William stood up and looked at me with concern. He had gentle eyes, and the girls in the house loved his large curls of dark hair. William was handsome, and Lexi had even suggested I should consider getting closer to him.
April trotted downstairs with her oversized brown purse slung over her shoulder. Reno handed her a light jacket and then turned his attention back to me.
“What’s going on?” Austin said, coming into the room from the kitchen. He was holding a half-eaten green apple in his hand.
The wood floor creaked beneath my foot, and I took a breath before lifting my chin high. “I’m going to have a baby.”
“And boom goes the dynamite.” Wheeler sat on the back of the sofa, arms folded.
I leaned on the windowsill and faced everyone in the room. Trevor still had the front door halfway open on my left, holding on to the knob with his outstretched hand, a bemused expression on his face.
“Are you serious?” Lexi asked, gripping the ends of her hair. “No joke?”
“The baby is why I’ve turned down a couple of jobs. It’s early in my pregnancy, and I can still shift if I have to, but you know how dangerous it is, especially the further along I get. I don’t want to inhale any chemicals that might hurt my baby.”
Maizy peered up with mild concern and went back to coloring. She seemed more interested in everyone else’s reaction than the news.
My eyes settled on Austin. “I know this is sudden, and it wasn’t planned. I need to know how you feel about it. This is a second chance for me, and I’m keeping him, so that means you need to make a choice about whether or not you still want me living under your roof. I realize how local Packmasters are going to talk, and I don’t want to do anything that affects your standing with them. But I won’t let this baby grow up being treated differently, so if you’re uncertain, then tell me now.”
“Do you want to leave?” he asked.
“Austin!” Lexi piped in. “No pack would take in an unmated woman with a child. They’re all a bunch of pigs. You can’t throw her out. She’ll be all alone.”
“I’m not throwing her out, Ladybug. But this isn’t all up to me. Ivy, how do you feel about raising your child in this house? I can’t break apart my pack to appease one person, so if anyone here doesn’t like it, that’s not grounds enough to kick them out. Mistreatment is, but their opinions are something I have no control over. Never have.”
The next thing I knew, William had taken a position beside me. It was a subtle and quiet show of support. He folded his hands in front of his belt and allowed his gaze to travel to each member of the pack. Something I’d learned about William was that he knew how to herd a pack. Intelligent men didn’t have to shout or argue their position; they used psychology as a means to sway opinion within the house. Whether it was in his words or body language, I knew William would make a great addition to this family.
“You’ve been like family to me,” I said, looking around the room at everyone. “I can’t imagine finding that anywhere else. Only love could draw me away from this home, and that’s not in the cards. I would rather my child grow up in a pack so he knows the unity that can bring to a family. I have no authority in this house to earn the kind of respect that’s given automatically because of rank. You might not agree with Lexi’s decisions, for example, but you won’t say anything to her about it because she’s mated to the Packmaster. It’s not the same in my position, so I need your support. I don’t want to leave, but I’ll do whatever is best for this baby.”
“Indeed,” William said in agreement.
Austin stuffed his left hand in his jeans pocket and jingled change while he took another bite of his apple. “I got no problems with it. Anyone else?”
“Who’s the baby daddy?” Denver blurted out from where he stood by the TV.
“Don’t be an ass,” Izzy said, shoving at his chest.
“I don’t think it’s a secret who the father is,” I said. “But I haven’t told him, and now that I think about it, I’d rather he not find out through one of you. Let’s keep this private until I pass along the word.”
“Pass along?” Wheeler said with an arch of his brow. “By way of Pony Express or Morse code?”
“What is wrong with you people?” Izzy said in an exasperated voice, raising her hands up. “This woman just told you she’s having a baby, and you guys are cracking dumb jokes! A precious life is coming into this world—into this house—and nobody is shouting and dancing for joy.”
Jericho suppressed a grin with a swipe of his hand and then reached for her. “Baby, your hormones are talking for you again.”
“Don’t you baby me, Sexton Cole. This has nothing to do with hormones!”
Everyone chuckled and she angrily folded her arms over her round belly.
“It’s okay, Izzy,” I said with a somber smile. “This wasn’t planned, so I didn’t expect banners and cakes.”
“Let’s have a cake!” Maizy said, sitting up and joining in on the conversation. “Can we have a carrot cake? I’ll go with you to get it.”