Nodding, I smile at Nash, and he pushes out his bottom lip from the sofa he’s sharing with Nikolai. “Will you sit with me, Ava? Please?”
Laughing, I disentangle myself from a grumbling Luc, and Nikolai tugs me down between them both. Nash jumps up, grabbing a soft, green blanket from a basket and carefully draping it over us. His fussing makes my chest twist, and when he curls into my side, his head on my shoulder, I have to swallow back the lump in my throat. I lift up my arm in tentative invitation and he snuggles into me, his small hand reaching out and drawing circles on my stomach.
Nikolai and I trade glances over his head.
“When will they be here?” Nash asks. My stomach ripples again against his hand and he giggles.
I clear my throat. “Maybe another two months?” Max nods from the sofa, all of us watching Nash closely.
He nods, cupping his hands together and pressing his mouth into my stomach. “I’m going to be a good big brother,” he whispers loudly.
Emotion clogs my throat as Nikolai’s breath hitches next to me. Glancing around, Leah catches my eye, her brown eyes glistening with tears as she forces back a sniffle.
I stroke Nash’s hair softly, Nik clasping my left hand and squeezing.
“You’ll be an amazing big brother, Nash,” I squeeze out, and he grins at me, before snuggling back under my arm.
My heart feels too big for my chest.
“Can we watch the turtles?” he says brightly, changing track in a way only a six-year-old can manage. Bastien gets up, ruffling his hair as he goes to the DVD collection. “I think we can manage that.”
Instead of heading back to the sofa, Bastien plops himself onto the floor in front of me, drawing my legs into his lap and pressing his thumb to the arch of my foot.
My back arches a little. “God, that feels amazing,” I groan. Nikolai shifts in his seat as Luc grabs a cushion, pulling it over his lap and raising a sardonic eyebrow at me. “I think I’m in the wrong place,” he grumbles.
“You snooze, you lose, brother,” Bastien quips, and my shoulders shake at Luc’s disgruntled expression. I blow him an apologetic kiss and he catches it as Leah retches dramatically.
“Eww. I can’t cope with Luc being all sweet.”
Luc gives her his middle finger. “You don’t have anything to worry about on that score, Lee-Lee.”
She throws a pillow at him and we all try to hide our laughs as Nash shushes us.
I close my eyes in bliss as Bastien works his magic on my feet, Nikolai’s arm warm behind me as I breathe in his gingerbread scent.
This is something worth fighting for.
ChapterFifty-Two
Ava
Picking at my nails, I stiffen at the sound of doors slamming in the distance. Max rubs my back soothingly.
“It’s going to be okay,” he promises.
I nod half-heartedly, staring at the wooden floor of the living room. It’s bigger in here, so this is where we’re meeting. Us, and the Winter pack. As much as I’m looking forward to seeing Harper again, I really don’t want to have this particular conversation.
If only I could hit the pause button. Keep us all here, where nobody can find us. But the news reports are still running my face as a main story, and it doesn’t look like it’s going away any time soon.
Time to suck it up.
Max and I turn as the main doors open. Luc enters first and comes straight to me, his keen eyes running over my face.
He cups my face in mine, and I look up at him, my lip trembling. “It’s going to be fine, baby,” he murmurs. Max gives my hand a gentle squeeze. The rumbling of voices follows Luc, and Harper bursts into the room, her gaze swinging around until it lands on me.
“Ava!” she cries. My alphas take a step back as Harper wraps her arms around me, careful of the large bump in the way.
“You’ve grown,” she hiccups into my shoulder, and I can’t help but laugh. “You only saw me a few days ago!”
