Cheryl’s POV
TWO MONTHS LATER AT BLACK ADDER PACK
I am at my fifteenth-month mark this week, and I could feel that I am getting very close to the babies coming. I can feel that it is almost time. Anton is ecstatic, and so is Doctor Gurin, oddly enough, I think he is just as happy about this as we are. We had learned what we were having a few months back, but we kept a lid on it from everyone. We wanted it to be a surprise for everyone when the babies arrived. We also wanted to pick out their names and that their names were meaningful to us. I hated having to wait on getting their rooms ready, I wanted to have prepared them while I could still get around pretty well. Anton reminded me that they would be sleeping with us in our room in their bassinet at first. He assured me that I could get their rooms completed before they started sleeping in them. I still cannot believe how well he designed this house. It was like he knew that we would be having these children.
He still swears he didn’t know, that he just felt compelled to design the home that way. His explanation of the feeling he got made me smile, as it was something that the Moon Goddess would do. A kind of “hint” if you will, usually given while you were sleeping. She was good like that, putting something into your heart. It was wonderful that she did it like that. It was better for the house design to be this way, and for me to not have to go stumbling upstairs half asleep to feed them. That would have been a recipe for disaster. So I made mental notes and some lists of what I wanted to do in their rooms a few months ago. I had a notebook where I had their wall colors picked out, and I had ordered all the cute and cheerful decorations for their rooms. We were prepared as far as we needed to be now, all we were waiting on was for them to arrive. Their little bassinets were built and ready to go right now.
I have to say that I am super excited about getting to see them for the first time. Having Doctor Gurin and Doctor Max around helped me to feel calmer about this. I was worried that being pregnant with vampires was going to be completely different than when I gave birth to my pups. I was assured that was not the case. It will be the same, and I am no longer worried about some odd thing popping up to throw me off. I have asked all the pertinent questions, I feel secure in knowing that both Doctors will take care of me and the babies. There are a few concerns though that Anton, Doctor Gurin, and I have though. The biggest one is if there will be an issue for them for me phasing into a vampire, while I was pregnant with them. none of us know the answer to that question. It is the only thing that I am concerned about right now, and until I see my precious babies, I will be worried about them. I pray each day for them, and that they are perfect.
None of us even considered that I could even get pregnant. Both Anton and I had decided that we would just be raising Kevin and Robert together, and he had been happy with that. He always wanted to be a father, but never thought it was possible for him to be one. My pregnancy has opened up a whole new world to them, one where the men in the coven are paying more attention when they come to visit here. They had all asked Anton how he knew that we were compatible with each other. Anton just told them that he had felt drawn to me, from the moment he saw me at Blood Tracker. He was riding in the SUV with the majority of his coven and had not been looking for love. He liked to say that love found him when he spoke about us. He makes me happy every day, and I would not trade him for anything in this world.
He treats me like I am a treasure to him. A gift that is invaluable. Every night he shows me in both words and acts, just how important I am to him. He has repaired my broken heart, and he builds me up with each passing day. I depend on him so much, and I cannot imagine my life without him. My fear of this upcoming attack worries me, as I do not want anything to happen to him. Any of us could be hurt, or killed, in it. I worry for my sons and my babies. Anton insists that I stay behind to protect Robert and the twins. Brandon has decided that only the teenagers that are 17 and up can participate in the battle. They all want to fight to protect the pack, but the requirements have a caveat. The teen needs to be well-versed in fighting and techniques, as well as at least one weapon. That exempted Robert from the fight, in both aspects. He won’t be 17 for almost 6 months, plus he never trained until he got here. He would be a sitting duck out there.
I will tell him that he can help me protect the babies and the other children that will be here too. There is a reason for that. After Anton found out that I was pregnant, he added additional safety features to our already pretty secure home. There are now steel frames that will be slid up from the ground, and into place to cover our doors, both front and back. There are also steel window bars, security bars if you will, for the first and second floors that were also installed. Due to us both being vampires, he designed the home with minimal windows anyway. We have a lot of lighting inside to keep the home bright, but without it being harmful to either of us being in it. That was one of the companies that he owed. It was a home security company, that had a few similar companies tied to it. He was not taking a chance on losing me or the babies with this battle hanging over our heads. He set the theatre room up as a panic room now, with a steel door, on both the inside of the room and the outside of the room. Once we are secured in there, no one will be able to get to us unless someone with an approved fingerprint opens it.
Anton had thought of everything when he designed the house plans with the architect. He even had the exterior built with an ignition-resistant material. He has been a vampire for a long time now, and people are just as scared and paranoid of them today, as they were hundreds of years ago. He had put that in the design in the original plans, as he was worried about Blake coming back and trying to get to me, by driving us all out of the home. Anton covered all the bases, but I am scared to let him fight alone. I would rather it be the both of us out there fighting side by side. I want us to be together until the end like we promised each other we would. I love Anton, and I know that we will love the twins the moment they are in our arms, as I love them already now. But I feel the need to be with him during the fight watching his back just like I know that he would protect mine.
I also told him that we needed to have a few others' fingerprints scanned into the panel too. Like Brandon, Raven, or Justin, as we do not know what will be happening during this fight. Anton has been getting us prepared for battle in our home too. He had a gun safe installed in the panic room, as he had me trained on weapons as well. I am prepared with food, drinks, and blood in the room already. Anton has a checklist printed up of what needs to be done the moment they arrive in the area. He wants us to use the time it takes them to get on the property to get the children safe and secure. The elderly, and the rest of the children will go to the safe area under the new packhouse. Brandon had really thought it out, he had it built with restrooms and stocked with bottles of water, and snacks that get rotated out each month so they won’t expire. We are all trying to be proactive here and make it work. My brother Leander, and his family will be running the safe area. Truett and Stella refused to do it, they are two of the pack's strongest fighters, and Raven was going to be out there fighting too. There is paperwork in the safe noting who the next Alpha will be, it is very detailed as Brandon wanted to make it clear who was going to be the next in line, and so on.
Brandon had listened to what I was saying about access for the coven. There are now 10 different access points between our pack and the coven. All of the coven’s members have been scanned into the system for them to be able to come here, especially in case of emergency. When Doctor Gurin is coming he can just hit one of the access panels and come straight over. It is actually quicker for them to do that than to use a vehicle. I am excited about starting my training again once the twins arrive. All of the ranked wolves, as well as Anton and I, were on the scan panel to be able to go into the coven. The vampires all knew who we all were, and we would be safe there if we ever needed to go into their territory. They have their own security wall on their perimeter now, as they were in as much potential danger of being attacked, as we were.
Anton was in contact with Alexei every day. They were both waiting to see what Ivan could sense, as far as when we would be getting attacked. We also wanted to know what he could see as far as the outcome too once it starts. He will be keeping them all informed of what he sees as the battle progresses. I can hear him as I am now part of the coven, as well as a member of this pack. His ability to be able to see the future could help us to be able to take the upper hand in the fight. We were leaving no stone unturned, as we prepare each day, as we are getting closer and closer to an attack. Raven had told us all about what the Goddess warned her of the last time she came to her. We know that in two to three short months they will come. I wish the Goddess could be clearer as to when they will show up, like Tuesday the 6th, but that would be showing partiality to us. We had already received a blessing with her even giving Raven a heads up in the two dreams that she had.
That is more than most get. Usually, we get a gut feeling that just won’t leave. Raven being a descendant was blessed with actually getting to see her and speak with her. I was glad that she got to see Cassandra too. The guilt of my actions was killing me, but I had not mentioned it to anyone. Just knowing that Cassandra knew what I was going to have to do, and still came with me to allow me to escape. That she knew the full weight of what I was put through at Black Moon, and that my son’s life was at risk too. I could never repay her for what she did for me and my son. I hope to see her again in the afterlife, when my time here is done, to thank her personally. It seemed that her selfless act to help both Kevin and me, allowed the Goddess to bless her again. I was glad that the Goddess had come to Cassandra too to tell her what was happening and gave Cassandra an opportunity to correct the past wrongs that she had done.
The boys will be spending the night over at the packhouse with their friends. They had already had the boys come over twice this week. The boys were all really respectful when they came, and I was so glad that Kevin and Robert were able to be around good friends as much as they were. I was really trying to keep going, but right now, my lower back was really hurting. It had been aching for the last two days, and I hoped that it would feel better soon. That was the most frustrating thing about the pregnancy. This was a unique situation, and we were basically flying blind here. There were no signs to look for as I was a she-wolf when I get pregnant with them. That was a fascinating part for Doctor Gurin. We should not have been pregnant at all. That was how he and the whole coven knew it was because we had truly been blessed by both the Moon Goddess and Maacah, to even be in this situation. This may be our only pregnancy, but we were both really happy about having children together.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared as I do not know what is going to happen. Doctor Gurin was telling me that the births would be very similar to the ones I have already had. I was also glad to hear that vampire children do not get their fangs until about 5 years old. Because I was honestly a little worried about that. But Doctor Gurin said that Anton’s mother had nursed them both, with no problems. I guess it was best that I was turned, as I can feel my breasts are bigger than normal these days. My milk for them was coming in, that new change had started about a month ago. Anton was not complaining about the larger size of them, as he is really enjoying how sensitive they are, and I blushed at the thought of tonight. I am absolutely sure that he will be paying special attention to them.
Anytime the boys spend the night somewhere else, we get to have sex, and not have to worry about keeping it down. Those are really nice nights and I know that as much as he loves the boys, he always enjoys our date nights. Now that I am so pregnant, he went to the packhouse to grab us some food, for us to have a date night tonight. I can’t make it up to the theatre room for a movie, but we will just probably go to bed early tonight anyway. The stairs are much more difficult these days, and it feels like I have been pregnant forever at this point. I think of myself as an elephant now, as they are pregnant for long periods of time too. I rub my stomach, and I feel a kick on each side as if the babies are telling me that they will be here soon. They are both facing down already. It seems like it is almost go time already, we are just waiting on our little bundles of joy to decide to show up.
Raven had a baby shower for us, and it was so nice. My mom and Cassandra had bought me a few things when I had Forest, but I had never been thrown a shower for any of my children. My mother acted like she thought that I had everything that I wanted or needed, but she knew no one had actually thrown a baby shower for me. I started crying when I showed up in the meeting room for what I thought was a meeting but was actually my baby shower. Raven was so upset that I hadn’t been given a shower the first time around. I know sometimes she hears things that get her upset. But it was so thoughtful of them to think of me and do this for us. They did neutral colors for their clothes, and we got the two beds, bedding, and just so many things. I was really surprised by all that we had been given for the twins. Anton had told me not to worry about their stuff because he was just going to bulk order whatever I wanted. So I had spent a lot of time picking out the bedding, beds, and the rest of the things I wanted, and never suspected anything. But now I know that he knew all about this, and had just kept it a surprise from me.
It had been a wonderful surprise, and I was so happy to get to spend time with so many lovely women. The ladies from the coven had come too, and they still can’t stop themselves from wanting to touch my stomach. I know that it is almost impossible for them to get pregnant, and I can see the wistful looks they give me. They are all really nice women, and I hope that one day they can get to experience it too. I sometimes feel guilty because we are getting two when they are still wanting just one baby. But I didn’t get to decide this. My getting pregnant was out of my hands. But I will still take, and appreciate, the blessings that were given to me. I always let them feel the babies kick. I know that they consider themselves to be the baby's aunts already. I look forward to watching them grow up with the bonus family that they have in the coven. It is rare for vampires to be born, and not turned, so the whole coven cannot wait to actually get to meet our little blessings.
Anton had bought and placed the little bassinets, with one on either side of the room. He plans on helping me with changings, and feedings. I am still so happy about hearing that. Blake only helped to create our pups. He did nothing but hold them after that. No diaper changes, not even feeding them a bottle even, he just didn’t feel like as an Alpha that he should have to do that. Because it was my work, not his. Anton is the exact opposite of Blake in every way and is hands down the love of my life. I am planning on starting training a few weeks after I give birth. I cannot sit back and allow everyone to fight, and I stay behind in the safety of my home. I plan on being out there, side by side, with my mate. I think that we need to rethink his plan because I don’t know how I could go on living without Anton if he is killed in the battle. Even the thought of it hurts my heart. Not being able to kiss him, hold him, or hear him as he tells me how much he loves me. I don’t think I would want to live after losing him, I know he wants me to stay safe, and protect our children. I know that he needs me to be safe for him to be able to focus on this battle, but I am terrified of losing him. Our babies need their father just as much as they need their mother. I will be bringing it up with Anton when he gets back. I just can’t see myself being OK with him running off to fight in this upcoming attack, at least, not without me by his side.
Last Date Night for a While