Page 52

Tenzin

“ W hile we had these two lovely nights together, what happens now?” Clark asked as Gwen used the bathroom. It was early, but Cooter and I had a flight to catch.

“I’d like to see where this goes. But I need to take it slow,” I admitted. That I could do. A little at a time. I’d start with her, and then…

Clark nodded. “Understandable.”

“Please take care of her while I’m gone? She gets touch starved easily. I’ll do my best to text while we’re on our fishing trip, but we’ll be on a boat, so I don’t know how reliable it will be,” I told him. Cooter and I were going after swordfish. Something we’d wanted to do for some time.

While she seemed better, she’d need lots of snuggles and care.

“Of course. Always. Snuggling her is my superpower.” His look softened. “I… I had a great time with both of you. I… I do like you, Tens, and I hope you understand that.”

Oh, I did.

“That makes me happy. I had an amazing time with both of you. Please continue to be patient with me?” I pleaded, running my fingers through his hair.

“Me, too? I loved it. And I really appreciate that you went too fast because you wanted to take care of me. I see you.” Gwen came out naked and put her arms around me.

I kissed the top of her head. “I want to be here for you.”

“Me, too,” Clark agreed.

“We’ll support each other. I know I have a fuckton of shit to work through.” She kissed me on the cheek.

“We’re all in this together,” Clark told us. “We’ll go as slow as you need.”

“Thank you.” Relief flowed out of me.

“No, thank you for being there when I needed you, Big Guy.” Gwen’s arms tightened around me. “Take the time you need. Have fun fishing. See you when you get back.”

Gathering my things, I kissed her, savoring it. Then I leaned in and kissed Clark, tentatively, gently. A promise that I liked him, too.

His hand cupped my face. “We’re here.”

“So am I.” I put my hand over his.

I got my things and walked back to the lodge. Yes, I’d take this fishing trip to get my shit together. For them.

And for me.

Cooter was right. It was time to get over Morgan, Jacen, and them for good, so I could get on with my life.

I texted Cooter to order some food, so we could eat before we headed to the airport. We’d go back to his ranch first, since all our stuff was there.

My phone was filled with texts from Imogen, Jacen and Ilya’s omega. We never really texted, so I hadn’t thought to block her.

Imogen

Did you block them? You need to call Jacen. It’s about Morgan. Please.

My finger hovered over delete.

Imogen

It’s an emergency. Please call someone.

An emergency? Fine. I unblocked him and called.

“Tenzie?” Jacen’s voice was sleepy. It would be even earlier there in Portland.

“Sorry for calling so early. She’s okay?” I asked.

“Not really. It’s been touch and go. Why didn’t you call me back?” His voice was judgmental, frantic, and tired at the same time.

“I’m out of town, and honestly, I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry she’s having a rough time. While I want nothing bad to happen to her, you’re not my pack and it’s not my baby. Also, I’ve found two amazing people and I don’t want to fuck things up.” My belly dipped.

What if…

“I don’t want to fuck things up for you. That’s not my intention. Sorry, I haven’t slept. We’ve been through every test imaginable. Morgan will be on bedrest for the rest of her pregnancy. It’s making her unhappy, because of her med school rotations and residency interviews, but they’re willing to work with her. The babies are fine, too. For now. There’s a chance she’s not taking them to term,” he told me.

“Them?” I sucked in a sharp breath.

“There are two. One was hiding, which was why we didn’t get it on the scan. I’m not sure why we didn’t pick up the other heartbeat, but it happens apparently,” he told me.

“Twins. She’s having twins.” My heart sped. No. No. No. Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say.

“They’ll keep a close eye on her. She and the babies are fine. Fraternal twins. A side effect of the enhancers she was taking,” he told me. “They did tests on the babies to make sure they were okay. We know this changes nothing. We want you to be happy in New York and the last thing we want is for you to think we’re manipulating you.”

“Jacen, what are you saying?” But I knew. My grip on the phone tightened.

“You’re going to be a father,” he told me. “While our daughter is mine, our son is yours. I’ll send you the tests, so you can have proof.”

“I have a son.” All the air whooshed out of me, like I’d been sent into space.

I was going to be a dad. The only problem was that I lived on the other side of the country and had no desire to move–or get back with Morgan.

What I wanted was Clark and Gwen. Did that make me a bad dad already?

“Tenzie, are you okay?” Jacen asked.

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Fuck.”

“I know.” His voice was soft. “Honestly, we don’t need any financial support. This is about doing the right thing, not money. You can absolutely set up an education fund or something for him and have plenty of visits or even partial custody. We want you to have a relationship with him. We know how much you wanted to be a dad–and how amazing of a dad you’ll be. If this is something you want, we’re committed to making this amicable and we’ll love him so much,” Jacen told me. “And if you don’t, we’ll understand.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. One of the babies was mine?

It was a trick wasn’t it? But I didn’t think it was.

Which meant I had a son.

“I… I have a son.” Shit.

“You do. We’re going to need your medical history,” he added. “Also, if you have input on names, we’d love to hear them, especially if you want to name him after one of your dads or something. Morgan said you’d talked about it. But I’m getting ahead of myself.”

“Yes, I… I can get that right to you. We had talked about naming him after one of my grandfathers. He was a doctor.” My hands shook as I went into my medical record to give the doctor access.

I was going to be a dad?

“I like that. Thank you. I’ll be in touch. We can make this work. If you want to be a dad, we want you to have that opportunity–and if you don’t want to be a dad, we won’t judge, promise.” Jacen ended the call.

Test results showed up in my texts. I had a son. While I had no intention of making up with them and joining their pack, or trying to get traded to somewhere closer, this still changed everything.

I wanted to be a dad. But I wasn’t sure I could do this without messing everything up. Including myself.

Fuck.