Page 19 of The Russos

“You can’t blame me that all I want to do is keep you in bed. You’re so fucking beautiful you take my breath away,” I grin at her but drag myself off the bed, knowing we both need food, having decimated the food that Anton had dropped off.

Taking the robes from the hooks by the door, I wrap Cassie in one before pulling one on. Taking her hand, I lead her out the tent and to the outdoor shower.

It doesn’t take us long to finish, both our stomachs growling with hunger. Hurrying back to the tent, we get dressed and walk towards the dining room where the rest of our party is sitting having breakfast.

“Nice of you two to join us,” Cassie’s dad growls, reaching for Cassie, who leaves my side to be wrapped up in her dad’s arms, a happy smile on his face until he sniffs and growls loudly.

“You’re pregnant already,” he rumbles, then looks at me as if he’s ready to kill me. I get it; she’s his baby, but she’s mine now, and I won’t have him upsetting her, father or not, as I take in her crestfallen face.

Going to pull her away from him, we’re interrupted by a happy squeal from Hannah.

“Yeah! You’re having babies. How exciting!” she claps, leaping up from her chair and running over to Cassie, throwing her arms around her. It’s the most animated I’ve ever seen Hannah. Looking at Anton, who’d stood when Hannah jumped up, he’s smiling at his mate’s genuine happiness.

Her exuberance has stopped Gus in his tracks as he watches the two women, his face softening.

Anton walks over to me and hugs me, “Congratulations, brother. Happy for you.”

“Thank you,” I reply, a little choked up.

The rest of Cassie’s teammates join us, and I have to hold myself back when they hug her, understanding that they see her as nothing more than a sister. It would be the same as me hugging any of the Moores. Doesn’t mean I’m happy about it, though.

I take it for as long as I can, but eventually, I have to pull Cassie away from them, insisting that she needs to eat. Seating her at the table, I dish up a plate and set it before her.

“Thank you,” she said gratefully, immediately starting to eat.

“My pleasure, baby,” I assured her, sitting down next to her.

“You’re going to be a grandpa,” Hannah beams at Gus before exclaiming when she suddenly realises. “I’m going to be an aunty again.”

Anton laughs, pressing a kiss to her temple, “You seem thrilled, baby girl.”

“Oh, I am. I had a shit family, and my new family is amazing, so I’m excited to be the best aunt that I can and eventually once I’m up to it maybe you and I can have babies. Although I think three at a time is a bit much. Can we maybe stick to two at the most?”

Anton threw back his head and laughed, while the rest of us chuckled, then it hit me what she said. “Wait. What? What do you mean three?”

Hannah looked up with surprise at my words, “Um, when I hugged Cassie, I saw three young. Not sure if they’ll be cubs or pups, though.”

“You could tell that by just hugging Cassie?” Gus asked stunned. “Are they okay? Is she okay?”

Hannah’s face softened at the concern in his voice, and it went a long way to calming my animal down who’d not been happy ever since the way he’d spoken to Cassie earlier.

Reaching across the table, Hannah pats Gus’s hand, “She’s fine and the babies are fine as little as they are. All I could tell is that there are three.”

“Three,” Cassie whispers, looking a little green at the news before turning to me, “Three? You knocked me up with three babies.”

I tried; I truly did try to stop the grin that spread over my face at her words but there was no way I could. I was fucking thrilled. “It would seem so.” Turning back to Hannah, I asked curiously, “How did you know?”

Hannah shrugs, finishing off her mouthful of toast before answering, “I don’t know, it’s something I’ve always been able to do. I just know when I put my hands on a pregnant person. It’s why I was training as a midwife. It works on both humans and shifters.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Anton rolls his eyes. “Jett is going to be fucking thrilled. Not only has he now got Julie, but he’s also going to pull Hannah in too and then there’s Cassie, who’s a medic. Somehow, he’s going to end up with all our women helping him.”

“Yep,” I agree. Needing to reassure Cassie, I turn her face towards me with the tip of my finger, “It’s going to be okay, baby. I promise. Once you meet the rest of our family, you’ll see. You won’t be doing this alone.”

“No, you won’t,” Gus agrees. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. Like your mate says, you aren’t alone.”

Cassie takes a deep breath and lets it out, “Okay, we can do this. Now tell me what you’ve all been up to and what we’re doing today.”

Today we were doing all things touristy, so we set off to see the Victoria Falls and tonight it was a booze cruise on the Zambezi. This would be the second one some of our group had been on as Hannah had originally booked one for our first night, but Cassie had missed it because we’d been mid-mating. However, it was something that I thought she’d enjoy.

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