Page 110 of Beast: Part Two

“I’m serious, Brook. That man was everything to me. He knew me better than I knew myself. He loved harder than anyone I know. He gave so much of himself to those he considered his family. There will never be another man like him.”

In that, she and I agreed. Although I’ve only known him for a short period, I can tell by the men he raised and the way they mourn him that he was a great person. Priest will truly be missed.

Rubbing a hand over my belly, I say, “I haven’t told Walker yet, but I’m naming my twin Nathaniel.”

Walker and I decided we would both get to name the boys. He got to name the first one, which is going to be a junior. If his twin had been a girl, he was going to name her Red. Not my favorite name, but I wasn’t going to argue. I’d been indecisive about what to name my twin. I never could come up with a girl’s name. However, after Priest passed, the decision became easy for a boy.

She lifts her head from my shoulder and looks at me with wide eyes. A tear slips down her cheek. She quickly wipes it away.

“Thank you.”

I wrap my arms around her one more time for a hug before letting her go.

“I do have one concern. It’s been on my mind for a while,” I say. Her brows dip together as she stares at me. “Are the twins going to call you Auntie or Grandma?”

Once again, she laughs as she playfully shoves my shoulder. “Shut up, Brook.” She sobers as she wipes her face. “Ugh, enough crying for now. We still have some more of Corbyn’s spawns to track down.” Albany stands and then reaches out to help me up as well.

Getting to my feet, I follow her out of the closet. I give her the breakfast I’d brought to her and leave her to finish getting dressed.

After checking on Summer and Charlie in the kitchen, I head back to my room with Walker. I walk in to find him sitting on the side of the bed, his head in his hands. He doesn’t look up, but I know he heard me walk in. The man has damn near bionic ears.

“You haven’t seen me since last night and you don’t even look up when your whale of a wife walks in?” I joke.

Walker lifts his head and smiles at me. “My wife is no whale.”

I scoff as I stand between his legs causing him to lean back to accommodate my belly.

“You only say that because you know I won’t suck your dick if you didn’t.”

His shoulders shake with his laughter. He places both his hands on my round belly. He then pushes my shirt up so that he can kiss his boys.

One of the twins’ rolls, causing my stomach to shift. Walker smiles.

“Does it look as weird as it feels?” he asks rubbing over the area.

“Yes. Yes, it does. It looks like someone trapped a cat in a bag and the cat is fighting to get out.”

He chuckles a little before sobering. “Every day he would describe your pregnancy to me.”

“What?”

“Priest,” he explains. “I mentioned once that I was going to miss things. I told him I hoped that our kids wouldn’t inherit my condition, and that I wouldn’t even be able to witness your pregnancy or how our babies looked. So, every day he described how your body and face changed.”

There is a lot to unpack in this statement. First, to know that Priest took the time to describe my pregnancy to Walker was so thoughtful. No wonder he would often ask me how I was feeling that day. The second part of his statement is what I decided to comment on.

“When were you going to tell me about your fears?”

He looks up into my face, his head tilting to the side.

“Are you afraid of the boys having my condition?”

I turn away from him, heading out the room. He leaps up from the bed and grabs my arm turning me back to him. There is significant enough light in the room to make out my shape, but he won’t be able to see my features. However, the way he is looking down at me makes me believe he can see me.

“You’re angry?”

“Damn right I am,” I grit out. “How dare you ask me some shit like that. You think I’m that shallow and self-absorbed that I would care if my kids end up with the same condition of the man I decided to procreate with? Who do you think I am?”

He shakes his head and steps back. “I’m sorry, Brook. It’s just, my parents—”

---