A Mother Before A Mate
Chapter 42

Jack's Point of View

I wake up in my bed, and the clock says 2 pm; I've been out for hours. I'm happy to see that Lexi is sleeping beside me. It makes me glad that I insisted on coming home because she wouldn't be this relaxed if I was in the hospital. I see in the baby monitor Molly is napping late too. We were up really early this morning, so we all need the extra rest. They gave me some pretty strong painkillers which are helping with the pain a lot, and I'm not sure if it's the painkillers or the fact that my body is just working hard to heal itself, but I've slept about 6 hours already, and I'm still exhausted. The presense of silver means it will take time to heal; there will be no speedy werewolf healing for this one. I scoot closer to Lexi, just so we're touching. I can't lay on my side right now to hold her, but just feeling her next to me feels good.

The sparks from the contact must have affected her even in her sleep, because she's turning and snuggling into me. I look down, and stare at my beautiful pregnant woman, in my shirt and I'm in awe of her. I hate that I worried her, and after seeing that they brought a gun, I'm even more grateful she wasn't there.

I don't even want to think about what would have happened if she was. I'm glad that Alpha Johnson is taken care of, and everything can get back to normal again, and I don't have to worry about someone coming after Lexi or Molly. I need to get a new Beta. Kyle will take the Beta position, and then I'll need to fill my Gamma position. Alex is my strongest warrior, so that would make sense. I'll worry about it tomorrow, because I feel my eyes getting heavy again.

"Babe... Jack... Jack," I'm pulled out of sleep. Tthe room is dark, aside from the lamp on beside me. The clock says 8:06 pm, and Lexi's at my side waking me up.

"Babe, you need to take your pills, or you're going to be really sore soon," she warns gently. It's too late. I think most of the painkillers have worn off and it hurts a lot. "Sit up, baby. For more free novels, visit Narugi.com I brought you some dinner too. I didn't want to wake you, but it's getting late, and I wanted you to eat and take some pills. Your body needs food. Give me your hand, I'll help you up."

She helps me sit, up, and sets pillows up behind me, then she places a tray on the bed and give me my pills right away.

"Thanks, babe, you're the best," I rasp.

"How are you feeling?" she frowns.

"I'm feeling pretty good," I don't want her to worry.

"Not in too much pain?" She winces.

"I'm okay and this smells so good. I'm suddenly starving," I say looking down to my tray.

She made me a big bowl of beef stew, and there are fresh homemade buttered buns on my tray too. I dig right in, and it's so good.

"Did you want me to get you more, Babe? There's plenty left," she asks when I'm finished.

"No! I'm stuffed, thank you. That was exactly what I needed. It was delicious, and the perfect comfort food."

She smiles as her hand gently trails my cheek, and she leans in for a kiss. Mmm. Then she grabs my tray, "I'll be back in a few minutes. Do you need anything?" I shake my head, and I lay back down. Lexi is back within 10 minutes, "I need to check your vitals again," she states.

"Again?" I ask and she chuckles.

"Yeah I've checked them every 3 hours since we got home this morning, you just sleep through it," she smirks. I had no idea. I watch her grab a few things and sit beside me on the bed.

First, she takes my temperature with an ear thermometer. Then she grabs my wrist and stares at her watch. "Are-"

"Shhh" she quiets me. I can't help but smile. She looks so cute in doctor mode.

"So?" I ask.

"Temperature is fine, heart rate is strong. I need to check your blood pressure now," she states.

She mentioned before that she used to want to be a doctor, I wonder if she still does. I can a calmness and confidence she posesses when it comes to caring for people. Even when Molly was in the hospital, she seemed calm and confident. She takes my blood pressure, and as she starts removing it from me, she smiles. "Everything looks good," she nods. "Thanks for taking such good care of me!"

"I'm happy too."

"You said before that you used to want to be a doctor, do you still want that? I think you would make a great doctor!" I admit. Not to mention it would keep her off the battlefield and in the safety of a hospital.

"I haven't thought about it in a long time, to be honest. After I realized Molly wasn't a human, I had a moment of 'Do I need or want to be a warrior?' but I actually love it. Becoming a doctor would have been years and years of long hours at school, and homework, and long hours at the hospital. It just didn't seem to fit into my life as a busy single Mom."

"Well you're not a single Mom anymore, and if it's something you want, we could make it work," I offer. "I'll come home earlier, or move my work schedule a round, and work from home. I want you to be happy, and I don't want you to give up on things you want and that make you happy."

She smiles wide, "I think you're just the sweetest to offer, but it's not what I want anymore," and she leans in to kiss me. "I really like you," she whispers when we break apart, and I'm smiling ear to ear.

"I really really like you," I admit. She kisses me once more, and then gets up and goes into my closet, and comes out in one of my t-shirts. She seems to like sleeping in them, and I f*g love it.

She climbs into bed and snuggles into me and she's yawning immediately. "Tired, baby?"

"Mhmm," she hums. "Oh wait, before I forget, check this out," she smiles. She lays on her back, and lifts her shirt. The first thing I notice is she isn't wearing panties, "Mmm, nice."

"Not that, you perv," she laughs, "Look at my stomach," she says while rubbing it. "You can see it best when I suck in." She adds. She pulls her core in, and I can see her lower stomach doesn't go down. She has a little round bump. "Wow!"

"Feel it, it feels hard too," she gushes and sure enough it does.

"That's our baby? Is this new? Or were we just not looking close enough before because we didn't know you were pregnant," I ask, in amazement.

"That new, and I'm almost 1/3 way through my pregnancy, so it makes sense. I laid on the floor earlier on my stomach, playing with Molly, and it felt weird, so I started to examine it, and I noticed it. The doctor said I'd soon start to grow pretty rapidly," she beams. "That's amazing! I can't wait."

"Me either," Lexi adds and cuddles back in with another yawn. She falls asleep first, but I follow soon after.

Lexi's Point of View

When I wake up, I feel Jack's hand rubbing my stomach gently. I smile and look up to see him daydreaming, with a sweet smile on his face. "Having fun?" I ask, with a sleepy smile. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry!"

"No, you didn't wake me. It's 7 am. I slept almost 11 hours, "I chuckle.

"How did you sleep? How are you feeling? You must need some painkillers by now?" I ask and I jump up, not even waiting for him to answer.

"I'm okay. Babe, I was enjoying that," he grumbles. I grab a glass from the bathroom with water, and some of his pills, and I bring them to him. "Thank you, now get back here," he orders.

I smile and get back into bed with him. He does look a lot better today, thankfully. He has more colour in his face too. I lay down and he lifts my shirt again.

"5 minutes, and then I have to get ready. Lev is coming over with Brit for breakfast. He's headed back to Cold Moon later today," I tell him and his hand rubs small circles on my stomach.

"I don't envy their situation at all. When I thought you might not move here right away, I was trying to imagine how I would actually leave without you. I can't even imagine how he's managed it the last few weeks," Jack admits.

"Yeah, same for me, I was trying to do the right thing for Molly, but I couldn't imagine you leaving without me."

"I've offered him a place here every time I've seen him since they have found each other," Jack confesses.

"I know, thank you."

"Hmm..." Jack smiles.

"What?"

"It's a surprise. Let's get ready!"

We sit outside in the backyard, after eating breakfast with Lev and Brit, and Molly plays in her sandbox. It's such a beautiful day. "Thanks for having us over for breakfast," Lev smiles.

"Yeah everything was delicious," Brit adds.

"It's our pleasure, anytime!"

"Lev, can I talk with you in my office about something?" Jack asks.

Lev furrows his brow, "Sure!" I am also confused. Why does Jack want to talk to Lev in private?

They both get up and head inside. Brit and I are looking at each other with confusion. Why would Jack want to talk to Lev privately? I wonder. "That's weird? Maybe just guy stuff?" Brit responds and I shrug.

"Maybe?" Part of me wants to mind-link Jack so badly to ask him, but he asked for privacy, so I figure I should give it to him. Begrudgingly of course.

"So how have you been holding up?" I ask Brit and she winces.

"It's so hard. I don't know how we'll keep doing this. Living without him is out of the question, so I guess I'll have to learn to deal with it. It's just so hard. I hate it, and I feel so guilty because I know it's just as hard on Lev. I just feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place," Brit explains.

"I understand that, but if you moved, I could make a point to visit your grandmother every day, to keep her company and make sure she has what she needs. I don't think your grandmother knows what you are going through. I can't imagine she would want you to feel like this," I explain.

"That is very kind of you, but she needs me. I don't know how much time she has left, so I didn't want to guilt her into moving and leaving the one place that she has called home her whole life. I don't want to take her from that so that I can be happy. It's not fair to her. She raised me, and she sacrificed to much for me. My Mom died when I was 6, and I never met my father. I can't abandon her, but I'm afraid Lev will get tired of waiting for me," she admits.

I see the pain all over her face, and her eyes are starting to water. "Oh, Brit. I'm so sorry that you're going through this," I pull her into a hug. "Everything will work out. Just give it time. You both love each other so much. You guys are going to be fine," I reassure her. I pull away a little to look at her. "I know, Lev, believe me when I tell you that he has been anxiously waiting for you for years. He loves you more than anything. You won't lose him. He understands the position you are in. And trust me, he knows what it's like to not have our parents. He wouldn't want you to abandon the one person who has raised you. He might be having a hard time, just like you are but you two are going to make it through this." I reassure her.

She pulls me into a hug again. "Thank you, Lexi."

"Are we interrupting something?" Lev asks, with a smirk.

We pull away, and I roll my eyes. "Yes, I'm stealing your woman, Lev," I say sarcastically.

"Not even funny," he smiles as he pulls Brit into his arms. Jack is smiling too. I love the sight of Jack smiling. I look back at Lev and he looks excited. They both do. "What's going on with you two?" I ask.