The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Marigold gives a little cry of distress, reaching for her dad, but Jesse holds her tight, whispering to her that dad's fine, he's just very, very surprised.

I let Jesse handle our daughter for a moment, going to my knees before Jackson and taking his face in my hands. "Jacks," I whisper, turning his glazed eyes to mine. "Baby, are you all right?"

Something about this brings Jackson snapping back to me. "Ariel," he says on a gasped intake of breath. "Are - are you fucking all right!?"

"I'm fine," I say, all in a rush, crawling into Jackson's lap and opening the bond between us, letting him see and feel that I really am okay - that everything with me is fine. I mean, beyond the fact that our entire reality just came shattering down around us again...I really am okay.

He groans, resting his head against me, his whole body shaking a little bit as he takes a deep sniff of my new scent. "Pregnant..." he whispers, barely audible. "You're...you're fucking...pregnant."noveldrama

"Yeah," I say, my voice a tremulous little sound as well. "Yeah, Jacks. I...sure am." "Oh my god," he groans. "How... how do I have two kids..."

I go a bit still in his arms.

He whips his face up to me.

I bite my lip, grimacing a little. “Do you want to...count again, Jacks?"

He whips his head back down to stare at my stomach, clearly turning inwards to his own wolf, checking on the bonds that have made themselves apparent in his own soul as well. And then he groans, collapsing against me again as he realizes a very important bit of information.

"Three," he groans. "Oh my god, Ariel, there's going to be three of them - they outnumber us -"

"I know," I murmur, smiling a little as I cradle his head to me. "Luckily, none of them are literate yet, so...we have advantage for a few more years."

He just shakes his head and groans again, pulling me close, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

"Oooookay,” Jesse says on a happy little sigh, pleased with the increased chaos of our lives, as he always is. I peer up to see him grinning at Marigold. "You want to help me get champagne, Goldie?"

She stares at him for a second, and then glances down at us, and then apparently decides that her father's emotional meltdown is very boring. "Yes," she says, giving Jesse a steady nod.

"That's my girl," he murmurs, pressing a kiss to her hair and neatly stepping over me and Jacks to stride from the room. Jesse snaps his fingers at mom and Rafe, who sigh and go along with him.

"You have five minutes," mom says,

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pointing down at me as she goes. "And then I'm doing a full-body health scan on you to make sure you're as healthy as you need to be. You're going to have to start eating fruit, Ariel - I'm not having my grandbabies come into this world all malnourished.”

I glare up at her a little as she flounces out the door. She just

shrugs at me like she's not going to stop being practical just because m pregnant and Jackson's having a breakdown about it. Rafe follows mom, giving us both a big smile and pulling the door shut after him.

Jackson lifts his head and I turn my full attention back to him in the new darkness and quiet of the room. "You're seriously okay?" he whispers, looking me over. "You're...it doesn't hurt?"

"No, that part comes later," I whisper, running my fingers through his hair and grinning at him, privately very grateful to my mom for talking me down from my own panic so that I can help Jackson through his.

I grimace when he goes very still, his eyes again flashing wide, realizing that I've said the wrong thing.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" I say, taking his cheeks between my hands and pressing a kiss to his mouth. "I'm fine! And I'm going to be fine!"

"So, it's not going to hurt?" he whispers.

"No, sugar, it's going to hurt," I say, twisting my mouth to the side and giving a little shrug. "The birth part is...notoriously painful."

He groans, ducking his head against my shoulder. "I need...books. I need knowledge. I don't know anything about pregnancy - I don't know what's going on. I don't even know how long it takes!"

"About six months," I murmur, resting my cheek on his hair.

But the feel of his soft hair against my cheek only lasts a moment as he whips his

head up to stare at me, his panic renewed. "Just six months!?" he gasps.

"Rafe came in five," I whisper with a little grimace.

Jackson just stares at me in horror.

"Jacks!" I say, laughing a little,

putting my hands again on his cheeks. "It's. plenty of time. Millions of people have done this before, okay? And we've got an OBGYN in the family, and a magical heater. Everything is going to be totally fine!"

He just stares at me like those seven words are a lifeline. “Everything is going to

be totally fine."