Chapter 100: The letter

He came over and gently set our daughter in my arms. She was so precious and tiny. I held her and looked down with a smile. She opened up a pair of brilliant green eyes and made an adorable little coo.

“Oh,” I breathed.

She turned her head and started nuzzling against my chest. ”She's ready to nurse,” Segel said.

“What do I do?” I said, suddenly feeling wholly overwhelmed.

“She knows what to do. Luckily you're in a large shirt. Just pull down right here.” He tugged the loose neckline of the shirt down, until it hooked underneath one of the small one of the small man boobs I had developed. Our little girl nuzzled a bit more, mouth opening and closing like a little bird.

“May I?” Segel asked. I nodded, and he gently guided my nipple to her mouth. “Ah,” I cried out, as she latched on hard.

“It's a bit uncomfortable at first,” Segel said. “But you'll get used to it.”

Soon she was eagerly sucking. He showed me how to hold her and in a moment I was sitting there, holding our daughter, while Eron held our son.

“Congratulations,” Segel said.

“How did we not know we were having twins?” Eron asked, still looking quite stunned.

“I'm afraid that's my fault,” Segel said. “I haven't delivered twins in a long time. And my portable equipment isn't very sensitive. Depending on the way they were laying in the womb, it was impossible to hear the second heartbeat when we were checking for it and, to be honest, I wasn't really listening for it.”

“Twins,” Eron said again, dazed.

Our son started wiggling and nuzzling him. “Ready for number two?” Segel asked me.

I felt a wide smile cross my face as I held out an arm for my son.I heard of the now familiar clink of the mail slot opening.

“Looks like we got some mail,” I said watching the letters fall to the ground. “Thank you,” Milan called.

“You're welcome,” came back a muffled voice.

We had the louvers on all the windows and the door wide open, and a beautiful spring breeze was coming in. I could just smell the salty ocean air. It reminded me a lot of Half Moon. Sometimes I felt really at home here. Other times I found that I was missing the island. I smiled at my mate. He was nursing Torrin, cradling the little boy gently in his arms. The twins had already put on so much weight since being born, they were healthy and happy, in spite of the somewhat lacking checkups.

I turned my attention to our daughter, Riviera. She was nestled snugly in my arms, sound asleep. Moving slowly and carefully, I eased myself to my feet, and gently set her down in a nearby bassinet. I rocked it for a moment while she stirred, and smiled as she fell into a sound sleep. Then, I headed to the door.

“Did they really change last night?” Milan asked me, referencing the full moon. I nodded. “They changed into cats, just like us.”

“Amazing.”

I started sorting through the mail and spotted a letter with my aunt's familiar handwriting on it. Something from Aunt Verona,” I said, tossing it aside. I picked up another letter and swallowed nervously at another set of familiar handwriting. “And… something from the mystery benefactor.”

“You're kidding,” Milan said, turning to look at me. “What is it?”

I swallowed nervously. “I don't know, but it's strange. I usually don't get gifts so close together.

He only just sent money for the café. He typically sends things a few years apart.” “Open it,” he suggested.

I sighed, I might as well get it over with. I sat down the rest of the mail, which looked like mostly bills and coffee supply catalogs, and opened up the mystery benefactor’s envelope. As always, there was a single piece of paper, with just one sentence.

“For your baby,” I read softly. I dropped the piece of paper on the table and shrugged helplessly at Milan. “He knows my mate has a coffee shop to save, and apparently knows within a couple of weeks that you gave birth. Unbelievable.”

“Did you say baby though? Singular?” Milan said. I glanced down to letter. “Yes. Baby.”

Milan turned to me with a somewhat triumphant grin. “So, that's a clue,” he said eagerly. “The mystery benefactor doesn't know we had twins!”

“No,” I said, picking up the letter again. “For your baby. No… he doesn't know we had twins.

Unfortunately, it's not much of a clue. Nobody knows we've had twins, except the doctor.”

“But,” Milan said. “That means that the mystery benefactor isn't, I don't know, watching us or anything. If he was, he'd see that we had two babies. Whoever the mystery benefactor is, he's not here, following you. He's somewhere else.”

“Yeah…” It was actually kind of a comforting thought. I was forever glancing over my shoulder, waiting for a stalker of some kind.

“What did he send?” Milan asked. He stood slowly, still cradling Torrin gently.

I pulled out the receipts and looked at them. Baby places. A couple of different ones for a grand total of… I shook my head. “Five thousand dollars worth of baby stuff.”

Milan shook his head as well. “And you got one from your aunt?”

“I did,” I answered, glad for the distraction. That was a bit unusual. She preferred the instant gratification of knowing if I was all right, and how I was doing, in calls and emails.

In fact, on the phone call with her this morning – checking in on me after the full moon – she hadn't given any indication that she sent me a letter. Then again, I was careful to keep the post-full moon conversations brief and succinct, since I didn't want anyone to know yet about Milan and the twins. I couldn't wait to see my family’s reaction. And I honestly couldn't imagine what Aunt Verona would think when she found out that Milan had suggested naming the twins after my parents. I tried to insist that we use his mother's name for our daughter instead. But he was confident we'd have another daughter to honor his mother with, so Riviera and Torrin it was.

I opened the envelope and was surprised to see a card, rather than a letter. I opened it up, wondering in alarm if she somehow knew about the twins.

“What is it?” Milan asked, noting my curious frown.

“It's… an invitation,” I said, as I slowly studied it. I read over it a couple times, to be sure. “It looks like it's sort of a double-wedding reception for Carrick and Brooks, Rion and his mate Elliott, an almost first birthday party for their daughter.”