Page 74 of Pucking the Enemy

“Are you bringing friends?”

“Well, I’ve got some news for you. I want you to stay calm and to keep this just between the family for now.”

She was silent for a moment. “Are you okay, darling?”

“I’m better than okay. I’m going to be a dad!”

There was a spluttering noise from the other end of the phone as my mother tried to find the right words to express her excitement. At one point, she let out a very undignified squeal that made me burst into laughter, and even Hazel couldn’t resist cracking a smile.

“A grandbaby? Tell me everything right now, Roman! Who’s the mother? Is she a beta? Have you guys found a nice omega to settle down with? Why is your father at golf? He needs to be here. He needs to hear this news!”

“Mom, calm down, I’ll tell you everything.”

“I’m listening!”

“Her name is Hazel?—”

“—are you bonded? Or planning to bond! Oh my word!” She let out another squeal of excitement. Hazel had to physically cover her mouth to stop her giggling.

“Mom! Let me talk!” I raised my voice slightly, but I was still laughing.

“Oh, fine. Hurry up and talk, young man!”

“We met at a party and were really hitting it off when her suppressants failed, and she went into heat. We spent a heat together, then went our separate ways. A few weeks after that, she got in touch with us when she found out she was pregnant. She’s been finding the pregnancy somewhat difficult, so she’s been staying with us—not that she particularly wanted to, I will add. We had to very strongly convince her. We aren’t bonded, but if things get to where I want, we will be in the future. You’ll love her. She’s studying English at Hawking University.”

“Oh, Roman, she sounds like a lovely girl.”

“She is. If I’m honest, I’m already madly in love. I’m just waiting for her to come to her senses. She is?—”

My words were cut off by a pillow hitting me at full force. “Duchess!” I laughed.

“Stop telling your mother that you love me!” she hissed quietly, but she was loud enough for my mother, with her bat-like hearing, to pick up on.

“Is she with you?” she exclaimed excitedly.

“She hasn’t told her parents about the pregnancy yet. They’re not exactly supportive. I think you’ve met her parents a few times?”

“What are their names?”

“The Giltbrook family?”

“Oh.” Roman’s mother sounded disappointed. “They aren’t the most pleasant pair. They love trying to insert themselves into society events, even though they have some very odd ideas about alpha-omega pairings.”

“I can assure you that she doesn’t believe a single thing that her parents believe. She is the complete opposite of them.”

“That’s good. Not that I want to talk ill of the parents of the woman carrying my grandbaby.”

Hazel snorted lightly as I chuckled. “Talk bad about them all you want. Hazel is pointedly avoiding them. She made an excuse that she was sick, so she wouldn’t have to visit them over Christmas and tell them about her situation.”

“And you want to bring her here?” she asked with so much excitement, her voice rose an entire octave. “Oh, please do. You guys are more than welcome here anytime. Are you taking good care of her, Roman? You said she hasn’t been well. Has she been seeing a doctor?”

“I took her to our doctor recently.”

“That is why we had a random charge from the OBGYN department! I thought I’d had an appointment and completely forgot about it. No worries, take her there whenever she needs it. Everything is covered by the family plan. Even if you guys aren’t bonded, because the baby is part of your pack!”

“I tried telling her that, but she is rather stubborn.”

“You need a stubborn woman, Roman.” My mother laughed.

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