Page 49 of Surprise Mother Pucker

My heart hammered at his words. Why did he have to be so dang sweet?

“Okay,” I moaned, though I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. “Tomorrow, I’ll go meet your pack. Should I see if I can get a sitter for Charlotte?”

Eli shook his head, grinning from ear to ear. “Bring her. She’s part of this family now. She’s adorable, they’re going to love her.”

I huffed a small sigh of relief. If given the choice, I would much rather have had my daughter with me.

Once Eli left to go run errands, I grabbed my phone. There was someone I needed to tell about this latest life development.

“Please tell me the world is on fire, and I need to come homeimmediately,” Beth said as she answered the video call. She was lying on her bed, just like I was. She was in her childhood room, which was an explosion of fluorescent pink.

She looked exhausted. Visiting her family always took it out of her, but for some reason, she still went every few months.

“Hey,” I greeted warmly.

“You look terrible. Are you feeling okay?” she asked.

“I’ve got some news…”

“You banged the hot alpha?” Beth smirked.

Looking back, I wasn’t sure how I’d managed to go this long without telling her. Between making up for work I’d missed while sick, taking care of Lottie, and seeing Eli, life had gotten busy.

“Yep. And now I'm pregnant again.”

Beth was quiet for a second as I let the information sink in. “What!?” she shouted.

“We had car sex, and apparently, I’m so fertile, my birth control was useless!” I cried, flopping back in my bed.

“Well…fuck. When will my new niece or nephew be here?” she asked.

“I think, around July?”

Beth nodded. “Well, we can make this work. You’ll have taken your finals before then, and I’ll be around to help with Charlotte as much as possible. How’s the alpha taking it?”

I sighed. “Being an absolute saint. He wants to be there to support me and look after me and he is perfect. A few weeks ago, he came over to pick me up for a date and discovered I was sick. He proceeded to call one of his pack mates, and the two of them spent the next two days taking care of Charlotte and looking after me while I recovered from the flu.”

“Woah, Kennedy, they sound pretty perfect! Have you managed to find some good ones?” she asked excitedly.

“Maybe? I don't want to get too carried away, but they seem eager to be involved. I'm going to his pack house tomorrow to meet his entire pack. Beth, I’m freaking out.”

“They're going to love you. Of course, they're going to love you. You’reyou.”

“But I already have a child. Having a second one is just going to complicate things.”

“Well, you can't really change it now, can you? Ugh, I hate that I'm all the way over in Nebraska. I'm flying back in a few days, and we’re having ice cream and discussing this!”

From somewhere behind Beth, I could hear one of her family members shouting, trying to get her attention. She sighed deeply.

“Do you need to go?”

“Probably. I don't want to. All my brothers are in their twenties, and yet they can’t toast a piece of bread.”

I winced. Beth didn't talk much about the time she spent with her family, but from the little tidbits of information she had dropped over the years, I knew they didn't exactly treat her kindly.

“Go, I’ll text you and let you know how the meet goes. Ice cream when you’re home sounds delightful.”

Beth smiled. “I’ll bring the rocky road.”

---