His version of that was opening the window in our parents’ bedroom that overlooked the backyard and yelling for them to get their asses up here.
“Jax, you scared them,” Madison admonished. “Leo and Alve got all panicky in the bond.”
“When will my Jude be joining you in a bond?” Mama asked.
I was about to tell her not to pressure Madison, but she beat me to speaking.
“As soon as he wants me. I just need a heat flare to make it happen.”
I swayed on my feet. Madison wanted me forever?
Our pack’s footsteps thundered up the stairs, and they stopped short in front of the assembled crowd, my sisters parting and filing into the hallway to let them get closer.
“What’s wrong?” Alve asked.
“Nothing.” Madison beamed and held up the test.
Reality dawned on each face one by one and then we were swallowed up in a new group hug.
Madison was having a pack baby. Our lives knitted even tighter together. My omega was pregnant and even bolstered by everyone’s surrounding joy, I was pretty sure I’d never been happier in my whole damn life.
The one-two punch of Madison’s nerves and excitement flooding the bond, paired with Jude’s brother yelling for us to get inside, had spiked my anxiety through the roof. Leo had taken my hand on the way in, his steadiness in the bond like a soft blanket draped over my shoulders.
Madison was pregnant.
The pack was having a baby.
Leo was the most likely father, but it could be mine, too.
Stunned was the best word for me right now. Even though we’d all known it was a distinct possibility, the confirmation of Madison’s pregnancy had shifted the very foundations of my existence.
Now we were on a countdown, each day bringing us closer to parenthood and another radical change. How many of those could possibly happen in a year?
“Deep breaths,” Leo whispered, his hand finding mine again, his gentle squeeze letting me use his grip as an anchor point. My first impulse was to buyeverything. I ran through every item I’d ever seen purchased for my sisters when they had their children, creating a list in my head I could order when we had a moment.
Madison had been quickly swept away by Jude’s family, the announcement spreading exponentially until everyone in attendance knew. Half of them were on the phone spreading it even further. Nathan and Jude were at her side—Jude because it was his family, and Nathan because he seemed to naturally shine in every situation. Leo stayed back with me, away from the crowd for the moment, while everyone got the bulk of their joy out.
“I need to tell my parents,” I murmured, my tongue feeling heavy. “I haven’t even told my family that Madison exists, and now I have to add this to the call.”
“Same,” Leo said quietly. “I mean, they know she exists, but not that we’ve formed a pack.”
I pulled out my phone and opened the extended family group chat.
Alve:
I have an announcement, but I need everyone to stay quiet until I’m finished or I’ll never get it out
Very quickly over a dozen hearts appeared beneath my message.
Leo squeezed my hand again. “You’ve got this. Do you want me to type for you or would you rather call?”
“I’d rather do neither and stay in this bubble, even though I realize it’s already popped.”
I opted for a voice note so reactions would be contained and I could ignore it for a while after dropping the bombshell. The words tumbled out, mostly English, with a sprinkling of Swedish and Japanese as my brain forgot words in one language or the other. Important bits came through: I had a pack, I had an omega, she was pregnant, and I was bonded. Guilt stewed in my stomach that I was pouring so much at once, but there was no avoiding it now.
“Trilingual twins,” Leo said with an easy smile when I sent off the note. “You did great. Do you think your family will be excited?”
“Undoubtedly, but I get overwhelmed by joy the same as distress. What other languages do you speak?”
