest and making him roar with laughter. He haul me closer to press kiss after kiss to my cheeks and mouth. “I’m kidding. They’re going to be gorgeous. Of course they are.”

“Damn right,” I grumble, letting myself relax against him.

The door creeks open a bit. “I hear laughter,” mom says, peering in. “Which suggests the great trauma is over. Which means you need to come outside so I can –“

“Yeah, yeah,” I say, starting to stand up. “We get it, mom, you can’t even let me have a minute alone with the father of my children –“

But before I can get to my feet Jackson sweeps me up into his arms, making me gasp a little at the suddenness with which I have reached dizzying new heights. I whip my head up, glaring at him.

“You’d better not be carrying me because it’s too dangerous for me to walk pregnant.”

“I’m carrying you because I love you,” Jackson says, very seriously, looking down into my face as mom grins and pushes the door open fully. “But yes, also because I am feeling very protective right now and might not let you walk for the next six months –“

“What!?” I shriek.

Little footsteps ring out in the living room then and Jackson and I turn our heads towards the door. I burst into a smile when I see Marigold trotting forward with a very expensive bottle of champagne clutched in her arms.

“Champin!” Marigold says, quite proud.

“Bring that back here, mongrel!” Jesse calls after her, laughing.

But even as I start to laugh I glance around into the living room and see another figure standing there – one who I haven’t seen yet today. His face is very serious, his hands sunk deep into his pockets, his eyes fastened on me.

My face goes a bit pale as I lock eyes with my father, who clearly already knows.

“Dad,” I whisper.

He holds my eyes for a moment, just the tiniest smile curling at the left side of his mouth. But then he moves his eyes to Jackson’s face, that smile disappearing.

“Go ahead and put her down, Jacks,” dad says, very serious and firm. “She won’t break. And you and I need to have…a talk.”

I grimace a little, looking up at my mate as he sighs and bends to put me on my feet.