Page 90 of His Temporary Alpha Mate
“On the smaller side, but almost as if it was a near full term delivery. For quads anyway,” Michaella explained.
“That healing ability came into play, I think,” Aldrin added.
Larken and I shared a look full of love for each other and the little wonders we held.
I didn’t care what it was. They were here and they were safe. We were a family before they came along, no doubt about that. They just made us complete.
Dreams Come True
Larken
Our new family was discharged from the clinic after only a few hours of observation. Though early, the quads were in perfect health. It was a miracle I could only thank The Luna for. Thanks to her, Dalton had the ability to protect our children and have them be in much better health than they would have been without it.
The healers had been somewhat prepared for an earlier birth with the incubators, medical equipment and special milk to feed the babies on hand. A blessing even if it wasn’t required. We weren’t the only ones with babies due, though, so it may come in handy later. Especially since more and more of the betas had turned and they were starting their own families.
Still, It had eased the terror in my heart, knowing that even if something had happened during the birth, or Dalton’s healing hadn’t done it’s thing, the pack haddone their best to ensure the safety of our babies and my mate.
Proving we had made the best choice in picking him, Ingal came rushing into the clinic, ready to help us carry our babies home. He’d been thoughtful and gone to the house to get the baby carriers and some clothing for all of us, though no one was expecting the babies to stay in their human forms for long.
Their first shift had been wonderful. The alphas both took after Dalton with golden skin and hazel eyes. They had my slightly too big nose and fuller mouth. The omegas were more like me, same skin tone and colored eyes, with Dalton’s chin and high cheekbones. They were such a wonderful mix of us both, I couldn’t help but feel like I wouldn’t ever love anyone more than I loved my family.
Chase, who had stuck by us the entire time, carried Bima home. Dalton had Reid, Ingal held Raiden close to his chest, and I had Brayan, though my squirming raccoon baby did not want to go in the carrier. I told him to shift, and the little baby obeyed. The order almost stuck in my throat. It felt wrong to tell them to do anything, especially backing it with a little alpha power, but it was for his safety, and I would always put that first.
Giving the order made me think of my father and the times he had to use his power over me. It made mefeel closer to him and so very far away. I wondered if he and my mom were with The Luna watching over us. Would they have loved Dalton like another son? Would they have dropped everything in their lives to be with us on this next adventure? I guess, without losing them and then Karina, I wouldn’t have ended up in Sweetwater. I wouldn’t have had all this without that loss.
For the first couple of days and nights, I could hardly tell up from down. All I knew was endless feedings and diaper changes. Passing out, utterly exhausted, with my mate for a couple of hours before it all started up again.
What I did remember from that chaos was a feeling of family, pack. Ingal was an integral part of us. Without him we would have floundered before we left the clinic. He settled into our family like he was always meant to be there.
Then there was Chase and Roan. Both of our friends were an almost constant presence. With Roan in particular, it went a long way to repairing our relationship after the damage caused when I moved out.
By the end of the first week, we were more into a routine. We were also growing increasingly nervous about registering the babies. Our time was running out.
I kept having dreams, good and bad, about going into Northarbor. Ones where we were attacked, others where we got home and had a party to welcome the babies to the pack.
As we came closer to the end of the second week, our deadline, the plan was in place, the appointment set. Grady, Trey and Mateo had done the test run with their daughters, Alice and Ariana, born two days after our babies. It went well, though they suggested a few things, such as ensuring the babies were settled before we left. All we had to do was tire the babies out so they would sleep while we filled out the necessary paperwork. The whole thing was a bunch of bullshit, but we were on guard. We had backups to our backup plans.
While the babies were still pretty young in human terms, in their animal forms they were pretty mobile. They appeared to have inherited some of Dalton’s faster healing and were growing like weeds. We decided to get them some fresh air and vitamin D.
We’d seen a video of a ferret playing in a sandpit and ordered one for the new house. Spice was utterly obsessed with the omega babies. He seemed to think the little raccoon kits were his to look after, it was kind of adorable. He slept with them, even had a bath with them, even though he wasn’t particularly fond of beingwashed. Ingal had that job since the pair had bonded well.
Spice wasn’t as sure of our ora babies as they were already bigger than he was, but Priscilla guarded them fiercely. Those were her babies. It was so sweet how our pets had folded the new additions into our family. They still got all the love and attention they needed and took themselves off for peace and quiet if they needed to. It was perfect.
The sun was still low in the sky, it was pretty early in the morning, we just didn’t want to wait for it to warm up more. Spice was diving around the sandpit, showing the babies how to dig and spray sand everywhere. I think we all ended up with sand where sand wasn’t supposed to go as we made little sandcastles for the babies and Spice to knock over.
Priscilla presided over the event from her window bed. She had access to the yard, but a previous bad experience with a wolf shifter left her wary of anything farther than that. She was happy to be the queen of the castle watching over us.
Once the babies, and Spice, were tired out, we got them cleaned up and fed. Both the babies and the ferret decided it was nap time, which was perfect.
It was time to go to Northarbor.
All my previous visits to the city, which lay to the west of Sweetwater, had left me with a less than favorable impression of the place. Either I was being attacked, or I was rescuing someone who had been attacked. All it held was bad memories for me. I feared I was about to have another one.
As we had agreed with the registrar, we had the appointment booked with a window where their wards would be down. We arrived comfortably within that window and waited for the appointment to be called.
A prickle of unease went over me as I realized we were the only ones in the building aside from some office staff. They kept glancing over at us, though we must have been a sight to behold, it was a little rude and made me more nervous. Deke was with us, as was Ingal, Melody, Hakeem, and an elf I didn’t know the name of. She was the one who had made the portal.
Dalton was twitchy. His worry made him show it outwardly. Usually he was calm and in control, he wasn’t demonstrating that at all. He wasdressed impeccably in office ready attire which had miraculously stayed clean around our babies.
