But then the fear crept in, cold tendrils wrapping around the joy and squeezing. My Alphas didn't know. They'd saved me, had killed for me, and were standing guard outside my door right now. But they didn't know I was carrying their baby. Didn't know I might be even more of a burden than they'd signed up for.
What if they didn't want this? What if a baby was too much, too complicated, too permanent? We'd never talked about it, never discussed what we wanted beyond the immediate connection between us. Heat biology made pregnancies possible, but that didn't mean they were desired.
And what if my body failed again? What if the damage from the stabbing, the blood loss, the trauma was too much? What if I lost this baby the way I'd lost the last one, breaking their hearts the way mine had been broken?
“I’ll need to monitor you closely,” Dr. Chen was saying, and I forced myself to focus on his words. “Weekly appointments at first, then more frequently as the pregnancy progresses. We'll do ultrasounds to track development. Given what happened tonight, I want to be extra cautious.”
“Will they—” I stopped, trying to figure out how to ask. “My Alphas. Will they be able to come to the appointments?”
“Of course,” Dr. Chen said. “Most Alphas like to be involved in their Omega's pregnancy care. It's encouraged actually.”
He stood, collecting his tablet. “I'll leave you to rest and to tell them the news. Congratulations, Ms. Jasmine. Despite everything you've been through, this is something worth celebrating.”
He pulled back the curtain and moved toward the door, and I watched him leave, watched him speak briefly with my Alphas in the hallway before walking away. Through the open door, I could see Kade, Theo, and Lucian watching me, their expressions questioning, clearly wondering what the doctor had said.
I was pregnant. Carrying their child. The knowledge sat in my chest like a warm stone, heavy and precious and terrifying all at once. I needed to tell them. They deserved to know. But first, I needed to let myself believe that maybe, possibly, this could be real. That I could carry this baby to term. That we could be a family.
My hand stayed pressed against my abdomen, feeling my heartbeat pulse beneath my palm. Two hearts now, even if the second was too small to feel yet. Two lives depended on me to survive, to heal, to believe I deserved this chance.
The three of them filed back into the room the moment Dr. Chen left, moving as a unit, their combined scents filling the space with oak, leather, and rosewood. I watched them approach my bed, saw the concern in their faces, the questions in their eyes, and felt my heart kick up with a nervousness that had nothing to do with injury.
Theo resumed his position near the door, his protective stance somehow both comforting and endearing. Kade moved to sit on the edge of my bed again, his hand finding mine immediately. Lucian stood on my other side, his fingers brushing against my arm in a touch that grounded me.
“What did the doctor say?” Kade asked, his voice carrying worry he wasn't quite hiding. “Is everything okay?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again, suddenly unsure how to form the words. How did you tell three Alphas that they were going to be fathers? That the night they'd spent taking care of me during my heat had resulted in something permanent and precious?
My free hand moved to my abdomen again, pressing against the bandages, and I saw all three of them track the movement. Their eyes sharpened, focusing on where my hand rested, and I wondered if they could somehow sense what I was about to say.
“I'm okay,” I started, my voice still rough. “The surgery went well. Everything should heal.”
“But?” Theo prompted, reading something in my expression or my scent that told him there was more.
I took a breath that hurt my ribs, then let the words spill out before I could second-guess them. “I'm pregnant. About three weeks. The doctor said the baby is fine, that it survived everything that happened.”
Silence fell over the room like a blanket, so complete I could hear the monitors beeping, could hear footsteps in the hallway,hear my heart hammering against my ribs. I watched their faces, trying to read their reactions, fear and hope warring in my chest.
Lucian moved first. His hand flew to his mouth, covering it, and his eyes filled with tears that spilled over almost immediately. He made a sound that was half laugh, half sob, and then he was leaning over me, his arms wrapping around my shoulders in a hug so gentle I barely felt the pressure.
“A baby,” he whispered against my hair, his voice breaking. “Jasmine, we're having a baby.”
His hand found my abdomen, placing it carefully beside mine over the bandages. His touch was delicate, as if he were afraid of breaking something precious. The tears kept coming, streaming down his face, and I felt wetness against my temple where his cheek pressed against mine.
“I'm so happy,” he said, pulling back just enough to look at my face. His eyes were bright with tears and joy. “So incredibly happy.”
Kade's grip on my hand had tightened, and when I turned to look at him, his expression stole what little breath I'd gathered. His face was transformed, every sharp line softened by wonder and something that looked like disbelief.
He leaned in slowly, giving me time to pull away if I needed to, then kissed me with a gentleness that made my chest ache. His lips were soft against mine, careful of my split lip, conveying everything words couldn't. When he pulled back, his forehead rested against mine, and I felt his breath shaking.
“You're everything we ever dreamed of,” he whispered, his voice rough with emotion. “Everything and more. A family, Jasmine. We're going to be a family.”
His hand joined Lucians on my abdomen, both of them touching where our baby was growing. The gesture was possessive and protective and tender all at once.
Movement on my other side made me turn. Theo had abandoned his post by the door and was approaching the bed, his face split by a grin so wide it looked like it might hurt. His dark eyes were bright, almost manic with joy, and before I could process what was happening, he let out a whoop that echoed through the room.
He jumped in the air, actually jumped, his fist pumping above his head like he'd just won something incredibly important. The sound that came out of him was pure exhilaration, uncomplicated joy that made me laugh despite the pain it caused.
“We're having a baby!” he shouted, not caring who in the hallway might hear. “A fucking baby!”
