Page 86 of Coming Home

“Um, nothing. Nothing’s wrong, but I did something today and it could turn out to be life-changing for us. I hate to spring this on you, but I need an immediate and final answer.”

“What is it?”

“Today’s mission didn’t go quite as planned,” I started. “A bomb went off and it caused a partial collapse. There were still people inside, and one of them was very pregnant.”

“Oh my gosh. Is she okay?”

“No, she died, but I delivered her babies, Shelbs.”

“Wow, that’s incredible, Ben.”

“It was. Triplets! Their mother was a wolf shifter and there is nothing known about their father. She was suspected to have been with some pretty bad people for the last five months and possibly experimented on in ways we may never understand.”

“That’s horrible,” she cried.

I smiled. “Their Pack can’t take them, Shelbs and the best we’ve come up with so far is to send the girl to one home and the boys to foster care.”

“What? You can’t do that. They’re shifters, Ben. You can’t put them into the human system.”

“I agree, which is why you have roughly five minutes to tell me if I’m walking away or bringing them home forever.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” she asked.

I hung up and immediately called her back through video chat.

“Benjamin, I cannot believe you just hung up on me.”

I laughed. “I just needed to see your face for this. You know we’ve always talked about having a big family. This could be the opportunity to make that dream come true.”

She sucked in a deep breath and tears streamed down her cheeks. “Are you worried about those things you mentioned?”

I shook my head. “No, and we’ll cross that bridge if it ever comes up that we need to worry.”

“Is this really happening?” she asked.

I hit the button to flip the camera around as the doctor and Tucker held the babies. I zoomed in on each of them.

“You tell me, sport?”

Shelby was crying openly now but smiling through her tears. “You bring those sweet babies home, Benjamin Shay.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, feeling happier than I ever knew possible.

Shelby

Epilogue

Being a first-time mom was hard. Being a first-time mom of triplets was complete insanity. I wasn’t sure I was ever going to sleep again, but it was all worth it.

It took a few days for Ben to work out the legalities and paperwork for the babies. They finally all arrived home, safe and sound on New Year’s Eve.

Of course I had the nursery complete and the house filled and babyproofed before their arrival. Peyton and Clara had flown in to help me and Maddie and Kelsey had supplied massive amounts of hand-me-downs.

Still, no amount of planning could have prepared me for the first moment I held my children in my arms. That was one month ago today. It’s crazy how much life can change in a few short months.

I went from being lonely and single, pining for a life I never thought I could have, to being a mate and a mother. The triplets could never replace my little Annabelle Grace, but my heart was big enough to love them just as much.

Nathan Don, Zachary Thomas, and Mary Alice were my whole world. Okay, their daddy held a huge part of it, too.

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