Chapter 55

ALEXIS

I couldn't sleep at all last night. The excitement was too much to just sit down and relax. My mom was ecstatic and couldn't stop smiling randomly at the thought of her future grandchild.

I ended up blurting it to my dad and Neville by accident during dinner when they kept giving us weird looks, probably because my mom and I were basically glowing with joy.

FLASHBACK

"Princess, are you not hungry?" My dad asked, noticing my half-eaten plate.

"If you're not hungry, I'll take your fries," Neville grinned, reaching for my plate. I slapped his hand away and glared at him.

Unfortunately, he gave me the puppy eyes so I had to hand him a couple of fries.

It was silent at the table as my dad read through some paperwork and handed the paper to Neville to read once he was done.

After watching them do that for five minutes, I couldn't hold it in anymore.

I cleared my throat awkwardly, "So...I'm pregnant."

Neville just stared at me like I had spoken in another language and my dad didn't even process the statement.

"That's nice, Princess," he said between chews, not looking up once.

Neville just blinked a few times, "I'm going to be an uncle?"

My dad paused and looked up, "Who's going to be an uncle?"

"Me," Neville said, mostly to himself, and poked his chest, "I'm going to be an uncle."

The two of them just stared at each other as if they were communicating silently. I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing while my mom took a large bite to muffle her chuckles.

My dad and Neville slowly turned to me, their eyes wide.

"You–baby–pregnant?" My dad stuttered out in incomplete phrases.

I nodded my head, feeling myself get excited all over again. I had a feeling I would be like this for a while.

My dad whooped and leaped out of his chair, rushing over to me and picking me up, "I can't believe it! A grandpup! Malia, did you hear that? We're going to be grandparents!"

I looked over at my mom and saw her shake her head amusedly.

It was going to take a while for them to calm down. That was for sure.

END OF FLASHBACK

After dinner, Neville kept staring at my stomach as if he expected it to grow any second. I finally had to tell him that baby was probably smaller than a peanut and that he would have to wait a while to see anything. My dad, needless to say, was so happy and couldn't stop talking about what he would do with his grandpup.

If my family was this excited, I couldn't imagine how excited Hudson would be and that made me excited in turn.

I was waiting for Devin to pick me up, but instead of taking me straight home, I wanted him to take a little detour into town so I could buy some things. Sasha had given me this idea of what I should do, but I added my own little twist to it.

I internally smirked.

If everything went according to the plan, Hudson would be having the shock of his life and he wouldn't even be hearing it from my mouth.

As Devin pulled up, I said my goodbyes and got into the car.

"Hey Luna, how's it going?" He asked as I got in.

I smiled and tugged my seatbelt on, "Couldn't be better."

He started driving away and as he got close to the two-way road, I looked at him with an innocent look on my face, "Devin, could I ask you a favor?"

He looked a bit nervous, "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to get in trouble for this?"

***

HUDSON

A week without Alexis was like a week without sunshine. Dull.

I couldn't wait for her to get home so I could kiss her and hug her like normal.

I tapped my fingers against the desk as I glanced at my clock. She should be here very soon, any minute now. I packed up my files and got up to put my sweatshirt on so I could go outside and welcome her back.

Just as I tugged it on, I felt a mind-link push through from Matthew.

Hudson, why is there someone dressed as a stork running around the pack?

I froze with my sweatshirt half on.

What the f uck?

What do you mean there's a stork running around? Stop it.

We can't, it keeps running when we get close. Besides, the kids love it. It's handing out candy and little gifts to the children and their families.

It could be a rogue, Matthew. Just get rid of it.

It's not. It smells like a pack member.

I groaned and grabbed my keys. I was already in a bad mood with Alexis being gone, and all I needed was a wolf dressed as a bird wreaking havoc in my pack.

When I got outside, Boston and Matthew were standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the crowd that was gathering outside. I joined them on the pathway and stared at the fluffy stork that was handing out little goodie bag like things from a large white sac.

"Do we know who it is?" I growled, getting annoyed by every second.

Boston shook his head, "Not yet, but whoever it is, isn't a threat. The candies are clean and the goodie bags don't have anything dangerous in them. I think this is just a prank of some sort."

I growled again and watched the stork get closer.

I wondered what would happen if I shifted and let my wolf at him.

My wolf was just as confused as I was and shook his fur out a few times as he got irritated with the jumping stork.

"Hudson!"

I turned around and saw Alexis running towards me. A broad smile formed on my face and my tense posture relaxed, "There you are!"

I wrapped my arms around and her and buried my face in her neck, kissing her mark a few times. She ruffled my hair and pulled back, studying my face, "You look tired."

I grumbled quietly, "I couldn't sleep without you."

She laughed softly and gave me a peck on the lips, "I missed you too."

"Hudson, the stork is coming our way," Matthew said, straightening from his position against the wall. Alexis turned her head and raised her eyebrows at the sight, "What's going on?"

I rolled my eyes, "Someone decided to dress up as a stork and give everyone presents. I guess instead of the Easter bunny, we get the stork."

She smiled slightly, and we watched the stork skip towards us.

It stopped in front of Boston and handed him a goodie bag.

"Um, thanks....whoever you are," Boston muttered, taking the little decorated bag reluctantly.

The stork did the same with Matthew, who snatched it away and snarled.

I was expecting it to hand me something as well, but it ran past me up and up the patio stairs. I ran up the stairs after it, thinking it would try to enter the house, but it just dropped the white sac on the doormat and jumped the patio railing before running away.

I stared at the back of the stork in disbelief and gave Boston and Matthew a what-the-fuck-is-going-on-here look.

I picked up the sac slowly and raised an eyebrow. There was something still inside of it.

"Hudson, there might be a bomb or something in there. Don't open it," Matthew said, glaring at the sac.

Boston rolled his eyes, "Why would someone go through the trouble of giving everyone presents and then blow up Hudson? Unless Hudson ever did something to him, that makes no sense."

I reached my hand inside and felt something soft and furry tickle my fingertips. I pulled the object up and dropped the bag as I held the fuzzy thing in both hands.

A teddy bear.

One of those Build-A-Bear ones that kids liked. It had brown fur and was wearing a white t-shirt with a heart that said 'Push My Paw.'

I looked at its paw and found a little button. With great hesitation, I pushed the button and half-expected the bear to explode or something like that.

But instead, the bear made a laughing noise and a sweet little voice said,

"You are going to be a daddy!"

ALEXIS

It was so hard to keep a straight face while watching Devin run around giving gifts to the kids and their families. Instead of surprising Hudson alone, I wanted to do something fun for the rest of the pack as well. And thankfully, they loved it.

But watching Hudson stare at the bear with a confused look on his face was almost impossible to not laugh at.

Boston went up the stairs and took the bear from Hudson's hands, pushing the little button again. The voice spoke again and the two of them just looked at each other.

"Does the bear mean kinky daddy or daddy as in father of–"

Boston cut off his question as realization hit the three of them. Their faces went from confused to stunned in a matter of seconds.

I tried to pretend like I didn't know anything, but that became difficult when the three of them turned to stare at me.

I curled my lips into my mouth and watched Hudson's reaction with great amusement. He stumbled down the stairs clumsily and cupped my cheeks, his eyes wide and mouth agape.

"I–is it true? You're–you're pregnant?" He whispered, his eyes searching mine.

I swallowed hard and nodded.

For some odd reason, I felt the urge to cry again as a shocked, but breathtaking grin formed on his face.

"We're going to have a pup?" He asked excitedly, although he already knew the answer.

I nodded again, feeling a few tears of happiness escape my eyes. He was breathing heavily but his grin got bigger, if that was even possible, and he picked me up.

"Baby, do you know what this means? We're going to be parents! I'm going to be a dad!" He yelled, swinging me around and hugging me closely.

When he put me down, he leaned his forehead against mine.

"Holy f uck," he said, his eyes getting misty with his own tears, "I can't believe it."

I let out a short laugh and pulled him down for a kiss that he returned passionately. When we pulled away for air, he gave me a soft smile and kissed my forehead, "I love you. So. Fucking. Much."

I buried my face in his chest, "I love you too."