Page 78 of Gambling with Time

“Four men?” A small smile played on her lips, there but not there at the same time.

This was awkward as fuck. “Is that supposed to be a question?”

“Honey, I just want you to be happy. I thought Rai—for a long time, I knew he was for you. But are you sure about the others?”

I laughed. “More sure than I’ve been about anything in my life. I didn’t think I had a future, and the four of them together opened my eyes. With them I have forever, not just a future, but an epic love that I can call my own. Something like you and Dad have. It is a little unconventional, I know that, but I love them.”

She leaned back and smiled. “I’m sure that isn’t the big news you are here to tell us.”

“It was part of it, I wanted you to know it was official, not some sort of phase I was going through.”

“I’m not sure The Order will–”

I interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. “I am quitting The Order.”

“Honey, quitting really isn’t a thing,” she said.

“It is now.”

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips as she looked toward the window. “The only way out is dying.”

“Are they still watching the house?”

She sighed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they bugged the house.” She laughed like it was a joke, but it showed a different light to The Order that felt more sinister than I had ever believed it to be.

“Well, if they do then that saves me a step,” I replied with a flat smile. Raising my voice I called out, “I quit!”

My mom shook her head with a smile, even though I could see the concern in the depths of her eyes.

I guess it was time for all the secrets to be spilled. “Mom, I’m pregnant.”

She jumped from her chair, and it clattered backwards into the wall. Her eyes were as wide as saucers. “A baby?” Her fingers gripped the collar of her shirt. “With one of them?”

I followed the direction she was looking, back to the living room. A real smile spread across my face, and I snorted. “Yeah. One of them.”

“I’m going to be a grandma?” she asked, her voice rising with excitement.

The guys crowded in the doorway at the commotion, my father pushed through them, his eyes going between us, checking to make sure we were safe.

“We are going to be grandparents!” She turned toward my dad ,and I was pretty sure he was going to pass out. Bellamy stepped forward ready to catch him at my thought.

My dad turned toward me for confirmation, and I nodded. A bright smile spread across his face, and he closed the distance between us and pulled me into a tight hug.

Happy chatter filled the kitchen after that. The fact that I was quitting The Order wasn’t brought back up, and I would deal with them later. Neither of them asked which one of the guys was the dad, and I didn’t offer the information up. Everyone would know soon enough.

The only one missing was Ty. Mom said he was busy and couldn’t make it, but he already knew everything anyway. We’d told him separately.

Dinner was finished, the kitchen picked up, and the night grew late before we said our goodbyes. It was a weight lifted off of me now that they knew everything. And it was easier than I expected.

It felt as if I could do anything now.

CHAPTER 44

Alastor

We had put off going to Tartus for as long as possible, but now we were here, and it felt final. Samantha leaned back on the bed, her eyes watching me as I got ready to face my father. The man I now knew I was more alike than different.

“You look so nervous,” she chuckled.

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