Page 68 of Surprise Mother Pucker

“Well, he needs to get used to it, so you can get a good night's sleep.”

Kennedy sighed wistfully. “That sounds like a dream.”

“Why don't you come stay at the pack house this weekend? Between the four of us, we should be able to keep Charlotte entertained, and you can get some decent sleep.”

She sat down, chewing on her lip. “I'm not sure.”

“What's concerning you? Talk to me, sweetheart.”

“I'm just so used to doing it on my own, it's kind of difficult handing over responsibility to anyone else when it comes to her.”

I nodded. “That's completely understandable. You've been on your own with her for so long, I'm honestly surprised you're doing so well with having Storm and Eli constantly in your business.”

A serene smile covered Kennedy's face. “Eli is a gem. He's been nothing but amazing. Storm has also been decent… I think he is serious about wanting to get to know Charlotte and be in her life. Sometimes I wonder, though…”

“Wonder what?” I asked.

Kennedy's face twisted, a conflicted expression plaguing her features. “Would Storm be so eager to be in my life if I wasn't suddenly connected to his pack? He's being really good now, but what if I wasn’t connected to Eli? What if he found out that I’d had his child, but I was just a random omega with zero connection to his pack that he could easily walk away from?”

I cocked my head to the side. She had a point. If Storm was a shithead, then there was a chance that, given the situation, he would have felt pressured to be good to Kennedy because his entire pack was set on her.

“I can see why you’d be worried about that, but honestly, I doubt that’s the case. Storm adores kids. He is obsessed with hisnephew and is constantly taking him on uncle outings. It was actually Storm’s idea to take Luka to the zoo.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I think no matter what the situation we found ourselves in, once Storm learned that he had a child, he was going to be all in.”

“Even if his pack wasn't on board?”

“Well, that's irrelevant because we're completely on board, but I don't doubt one second that Storm would have walked away from his pack if his pack wasn't on board with his family. People seem to think that packs are easy, that everything comes with no stress or worry. We are four people trying to build a life together. That comes with complication, that comes with mess. We have to give each other a certain amount of grace.”

Kennedy chuckled. “I'm not sure how much grace it takes to deal with a secret love child.”

“Not much grace at all, when the mother of said love child is an absolute sweetheart who we are excited to get to know and when the baby in question is a sweet little bean who is amazing.” I smiled at her. “Okay, the popcorn is done. If you take the tiny terror, I’ll go get it in the bowl and we can start this study session. We have an hour or two until her nap, right?”

“Yeah, though she’s been a little feral when it comes to her nap times of late. She’s been waking up at all hours and going to sleep whenever she likes. I’ll have to get her back on a schedule soon. All this change is disrupting her a lot. Maybe it’s best I keep her here and don’t bring her to the pack house.”

I shook my head. “She’ll need to get used to the pack house, eventually. I imagine you’re going to be there a lot, and we want you both to be comfortable there. Just tell us what we need to do to make it work for her. We can do things like get her an identical crib.”

“That…may work,” Kennedy admitted as she took Charlotte out of my arms.

With a quick kiss to the top of her soft baby curls, I hurried to the kitchen to grab the popcorn and a few of the soda cans I had brought with me. I had been paying attention, and I noticed that Kennedy enjoyed strawberry-flavored drinks. I had gone the extra step and bought some strawberry syrup, so I could make her a strawberry cola.

Filling a glass with a can of soda and a little syrup, I returned to my girls. Kennedy was sitting on the floor, a pen in hand, as she went through her textbook. Charlotte was sitting next to her with her stuffed animal.

“I have snacks!” I declared, placing them on the table before handing Kennedy the glass of soda.

“Thank you.” She smiled at me before taking a sip, her eyes going wide. “What is that?” she asked, looking down at the glass.

“Do you not like it?” I asked, starting to worry. I probably should've asked her if she wanted to try the strawberry syrup. I just assumed because I wanted to take control and be helpful, but I was beginning to doubt everything.

“It's delicious. What is it?” Kennedy asked, looking up at me with a smile. My heart rate slowed, and my breathing returned to normal.

“I brought a strawberry syrup with me, since I’ve noticed that you tend to gravitate toward strawberry-flavored drinks.”

Kennedy’s brows lifted in surprise. “You noticed that?”

“I notice a lot about you, Kennedy… Now, let’s get studying!”

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