Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“They set it up on their own. I wasn’t in on this, I swear.” He held up his hands defensively.
“Mom wanted to see you so bad and when she told everyone you were coming home today they wanted to see you too. It’s not a party really. It’s just a casual lunch. I promise we’re not going to go overboard.” Noah was trying to both explain it and justify it at the same time.
“This is our family we are talking about Noah, this is Mom we are talking about. It will definitely be going overboard no matter what.” I could feel the anxiety growing in me now. I just wanted to be home and at peace right now.
“Don’t worry, I will keep her in check. And Dad will be there to calm her down as well.”
I had no choice but to let it all happen. They were already here anyway. When Noah parked I unbuckled myself while Joaquin walked around to the other side to get me out. He was carrying me princess style as he walked toward the large group of visitors. They were all smiling happily at me and welcoming me home.
“I am so glad to see you sweetie.” Lila grinned at me.
“Welcome home baby girl.” Mom was almost in tears.
“I hope you’re doing well.” Dad smiled at me.
“Don’t scare me like that, Astro.” Paul scolded me.
“You need to protect you and those babies so our kids can grow up together.” Juniper grinned.
The rest were similar things, all smiles and people welcoming me home. It was nice and I was glad to see everyone but I was embarrassed about what had happened and I didn’t want to see everyone so soon.
After Joaquin carried me inside he took me straight to the dining room for a nice casual lunch. Abigail had done an amazing job on the meal. She had really outdone herself. I was happy to be home and eating her cooking again. No one cooked like Abigail did. While we were eating Abigail came out and welcomed me home personally as well.
“Oh, Riviana, I missed you so much. I was so worried about you. I am glad you’re home. If there is anything you want to eat, anything at all just let me know. I will make it all for you. I am going to be staying here with you all for the next couple of months just in case there is something that you want in the middle of the night. I remember my night time cravings were so bad. I was always cooking while I was pregnant.” She laughed at the end as if she were remembering things fondly.
“Thank you Abigail, but that’s not necessary, really. I won’t need anything at night. I could always wait until you get here in the morning.” I tried to let her know that she can go home and that she didn’t need to wait on me so much but I don’t think it worked.
“Nonsense child. You’re a first time mother. You don’t know how bad those cravings can be. Just leave it to me. Old Abigail will take care of everything.” She was already walking out of the room so I couldn’t say anything to convince her to not stay and I really didn’t want to invoke my Luna Queen mode and force her to go home, that would hurt her feelings. Ngh, what was I going to do?
After the meal was over everyone headed home and it was time for me to head up to my room. Joaquin had the next couple of days off of work before he had to get back to his busy days so he was going to be keeping me company. I didn’t have to be confined to our room technically, as long as someone carried me I could go anywhere in the house. I could go to the music room, the library, the garden, and the dining room downstairs. It really didn’t matter where I was as long as I stayed off of my feet. Or more like, as long as I didn’t let Joaquin catch me on my feet.
I wasn’t going to do anything bad, honestly. But, if someone helped me to the bathroom and it wasn’t Joaquin then I was going to walk myself to the damn sink and wash my hands. Hell I would probably be walking myself to the bathroom, that little bit of walking wouldn’t hurt anything. These overprotective men were just being worrywarts. That was all.
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Riviana
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Still, once Joaquin got me to our room he laid me gently in the center of the bed and sat on the edge next to me.
“So, how are you feeling? I know that took you by surprise. I don’t want you getting too worked up and having another episode.” I know that he was just worried about me. I also know that he blamed the surprise baby shower for what happened because I was so focused on the smell of the food that I didn’t realize what was going on. It’s not my fault that his babies made my stomach the priority at the time, I was just hungry.
“I am fine.” I smiled at him. “Honestly, I really am fine. My heart isn’t pounding. I don’t feel dizzy. My pulse feels normal. I am good, really good.”
“That’s a relief.” He looked like he visibly deflated. It was like he let out a breath that I couldn’t even tell he was holding at the time. He really was just worried about me.
“I am going to be fine, Joaquin. We all are. Reagan and Rika are going to be just fine as well, you will see. In just a couple of months we will be able to meet them and see them for the first time. We will be able to hold them in our arms and rock them back and forth.”
“Yeah, it will be amazing. But you need to stay safe until then. I can’t have you getting sick again or Griffin will take the babies early. If they’re too early then they might not be strong enough.”
I felt fear settle over me as I listened to Joaquin’s words. Everything that he was saying was true. If I didn’t keep these babies inside of me for as long as I could then they could be sick and weak and it would be all my fault. I would not let that happen. I just wouldn’t.
It felt like I had been having the same conviction go through my head since I woke up at the hospital. That was probably true, but that’s because it was all that I could think about right now. I was literally a baby incubator with a ticking time bomb inside of it. If I wasn’t careful I would set that bomb off and all three of us could be in danger.
“What are you thinking about?” Joaquin asked me as he watched me thinking.
“About the babies.” I answered immediately.
“Well, that’s ambiguous. What about them?” He chuckled softly as I rolled my eyes at him.
“About the best ways that I can protect them. I know we’ve talked about it a lot but it’s just something that I need to keep in the front of my mind. It’s a major life change for me. I will be changing the way that I do everything for the time being. In all honesty, I am going to be living life like I am some sort of invalid that is incapable of taking care of herself. I will be living life like I am severely crippled.” I felt like there was a little bit of pain and sorrow in my voice right now. I didn’t want there to be but it’s the truth.
All I wanted to do right now was get things ready for my babies. I wanted to prep their room and sort their clothes. I wanted to make sure everything was put in just the right place and spend hours fussing over all the little details.
Now, it felt like I was going to miss out on it all. I wasn’t going to get to finalize their room and I wasn’t going to get to put their clothes where I wanted them. And I wasn’t going to make sure that every little thing was perfect. It was actually quite depressing as I thought about it all.
I think that Joaquin could tell how depressed I was by all of this. I was trying my hardest to stay positive for him and the others but I was actually scared shitless. It all made me nervous and really worried. I wanted to know what to do. I wanted to know how I was supposed to fix this and make it all go back to the way that it was before. And I was also wondering why this happened to me and my babies in the first place.
As I sat there fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill over at any moment Joaquin slid closer to me and held me in his arms. He didn’t say anything at all, he just let his warmth seep into me. Just him being there really was enough to calm me down and he knew it.
When I was finally calmer I heard him speak, finally breaking the silence.
“I am with you every step of the way, Little Bunny. I won’t leave you alone for a second if that is what you want. I will take a sabbatical from the office and stay here with you until the babies are three months old. I will stop working altogether. I can have someone else run the company for me. If I am needed right here at your side then that is where I will be. I want you to know that, honey. You, Reagan and Rika, all of you are what is most important to me. Nothing else matters at all. As long as I have you then I have the whole world.” There was such sincerity in Joaquin’s voice that I knew he meant every word of that. I could feel the love radiating off of him as his words reverberated through his chest and vibrated right into my ear.