Chapter 106: Chapter 44

HALEY

“All right, here we go,” Marlena says from behind the curtain blocking my view. Dara watches over her shoulder. Pup A is transverse breach and there’s no getting the little one out sideways.

This one is the one in its own sac.

Virgil watches intently, but holds my hand to keep me calm. He makes a face then looks back at me. “Pup A is a boy.”

Virgil and I are both in shock. We were only expecting to have girls. He links Kenna.

~Holy shit! Really?~

~Yes. Please go pick out some boy clothes for him to wear for the next week. We can get more later on.~

“Pup B is a girl.” The crying starts and I’m relieved as they sound like little cats mewing. “And Pup C is another girl, they’re identical, of course.”

Dara claps in excitement. “Yay. They’re so small. Is that normal?”

“Yes, we took them early. It’s normal for multiples. It’s safer this way,” Marlena explains.

“What are we naming them?” Virgil asks then kisses my forehead.

“You pick since you still don’t like any of my choices,” I tell him in mock annoyance. We never did decide and the list of no’s is extensive.

He makes a grumble noise but knows I’m messing with him. “I just don’t want them to all start with the same letter or three letters in a row. They’re all different and should have individuality.”

“Yeah, yeah. Give me a kiss then bring me our pups so I can see them.” He smiles then gives me a kiss. He leaves me to Marlena and Dara’s care to go check on my litter.

Marlena explains what Dara needs to heal since there are so many layers. Dara takes off her gloves then, I assume since I can’t feel anything, places her glowing palms to my abdomen. “You can’t heal everything. Her body needs to adjust to no longer being pregnant,” Marlena tells the Goddess.

“All finished. Did that look right?” Dara asks.

“Perfect. Not even a scar. It’s too bad you weren’t around when I had my pup. It took me three whole weeks to heal after my C-section.” Marlena and Dara begin chatting and Virgil brings all three of the pups in one arm, supported by the other.

“We have a boy, I can’t believe it. Colton Declan James. We can call him Cole for short.” He lays him on my chest and holds the girls as he looks them over. “This one is Pup B. Angela Lindra James.”

He lays her in my right arm. “And finally, Elaina Glory James.” Elaina is laid in my left arm. I kiss each of their sleeping heads then look up to my mate. He wipes a tear from his eye then kisses me. “What do you think?”

“I love them. Cole, Angie, and Ellie. Their middle names are perfect. Everything is perfect.” We’re wheeled into a room in the clinic where I have to stay for the day. The pups are put together in one crib so they’re not separated.

I check Colton’s forehead, but there is no mark of any kind so I check the girls to find no marks on them either. That’s a relief. It would be weird for them to be mated to their cousin…ew.

I get a lot of help from Marlena and Louisa who is staying here for the first month so I can get used to the triplets while Virgil goes to the East Coast Summit next week. I feel like all I do is sit around and feed the pups. It takes an hour and a half to get them all fed and my breasts are killing me.

“Using formula is not a bad thing. People do it all the time. There’s no shame in it,” Louisa counsels.

It’s been two weeks and I don’t think I can keep doing this, I’ve had like zero sleep. I had to excuse myself from the Japanese summit since I couldn’t even walk, but Virgil handled it just fine.

Marlena is with Kenna. She went into labor last night and still hasn’t had the pup yet. He’s a stubborn one. Dara and Jason are with her so I know they’ll all be just fine.

Colton’s beta, Emmett, will be here soon and damned Kenna will have a perfectly easy time of it. I’m kidding, I love her, but I am envious that she’ll get some sleep.

Switching to formula has been a Goddess-send. Life is so much easier, I can feed them all at once and I get a little shut eye. Not much, mind you, but more than before. The pups are healthy, chubby and cute as hell.

They all have brown eyes and light brown hair. They also have Virgil’s puffy cheeks I remember he had as a kid. Their futures are all blank to me which really sucks, I’m dying to know who their mates are going to be.

Weeks turn to months and months turn to years. Life is good and Virgil and I stay pretty busy. Virgil has become as fluent in the different languages as I am. The packs are well regulated to ensure fair treatment for all.

It’s the first day of school for the triplets and Kenna and Jason’s son Max. They’re so excited to see their friends Conall, and Derrick, and their cousins Marley and Bristol. Cole is every much the alpha his daddy is and the girls are like Glory and I were; Angie is protective and Ellie is shy and intuitive.

Dave (Little D) is a senior this year and looks after the triplets. He helped us with our greenhouse and the vegetation in the surrounding area. He also chose to come to our pack after Anna mated Thomas Blackburn, who took over the pack two years ago.

Blaine is going to take over the Weston pack next year. He hasn’t met his mate yet but he will at the next mates ball. She’s the daughter of an alpha from a pack in Massachusetts named Kristina, but he doesn’t know that yet.

“Mommy look, it’s Cannoli. Can we go play with him?” Angie points out. Conall is in third grade. Kya hasn’t had any more, yet. She’ll be finding out any day now that their girl will be coming soon.

“Conall, not Cannoli. Angie, he hates that. Don’t be so mean,” Ellie corrects her sister.

Cole takes off and Ellie follows behind him. “I don’t see Derrick yet.” Angie looks around the playground. Derrick and Bristol are in second grade.

“Look, there they are, they just pulled in,” Virgil points out their Jeep in the parking lot. “Go play with Marley and Bristol. Derrick will be here soon.” Marley is in first grade.

“Ooookaaay.” She pads off to the playground.

Derrick rushes over to the playground. Damon and Natalie greet us. “Where’s Glory and Spencer? Are Dec and Kya coming?”

“They stayed home. Glory is due any time now. Dec and Kya are over there talking to the teacher,” Kenna fills them in.

She welcomes them with half hugs, her belly keeping them from giving full embraces. We rarely get to see each other except for birthdays and the east coast summits. Life keeps us all pretty busy.

I pull Natalie’s two-year-old pup, Emily, from her arms and kiss her chubby cheeks. She’s just as beautiful as her mother, and almost as powerful. She can heal and control water, well not yet, but she will.

“Hello precious girl. Does Auntie get hugs?” Emily leans in closer and ducks her head under my chin. “Oh-ho. You’re so sweet.”

We’re all Aunties and Uncles to each other’s pups. Kenna takes Emily to get her hugs too. Dec and Kya join us and we chat while we watch our pups play.

Chase and Alana soon show up with their three pups. They went the same letter route and named their third pup Leighloni, Loni for short. She’s in first grade with Marley.

“There’s B,” Alana points out.

Bianca took over the role as principal three years ago when Principal Newman retired. Her daughter Aliyah is ten, and her son Anthony is six. He was born just after Derrick so he’s going to be the next beta for their pack.

She stops over to say hello to everyone, but has to get back to make sure the pups get to where they’re supposed to be.

I smile as Angie plays with the boys. She’s fearless, yet Ellie only follows Conall and the other boys around, much to the dismay of Cole. He just wants to play with his friends.

Marley, Loni, and Bristol get Ellie’s attention and they go play with their jump ropes. Soon Angie leaves the boys to play with the girls.

“Goddess, I can’t believe they’re already in kindergarten,” Virgil says as he wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to his side. The bell rings and the pups begin to line up.

“I know. Pretty soon they’ll all be mated and running the packs. But I will still be the Oracle,” I point out.

“I wonder how long you’ll have to wait until the next vessel shows up?” Dec comments.

“Well, Glory has Marley, Samantha, and she’s expecting Rhianna next week. That’s three lines for the vessel to come from so far,” Virgil answers.

“I wonder how the next king will be chosen. Will it automatically be Cole or does it work the same way as in other packs? There’s nothing in the books about it. The next king should be mated to the next Oracle, but I should not have a son if that’s the case,” I reply.

“Goddess, I’m so glad I have my little monster,” I chuckle at Virgil’s comment because Cole is his daddy’s shadow and doppelganger.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds,” Virgil says.

Ironic, I have to wait to see what happens in the future.

End of Book 3