Page 26 of A Kitten for Alpha Kenny

By the time the healer arrived and let himself in, along with his nurse, Kemi, Ana, Tani, and Georgia, the rest of the litter,were lined up on the bed, wrapped in towels, and I was never so glad to see anyone because that was really all I knew to do.

The healer and nurse took over, cleaning up my mate and the babies and doing all the things that they were so good at while I sat on the bed next to my mate and watched.

“Have you ever seen such beautiful children,” Mulder marveled. “They’re so tiny, though.”

“They’re perfect.” I kissed him and then sat back to take the two babies the nurse was handing me. “And so are you.”

“Did you pick up Madeline?” he asked suddenly.

“No, was I supposed to?”

“She’s with Grandpa Swale,” Mulder said. “I sent her to him when I felt the first pains. I called you to tell you.” He reached for his phone on the bed table and looked at the screen. “The message never sent.”

“We’re going to have to do a better job with six than we just did with one.” I felt like an awful father as the nurse fitted a third baby into my arms. “Call him and see if he can bring her home?”

Ten minutes later, all the babies were cleaned up and wrapped up and tucked into their bassinets. Madeline was perched on the bed between us, and our family was together for the first time.

We were going to need help, but we’d had so many offers already, and we were going to accept them. At least for a while, until we felt as if we could handle everything ourselves. Because they were given in love, and our babies would grow up knowing how many people cared about them. And that people helped one another in happy times and sad. Our little wolves and/or cats were born to this pack.

What lucky babies!

What lucky dads.

Epilogue

Mulder

Madeline came running outside wearing a cat-eared headband and her birthday dress, which was complete with a tutu, of course. She was never without one of those. Even though she’d just turned ten, and most of her friends had long outgrown their whole fairy-princess, fluffy-skirt phase—she never had, and I suspected she never would. If they made her happy, I’d continue to supply her with them. Not that she needed me to, not with Grandpa Swale around.

Kenny had a strong suspicion that she was about to shift soon. It was a little bit young for cats, but not terribly so. I’d scented her fur a few times this week as well. I wasn’t sure if I wanted her birthday party to be her first shift or not, but it really wasn’t up to me anyway. It would happen when it happened.

For a long time, I didn’t know if she was going to take after her father or me. Either way, she was exactly perfect and who she was meant to be. But lately, she’d been talking more and more about getting her cat, and I was glad when she started showing signs she was nearly ready. Thinking she was going to shift, never to be able to, would break her heart.

We were having a small party. And by small, I meant in the backyard as opposed to a large venue—not in the number of guests. We had a bunch of people from work, Karma and her mate, Warren, and even Zoe drove by for the celebration. And because Grandpa Swale was Grandpa Swale, there were tutus galore.

Everybody who came in was redirected to a table to pick out their own. I didn’t think that would go well—most adults weren’t really good about things like that—but I guess when the packbeta tells you to go to the table the alpha was at to help find your tutu, you do it with a smile. And it had our sweet girl overjoyed.

Her siblings were already outside, her sisters trying to talk Aunt Zoe into giving them cake well before cake time. Zoe stood firm, telling them it wasn’t time. If they had been smart about things, they would’ve gone to Grandpa Swale. He wasn’t one for denying them anything.

“Hey.” My mate came up behind me and kissed my mate mark. “Everything looks wonderful.”

He rested his hand on my middle. This pregnancy was different than the last—I was already showing, only a month and a half in. We’d thought we were done having children after having our first litter. Those first couple of years had been intense, to say the least. We were outnumbered in everything, but even so, it was a wonderful time, and I was glad that we were able to savor it. Our work had been great about giving us the time we needed, and our friends and coworkers had offered support that made all the difference.

But then, as they went to kindergarten, Madeline asked when her brothers were coming. I said they weren’t. And she said okay—but not like she believed me.

Well, once again, she was right. This time, I didn’t ask her how many, and I was glad she didn’t tell me. Because if we were having another litter, I was already tired. We’d figure it out when it came. There was no denying I was carrying more than one, though. If I was showing this much already…probably more than two.

“You don’t have your tutu on,” he teased and nipped my ear. “Is it too small?”

I had a special one the same exact color as Madeline’s. And it was too small, yeah. But for a good reason.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “Jayne’s working on opening it up so it’ll fit me.”

A few minutes later, Jayne came out with it. It was no professional job—no one would look at it and think a tailor had done it. There was a rubber band involved, along with a bread tie. But it worked, and I slipped it on.

“It’s officially party time,” I said and twirled. That was a mistake and if my mate hadn’t been there to steady me on my feet, I’d probably have fallen.

Madeline flitted from person to person, thanking them for coming and asking them to be part of her fairy dance, which she’d created just for the event. It was adorable watching them all trying to learn her little dance, the song playing over and over again as they eventually got the routine down—or at least close enough.

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