Page 31 of A Baby for the Beast (Beastverse #3)

The plan is for me to spend the evening with Lucas's family, or in-laws. Whatever they are, they've accepted me into their fold quicker than I expected and even offered to have my parents over the next time they were in town. They're just good people, and now they're my people too.

Sam gives me a hug when I come in, but as soon as his arms wrap around me another cramp hits and since I'm no longer trying to be strong for Lucas and because it catches me unaware, I groan a little my hand moving to my abdomen like there's anything I can do to make the feeling subside.

It only lasts a moment before fading, but it's long enough for Sam to now have his hands on my shoulders, a worry crease between his brows, and a panicked look starting to set in on his features.

His purr rumbles around us, deep, soft, and comforting.

I bite back my smile because it's so unlike my favorite purr.

"Nope," I tell him, giving him a very pointed look that tells him he is not mentioning this to anyone because we're not taking away from Lucas's title match.

Not that I care much about it, but I don't want him not to go because there's a chance I might be in labor.

I'm probably not. If anything, these are just some fake contractions because I'm stressed and want Lucas to come back.

"If this keeps happening, I'm telling Scott," Sam tells me, his voice barely above a whisper so no one overhears.

They're all busy in the living room, getting the TV set to the right channel and complaining about it costing money to stream the fight.

Scott is a doctor who runs an omega heat clinic, so he's the closest one to knowing whether or not these are real contractions, but again, they're fake.

I'm not dragging Lucas back with fake contractions.

"I'm fine," I tell Sam. "If it's still happening after the fight, he can check on me."

"I don't like it," Sam says, but before he can counter my request with stipulations of his own, I use my trump card.

"I'll tell them all about Janie," I say, watching as his eyes narrow on me, thinking I'm bluffing, but when I don't back down, he huffs.

At Sarah's reception, Janie may or may not have been asking me about the hospital I'm planning to have Tessie at, and a few other things that she tried to tell me were her just making plans for the future.

Too bad I'm smarter than that, and she's a terrible liar.

Like, easily the worst liar I've ever met.

All I did was ask her if she was pregnant, and she got flustered before telling me, "Of course not, silly. That's just silly. You… silly."

"I don't agree with this," Sam says.

"Don't need you to agree with it, just don't make a big deal about it. Tonight is about my alpha earning his title and then being done with fighting for good."

"It's also about watching Kyle get his ass beat," Scott hoots from beside the television. Yeah, the same guy who's probably the most knowledgeable about my pregnancy is also most excited to watch my alpha punch my hookup.

"See, let's not ruin everyone's good night when we don't have to." I smile up at Sam, fluttering my lashes.

It earns me an irritated grumble before Sam ducks into the kitchen.

I'm sure Janie's in there, and I have no doubt that he's going to tell his mate everything from my fake contractions all the way up to the blackmail.

That's fine, I wouldn't expect him to keep it from his mate, but I do expect both of them to keep their mouths shut about it.

"Hey," Jace takes Sam's place in front of me, his ears bright red where they poke through his red curls. "I need to talk to you, if you have a second."

I look around the room, noticing that no one is paying us any attention. Not on purpose, but because they're doing other things. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, no, yeah, it's fine," Jace rubs the back of his neck before tilting his head back and letting out a long breath of air. "I need to apologize."

"Apologize? For what?" I get the question out before another cramp hits me, this one stronger than the other two, and it has me grunting.

Jace doesn't notice because he's busy having his existential crisis. By the time he looks back down at me, I have a smile plastered to my face even though the cramp is just starting to subside.

"You know that video of you on the phone with Kyle?" Jace asks, and the knot of my cramps finds a new home in my stomach as I start piecing together what he's about to tell me.

I nod, my smile starting to fall off my face because there's no way I'm about to give him a smile when he's about to tell me he's the one who leaked a very personal and private moment. He swallows hard, his Adam's apple bobbing as his eyes try to dart around anywhere other than looking at me.

"I might've been the one to take it."

"No might've about it," Henry calls from the living room, making it clear that whatever privacy Sam and I had, Jace and I do not. "Apologize right or don't at all."

Jace grimaces, sucking in a deep breath through his nose, and looks me right in the eyes.

Which is a little unnerving, given how pale blue his eyes are.

"I filmed the video of you speaking with Kyle.

I wasn't planning on sharing it, but the things you said, I didn't think it was right for him to do those things and there not be any consequences. "

"You filmed me," I repeat, making sure he understands just how unhinged that sounds.

"I was filming the sparring happening, and then you were on the phone," Jace says, clearing his throat. "It doesn't make it any better, but when your voice rose, I turned to face you. I didn't realize I was still recording until afterwards, when I went to start filming the sparring again."

"It wasn't your place to share that with anyone," I tell him, my cheeks heating.

It was one thing to know someone at the gym had done it, but it's a whole other thing to know it was someone who I thought I was getting close to. Jace means a lot to this family. Hell, he's part of it just like I am at this point. That's why this hurts so much more than if it had been a stranger.

"I know that now," Jace says. "At the time, I was just so mad because who treats someone that way, especially someone putting their trust in you when they're so vulnerable.

I didn't want him to just walk away from it, not when he was trying to paint it as if it was all your fault. None of it was your fault."

A cramp hits me again, this time, Jace doesn't miss the way my brows tug together or the way my mouth tenses as I try to hold in the pained sound. I press my fingers to my abdomen, Jace's whole face draining of all its color.

"Oh shit," he says.

I grab his bicep, squeezing it hard as I shake my head. He turns our bodies, his bigger one blocking everyone else's view of me as he tries not to panic based on the way his determined demeanor has shifted into him now looking like he's going to puke or pass out, maybe both.

"Did I make you so mad you're having the baby?" Jace whispers.

"What?" I ask, the absurdity of it almost making me laugh. Almost.

I'm still mad at him, and I'll be mad at him until I have some time to figure out my feelings about all of this.

It was an invasion of my privacy, but I get his point.

He thought he was doing the right thing, and it has ended up with us learning that I wasn't the first of Kyle's victims. It's also turned my life upside down because I'm seen as the face of this justice being brought to Kyle when the only thing I wanted from him was to sign away parental rights.

"Should I go get Lilah? Or Scott? I bet he'll know what to do." Jace panics and looks around, eyes wide.

I squeeze his bicep harder, feeling a little bad about how my nails dig into his skin. "Don't tell anyone. It's those fake contractions, probably."

"Probably?" he squawks, looking around again, this time opening his mouth like he's about to call out for someone to come help.

"I won't be mad if you keep this quiet," I say to him quickly, and that gets his attention. Not for long, but long enough that I know I'm on the right track.

"I don't know if I can do that, Hayley."

"I'll forgive you, forgive all of this, I swear, just don't tell anyone." I practically beg, tears beginning to brim on my lower lashes. That must be what does it for Jace. His purr rumbles out, his arms wrapping around me.

"I'm so sorry," he mutters against the top of my head. "I don't think I can keep this quiet even if–"

He doesn't need to finish what he's saying, and I don't get to beg him anymore because Sam and Janie are coming out from the kitchen, looking happy as can be.

"We have an announcement to make," Sam says, causing everyone, including Jace and me, to face them.

I wipe at my tears as Jace continues to purr with his arm over me, making me feel safe and comforted even though he's part of the reason I'm crying. He's safe even if he made a mistake, and that's what I cling to.

"Shut up!" Lilah screams, hitting Scott in the arm, who glares at her for half a second before it softens into adoration.

Janie beams, glowing like she's the happiest woman in the entire world. "We're going to have a baby!"

"Oh my god!" Lilah screams, running at her sister-in-law and wrapping her in a hug with Scott right behind her, his eyes fluctuating between golden and dark over and over as though his beast wants to be here just as much as the alpha.

Sarah shoots a look up at Henry, who's already shaking his head, "I told you. I said it after our wedding, and you thought I was reading too much into things."

"I can't believe you're telling us all now," Henry says, smiling as he follows Sarah over to where she's joining Lilah in trying to squeeze the life out of Janie.

As far as I'm aware, Lilah doesn't want kids, and neither does Sarah, which works out well since they're with beasts who actually got sterilized instead of just saying they did.

I find myself wiping away tears, but they're not sad ones. No, I'm so happy for the family I've lucked into becoming a part of. Not only will Janie's baby have a huge family, but they're coming into this world with so much love and adoration already being given to them.

I wonder if finding out I was pregnant wouldn't have been so scary if I had this amount of support behind me.

Sure, I had my parents and my coworkers.

My Night Owls family was excited for us to have a bar baby.

That's what they decided to call the first baby one of us had, though we definitely all thought it'd be Brad knocking someone up.

"You okay?" Jace asks, his purr low and vibrating softly against me.

He squeezes my shoulder again, and I nod, letting him know I'm fine.

His spirits seem to be somewhat lifted, and his desire to tell everyone that I might need someone to look at me.

Jace's eyes widen, his smile broadening as he looks to Janie, or where Janie is currently being suffocated by her entire family, and then to me.

"Hey, your kids can be like best friends. Built in best friend just ready to go in nine months," Jace says, looking pleased with himself.

"More like six," Janie laughs. "We were going to tell you all at dinner next week."

"What changed?" Scott asks, his brows pulling together. I guess Fenrir is done with wanting to be near his pregnant sister-in-law because Scott's eyes stay dark.

I shrink into Jace, because I know exactly what's changed.

The movement doesn't catch anyone except for Jace's attention, who finally remembers what he was about to tell everyone right as Sam opens his mouth to tell them all the same thing.

Of course, neither of them gets the chance, because as soon as they're about to speak, I piss myself.

Okay, so it's not piss, but when my water breaks, so does all hell. Jace retches but tries to keep purring for me. Henry jumps over the back of the couch to take Jace's spot as Scott and Lilah both hurry over, their medical backgrounds coming in real handy.

"I can't believe you fucked up my blackmail attempt," I say because there's no way I'm about to actually have this baby. I'm just going to crack a joke and pretend it's not happening.

"Wish I'd known you were going to pop like a water balloon and we would've waited for Tuesday," Sam jibes back, pulling his phone out of his pocket and typing away on it as everyone tries to herd me toward the front door. "We had a cake ordered and everything."

" We can still have the cake, " Fenrir says, coming out because he apparently thinks he's better equipped to handle this situation rather than the alpha with a medical degree.

"I'm going to your apartment to grab your bag," Henry tells me, fishing my keys out of my purse before handing them to Jace, who slings it over his shoulder without complaint. "Jace, go with her, do not let another man touch her."

"Alpha," Sarah chides, and Henry's attention snaps to her, his beast taking over long enough to put off a plume of his pheromones before retreating back inside their mind. "Her doctor is a male. The nurses might be males. Don't get all weird alpha controlling on her now."

Henry's jaw ticks back and forth before he gives a slow nod. "Be with her at all times until either me or Lucas is there."

"Lucas gave me the information for your doctor a couple of weeks ago," Lilah says with an awkward smile. "I'll give him a call and tell him you're on your way."

"Okay, thank you," I say, still not quite sure I'm ready for all of this to be real. "Um, should someone tell Lucas?"

Everyone stops moving, looking at me like I've completely lost my mind. It's Sam's laugh that brings all of our attention to him. "Omega, I messaged and called your alpha before I even spoke to Janie."

"And what did he say?" I ask, all of a sudden needing Lucas here more than anything else.

If I'm about to have this baby, if I'm actually about to be a mother, I need him here with me. I thought for so long I was going to do this all on my own, but I don't want to do it alone, I don't want to do it without him.

"I really need Lucas to be there."

I start sobbing. I can't help it. I made a mess on my kind of sister-in-law's living room floor, the man who contributed genetic materials for making my daughter is about to be hopefully knocked out by my mate, and I'm about to have a fucking baby. I'm not ready for this. Not even a little bit.

Jace leaves my side, talking with Sam in what I know are words not meant for me because Henry is urging me through the front door. They're not quiet enough, though, and I hear them. I hear them and I cry some more.

"He's not answering his phone. I've called him nonstop since she told me, and he hasn't picked up."