Page 88 of Unexpected Delivery

“Oh, kiddo. If only you knew how loved you are.” I tickle her tummy, holding her in place with one hand as I prepare the diaper-changing supplies with the other.

The furniture should be here soon, and it can’t come fast enough. She’s nowhere close to rolling over yet, but it makes me nervous.

I keep my eyes on her at all times when I’ve got her up here, and usually a hand too. It’s like a four-and-a-half-foot drop. The last thing I need is for her to get lucky, make a once-in-a-lifetime roll, and have her get hurt.

I’d never forgive myself.

I’m so focused on getting Gracie changed that I don’t sense anyone else until Hayes comes to a stop at my side.

He grins, offering Gracie his finger. “Food is downstairs, and Hael is in the shower in his room.” He nods to the bathroom. “Is Arbor still in there?”

“Yeah,” I agree, rolling up the baby wipes and tossing them into the trash. “She should be out soon.”

Hayes sighs heavily. “Good. We all need to talk.”

“Why?” I growl, suddenly on edge.

“My brother called me today and faxed me a bunch of paperwork. I don’t want to rush the two of you into bonding, but you?—”

“Already did,” I tell him, fastening the straps on Gracie’s diaper. She kicks and wiggles, making it a whole process to get her back into the zipper onesie. “Why does it matter?”

Hayes scoops Gracie up while I’m still in the process of tossing her used diaper. “I only want to have to go over it once. Grab Arbor and meet us downstairs.”

He takes off, and my proverbial hackles rise.

I don’t like the sound of that.

Not one fucking bit.

Arbor, Hael, and I sit around the table. Gracie is in her oscillating bouncy chair, completely content for the moment, but I’ve been on edge since Hayes said we all need to talk.

He comes back to the table, dropping a stack of paper in front of Arbor.

“I spoke to my brother today.” He sighs, sliding into the chair on the other side of Arbor. “He sent me that, and a lawyer in our area is on standby to file them as soon as we’ve signed.” Hayes twists toward our omega and goes on. “I don’t want to pressure you into anything, but right now, our claim to be on Gracie’s birth certificate is tenuous, at best. According to Easton, the hospital should have asked for a copy of our pack commitment or marriage license in order for all of us to be listed. His tech guy said it’s probably not an issue, or it won’t be unless that dick files for custody, but the best way to circumvent any problems is to file the paperwork immediately.”

Arbor flips through the pages. “Okay, someone find me a pen.”

“Really?” Hael asks.

She shrugs. “We’re already bonded, but more than that, I want to do whatever offers Gracie the most protection from Adam.” Her lips vibrate as she exhales. “I finally feel safe from him, but thinking that he could pursue a relationship with Gracie scares the hell out of me.”

My eyes meet Hayes’s.

From what he’s said, there’s a solution to that. It’s just highly illegal and would require the twinsowing their brother one.

Still, at this point, I’m pretty sure it’s our only option if we want to sleep soundly at night.

Despite my size, I’m far from what I would consider a stereotypical alpha. My first course of action is always to de-escalate rather than to opt for violence, but in this situation, it feels like the safest choice to preemptively eliminate the threat.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Hael

Ifollow Hayes into the living room as he answers Easton’s call the next evening. We have a fax machine at the shop, and I personally supervised Morris when he sent our pack paperwork to the lawyer this morning.

We also sent a copy to Easton. Although, I don’t know why our big brother is suddenly interested in our lives.

I swear I saw that fucker plotting ways to kill us when Hayes and I were kids. He’s a psychopath, like the real kind. I don’t think he’s physically capable of feeling guilt, remorse, or shame. Hell, I have trouble believing he feels anything resembling human emotion.

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