About a week after Zander took me back to Oceanport with him, he and I went to get an ultrasound of the baby. I'd already heard the little one's heartbeat at an earlier appointment, and I could feel him or her kick every now and then, but getting to see our kid was something different altogether.

Even if I did need the doctor, a man in his fifties with balding hair and kind eyes, to point out where my baby's head was for me. Zander and I held hands as we looked at the screen. “There's a tiny human growing inside of me,” I blurted out. I'd known of course, but still.

“Yeah, there is.” At least Zander looked just as amazed as me. “We're going to be parents, you and me. Who would have thought?”

I smiled at him. The idea of becoming a parent still terrified me a little bit. It hadn't been in my plans, but when I squeezed Zander's hand, he squeezed back, and that reassured me. I wasn't doing this alone. My child was going to have an amazing dad. I could think of so many reasons why I shouldn't be a parent, but the idea of parenting together with Zander made all of them seem surmountable. Irrelevant.

A question from the doctor whose name I couldn't remember pulled me out of my thoughts. “Would you like to know the sex?” he asked.

“Yes!” I said emphatically before Zander even had a chance to react.

My mate raised his eyebrows at me.

“I need to know this,” I explained. “If you thought I was patient enough to wait until birth, you don't know me at all.”

Beside me, the doctor chuckled while Zander only nodded. “I guess you're right.”

“You both agree then?” The doctor asked.

“Yeah,” we said in unison, still holding hands.

“All right.” The doctor pointed at something on the screen. “Do you see that there? That's your baby's penis.”

“We're having a boy?” I asked, excitement bubbling up in me. I was going to have a son! I turned to Zander. “Did you hear that? We're having a boy!”

“Yeah.” Zander seemed kind of dazed, staring at the screen. For a second, he almost looked like he was going to faint.

“We need to tell everyone. I need to call Rhys!” I'd brought my brother back to Oceanport with me, but he was staying at Dean's now, because Dean had more space.

“Easy,” Zander said. “We can tell everyone when we're home.”

“You're right,” I said, but my thoughts were still racing. “I wonder what Griff's having. They're waiting, aren't they?” I couldn't imagine doing that, personally.

“Won't be long now until we find out,” Zander mused.

As it turned out, he was quite right about that too.

* * *

It was late April when my phone rang in the middle of the night, waking me.

“What's that sound?” Zander muttered, his hand roaming the sheets as if he could find the source of it that way.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, reaching for my phone. “Some asshole is calling me.”

“Make it stop.”

“On it,” I said before answering the call. “Hello?” I asked in the most sleepy-tone I could muster to make the bastard on the other end feel guilty.

“Nick? It's Dean. Your newest nephew was just born.”

“Griff had the baby?” I sat up in bed, suddenly wide awake. “It's a boy?”

“Yup, it's a healthy baby boy. We called him Aiden. You can drop by in the morning, if you'd like. I just wanted to let you know and I have a couple more people to call.”

“Sure, we'll be there! Congratulations!”

“Who was that?” Zander asked when I hung up. “Dean? Did the baby come?”

He must have gleaned that much from hearing my end of the conversation.

“Yeah. Crazy, huh? Seems like they announced their pregnancy just yesterday.”

“Time flies.” Zander sat up too. Neither of us was all that sleepy anymore, it seemed. “You're getting bigger too,” he noticed.

I was, but I didn't need him to point that out. “Was that a complaint?”

“Not at all.” In the darkness of the bedroom, I couldn't see Zander grin at me, but I heard it in his voice, anyway.

“You're such a perv.”

“I like what I like.” Zander said, gently resting his hand on my stomach. I was six months along now, and yeah, I was getting big.

“Well, enjoy it while it lasts, because I'm not gonna let you knock me up again after this.”

“Aw, you sure? I can be pretty convincing.”

I had to laugh because he sounded so silly, stroking my large belly in the dark and trying to be sexy. “Totally sure,” I said. “And also totally not in the mood.” I felt like a whale and actually, I really needed to pee.

“I'll survive,” Zander said. “Oh, I just felt him move.”

“Yeah, I think he's a night owl.”

“Maybe we should just call him that, Night Owl,” Zander suggested. “Since we can't seem to settle on a name.”

I snorted. “You're only saying that because I don't want to call him after a Lord of the Rings character.”

“I don't know why you're so stubborn about that. It's an iconic work of literary—”

“We're talking about a name for our child. I'll let you name our next pet after a dwarf or hobbit.”

“Legolas is an elf. And a perfectly fine name.”

“Not for this child.”

“Fine.” Zander sighed. “I have a little more time to make you see reason.”

I shook my head getting out of bed. “Not that much longer,” I said on my way to the bathroom. It hit me then that it really wasn't much longer. Griff had already given birth tonight and in a few short months, it would be my turn.

Glancing back in the direction of the bedroom where my alpha waited for me, somehow that thought didn't scare me as much anymore.

* * *

When we got to the hospital the next morning, it seemed the rest of the family had already visited before us. Zander said it was my fault for refusing to get up on time. I shamelessly played the I'm-pregnant-and-need-my-sleep card. Never mind that I always needed my sleep—but that should go without saying.

“I was wondering whether you guys would show up,” Dean said when we entered the room. He was sitting in a chair next to the bed where Griff was holding the newest addition to the family. They both looked tired. But happy, too.

“Of course we were gonna show up,” I said, approaching the bed to hand Griff the blue balloons and the stuffed toy (a red lion with a squishy face) we’d purchased at the overpriced gift store downstairs. “Congratulations! This is for the baby!”

Griff's baby was the cutest little thing. I'd never been one to oooh and aaah about newborns, but when I held Griff's newest son in my arms, all I could think about was that I was next. Would my baby look anything like Aiden? I was sure he was going to have that sweet newborn scent too. Not even the typical hospital smell in the air around us could distract my nose from it.

“He's super adorable,” I told the happy parents.

“Isn't he?” Griff beamed.

“Just as adorable as the last one,” Dean confirmed. “We make good babies.”

“I'm sure we do too,” Zander said into my ear, draping an arm around my shoulders.

I leaned into him, one hand on my belly. “Not long now.”

“Are you two excited yet?” Griff asked.

“Excited and terrified.” I gave a little laugh to show him that I wasn't super serious. Zander tightened his grip around my shoulder. I exhaled, feeling the tension in my muscles ease.

“Oh, right,” Griff said as if he'd just remembered something. “Rhys came by earlier and he'd like you to drop by our house after your visit here. Said he had something to talk about, though I couldn't quite figure out what.” Griff's expression turned thoughtful, but also like he was contemplating something he didn't like to think about. “It's awful what happened to him but he seems to have gotten over it well.” He glanced at Dean, at his baby and then at me. “Family is so important when stuff like this happens.”

I nodded, knowing that Rhys was lucky he had all of us. That I was lucky too. I wondered what he wanted to talk about, though.

Somehow, I didn't have a good feeling about this.

* * *

After our trip to the hospital, I had Zander drop me off at Griff's house, since I was pretty sure that whatever my brother wanted to discuss, he'd want to have this conversation in private. With Griff and Dean gone, he probably thought this was the best time for it.

When I knocked on the door, he opened it with a finger on his lips.

“Shh. I just got Bastian down for his nap, and let me tell you, that kid is impossible to put to sleep.”

I stifled a laugh. If the kid had anything of his Daddy in him, I could picture that. As quietly as possible, I bypassed my brother and stepped into the house behind him. The walls were full of Bastian's drawings, and of photographs showing the boy. My favorite was the one where he sat in Dean's lap along with the family dog, touching his nose. All of the photographs were nice, though. Really nice. Perhaps I should ask Griff to take some of my kid too, when he was born. Sure paid to have a photographer in the family.

“Griff said you wanted to talk about something?” I said turning back to my twin.

“Yes.” For just a moment, the lines around Rhys' mouth tightened, but then he made himself relax. “Let's go into the kitchen. I'll make us some hot chocolate.”

“Hot chocolate? Why?” Not that I was opposed...

“Because you're going to be upset and Mom always made us hot chocolate when we were upset.” He said it so matter-of-factly that I didn't know how to react. I was going to be upset? I'll admit, I'd had a suspicion that was going to happen, but part of me had still hoped that Rhys called me here to discuss whether he should put some funky color in his hair or something—which would be awesome, if totally unlikely.

Quietly—sort of stumped, really—I took a seat at the spacious kitchen island and watched my brother search the shelves for hot chocolate. “I know it was here somewhere,” he murmured.

“What's going to upset me?” I asked finally as he pulled the box from the upper left shelf.

“Everything that has to do with my husband upsets you,” Rhys said, but paid me no mind as he went on to get mugs for the both of us. For me, he picked one with colorful birds and flowers on it. As if that was going to cheer me up. My hands tightened around it, even though it was still empty.

“What's going on with your husband?” In this context, even just saying the word husband left a bad taste in my mouth.

Without saying anything, Rhys ladled hot chocolate powder into my mug. Then he topped it up with water from a pitcher before taking it from me to heat it in the microwave along with his own mug. “There's nothing going on really,” he said as we waited for the beep. The whole situation seemed kind of surreal to me, how Rhys was trying to comfort me before I even knew what I was going to be upset about, but it was so very like him. He knew I wasn't going to like what he had to say to me, so he tried to make up for it.

That we hadn't actually fought yet was immaterial.

“Did the asshole contact you?” I asked, needing to get to the bottom of this.

“He did.” Rhys spoke calmly. The microwave beeped and he got our mugs out, putting steaming hot chocolate in front of me just as I was starting to feel upset. Okay, maybe he had planned this well. It was difficult to get angry when he was being this considerate.

Still... “You shouldn't talk to him,” I insisted.

Rhys shook his head. “He didn't do anything to me. Actually, he wants to apologize for what his family did.” Rhys looked aside. “He sounded really depressed.”

“What, am I supposed to feel bad for the guy now?” Because that was ridiculous. If he was feeling sad now, well, he should. He was never getting Rhys back and he was never hurting him again. I wasn't going to let that happen.

“He wants to bring me some of my stuff I left behind,” Rhys spoke on as if I hadn't said anything.

“No,” I said flatly. “I'll go get your stuff if you want it.” But I wasn't going to trust that asshole anywhere near my twin again.

“Nick, please. Nothing's going to happen. I'm not gonna get back together with him or anything. He wants to bring me my things and apologize. Don't make a big deal out of it.” He pushed my mug closer to me as if urging me to take a sip and calm down. I inhaled the chocolatey scent and tried to let it soothe my nerves, but it wasn't working. “Dean already agreed,” Rhys said. “This is his house, you know.”

Internally, I growled. How could Dean think this was okay?

“He thinks getting closure would be good for me,” Rhys explained, stirring his drink. Maybe he was a little bit nervous, too. “Also, I kind of suspect he'll have one ear on the door the whole time.”

I sighed. “Why are you even telling me all this if you've already decided you're going to do it?”

Rhys looked me in the eyes. “I'm not asking for your permission, you know? If I want to have a conversation with my husband, I will. I just don't want us to fight again. I guess I'm giving you time to prepare yourself mentally? I know how much you hate Jeremiah.” He reached across the table to lay his hand on mine. “I promise this is the last time.”

What could I say? Rhys was right; he wasn't asking me for permission. I wasn't his keeper, even if I wanted to be. Closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose, I took a deep breath. I didn't like this, not at all, I did appreciate that Rhys was talking to me about it, though. If I shot him down now, he might withdraw again going forward.

“Okay,” I said finally, reluctantly. “Tell me just one thing.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Why did I wake up nearly having a panic attack in November? You never told me what happened.” That was a piece of information I was still missing.

“Nothing happened.”

“Rhys…Don’t tell me I’m making this up. You go to bed at 10 p.m. and wake up at 6 a.m. pretty much every day of your life, but that night you were up way past midnight when I texted you.”

“I had a bad dream.”

“Why?”

Rhys’ eyes strayed to the side. This was obviously something he didn’t want to talk about. Before speaking, he took a sip of his drink, as if hoping it would warm him from the inside. “My neighbor was found dead that night.”

“Your neighbor?” I reached across the table to hold my brother’s hand.

“We were friends. He was omega too, mated to the town’s mayor.” Rhys grimaced. “The mayor is my father-in-law, by the way. Henry was his third mate.”

My eyebrows climbed my forehead. “I thought Vinists believe marriage to be sacred.”

“His first mate died of heart disease, his second… I’m not actually sure what happened. They don’t talk about it.”

“What happened to Henry?”

Rhys shook his head. “He and the mayor fought sometimes. I could hear them. Then one day, Henry was gone. I thought he’d run away, you know? But that night they found his body in the woods. He’d hung himself.” Rhys’ face went pale. “I think… I don’t think he did it himself, you know? It wasn’t… he wasn’t like that. He wouldn’t have.” With his free hand, he rubbed his face. “No one believed me, though. I think that was the first time I realized how ugly the ugly side of our community could be.”

Stomach clenching, I squeezed my brother’s hand. Of course he’d been scared. “But you thought your husband was different?”

“He is different,” Rhys insisted. “But I realized that I couldn’t stay with him, regardless. It just took me a little longer to come to that decision.”

I studied my brother’s face. He was still convinced of his husband’s innocence, but could I trust his judgement? “Your husband threw a plate at you,” I reminded him.

Rhys sighed, as if he was already tired of explaining this. “He wasn’t aiming at me and that’s the only time he’s ever shown physical aggression. He didn’t even put up a fight when I told him I was leaving. He’s not like the rest of his family, but they’re a bad influence on him.” He took another deep breath and his features grew softer. “I know he’s not perfect and I know it was the right decision to leave, but every time I look at him I still see the guy who brought me donuts and coffee every day that I was working on my thesis. I didn’t marry him just because, you know? But I’m going to divorce him and I’d like to tell him that in person, at least.”

“Okay.” What else could I say, at this point? I didn’t want to make this harder on my brother than it already was, and Dean was going to be here, so maybe… With a sigh, I let go of his hand. “Have your last meeting. Get your closure.” Get your divorce.

“Thank you.”

I took a sip of my hot chocolate. Sadly, it did nothing to calm my nerves. Was Rhys making the right decision here? I didn't know.

I could only hope so.