“I think we should wait a few days before telling anyone about my pregnancy,” Elizabeth said on the way home.
“Why? Scared?”
“No. I just don’t want to take anything away from them. Let them enjoy a few days before telling them the good news.”
“Fine with me. That’ll give me a few more days to live.”
“Right. I forgot you are planning on being killed by my father soon.”
“Yes. I am.”
They both laughed as they drove, holding hands. Despite his teasing about Aspen killing him, Grant knew she was right and that her father would be happy for them. Not just because there was another shifter on the way, but also because he was going to be a grandfather, a young one - but a grandfather, nonetheless.
A few days later, Aspen called him to his Uncle’s office and the three of them sat down alone. Grant had been busy making calls while Aspen enjoyed his new son, named David Samson Lowery. Now, it was time to get back to business. The Dire Wolves had still not gotten wind of the baby, but they would. It was only a matter of time, but Aspen’s directive came as a surprise.
“You need to tell Saul about David,” Aspen told him.
“What?”
“If you don’t and someone else leaks it to him, you are compromised. Game over.”
“Fuck,” Grant replied, wondering why he hadn’t considered this.
“That means we need to have a plan in place, because they will come for him and he can’t live in a bunker below this clubhouse all his life.”
“Okay. I’ve talked to my contacts and I have someone that can get us what we need and get it in their clubhouse.”
“How?”
“No details.”
“Can they get it somewhere besides the clubhouse?”
Grant looked at him, puzzled and shrugged. “Maybe. What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t want to kill women and children, only shifters. They have an “event” in one week. They gather down by the falls for some sort of come to Jesus speech made by Saul. No women. No children. Only adult male shifters.”
“What about the female shifters?”
“I’m not worried about them. There aren’t very many and, without their mates, they will scatter or join us without an issue.”
“Little harder to cover the source out in the open like that. In the clubhouse, you can say it was some gas line or faulty electronics. Out there, there is not excuse but murder.”
“It’s a secluded place. A good place for a domestic terrorist to be working on something heinous.”
Grant suddenly understood. He nodded and grabbed his phone, hitting the speed dial and waiting for an answer on the other end. He ran the scenario by the person on the other end, someone he would never reveal to anyone, not even Aspen or his Uncle and then listened as he received a response.
“I’ll get you the details,” he said, before hanging up.
“He can do it?”
“He can.”
Except he was not a he. He was a she. The most dangerous woman you’d ever want to meet and with the credentials to legally murder whoever she wanted, and make it look like someone else pulled it off. Afterward, he and Aspen walked out together. Elizabeth was sitting nearby, whistling happily as she painted. Aspen walked over and kissed her on the forehead.
“Glad to see you are feeling better,” he told her.
Elizabeth looked at Aspen and he nodded quietly.
“Daddy, I have something to tell you.”
“What’s that, sweetheart.”
“There is going to be another baby.”
“Another baby? Really? Who?” Aspen asked, all smiles.
“Me,” she replied.
Grant stood perfectly still, watching Aspen’s smile slowly fade away to a much more somber expression. It wasn’t anger, so that was a good sign, but it could just be the calm before the storm. There was a moment where they all stood silently and looked at one another and then Aspen took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. The smile spread across his face again and he pulled her to him.
“That’s wonderful. I can’t think of anything greater than having another child,” he said, before turning to Grant. “I’m going to kill you.”
Grant just nodded and looked down at his feet, knowing he needed him too much right now to follow through on it. Then, Aspen surprised him by grabbing him and hugging him, patting him heavily on the back.
“Just fucking with you. I couldn’t be happier. Now, let’s go see the boss and tell her,” he said, directing them down the hallway toward where Amanda would be with Baby David.
The three of them entered the room and smiled at her, causing her from one to the other cautiously. When none of them spoke, she finally coaxed them into action.
“Well, what is it? What do you three have up your sleeves?”
“I’m going to have a baby, Mom,” Elizabeth told her.
“What? You’re are joking, right?”
“No, not at all. We found out the day that you had David. We just wanted to give you a few days to enjoy your baby before telling you about ours.”
“Oh, my. I’m going to be a grandmother? I’m not old enough to be a grandmother. I’m barely a mother!”
“You are the most beautiful mother in the world too,” Aspen told her. “You will be just as beautiful as a grandmother.”
“You flatterer,” she told him with a little laugh.
“Are you happy for us, though?” Elizabeth asked.
“What? Of course I am. Come here and give us a hug,” she told her.
Elizabeth hugged both her mom and David in one group and then stood back. Grant stood looking awkwardly at them for a moment until Amanda motioned him over and pulled him in for a hug. While he was leaning downward, she whispered in his ear, “I’m going to kill you for this.”
Grant laughed as he pulled away. “I get that a lot.”
“Get what a lot?” Elizabeth asked.
“Death threats,” her mother chimed in.
“Ah, you guys are so funny,” she told her parents, turning toward Grant and kissing him on the cheek. “They like to give you a hard time, but secretly they love you.”
“I can feel the love,” he replied.