Chapter 234 - EPILOGUE 1 (VOLUME 2)
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Juniper
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I don't know if it was the party atmosphere or not, but after we got home from Reece's birthday party I wanted Paul more than I had wanted anything in a long time. I spent the whole night enveloped in his arms, our passion spilling over each other. It was the most intense thing we had done in a long time.
I woke to a pleasant ache in my body and the warmth of Paul still wrapped around me. His scent, like the wind coming off the ocean mixed with fresh coconut milk. It was always so refreshing being with him.
Just after I woke I could tell that Paul had woken up too. I hadn't moved, but he always knew when I was awake, I think he could feel me watching him.
"You're burning hole in me." He joked, a laugh chasing the sleep from his voice. "I know I'm irresistible, but do you have to scrutinize me so early in the morning?"
"It's not early, dummy, it's almost noon."
"Mmm, then should we have some lunch?" He joked as he tightened his arms around me."You smell so good."
"You're such an animal." I laughed as I playfully smacked his arm. "I must smell like sweat after last night."
"I'm not joking. You smell amazing. Your scent is so much stronger today." His eyes were open now, all traces of sleep seemed to have left his face.
Paul was raised up on his arms and hovering over me. He kissed my neck and groaned in pleasure.
"It's so good." He kissed across my collar bone. "So delicious." He kissed across my bare chest. "Raspberries and strawberries, so strong." He kissed across my stomach and froze. "So strong." He said again, only this time with more intensity.
For some reason Paul buried his nose in my belly button.
"So much stronger than usual. So intense." He inhaled deeply. When Paul raised his head he was grinning at me. The look on his face was goofy and sweet yet kind of unsettling.
"What is it?" I asked him, confused.
"Your scent is stronger, more intense, and somehow different." He was grinning and looking like a crazy man.
"I heard that already. What's wrong with you though?"
"I'm just happy." His face looked ready to crack open from the intensity of the smile he was wearing. "Because you're pregnant."
I felt my stomach drop to my feet then instantly float right up to my throat, triple in size and choking me. At the same time, my heart rate sped into high gear, speeding up to go a mile a minute at least.
"What?" I asked him, dumbfounded. We had talked about kids, and we both wanted them. But I was nineteen and he was twenty. Yeah, werewolves always have kids early but I was still in school. He had dropped out after the most recent semester because of his job as a warrior and trainer. We had decided to take an if it happens it happens approach but not to actively try until I graduated. This was so sudden, so spur of the moment, and so exciting.
Once my brain processed what he had said I broke out into a big smile.
"I'm pregnant?" I asked him, my elation making me feel like I was on cloud nine.
"Yup." He was still grinning so much that it looked painful, but I was probably wearing a smile just as big so I didn't care.
"Oh Paul, I'm so happy." I squealed, reaching out to hug his head to my chest.
"You and me both honey, you and me both."
After I got up I felt like I was floating. All through my shower I didn't feel my feet touching the tile floor. All through getting ready for the day I felt like I was taking off into orbit. Everything seemed to make me float and grin. Nothing could ever bring down my mood, nothing.
I needed to tell people, I needed to share the news. I had to tell Trinity, I had to tell my brother, and my mom and dad. But my best friend was going to be first. She was the closest thing to a sister I had and she was my best friend.
It was just after noon that I called Trinity and asked if she wanted to have lunch. This was a regular enough occurrence so it didn't seem off, right? It was just a bestie calling up and saying 'hey let's do lunch'. Nothing suspicious right?
I could usually hide anything from just about anyone. I was the lie detector and could sniff the truth out from other people but I was the iron fortress, the vault that couldn't be penetrated. But the moment that Trinity sat down at the booth in our favorite diner she just grinned at me. Reece slid in with her, I knew she would have either him or Vincent with her.
"You seem happy. What's the good news?"
"Is it that obvious?" I just beamed at her, making no effort to hide my excitement.
"Girl, even if I didn't know where you were today I only had to follow the bat signal you're projecting into the sky. You're glowing so much it's like a searchlight." She was grinning at me as she made her jokes.
"Well, you're right, I am happy." I grinned at her. "Exceedingly so." I just laughed, I couldn't contain my joy.
"Well, let's order our lunch and then you can tell me all about it." She was smiling but not rushing me. I just nodded and picked up my menu.
A little while later we were staring at our plates full of delicious looking food, Reece digging in first like a starved man. As I watched him and looked at how tired both he and Trinity looked I could guess that the two of them had just as exciting of a night as I had. Not only that but there was a massive hickey on Trinity's neck that was only partially covered by the sleeveless turtleneck she was wearing. I grinned at them knowingly but they didn't seem to notice.
The food tasted amazing, and I felt so hungry after all the excitement. I took a big bite and moaned softly.
"Mmm, this is so good." I sighed with relief as I started to fill my belly.
"Yeah it is." Trinity grinned and looked at me with suspicious eyes. "So, what's the good news?" She had a quizzical look on her face but I could see the underlying investigator look in her eyes. She was curious and would find out one way or the other, but she knew I was going to tell her so that didn't matter.
"Well, I woke up to some very happy, and exciting news today." I grinned at her, I just couldn't keep the smiles off my face today. I felt like I had been smiling so much that it was likely to become my new permanent look. I didn't care, I was too happy to care.
"Really? And what news would that be?" She was smiling happily at me. She was not pressing for more details yet, she was letting me guide this conversation at my own speed. Honestly I am kind of proud of myself for not jumping with joy when I saw here screaming 'I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant'. This was actually a miraculous feat for me right now with how happy I was feeling.
"Well, I didn't discover this happy thing myself." I grinned being cryptic.
"Oh really? Then who told you whatever this happy thing is?"
"Paul did actually." I blushed as I remembered the scene this morning, how it had turned from an intimate moment to one of pure joy for us both, all thoughts of sex and intimacy flying straight out the window.
"Really? What exactly did Paul say?" She had a knowing look on her face, like she could tell what I was getting at.
"Oh, nothing too serious really." I joked. "Just that I'm pregnant."
"Juniper!" She squealed my name. "I thought you might be alluding to that, but to know I was right, oh my Goddess, this is amazing." She was bouncing on her seat like she just couldn't sit still. "Our babies will be so close in age, and Nikki's baby will be just under half a year older than ours, they will all grow up together and it will be so much fun having playdates for them. I am so excited, this is amazing."
"I know, I am so happy, and so excited. I feel like I am going to just float out of this booth and keep going until I reach the moon. I didn't know it was possible to be this happy and excited."
"It's a wonderful feeling isn't it. Once the initial shock wears off. It's the best thing there is." She reached across the table and took my hand. "I'm so happy I am going to be pregnant at the same time as my best friend."
"Me too, this is the best thing that could have happened. My baby, and your babies, they're only going to be like two weeks apart. Can you imagine it? They will learn everything at the same time."
"We can do all our shopping together, and have all our pregnancy moments together. This is awesome. I'm glad I have someone to go through all of this with."
"You and me both, Trin, you and me both."
"You two look about ready to burst." Reece spoke for the first time since getting his food, having spent the last several minutes watching us and listening to us as he stuffed his face. "This is going to be fun to watch. What's going to happen when you both become emotional train wrecks with all those baby hormones?" He laughed at his own joke.
"We'll be fine." I assured him.
"Yeah, butt out Fido." Trinity smacked his arm. We finished our lunch, the three of us talking about all the fun things the future had in store for us.