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“Are you sure it’s alright to tell him now?” Way asked Pete, clinging to his arm as Pete pulled out some books from the shopping bag he’d just brought home and put them down on the counter. “I’m not showing yet-”
Pete glanced down at Way’s middle. Though Way was in denial about it, his belly had indeed started to round out. The t-shirt he was wearing was fairly form-fitting, and did nothing to hide that Way was pregnant from anyone who knew Way was usually quite lean. Pete didn’t get why Way was embarrassed about his baby bump when he looked so good with it. If they weren’t busy planning how to tell their son he was going to be a big brother soon, he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off of his mate.
Ever since he’d first noticed the change it’d been very hard to keep away.
“-so he might not really understand. I was looking it up while I was at Alan’s earlier, and things were saying to wait until it’s obvious, and Alan said that’s probably a good idea.”
It was sweet that Way had been looking online for tips on how to tell a child that they would be getting a baby sibling. Pete kissed his temple, glad that Way had really stepped into his role as Martin’s stepfather. Way had been so worried about it when they’d first gotten together, but he’d fit perfectly into their little family.
“Pete!” Way pouted. “Everything online was saying age four is the hardest to tell. I don’t want to upset him.”
“You don’t have to worry about it not being obvious. Martin already knows something is different about you, remember? He can feel it. He’s been asking why you feel different. So he’ll understand that it’s the baby he can sense.”
Way sighed. “Right. You two can feel it because you’re Enigmas that got taught to. Still!”
“He did fine with getting a new cousin when Babe had his pup. He already knows how babies work.”
“That’s true…”
“And I bought a bunch of books that will help explain things even more if he’s confused.” Martin absolutely loved books and having Pete read to him. Pete wrapped an arm around Way and kissed him. “I’m sure he’s going to be very excited about the baby. He’ll love having a sibling,” he assured.
Way smiled a bit. Pete could feel his anxiety easing up and smiled as well as Way’s thoughts easily went through to him, helped along by their bond. Martin was adorable when he was excited, Way thought, and now he could clearly imagine Martin being thrilled to be a big brother. Martin was always so good whenever he interacted with his cousin, so he was sure to be even happier with a baby that was his sibling instead.
With the books brought out and Way calmed down, Pete felt like it was finally time for them to tell Martin the big news.
They retrieved the pup from where he was napping in his bedroom. Martin sleepily greeted Pete, hugging his father and climbing into his arms. After getting Martin a snack and letting him chatter on to Pete about his day, they brought him to the living room and sat him on the couch.
“Martin, Papa and Mama have something really important to tell you.”
Martin looked between them. He pouted and asked, “Am I in trouble?”
Pete chuckled. “Not at all! We have big news for you. It’s a good thing.”
“We hope you’ll be excited,” Way added, nervous.
Martin perked up, eager to hear something exciting. “What is it?”
Way had told Pete on their way to wake up Martin that he would let him take the lead, since he was Martin’s actual parent. Pete had assured him that Martin saw him as a real parent just as much as he did him, but Way still struggled to believe that. He had high hopes that the baby would help Way realize that he truly had a place in the family. Pete squeezed his hand. “Do you remember how your cousin Prince grew in his mama’s tummy for a while before he was born?”
The pup nodded. “Uh-huh. In P’Babe! His tummy got all big. And then he had a baby.” Martin smiled and asked, “Is P’Babe gonna have another baby? I like Prince a lot!”
It was a relief to see how excited he was just at that, a sign that things were going well. Martin did love his baby cousin, and indeed remembered how babies worked. Sure, Martin had never actually asked for a sibling, but he looked thrilled at the thought of another cousin. A sibling had to be better than a cousin.
“Babe isn’t having another baby.”
“Oh.” Martin deflated a bit.
“Yet,” Way added. They’d seen Babe and Charlie with their baby. Prince was not going to be an only child. Pete whole-heartedly agreed. “Someday.”
That cheered Martin back up. “Then what is it, Papa?” the pup asked, even more curious. His eyes were practically sparkling.
“You’re going to be a big brother soon, little one.”
“A big brother?” Martin echoed, tilting his head.
“That’s right. You’ll be getting a baby sibling.” Pete put a hand over Way’s belly. “There’s a baby growing in Mama’s tummy right now. The baby is going to be your little brother or sister.”
Martin blinked. “Mama’s having a baby?”
“I am.” Pete could tell that Way was thinking about the advice he’d seen online, specifically that kids had trouble with understanding longer periods of time, so it was best not to just tell them how many months it’d be until the baby would be born, but something more easy for them like saying which season or holiday it would be close to. “It’ll come right around the start of the next racing season.”
Not what he would have picked, but it certainly fit the idea. Martin did really like watching his uncles race, and always asked when their next races would be.
Martin looked at where Pete’s hand was, then back up at them both. He reached to grab onto Way’s sleeve, and was quiet.
Since he was touching Way and Way’s thoughts and feelings always conveyed strongly, Pete couldn’t really pick up anything from Martin with his ability. He figured Martin was just processing the news or was confused. It was certainly a lot for a child his age to take in, and maybe he didn’t get how it worked for his parents instead of his uncles.
“You know how Mama has felt different?” Pete asked, trying to nudge things along. Martin nodded a little bit. “That’s because of the baby. So all this time Mama has felt different, the baby has been growing in Mama’s tummy.”
Martin didn’t respond to that. He just stayed quiet, looking deep in thought. Pete figured he just needed a little more time.
So they waited patiently for him to react.
And were completely shocked when Martin burst into tears. The pup let go of Way and pushed himself off of the couch, running off in the direction of his bedroom.
“He’s upset,” Way whimpered, absolutely heartbroken. “I knew he’d be upset!”
Way turned around to bury his face against him, also bursting into tears. Pete rubbed his back, just confused. He’d really expected Martin to be happy about it, or, at worst, indifferent once he realized how long it would take before he’d actually get to see the baby.
“He must hate that he’s getting a sibling,” Way sobbed. “Maybe he hates that we’re even a family. Of course he does. Why would he like me?”
Pete nuzzled Way, assuring him, “Baby, that’s not true. Martin loves you. He’s so happy to have you in our family.” That, he knew for sure, even without using his ability. Martin absolutely adored Way, and Pete could feel that from the pup even when he wasn’t trying at all to use his power to pick up on Martin’s feelings.
Way didn’t believe him. It was getting more and more difficult to convince Way of things as his hormones changed. “Then why did he get so upset?”
Though he hadn’t expected it, Martin was just four. It was probably something simple. “Maybe he thinks we’ll like the baby more than him. Little kids have trouble understanding that their parents can love siblings equally. You know how much he loves being our favorite.”
That seemed to calm Way down a bit. He sat up and wiped his eyes, though tears kept falling. “…Maybe.”
“I’ll go talk to him and make sure he knows we’ll still love him the same. I’m sure he’ll be happy after that.”
They went to Martin’s room. Way let go of Pete’s hand in the doorway, refusing to go in any further. Pete wanted to pull him in, since he knew Way was wrong about why Martin was crying, but that would just make things worse. It was better that Martin not see just yet that Way was also crying. The pup couldn’t bear to see his stepfather upset. So he left Way just outside the doorway, where his mate hid and tried to stay as quiet as possible.
In the bedroom, Martin was curled up in a ball under the blankets on his bed, crying his heart out. Pete felt horrible hearing him cry like that, every sob and little whimper tugging at his instincts.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, softly calling, “Martin, pup, it’s Papa.” The boy shifted a bit towards him. Pete put his hand on top of the little mound where Martin was and gently rubbed it. “Can you come out so Papa can talk to you?”
Martin crawled out from under the blankets. He was holding one of his plushies. It was one that Way had gotten for him just a few days earlier, which Way had scent-marked heavily before gifting it to the pup. Pete could see a wet spot from tears had already formed where Way had put his scent on the toy. Martin had obviously buried his face against the scent.
Pete scooted closer to Martin so they were sitting next to each other. Martin held onto him with one arm, resting his head against him. Pete patted his head and wiped under his eyes with his thumb. Unfortunately, Martin was so upset that all Pete could read from his thoughts was the pup’s despair. Nothing clear that would let him know what was wrong, and the sheer force of it was even more confusing. He didn’t think Martin’s reaction would be so negative. “Little one, Papa and Mama both love you very much. Nothing will ever change that, not even the baby. And even though babies need lots of extra attention, just like your cousin does, we’ll still love you just as much as we always have. Do you understand?”
To his surprise, Martin immediately nodded. The pup climbed right onto his lap to hug him. Through sobs, Martin replied, “I- I love Papa a-and Mama t-too…”
Something else was upsetting him, then. Martin genuinely believed him, and was as honest as ever in his response.
“What’s wrong, little one? Papa thought you would be happy to get a sibling.”
“W-want a sibling,” Martin sniffled, nodding. But then the pup buried against him, starting to wail again.
Pete hugged him, rocking him and patting his back to try to soothe him. “Shh. It’s alright, cub. We love you so, so much. Papa and Mama love you.”
Finally, Martin lifted his head and told them, absolutely devastated, “I don’t want Mama to leave…!” He resumed wailing, pressing his face against Pete’s front.
Pete looked over at Way. His mate had stopped crying, snapped out of it by the explanation, now just perplexed. They exchanged confused looks, having no clue where Martin had gotten that idea from.
Even focusing his ability on Martin revealed nothing. Martin was simply and completely heartbroken.
“Uh… Mama isn’t going anywhere, little one. He’s part of our family now forever. See? Mama is right over there.” Martin refused to look, holding on tight to Pete. “Mama isn’t leaving, pup, I promise.”
Martin just continued to cry. Pete looked back at Way again. Way, also still not having any idea what had started this, mouthed, ‘what?’
It took a few minutes of bouncing and rocking for Martin to calm down enough to explain, the pup pushing back to sit up and wipe his own eyes, now just sniffling and hiccuping miserably.
“Can you tell Papa why you think Mama is leaving?” Pete asked, rubbing the boy’s back to encourage him.
”If- if Mama is having a baby… then Mama will leave like Martin’s real mama, ‘cuz Martin’s real mama left when I was a baby…” Martin answered, sounding completely sure. “But I don’t want Mama to leave…!”
Sometimes, Pete forgot that Martin actually understood what had happened with his birth mother. He’d told the boy the truth about it, but Martin had never been bothered by it, since he had his father, and later his uncles and Way. Pete immediately remembered something Charlie had mentioned to him, a brief comment that Pete hadn’t put much thought into. When first meeting Babe and learning that he and Charlie were a couple, Martin had immediately asked when they would be breaking up, since his parents had broken up. Charlie said they’d smoothed it over with the pup, and since then Martin had never asked again if they would break up, and had also never asked if Way would break up with Pete when they got together. So Pete had never thought about it again.
But now it made perfect sense. Then, Martin’s only frame of reference for relationships had been what he’d been told about his birth mother. Once he understood that Charlie and Babe were nothing like his parents, he’d been able to grasp what relationships were supposed to be like. Martin was finally calm enough to think again, and Pete picked up on the thought that Babe hadn’t left Charlie when their baby was born, but that was only because Charlie wasn’t Martin’s Papa. They were his uncles and things weren’t the same, though now he really wished they were.
Way, unlike Babe, would be having a baby with Pete. And Martin knew the last time someone had had a baby with Pete, she’d left for good and Martin had never seen his mother again.
So he just assumed that Way would do the same thing, even if Way loved him now, because Pete had told him that originally his birth mother had loved them as well, but then she’d stopped after he was born.
Pete felt bad for telling him so much so early in his life, for not realizing how Martin had actually internalized it all. He’d assumed Martin could handle it, but it seemed that despite how bright Martin was for his age, he’d been far too young to properly process it. Pete hadn’t wanted to withhold it at all, worried Martin might grow up and get upset to have not been told, but now Martin thought he’d be losing yet another mother, this time one that he’d grown very attached to.
Way came into the room at last so he could sit next to them and hug Martin. “I’m not leaving,” he promised. “I want to stay here with you and Pete and the baby for as long as you’ll let me.”
“That’s for forever,” Pete added, not wanting some other crisis to emerge from Martin misunderstanding Way’s lack of confidence. “Mama isn’t like your birth mother. Papa and Mama are mates, and Mama loves you, so he’s going to love the baby too. Because Mama loves the baby, he won’t leave.”
Martin didn’t look totally convinced. He climbed into Way’s lap. “Mama…”
It took a little more convincing from the both of them before Martin finally believed them that Way wasn’t going anywhere. Once he’d accepted that, he just wanted to hang onto Way, which worked out perfectly, since Way just wanted to hold onto the pup, so relieved that Martin still liked him and was fine with the idea of the baby.
Glad to see his mate and son had stopped crying, Pete wrapped his arms around the two of them.
Once the two were completely calmed down, Pete went and grabbed the books he’d gotten. Martin got excited when he saw them, reaching out for them but still snuggling against Way. Pete sat back down next to them with the books and let Martin pick which one he wanted to read first.
After being read the book, Martin finally looked happy about the news that he would be getting a baby sibling, eyes sparkling and a small smile on his face.
“Is the baby a boy or girl?” Martin asked, glancing down at Way’s stomach.
“We don’t know yet. When we find out, we’ll tell you first.”
Martin looked back at the books, seeing the drawings of kids and their expectant parents and remembering visiting his uncle when he was pregnant. “When is Mama’s tummy gonna get super huge?”
“Ugh. Hopefully never,” Way grumbled.
At the same time, Pete answered, “Mama’s tummy will start getting big soon. It’s already getting bigger.”
Way gave him a look, not happy to hear that Pete was essentially telling the pup that he would get super huge, and still in denial about how he was just starting to show. Before he could deny that, Martin giggled, then said, “I wanna see!”
As Way muttered that there was nothing to see, Pete showed Martin how there was indeed a bit of roundness to Way’s belly. Way stopped grumbling as the pup felt his belly, looking emotional.
After another book, Martin started to doze off, and Way looked sleepy as well, the both of them exhausted from crying. Pete got them tucked in on Martin’s bed, and they both fell asleep, succumbing to their tired relief. Martin’s bed was plenty big enough for the three of them to fit, so Pete laid down next to them after moving the books to the nightstand, watching over the two of them.
Eventually his phone went off with a text, and he looked to see Charlie had sent him a message.
‘Heard from Alan that Way was stressed about telling Martin about a baby this morning! So happy that Prince is getting a cousin closer to his age and that the pack is getting bigger! CONGRATS! Is the little guy excited to be a big brother?’
There was then a string of celebratory and baby themed emojis.
Pete was glad that they’d told Martin about the baby that day. There was no way Charlie or the others would have been able to keep it secret. Neither of them had even told Charlie, but still the young Alpha had found out from Alan, who had only just been told.
He looked at Way and Martin. Way had already curled around Martin, and the pup was clinging to Way even in his sleep.
‘There was a bit of a misunderstanding, but Martin is very happy now. I’m sure he’ll tell everyone all about it as soon as he sees you.’