No, wait.That wassomeone.
With her heart suddenly racing, she threw the pool house door open and started to scream with joy when she saw Peyton on the couch, but he immediately held a finger to his lips and she saw why.
On his chest lay a baby, at least several months older than Adair.
Sound asleep.
She clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide as he playfully smiled.
“Hope you don’t mind I didn’t come back empty-handed, honey,” he said.“Brought you a souvenir.”
Shocked, she realized she couldn’t make her feet move.
Then she heard Dewi open the sliders behind her and step out onto the lanai.“Yeah, sorry.Rat Fink made me promise not to warn you.He wanted to surprise you.He showed up about two hours ago.”
Gillian took a step, stopping just inside the doorway, her hands still covering her mouth.The child—she couldn’t yet tell its gender—had wispy, hay-colored hair and wore a yellow onesie.
“There’s a story,” Peyton continued, now looking far more somber than she could ever remember.“Yes, he was rescued.He was born there.”He didn’t need to specify where he meant—she knew.“And,” he continued, “we suspect he’s a Prime.We checked the records and everyone’s DNA who we rescued, and he’s not the biological child of any of them.We’re still going through records and think his parents are not only dead, but they might be long dead.No idea who his surrogate was.Very likely, they’re either dead or a clueless human prisoner they used in exchange for giving her time off her sentence.Apparently, they did that a lot.As far as we can tell, there aren’t currently any other pregnant surrogates.”
She realized she was nodding and took another step closer, finally pulling her hands away from her mouth.“So he’s ours?”she whispered.
He sadly smiled.“I hope so, because I already have Trevor drawing up paperwork and an adoption for us.Thought it’d be easier to handle it over there.”
She sat next to him on the couch as Dewi joined them in the pool house.“He’s a cute little stinker, isn’t he?”Dewi said, smiling.“Does he have a name yet?”
Peyton smiled.“I decided to leave that up to Mommy here.If she says yes.”
“Does he already have a name?”Gillian asked.
Peyton’s smile faded.“No,” he gently said.“None of the children did.They were assigned numbers, not names.”
Gillian was already reaching for the baby, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Hey there, Marcus Godwin Bleacke.Welcome to the family.”
“Marcus Godwin Bleacke.”Peyton smiled and draped an arm around her shoulders.“I like it.Your dad will be over the moon.”
She nodded.Since Trent and Asia had already honored Charles and Chelsea, Gillian wanted to honor her father.Her sister had already named one of her daughters after their mom.
“Should I tell Trevor?”he asked.
“Tell him what?”She was too busy marveling over this little miracle in her arms.
“That it’s his official name?So he can finalize the paperwork?”
“Oh.Yeah.How old is he?”
He’d already started texting Trevor.“A little shy of six months.”
Shocked, she looked at Peyton.“What?He’s only six months old?He’s huge!”
“I know, right?We thought he was older until we talked to the head guy and found the records.”He reached over and stroked the baby’s head.“He’s a monster already.Eh, in the adorable meaning of the word.I’m sorry I made the executive decision but, understandably, Bryn and Callum preferred not to take on the additional responsibility.And I felt he needed to be with a Prime family.”
“Of course it’s okay,” Gillian said, closing her eyes and inhaling the baby’s scent.He didn’t smell like any of the Targhee wolves.While obviously no one smelled exactly the same, she was used to their packmates at least having the underlying hint of familiarity to their scent.“He’s a wolf shifter?
“Yeah.”Peyton heavily sighed.“It’s fortunate that we raided the lab when we did, because he might have been dead or destined for a life as a lab rat.They preferred to keep girls alive.They didn’t realize he’s a Prime.”
“Kept them alive for breeding?”she whispered, horrified.
