“I’m going to worry anyway since you just told me not to.What is it?”The smile was gone from Nico’s voice.
“I just had a visitor, Saul.He’s a human guard here in fox territory.”
“Okay?”
“He saw you sneaking around.He only mentioned yesterday, but something tells me it’s not the first time he caught you.He mentioned it being a security problem.I was honest with him, Nico.I told him that you and I are together, and he promised not to tell anyone because you’re not a danger to Jerome, but if he noticed, other people will, too, eventually.I think it’s time to talk to your father.”
Nico sighed.Mackenzie hated to do this to him, but they’d both known this day would come sooner rather than later.
“You’re right,” Nico said.“I guess I’ll do it now, as long as you’re fine with me moving in if he takes it badly.”
“I doubt it’ll come to that.”They’d have to talk about where they’d live once the baby arrived—Mackenzie suspected he’d have to move since Nico couldn’t exactly leave bobcat territory—but it could wait.Mackenzie didn’t want to put all of that on Nico’s shoulders right before he talked to his father.“But if it does, my door is always open for you.You know that.”
Nico’s voice was soft when he answered.“I guess I do.”
* * * *
WHEN NICO HUNG UP,his heart was racing.He’d known he wouldn’t be able to keep his pregnancy and Mackenzie a secret from his father forever, but it looked like he’d have even less time than he’d hoped for.There was no way out of this, though.Someone knew about him and Mackenzie, and while Nico doubted that Saul would somehow contact his father to tell him, he wasn’t wrong.His job was to protect fox territory, and he’d allowed Nico to go back and forth without saying anything.He stood to get in trouble if things continued the way they were.It was better for everything to be out in the open, no matter how scary it was.
It was time to talk to his father.
Nico couldn’t do it on his own, though.He texted his brother, telling him he needed to come home immediately.Chris had questions, but Nico couldn’t tell him on the phone, so he told him to just come, then paced his bedroom until he heard a car stop in front of the house.He was pretty sure Chris had to have broken several laws to get here so quickly, but he didn’t care.He was relieved, and he threw himself into his brother’s arms as soon as Chris was in his bedroom.
“Okay, I was worried before, but now, I’m freaking out,” Chris said as he caught Nico and hugged him.“What’s going on?Is it Dad?Mom?”
Nico shook his head and clung to his brother.“They’re fine.Everyone’s fine.”
“How can you tell me that everyone’s fine when you’re like this?What’s going on?You’re freaking me out, Nico, and I don’t like it.I’mthe dramatic one between the two of us, not you.”
“I’m pregnant,” Nico blurted out.
Chris blinked at him.He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.He blinked again.
“I need to tell Dad.I can’t do it on my own,” Nico continued.
“You don’t have to do anything on your own,” Chris quickly reassured him.“I’m here.You were right to call me.”
“I know.”
Chris pressed his lips together.“How are you feeling about the pregnancy?Is it something we can celebrate, or is it better not to?”
“Mackenzie and I are keeping the baby, so yes, we can celebrate, but maybe we should wait until after I talk to Dad.I don’t know if I’m going to want to celebrate anything when that’s over.”
“It’s going to be fine.If he accepted that I didn’t want to be his heir, he’s going to accept that he’s about to become a grandfather.”
“You think so?”
“Iknowso.”Chris squeezed Nico one last time before letting go.“He’s going to be shocked, but he loves you.If you’re happy, he’ll be happy for you.”
“It’s going to put a wrench in his plans for me.”
“Is it?Because he’s always known you were a carrier.He’s always known that one day, you’d have children, just like he knows that I will.I’m sure he planned for this.”
Mackenzie had said the same.Nico knew that it was true, but it didn’t really help.“We should go downstairs before I decide to change my mind.It’s already taken me too long to tell Dad that I’m in a relationship with Mackenzie.If I don’t do it now, I’m going to hide the pregnancy until I’m ready to give birth.”
Chris snickered and gently patted Nico’s stomach.“I’m pretty sure Dad would notice something’s up before then.”
“You can hide a lot with oversized sweaters.”
