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Wylan laid back, settling himself against a pillow.
“Are you sure you don’t want to wait for Jesper? I’m sure he wants to be here,” Nina said.
Wylan rolled his eyes fondly. “Jes will be fine. It’s just a checkup and he’s been there for nearly all of them. He’s got class.”
“Alright, whatever you say,” Nina agreed, pushing his sweater up over his rounded belly.
As Nina laid her hand over it, Marya squeezed his hand and stroked his hair lovingly from where she was sitting beside him. Nina moved her hand around for several moments, before giving a satisfied nod.
“Both babies are growing well, right on track,” she announced.
Wylan let out a breath of relief he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Good. Thank Ghezen.”
“Should he be eating more?” Marya asked with concern.
“You’re starting to sound like Jesper, mama,” Wylan pointed out.
“Well, we’re allowed to worry about you,” she countered.
“I know,” Wylan said softly, turning his head into her hand.
Nina watched them with a fond smile. “He can eat more if he wants, but Wylan and the babies are all healthy and doing well.”
“See? Everything is fine, mama,” Wylan said. Marya hummed softly, bending down to press a kiss to his forehead. “Oh, that one is kicking,” he said as his insides fluttered. “Can you feel it?”
“I feel it,” Nina said with a smile. “Hello, little ones,” she cooed at his belly. “You’ve got a big family waiting for you. We’re all excited to meet you.” She glanced up at Wylan, rubbing his belly gently. “They’ll be here before you know it. Twins come about four weeks early, on average.”
Wylan frowned. “That’s only a couple months away. Won’t they be really small?”
“They’ll be small. Smaller than Adi was, at least.”
“But he was already so tiny,” Wylan fretted.
“And now he’s a perfectly healthy and happy, normal-sized boy,” Nina reassured him. “And my friend Anna, the healer, and I will both be here in case you or the babies need anything, okay?”
“Okay,” Wylan agreed reluctantly, turning his head to look up at Marya. “You’ll be there when the babies come, right, mama?”
“Of course, dearest. If that’s what you want,” she promised.
“I do,” Wylan said softly.
“Then I’ll be there.”
Wylan smiled contently just as the door burst open and his son came barreling in like a tiny hurricane.
“Papa, papa!” Adi squealed excitedly, rushing to climb onto the bed.
“Hi, gem,” Wylan said fondly, pushing himself up to a seat.
Kyan, one of the nannies they’d hired on a trial basis until the twins came, appeared in the doorway, looking mortified.
“I am so sorry, Mr. Fahey,” he rumbled.
“It’s just Wylan. And it’s quite alright, we’re done here anyways,” Wylan said, helping Adi climb onto the bed beside him. “How is Marileen?” he inquired of his daughter.
He’d wanted to name her in honor of his mama without giving her the exact same name, so they’d settled on Marileen when Kaz had brought her to them some months ago.
“She is well. She had a full bottle and Eveline is putting her down for a nap now,” Kyan said, referencing the other nanny they’d hired when Marileen had come along.
Wylan nodded. “Good. And aren’t you supposed to be taking a nap, too, gem?”
“I don’t wanna,” Adi said petulantly, hiding his face in Wylan’s sweater. Wylan chuckled, wrapping an arm around his son.
“I’m sorry I’m late!” a voice called out from the hallway just as Jesper stumbled into the room, looking frazzled. “Class ran late and then I went to the market and it took forever to find the spices and-”
“It’s okay. You didn’t miss much,” Wylan promised.
Jesper nodded, pressing a kiss to his cheek, and then another to Adi’s head.
Marya patted his cheek lightly. “Jesper, dear.”
“Hi Marya,” Jesper greeted her. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is okay,” Wylan reassured him. “The babies and I are all doing fine. Nina said they’re growing well. Did you get the ingredients for the spicy sauce?”
Jesper nodded. “Dropped it off in the kitchen. Maybe you’ll eat more this way.”
“I am perfectly fine. Will you all stop fretting?” Wylan said in exasperation.
“Mmm, tempting, but no,” Jesper said. Wylan rolled his eyes as Jesper grabbed Adi, who was insistently trying to climb onto Wylan’s lap. “Hey, remember we have to be really gentle with papa right now,” Jesper reminded him. “We don’t want to hurt him or the babies in his tummy, right?”
Adi grumbled something begrudgingly, seemingly annoyed at being pulled off of Wylan.
“Why don’t you go with Kyan and take a nap, and then we’ll all have dinner together, okay? Maybe we can even convince Aunt Nina to join us, hmm?” Wylan offered.
“Okay,” Adi agreed reluctantly.
“I love you, gem,” Wylan said as Jesper pressed a kiss to their son’s head before setting him down to walk over to Kyan.
Wylan watched him go fondly as Jesper rubbed a hand over the curve of his belly. “Can you stay for dinner?” he asked Nina.
“Of course, I’d love to,” she said. “Matthias knows not to expect me until late when I’m visiting you.” She narrowed her eyes. “Unless you two start getting inappropriate. Then I’m leaving.”
Wylan blushed. “We won’t.”
“We make no promises,” Jesper said at the same time.
Wylan smacked his arm.
************
Wylan had just gotten back from the merchant council and Jesper’s class was seemingly running late again when a knock came at the door.
“I’ll get it,” he called out to the maids before they could rush to get to the door. Pulling open the door, Wylan’s brows crinkled in surprise. “Hi, Matthias. What are you doing here?”
“I brought soup,” Matthias said, gesturing to the bag he was holding. “There are also meat-filled pastries.”
“Oh, um, thank you?” Wylan said, stepping aside. “You know that we have a cook, right?”
“Yes, but Nina insists that Ravkan food is better,” Matthias said. “We also made a Fjerdan stew with mutton and cabbage.”
“That’s… very nice,” Wylan said in confusion. “Let me take it to the kitchen.”
“I’ve got it, lamb,” Matthias insisted, batting his hand away gently. Wylan shrugged, turning to lead the way into the kitchen. Matthias cleared his throat. “Where are the wolflings?”
Wylan chuckled. “They’re on a walk with the nannies.”
Matthias nodded. “Do you need help with anything while I’m here?”
“Don’t you need to get home?”
Matthias shook his head. “Nina is busy. She’s with Inej, having a… girls night, I think she said?” Wylan stifled a laugh at Matthias’s confused expression. “And I don’t mind helping out if you need something.”
“Well, now that you mention it, I do have a pile of correspondence I need to get through,” Wylan said. He’d planned to go through it with Jesper, but since his husband wasn’t home yet, he may as well take the offer.
“Sure, I can help with that,” Matthias agreed eagerly.
“Thank you, Matty,” Wylan said a bit teasingly since it was what Adi called Matthias.
“No problem, lamb,” Matthias replied.
************
Wylan hummed a new melody he’d been working on as he sorted the papers on his desk into neat piles. The sound of small footsteps interrupted him.
“Papa!” Adi called out as he ran into the room.
Wylan stroked a hand through his hair, smiling down at him. “What is it, gem?”
“Auntie ‘Nej here!” Adi exclaimed excitedly.
“Aunt Inej is here?” Wylan repeated, frowning in confusion. He hadn’t remembered hearing the maids let anyone in, nor had he made any plans with Inej that day. At least, as far as he remembered. “Where is she, sweetheart?”
“There!” Adi said, pointing to the hallway with one hand and tugging on Wylan’s trousers insistently with the other.
“Let’s go look,” Wylan said, taking Adi’s small hand in his and allowing his son to pull him along to the living room.
Wylan’s lips parted in surprise at the sight of Inej sitting on his living room floor with Marileen in her lap.
“Um, hi? How did you-never mind.” Wylan shook his head. “It’s nice to see you.”
“It’s nice to see you, too,” Inej said with a smile. “I told your nannies they could take a break.”
“Oh, uh, okay,” Wylan said, coming to sit down by her. He pressed a kiss to Adi’s cheek before letting go of his hand. Pleased with himself, Adi went to play with his pile of toys in the corner. Keeping an eye on him, Wylan reached out to boop Mari’s nose, making her giggle. “Hi, my little jewel,” he cooed, before addressing Inej again. “As happy as I am to see you, what are you doing here?”
“Just coming to check on you,” Inej said. “And to tell you what I found out.”
“Oh, yes!” Wylan exclaimed, recalling the request he’d made of Inej a few weeks prior.
“It’s as you suspected.”
Wylan nodded. He’d asked Inej to look into Kyan’s background after they’d taken him on on a trial basis. The omega was maybe three years younger than him, if Wylan had to guess, and they’d hired him from the shelter, just as they had with the other five members of their staff: the cook, the maids, the coachman, and the other nanny. They had, of course, had each of their backgrounds discreetly checked before letting them into their home with their children, and the omegas, grateful for the opportunity to be able to work without their alpha’s permission and to make their own money, were loyal.
Wylan trusted them, but there was something about the newest omega that still bothered him; perhaps it was the fading mating bite that Kyan kept covered most of the time, or perhaps it was the mannerisms that Wylan noticed had mirrored his own: the way Kyan flinched at loud noises, the way he stiffened up when Jesper or Kaz were in the room and visibly relaxed when they left.
“Kyan isn’t his real name,” Inej said quietly.
Wylan nodded. He’d figured as much. “Running from an abusive mate?” he asked lowly.
“Yes. An arranged mating.”
Wylan’s heart clenched with sadness for the younger omega and the unfairness of it all. He had gotten so incredibly lucky with his arranged marriage, but that wasn’t the case for every omega, as he knew all too well.
“I don’t need to know the details,” Wylan said. That was Kyan’s story to tell. “But I need to know if the alpha is out of the picture. Does he have any idea where Kyan is?”
Inej shook her head. “He doesn’t.”
“You’ll let me know if that changes?” Wylan requested. “I want to do what I can to help, but I can’t put my children in danger,” he said, picking up Mari, who had crawled over to him. “If that becomes the case, we’ll need to figure out another option for him.”
“Of course,” Inej promised. “You’re doing everything you can, Wylan. But there are some things you can’t sacrifice,” she said with a meaningful glance at Adi.
Wylan nodded. He’d made a promise to himself early on when he’d been pregnant with Adi that he would never let an angry alpha near his children, and he intended to keep that promise no matter what it took.
“Thank you,” Wylan said sincerely. Sometimes the guilt ate away at him when he wanted to do more to help the shelter’s omegas but couldn’t. But as much as he wanted to do more, protecting his family was what mattered most. He pressed a kiss to Mari’s head as she stared up at him with wide green eyes, giggling happily.
“Always,” Inej replied.
“Can I ask you for another favor?”
“Do you really think I’d say no?”
“No,” Wylan said, the corner of his lips tugging upwards. “When the babies come… I know it will be a lot. Even when it was just Adi, it was hard. Really hard. The first few months especially. And this time we’ll have two newborns, and two other little pups to take care of, too. And I know we’ll have my mama and the pack and the nannies to help, but… I worry that Jesper will get overwhelmed. And when he gets overwhelmed…”
“He runs to gamble,” Inej finished.
Wylan nodded. “I know it’s been years and he’s doing so well, but I’m worried it’ll all get too much. And I know he won’t want to add more stress onto me, so he’ll try to hide it. So will you talk to him if he starts spiraling?”
“I will,” Inej promised. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“Thank you.”
“And you?”
“What about me?”
“Do you have someone to talk to if you get overwhelmed?”
Wylan smiled. “I do.”
*************
Wylan loved his pups more than anything in the world, but the pregnancy itself… not so much. His feet were swollen and his back and hips were sore from sitting all day. Hence, he’d requested that his meeting with Kaz be moved into a walking format. Kaz had begrudgingly agreed, though not without grumbling. But it worked out since Wylan’s walking was now closer to waddling and hence almost the same speed as Kaz with his cane.
“So what did you want to discuss, merchling?” Kaz asked as they walked along the canal.
“Well, I was just thinking about how when the babies come, I’ll need to take a few weeks off from the council.”
“Weeks?”
“Months?” Wylan said sheepishly. “Anyway, however long it is, I won’t be able to go to the meetings. But a member of the council can appoint a representative to go in their place.”
“So you’ll send Jesper?”
Wylan shook his head. “Jesper has his classes. And I want him there with me and the pups.” Kaz made a vague noise of acknowledgment. “So I wanted to ask if you would do it.”
“What makes you think I’d be interested in doing your work for you, merchling?”
Wylan rolled his eyes. “Because you love manipulating the council and wreaking havoc on this city.”
“I suppose that’s a fine point.”
“There are stipulations.”
“Of course there are.”
“It’s still my position, so I would have final approval over any proposals or votes.”
“Hmm.”
“So do we have a deal?”
Kaz’s dark, calculating gaze pierced through him. “I’ll consider it.”
Wylan nodded. “Good. Oh! I promised to get Adi more candy,” he said, eyeing a nearby market stall. “Just a second.”
Kaz gave a curt nod, leaning on his cane, as Wylan made his way over to the stall. He lingered for a minute, inspecting the different-colored candies before settling on a good mix. He’d just handed over several coins to the stallkeeper and tied off the bag when an alpha swaggered up to the stall. A drunk alpha, judging by the way he swayed on his feet.
“Hey, pretty omega,” he slurred. Wylan shot him an unimpressed glare and turned to walk away. “Hey, wait a minute, where you going?” the alpha called after him.
“Home. To my husband,” Wylan retorted, his hand instinctively drifting to the bracelet where he always kept his emergency acid vials.
The alpha guffawed. “Why don’t you come with me instead? Bet I can give it to you better than he can.”
“I doubt it,” Wylan remarked.
“I wouldn’t mind putting another whelp in you, doll,” the alpha drawled, grabbing at his arm.
Wylan jerked away sharply, baring his teeth with a hiss as he splayed his hands protectively over his belly. But before he had the chance to do anything more, the man was pinned to a nearby brick wall by the crow at the head of Kaz’s cane.
“Lay a hand on him one more time and it’ll be the last thing you do,” Kaz growled. “And if you say another word, I will rip out your tongue and feed it to you.”
The other alpha made a choked noise as Kaz pressed the handle of the cane harder against his windpipe.
“It’s okay,” Wylan said softly, laying a hand on Kaz’s arm. “I’m okay, Kaz. Let him go.”
Kaz didn’t move for several seconds, glaring fiercely at the other alpha, before removing his cane. “Keep out of my sight if you know what’s good for you,” he growled as the alpha scurried away.
Wylan shot an apologetic look to the stallkeeper as he gently pulled Kaz away. “It’s alright. Let’s just go back.”
“You are not allowed anywhere near the Barrel until the end of your pregnancy,” Kaz announced.
Wylan rolled his eyes. “We’re not even in the Barrel.”
“Then you’re not allowed here either.”
If Wylan could’ve rolled his eyes any further back, he would have. “Okay, dad,” he said. Kaz shot him an unimpressed look out of the corner of his eye. “Anyway, do you still want to stay over for a chess game?”
“Hmm. I suppose that would be fine.”
“Excellent.”
**************
“How are you feeling, darling?” Jesper asked for what was probably the hundredth time.
“I’m good, love,” Wylan murmured, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.
“Do you need anything?”
“Mmm, will you check that the pups are asleep?” Wylan requested. “I’ll come to bed soon.”
“Of course,” Jesper promised, pressing a kiss to Wylan’s forehead.
He tucked one of the blankets from the couch around Wylan, giving him a soft smile before he walked up the stairs. Wylan purred contently as he laid his head in Marya’s lap. Ginger jumped up on the couch and curled beside him as Wylan stroked her soft fur gently. Marya wrapped one arm around his torso, using her other hand to massage his scalp.
“I don’t know what’s been going on with the whole pack lately,” Wylan mused out loud. “It’s like they’re around all the time. Which is nice, but… it’s more than usual? Even Kaz is… more growly than normal.”
Marya hummed in agreement. “Pregnancy is hard. Raising pups is hard. We’re not meant to do it alone,” she said. Wylan’s heart panged with sadness at the realization that she likely had had to do it all alone. “It’s your packmates’ instinct to take care of and protect you right now.” She stroked his hair lovingly, the way that only a mother could. Wylan purred happily. “They love you, sweet boy. So let them.”
“I will,” Wylan whispered, smiling.