Page 35 of Branches of the Willow

“Surprise, your spawn is making me sicker than hell?” It came out as more of a question than an answer to his.

“My what?” Confusion ruled his features. “My spawn? What the hell are you talking about, Jess?” That’s the moment when it clicked. I saw the flicker of recognition. I watched the dawning take place. His features went from confusion to close observation, and as if he were afraid that I might be playing a trick on him, he quickly retracted the smile that started to spring forth on his handsome, stubbly face.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” He questioned as he helped me up off the floor. I managed to shuffle myself to the sink and rinse my mouth out before I bothered to answer him.

“I’m pregnant.” I finally said, and then I turned to face him.

“How?” His eyes trailed from my face down my body to land on my perfectly flat, okay, somewhat sunk-in stomach.

“Well, we had sex. We had a lot of sex, actually.” I laughed half-heartedly as he managed an Ashley-level eye roll.

“I know how it happens.” I giggled at the thought that I had just said basically the same thing to Evan hours ago. “I meant, you know, how did it happen since I wasn’t with you during your heat cycle?”

“Well, there’s this funny thing that happens with the white wolves…”

“Son of a bitch. Of course, nothing’s normal with you.”

“Okay, that’s slightly insulting.” I pulled the washcloth back off my neck and tossed it on the counter before walking out of the bathroom.

“Jess, you know that’s not how I meant it.” Mikael was trailing after me, but I didn’t care. I was exhausted, and now, despite just puking my guts up, I was hungry again. Being pregnant was apparently going to suck for me. I flopped my ass down on the bed and tucked the covers in around myself.

“Please, talk to me.” Mikael pleaded in that sexy, gravelly voice of his that I loved so much. How was I supposed to resist that?

“If a white wolf doesn’t successfully get with child after her first heat cycle, she can continue to go into heat again and again until a pregnancy occurs. Serena assured me that it’s only the first pregnancy that it happens with. Something about it being nature’s way to ensure that the white wolf line is continued somehow.”

“So, when?” Mikael cut himself off. I could see his mind working as he figured out the same thing that I did. Then he chuckled. “Our little in-house honeymoon? I should have known. Remember, I even made a comment that if you were that horny then, I couldn’t wait for your heat cycle?”

I nodded.

“Well, damn.” Another thought occurred to him then, and I watched as realization hit. “How long have you known?” He stood beside the bed, looking down at me. “You said Serena told you it happens, so you already talked to her about it.”

“Yes, but I wasn’t ready to tell you yet.”

“Well, who else did you decide to tell before you finally got around to me? Your mom? Ashley?”

“No. The only other person who knows is your brother.”

The growl that erupted from Mikael then was deafening. “My brother?” His question was shouted at me and reverberated off the walls. “Why the hell would you tell my brother before me, Jess?”

“I didn’t.” I was pouting again, and really, if I hadn’t already cocooned myself in the blankets, I would have been looking for something to throw at Mikael’s big head.

“You just said-”

I cut him off. “I just said he knew, not that I told him. He asked me about it today.”

“What do you mean he asked you? Why would he do something like that?”

“He told me I looked like I was glowing, and that you were a lucky bastard.” I huffed. “You’re really the unlucky bastard who’s sleeping on the couch tonight though.”

“Oh, I don’t think so!”

“Yes, you are!” I was completely serious since I was now angry with him.

“No!” He stalked back around the bed, and got in on his side, under the covers, as if to prove a point, so I got up, out from the wonderfully comfortable cocoon I had created, and stood there facing him for just a minute.

“You’re a big fat jerk. I was in there puking my guts out, tell you I’m pregnant, and the only thing you manage to do is yell at me about everything. Oh, and you insinuated I’m some sort of freak too. Thanks for all the support, asshole.” I snatched my pillow, and stalked off to the bedroom door, but Mikael was there before I could even put my hand on the doorknob.

He took the pillow from me, tossed it back across the room onto the bed, and then pulled me into his arms. It seemed like one fluid move, and I didn’t have the strength to stop him. “I’m sorry.” He sighed deeply and kissed the top of my head. “I’ve been so worried about you, and then to find out you got pregnant, and what that means, and you don’t seem very happy about it, because why else wouldn’t you tell me right away?” Everything came trailing out of him then, and I knew I had been a big fat jerk too.

---