Chapter 20

Autumn’s POV

Greyson and I are meeting with his former lover at the coffee shop, I see her sitting alone sipping on tea, she looks up and sees us and I can tell she is nervous. Greyson and I wearing wedding bands her eyes immediately go to our left hand and she tries to hide her emotions, but I can feel what she is feeling and it’s sadness that I find the most. Greyson is nervous as well, we walk over and I decide to greet her first.

“You must be Mikaela, I am Autumn, and of course you know Greyson.” She stands to greet me and I take her in for an embrace. She feels shock, bewilderment at my actions. I whisper gently into her ear, “just relax sweetheart, you did nothing wrong, I am not angry at you.”

Her body and emotions read relieved and I soothingly stroke her back as I release her and smile at her reassuring her that my words are true. Greyson is shocked as well, he waits for her to sit, and he holds out the chair for me to sit before sitting himself. She looks from him to me and she quickly turns to me and says “I am so sorry that this happened” I tell her “really, you have nothing to apologize for.”

I can sense she has questions, “go ahead ask whatever you want.” She looks down then looks at Greyson then back to me and she asks “were you two together when we...?” She can’t finish her question, but I know what she wants to know. “No, we weren’t, we grew up together, we secretly were in love with each other and when I returned we wasted no time in getting together.” It’s the best way to explain our quick relationship. She again is relieved.

My mate, my husband and alpha is being quiet. Mikaela then says “I really didn’t know when I reached out to find him that he had married, I mean don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t hoping to start a relationship with him, I guess what I am saying is that I was afraid that you would see it that way. I just wanted him to know that he is going to be a father, I am not looking for anything from him.”

Greyson speaks up for the first time “but I want to be involved, you aren’t going to deny me that are you?” She looks at him “of course you can be involved. I would not deny you that” Greyson relaxes. “Do you have any family? Support system through this?” I ask her and she shakes her head and says “my parents were killed in a car accident a few years ago, I was an only child, I am alone.” My heart breaks for her. I reach out and put my hand on her hand as a show of sympathy. “I was orphaned as a small child as well. I understand your pain. Listen, Mikaela, I want you to know that we will be your support system you will not go through this alone.”

Greyson then says “I know that we didn’t plan on this happening, but I really hope we can get past the awkwardness of this and come together to co-parent this child. Have you seen a doctor yet?” She nods and reaches into her bag and pulls out a picture from an ultrasound. She tells us her due date, we look at each other and wonder when we should tell her about us being a different species. There is a chance that her pregnancy would happen faster than she thinks depending on the gender of the baby, alphas grow at faster rates, if her baby is a male she will only carry four months. Females will take longer.

“Is it too soon to know the gender?” Greyson asks, she nods and says “yes, unless they do an amniocentesis, which I am not going to do that, there is a risk of it causing a miscarriage and I just don’t want to take that risk” I nod and Greyson says “I understand” he pauses and says “listen, we would like to invite you to dinner where we can talk in more detail about our plans in moving forward.” She smiles and says “really, you both are being so wonderful about this, I don’t want to impose on you.” It’s my turn to tell her, “Mikaela, it won’t be an imposition at all.”

I sense her uneasiness and aprehension. I need to try to reassure her panicking emotions, she is wondering if I have an ulterior motive, I can feel her nervousness about us fighting her for custody. I mind link Greyson, telling him about her fears, I then reach out to her again and say “I only want what’s best for you and your baby, we do not have any intentions of stepping on your toes, I promise you as someone who was denied my own mother I would never dream of taking a child away from their mother, I understand that you have concerns and it may seem odd that I am being so gracious about this, but I truly believe that we can all be friends who will love this child unconditionally.”

Of course she doesnt know that this isnt going to be the thing that she will be concerned about, this will seem like child’s play compared to what her child is. She will have to come to understand that her child will become something she isn’t going to like, but how do we tell her?