"Hey." Pine tilts my chin up, making me meet his eyes. "No spiraling into what-ifs. You're here now. That's what matters."
"I know. I just... I love you. So much. All of you."
"We love you too, sweetheart." He kisses me, soft and slow, and for a moment the party fades away. It's just us, just this, just the impossible reality of being loved like this.
When we pull apart, Jett's standing nearby with a cake, thirty candles flickering dangerously. "Cake time!" he announces to the room. "Everyone, gather around!"
The crowd presses closer as Jett sets the cake on the coffee table. It's beautiful, a work of art, covered in buttercream flowers that look almost too perfect to eat. Leave it to my alphas to commission a cake that looks like it belongs in a magazine.
"Make a wish," Cassian says, coming up on my other side.
I look at them, my three impossible alphas. At the friends crowded into our cabin, celebrating with us. At the life I've somehow built here, against all odds. And I realize I don't need to wish for anything. I have everything I never knew I needed.
But I close my eyes anyway, making a wish. A simple one. For this to last. For our baby to be healthy. For this happiness to stick around a little longer.
I blow out the candles, and everyone cheers.
Two hours later, the party's winding down. People are saying their goodbyes, hugging me one last time, promising to visit once the baby comes. Jessica's the last to leave, pulling me into a tight hug and whispering, "You're glowing. It's disgusting. I hate you."
"Love you too," I say, laughing.
"Call me tomorrow. I want all the details."
"There are no details. It was just a birthday party."
She gives me a look that suggests she knows exactly what's going to happen once everyone leaves. "Sure, Sharon. Just a party."
After she's gone, I help clean up, or try to. Cassian physically picks me up and sets me on the couch when I attempt to carry plates to the kitchen.
"You're pregnant," he says, like this explains why I can't help clean my own house.
"I can still function."
"Maybe. But you don't have to." He kisses my forehead. "Let us take care of you."
I watch them move around the cabin, cleaning up the wreckage of the party. Cassian in his blue shirt with the sleeves still rolled up, muscles flexing as he lifts chairs. Pine in his green henley, hair falling in his face as he collects empty glasses. Jett who's changed into a soft gray t-shirt that clings to his chest, laughing as he tries to pop leftover balloons and failing.
God, I'm lucky. Stupidly, impossibly lucky.
By the time everything's clean, I'm fighting to keep my eyes open. The exhaustion that comes with pregnancy is no joke, this bone-deep tiredness that hits me out of nowhere and demands I sleep immediately.
Pine notices first. He always does. "Bed," he says, already moving toward me.
"I'm fine."
"You're falling asleep sitting up."
"Am not."
Jett scoops me up before I can protest further, cradling me against his chest. "Liar."
"I hate all of you."
"No, you don't." He carries me to the bedroom, the other two following, and sets me gently on the bed. "Stay there."
"Where am I going to go?"
"Knowing you? Somewhere you shouldn't."
