“Right?” Grace chuckled.
“How many kids do you want, Grace? Two?” I asked.
She thought for a moment. “Maybe three, one for each of you? I want to wait a couple of years to get my career started, get our life going.”
My heart exploded. I hadn’t expected that. I’d always wanted children but knew it was a strong possibility that I’d never have any. Elaris couldn’t have children.
“That makes so much sense, Darling. I’d love that, but only if you would, too.” I could feel that something about children made her anxious. Was it work? Compass BioTek had very generous parental leave, flexible schedules, and on-site day care, but Grace also struck me as someone who didn’t want to pause her research for long. It wasn’t uncommon. We’d figure it out.
Wes grinned, revealing a dimple. “I think the world needs your and Spence’s identical triplets. They’d be running their own company by middle school.”
I laughed too, trying not to wince in pain. “Yes, they would.”
“Wes.Identical triplets?” Grace laughed. “I do worry about being a good mom.”
“You’ll be a great mom,” I reassured. “You’ll have all of us to help you, and you absolutely won’t need to give up your career or slow down if you don’t want to. But if you do, you have so many options.”
Wes kissed her hand. “You’ll be the best mom.”
“Also, I’m a little unsure about pushing out all of your giant babies,” she chuckled.
“You’re my soulmate, you’re made for our giant babies.” Wes gave her a kiss.
“Oh my god, Wes.” She play-smacked him, still laughing.
The idea of her pregnant with our children turned me on. I’d cook her everything and anything she wanted and rub her back every night. Of course, I’d do that now. I was also so relieved that Adriana hadn’t harmed her. Grace’s safety was worth my discomfort.
“But all this with Thora’s genetics? It’s scary.” Grace’s scent turned anxious.
“Of course it is. But you’re not a carrier, so it’ll be okay,” I reassured. “Also, don’t feel like youhaveto allow the professor and his family into your life.”
“I think I’d like to get to know my siblings more. Creed and I sort of clicked. Riley and Mercy get along amazingly well. I wasn’t there, but apparently Verity came to visit and even brought us an omega lily,” she told me.
“Oh, she did? How lovely.” I spied an omega lily in a beautiful pot next to a giant bouquet of flowers.
“Hale’s a lot. But Tru? How could I not love a five-year-old obsessed with math? I look forward to getting to know them. I’ll give the professor a chance, but I don’t know about the other parents.” Grace frowned.
“That’s just fine,” I assured her.
“You don’t even have to give him a chance if you don’t want to,” Wes added.
“I know.” She sighed. “It would be nice to have siblings here–especially sisters.”
“This pack needs all the sisters.” Wes chuckled. “But hey, don’t worry about everything with the hospital, okay. We’ll let Bren and the lawyers handle it.”
Grace made a noncommittal noise. “I guess. Bren said we could buy ice cream with the money. Can I just give it to the foundation so our scholarship kids can buy ice cream? They need ice cream money.”
“I love that idea. Being able to give our students allowances would be helpful. For right now, at least, we’ve got all of Evan’s omegas situated. We’ll get everything else worked out eventually. We should probably create an application process,” I said.
While I’d reached out to Rock Tech and Hadley Hall about the science scholarships for betas, I still needed to talk to Sonja, Evan’s sister, about establishing one at Darthmore, which wasthe private academy primarily for gifted betas that she was dean of students for.
Grace nodded. “I think we should call the science onesStarbright Scholars.Because they’re going to make the world brighter with all the good their science will put into the world.”
“Ooh, I like that,” Wes replied.
I did, as well.
“We should call the omega scholarsStarlight Scholars. You know, likeStarlight, Starbright, first star I see tonight.” She beamed.
