“Would you mind telling him?”
Edward nodded respectfully. “Of course. Nothing to worry about, Lexi. If everything’s copacetic, I’ll be on my way. Rest easy tonight, and remember what I said about standing too long. If you work outside the house, take frequent breaks and walk around.” He winked and strolled toward the door. “I’ll see you next week.”
When he closed the door behind him, I sat Indian style and clasped my hands together. It was silent in the hall, and that knot in my stomach got even tighter as I tried to imagine what was being said on the other side of the door… and the crushed expression on Austin’s face.
The silence ruptured when a shout exploded into a howl.
A joyous howl.
The door swung open, and Austin’s bright eyes glittered with all the happiness a woman yearns to see in her life mate. It made me tear up, and he rushed to the bed and sat down, kissing my neck and face until I giggled and pushed him away.
His hands moved across my breasts and down to my flat stomach. He lifted the hem of my shirt and placed a gentle kiss against my skin. I feathered my fingers through his hair, daring to hope for the first time.
A few inquisitive faces appeared at the door.
“Do they know?” I whispered.
He glanced up and smiled. “I cleared their asses from the hall when the exam started.”
“What’s going on?” William asked, drifting closer to the bed. “I heard a shout.”
Austin rose to his feet and strutted toward them.
Yeah, strutted.
He had his swagger going on and the cockiest look I’d ever seen. “Anyone feel like going out for beers tonight? We have some celebrating to do.”
“What’s the occasion?” Denver asked. “Did you set an orgasm record?” He popped a few peanuts into his mouth. It looked like he’d made a pouch using the bottom of his shirt and had filled it with nuts.
“I hope the celebrating involves a bed for the guest room,” Wheeler grumbled, squeezing past Denver and into the room.
“I’m going to be a father,” Austin announced.
Denver dropped his peanuts all over the floor.
After a few beats, the smiles changed to laughter, howling, and dancing.
Yeah, dancing.
The pack didn’t know anything about my past miscarriages, but on that day, they danced in my bedroom.
Chapter 9
I spent the next three days resting in bed. After my dizzy spell, Austin urged me to stay home for a day before returning to work. When he started bringing me my favorite barbecue from The Pit (even though his mother had cooked stew with deer meat) and giving me foot massages, it was hard to say no. Normally a little pampering wasn’t something I’d complain about, but I’d grown tired of appearing weak in front of the pack.
“Knock, knock,” my mom said, opening the door. She glanced at the windows on my left. “It’s a pretty day outside. You should sit on the porch with me.”
I tossed the magazines aside to give her a place to sit, slightly embarrassed that all I had on was an oversized biker tank top with skulls, roses, and motorcycles. “I think I’m ready to come out of quarantine. The Relic didn’t recommend bed rest—that was all Austin.”
She sat beside me and fixed my hair so it wasn’t in my face. “My little girl is going to be a mommy.” Tears were shining in her eyes—the good kind.
“I hope so.”
“What do you mean? Of course you will be.”
I studied the tiny white flowers in her black blouse and admired the butterfly necklace I’d given her years ago for Christmas. Her dark roots with silver hairs needed a touch-up, and the signs of age were carved into her features like hairline fractures on a sidewalk. Thinking about children made me reflect more on my relationship with my own mother.
“Mom, I don’t want you to die.”
Just as soon as the words left my mouth, my heart constricted.
“I’m not going anywhere.” She smoothed her hand over my arm.
“But someday you will. It’s not fair that I get to live hundreds of years without you.”
She took my hand in hers and studied me closely with her blue eyes. “Hon, I don’t need to live more than one lifetime. I’m just glad that you’ll have a long life—both you and Maizy. Maybe you can get things right the way I never did. Do I like getting old? No. I hate that my lips are disappearing, and I have to comb my hair a certain way because it’s thinning on top. And no matter how much walking I do, I can’t get rid of these bingo wings.”
I busted out laughing. “You don’t have bingo wings,” I said, pinching her upper arm.
She smiled, a small dimple appearing on her cheek. “I hate the idea of aging. But I don’t mind the idea of dying. It’s a natural part of life and something everyone will have to face sooner or later, even you. So there’s no sense in being afraid of something you have no control over.”
“Maddox doesn’t mind?”