Page 59 of Whispering Waves

“We won’t know for a few weeks.”

She stared at Kimo in shock. “What, do they take you aside in alpha school and teach you about gestation stages?”

He shrugged. “Dad did.”

She looked at Pika, and he stood with his arm around his wife and a slight smile on his lips. “We home-schooled a bit, and he needed a project.”

“Uh, that assignment was turned in, right?” She looked at Kimo warily.

He grinned. “I got a hundred percent.”

“Oh, good. Comforting. At least we have plenty of oxygen for thirty-nine weeks from now.”

Melia smiled. “We will show up to help in the last few weeks.”

“Um. Okay. I still don’t have an official confirmation.”

Pika shrugged. “You do. I couldn’t have healed you if you weren’t family. It goes beyond the link with Kimo. You are family, Nerina.”

She smiled. “Yay.”

Melia grinned. “So, we are going to be popping in with notice for visiting, and you are welcome here anytime. Oh, and the housekeeper has dinner nearly ready. Would you care for some snacks?”

Pika smiled. “This is very exciting. So, when are we planning the wedding for?”

Kimo rubbed his head on the top of Nina’s head. “I thought we could have it here in two weeks. Is that possible?”

Melia chuckled. “It’s a good thing I am a florist. Yes, we can do it in two weeks. We could do it in two days, but I want to take Nerina shopping.”

“What is the obsession with this family and shopping?”

Melia smiled. “When it is for someone who is coming in with very little, it is fun to help even the playing field. We will just boost you up until you have the same resources as the rest of us, and then we will let you do your own thing.”

Nina looked at Kimo and furrowed her brow.

He grinned. “I just make the money and dump it into the family coffers. Everyone just takes what they want, and profits go back in. Only take what you are willing to risk. We all get reports, and it is all above board. We even have annual meetings.”

“Oh.” She paused. “Wait. Wedding?”

Kimo chuckled. “You aren’t a registered omega, so I can marry you just as my dad married my mom and my grandfather married my grandmother. The only reason we need two weeks is to get friends and family here.”

“So, are we waiting until Keanu and Violet are here?”

He grinned. “My brother had better move fast because in two weeks, the wedding will happen, and the honeymoon can begin.”

“I thought that is how I ended up in this situation.”

“Nerina, that was just practice. The main event will be after you are legally mine until death do us part.”

“Sounds ominous.”

Kimo kissed her softly. “You will be safe with me.”

“I know. I knew it when you flirted with my tattoo.”

He laughed and hugged her. She looked over at Drake, and he wiped a tear from his eye.

She wrapped an arm around Kimo’s neck and let the waves move between them.

* * * *

The prison guards stopped outside the cell and stared at the corpse who had drowned on dry land. The guard who had found him sniffed and could swear he caught a whiff of the ocean. “Looks like the early parole is cancelled.”

* * * *