Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“Yes, you did.” She grinned as she pulled away. “You held them inside of you so they could grow. That was more than enough. Without you, they wouldn’t be here.”
I watched then as Lila descended on the babies, fawning over their cuteness. Grandfather came to me after her and hugged me tightly. He was already crying, and he hadn’t even spoken a word to me yet. He was so emotional since I had been kidnapped by my father.
“Riviana, I am so happy for you. And also so proud of you. I remember the day that you were born. I held you in my arms that night just the same as I held your babies. It was an amazing experience for me. To hold my daughter, then my granddaughter, and then my great grandson and great granddaughter. It’s an accomplishment I never thought I would get given the circumstances that have plagued our family.” He was sobbing even harder now as he remembered the past.
“I know, Grandfather, I know.” I kissed his cheek to calm him down. “But we’re all here right now, and that is what matters. I love you and my babies, and I know you love me and the babies as well. And soon the babies will love you as well.”
“Yes, I love you all.” He wiped his tears then, trying his best to calm down.
“Here, Samuel.” Lila came up to him with Reagan in her arms. “Hold one of them.”
“Yes, I think I will.” He took the baby and cradled him. “Hello little man.” He cooed at his great grandson with a smile, and he stroked his cheek. “It’s me, your M贸ra铆1.”
“M贸ra铆? I asked him with an eyebrow raised. “As in the Irish word for grandpa? Why do they get to call you a fun name, and we were all stuck with Grandfather?” I laughed at him.
“Well, I learned to loosen up in my old age.” He laughed. “Lessons learned with time.”
“Yeah, sure.” I laughed at him. “Sounds like an excuse to me.” I joked with him.
“It is what it is.” He smiled back at the baby as he spoke to me.
After they were there for a while, I thought I was done with visits. I was getting tired too so I thought we would just see everyone at home later. Nope, I was wrong. Carter came in and visited with Emmalee. She insisted on coming to see me. And she did bring CJ with her since it was just the one baby. She didn’t want to leave him, and they weren’t going to stay long.
When they left here, they were going to be heading to my place, and we would see them when we got home early tomorrow afternoon. That made me really happy since I hadn’t had much of a chance to get to know my nephew yet.
During their visit, Carter and Emmalee got to know their niece and nephew while Joaquin and I got to know CJ. It was a little interesting right now, to be holding a baby that wasn’t mine. Especially a baby that was so small and young that wasn’t mine.
I loved him though. He was so cute and adorable. Though, given that he was two weeks old as well as two weeks further into the pregnancy, and a single pregnancy, he was a lot bigger than my babies. He was going to be a handsome man though, I could already tell. He was taking after his daddy, but with some cute little features from his mommy.
Just before Carter and Emmalee left to go back to my place, I managed to talk Carter into staying for a few days, that way we would see all of them for a little longer. I wanted us to have a little bit more time together. This was going to be a happy time when I first got home.
And, for some reason, I had a feeling that my family was going to throw some sort of welcome home party for me again. Oh well, that was just how they were, and I knew it. I was just going to have to deal with it, whether I liked it or not.
We ate a really good dinner after the visitors were all gone for the night. I was getting so tired that I was having a hard time staying awake. I was seeing now that the more I fed my babies the more tired I would be. This was going to become a really tricky few weeks until I was used to it. I was looking forward to it though; I was already loving being a mommy. I knew that I could do it.
****
Riviana
****
After another night of having Joaquin help me feed our babies in two hour intervals, I was a little sleepy but I was still pretty confident that I could manage at home as a mother. Griffin had told us that we could go home just after breakfast, which he had delivered for us again.
I had heard one of the other patients in the room next to mine complaining about the fact that we were getting our food specially delivered, and they weren’t. The nurse in the room at the time was trying to explain in a whispered voice that she understood how it seemed unfair; then the nurse went on to explain just who I was and who my husband was. That had been enough. That other patient had been star struck and was calling her family and telling everyone she knew about the fact that THE Joaquin Gray and his wife were in the room next to hers in the Labor and Delivery department.
Sometimes I would forget how famous and newsworthy we could be. It didn’t make sense to me honestly. I mean, Joaquin is really only famous because of his money. His family started his company four generations ago, and he was still running it now, and like his predecessors he was continuing to improve upon the previous business models. If it hadn’t been for his family’s money, and the success of the company under Joaquin’s control, then he wouldn’t be in the spotlight.
I know he didn’t like the spotlight at all though; he would rather be a regular person. That wasn’t possible though, considering that he was an Alpha and a celebrity. I could guess now he would want to be in the limelight even less with our children here. He would want to protect them from all of that, and so would I.
After we finished eating, I got dressed in fresh clothes for the day. This time I was going home and not just sitting around the hospital room so I was going to be putting on some real clothes. It was December, and most people would be wearing warmer clothes right now. I didn’t get cold anymore, not since I had gotten the ability to use ice magic. OK, that’s not true; I do get cold, but it takes a lot to make me cold. Still, to keep up human appearances, we all dressed like humans.
So, to look like a freshly human mom, you know a human woman who had just given birth less than forty-eight hours ago, I wore warm clothes. Those warm clothes consisted of a pair of comfortable and soft knit pants that were a dark gray, paired with a loose fitting top so that nothing would press down on me too much. I wasn’t in pain anymore, but I knew that a human woman would be. I also slid on a pair of loose boots, these ones meant for actually walking outside. And of course I topped it all off with a designer coat that Joaquin had ordered me from Italy; it was cream colored and super soft. Joaquin slid a soft chocolate color hat over my head and down over my ears before I was allowed to say that I was finished. I just giggled at him and rolled my eyes.
He had insisted on getting Reagan and Rika while I got dressed, and since he is their daddy, I had no problem with it at all. When I was done getting dressed, I saw that he had accomplished his task. The babies had been changed and were wearing their new outfits. They were simple since they were so little but they were adorable nonetheless.
He had started them with their onesies, a soft yellow for Rika and a pastel green for Reagan. They had a hat, plus little booties and gloves over that matched the onesies they were wearing. Rika had a cute little frilly, lilac-colored jacket-like top that went over her onesie and buttoned just at the top. To cover her legs was a pair of tiny little pants that matched the top. Reagan was wearing a jacket as well; his buttoned all the way, though Joaquin had left it partially undone, and there were no frills on his. It was plain but still adorable with its light gray color next to the soft green. The pants that Reagan wore were a solid black, and the finished look made my new little boy seem like a young gentleman already. I could tell he was going to be handsome when he grew up.
I was amazed that Joaquin had gotten them ready so well; I was so proud of him. However, that was when I noticed that the nurses were watching on with big grins, he had obviously had their help and not a one of them was going to say a word. That was fine, he was new to this and still learning just the same as I was. We would learn together.
We got them secured into their car seats after that. We needed to have them inspected by the nurses as well, to make sure that we knew how to put them in their seats properly before we left. Once we were cleared to leave,and we had my discharge papers, we were on our way.
I had to be taken down in a wheelchair apparently; according to Griffin it was hospital policy. I didn’t mind though, it allowed me to hold both of the car seats on my lap while Joaquin pushed the chair. It was a little hard to balance them at first, but we managed to figure it out.
Lila was waiting out front for us, having taken our car home the night the babies were born. She had also brought along fresh clothes for Joaquin to change into when she visited me, since we had planned for me, but not him.
I watched as Lila nearly bounced off the ground in excitement as we got closer to her. Her grin was so bright that I thought it might rival the sun and be reported on the news as some sort of astronomical anomaly. She really was a happy and proud grandmother.
“Oh, come on, hurry up Joaquin, we need to get them in the car. Now!” She was impatient.
“They’ll be fine, Mom.” Joaquin chuckled softly as he whispered to her. “They’re witch and wolf, they’re not going to freeze to death after thirty seconds outside. Geez.” I couldn’t help it, I giggled at his words.
Joaquin and Lila each took a car seat off of my lap and went to open one of the doors in the large SUV. They placed the seats in the bases that had already been securely installed in the back seat. I climbed in after them and sat between my two little bundles of joy. I wanted to be able to see their sweet faces all the way home. After loading our bags in the back, Joaquin got in behind the wheel, and Lila got into the passenger seat. It was time for us to go home.
Joaquin usually liked to drive fast. He would weave in and out of traffic expertly and make maneuvers that would even scare an experienced stunt driver. He had his wolf senses to help him with this type of driving so it was usually fine. I never had a problem with it before. I had gone on those drives with him and enjoyed the speed and the danger of it all. I would never admit it to Joaquin, but I did like it when he let me drive the Ferrari. There was just something really exciting about it.