Page 176 of Broken Bonds

I slump back in my seat. “Twins?”

She holds up two fingers. “Dos.” She waggles the fingers at me. “Hey, you’ve been wanting babies for a while, haven’t you? Goddess has a fickle sense of humor sometimes. Did you take any fertility meds or something?”

“I—” My jaw snaps shut. “Shit,” I whisper.

“Let me guess. You spiked your mix to drop you into a heat with a little extra sumthin’-sumthin’, amirite?”

I slowly nod. I’d done it more to help me relax mentally, with the stress of the situation and the stakes being far higher than just worrying about catching. Like keeping Jax from killing Todd or fucking Mal. I never really expected it to be this effective.

“Well, I’d like the recipe, if you don’t mind sharing,” she says. “I have clients who would love to be able to boost their odds at catching during mating heats.”

I nod again, my body…

Well, numb.

Everything feels like it’s stopped in place. “Twins?” I whisper.

Jax reaches over and takes my hand. “Well, you wanted babies—you got babies.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Morning calmly says.

“I mean, I expected them one at a time, not together! Twins don’t run in either of our families.”

“They don’t have to run in families to happen,” she says, then takes another bite of pizza. “Maybe play the lotto tonight?” she mumbles around that bite.

“We will never get rid of Dad and Pops now,” Jax mutters.

Later, Jax walks me back out to my car. “Anything I can do for you right now, baby?”

I’m still in shock. “No.”

“We should be done in an hour or so, then I’ll head home.”

I slowly nod. “Okay.”

He pulls me in for a hug. “This’ll be okay,” he says. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to you about what happened earlier.”

“Are Mal and Todd okay?” I numbly ask.

“Yes, they’re fine, as long as Iris doesn’t blow out their eardrums.”

I finally laugh. “We should get them earplugs as an early baby/wedding gift.”

“Not a bad idea. She told me to say hi to you, by the way.”

“Thanks.”

I head home in a daze, frankly.

Two babies?

Twins?

I’d wanted at least two pups, maybe more.

I didn’t want them all at the same time, though.

But hey, I get points for being a fan-fucking-tastic researcher and horny-shifter mixologist, right?