Fifteen.

For Sammy and Eloise, the journey to Portland took the same time it always did, however for Daniel, not so much. He felt as though it was at least five hours longer. Thanks to being stuck in the car with two hormonal females intent on exacerbating their symptoms by the way of either a sugar high or sugar crash. Apparently all the extra brownies were necessary now for Sammy's nausea. Although, he suspected that was just a trick to stop him from objecting to her putting herself in a diabetic coma; which was becoming more and more of a prominent worry in his mind. Yet, even though that was the case, he still wasn't brave enough to try and remove them from the vicinity.

Not again anyway.

He learned that lesson the hard way the night the Portland trip was arranged. When he got home from sparring with Shane, the kitchen was full of tray after tray of chocolate brownies. There was no room to put anything anywhere, and the smell was becoming overwhelming to his werewolf senses. He was on the phone to Abigail about bringing them around the next morning for the pack, when Sammy came in from the bedroom, and upon hearing him began to cry. He never knew someone so beautiful could produce so much snot. It was remarkable really and a testament to his devotion to her that he willingly became her man sized *Kleenex* as he comforted her.

At least he thought so.

Sammy on the other hand was just confused and heartbroken at the fact, that the love of her life would attempt to just give away her only joy without a second thought. She even asked if he could so carelessly do the same to their child at one point, should their belongings take up too much room.

Daniel still shuddered at how Sammy went from nought to one hundred, and with such an extraordinarily extreme circumstances. He would never give away their child. He would never allow their child to be taken, or harmed in any way; not while there was breath in his body, andd after reassuring his sobbing hiccuping mate of that fact, he had to cave and offer her a brownie from a random tray at his side.

Sammy ate the whole tray before forcing a smile. It had been a very stressful day.

There was still another seven months of her pregnancy Daniel had realised with horror, and genuinely questioned how he might survive it. Especially with the added stress of trips to Dark Lake in Colorado, to contend with.

But Sammy and Eloise had answered him on that front as well, earlier on this very journey when he phrased that question as a joke during one of their sugar crashes.

"Learn to make chocolate brownies." They had said in unison, prior to bursting into another fit of giggles.

Women were insane.

That was the only explanation he could come up with.

A fortnight ago they had arranged this trip, and the two females had been almost inseparable since. Daniel suspected their mutual anger at Henry was bringing them closer together. Finding a common ground in their situations and bonding over it, as opposed to dealing with their emotions alone. Although, he doubted they were truly dealing with it. Mostly just teaming up together to stop the other from a downward spiral; and Daniel could support that, because this way, Sammy was, for the most part at least not letting her bastard brother drag her down.

They were now checked in at their hotel, and Sammy and Eloise had disappeared to get drinks, claiming the corner store on the street would be cheaper than plundering the mini bar for fruit juices, and for once Daniel he was happy just to surrounded by the silence of solitude for twenty minutes. The revelations were affecting him as well. As the child of his Beta genetics and Sammy's Alpha ones, their infant would have a very strong claim to the Alpha seat of Dark Lake. It was something that made him incredibly uncomfortable. He didn't trust Michelle, he had noticed the dark looks she threw Sammy, and this made him worry for the safety of his loved ones. How far would she go to protect her lineage?

His child could theoretically challenge Henry as an adult, possibly even their unborn cousin and with his infant's genetic history, had they a wolf or not, they could be stubborn enough to do just that. It was a terrifying prospect. One he wasn't sure how best to prepare for. But, his next conundrum was explaining all this to Sammy. How would she cope, knowing the wolf world she was trying so hard to accept and learn the rules of, may be a threat to her unborn child. A child he had seen with his very eyes, that already meant the world to her.

Sammy often forgot about Daniel's more developed senses, specifically hearing. Over the last week or so his mate had taken to singing nursery rhymes to her stomach when she thought no one could hear her. It always made him smile, especially as she seemed convinced they were having a boy. Daniel didn't mind either way, he just loved hearing Sammy sing to the little one.

Presently, his feet were still on the floor of the hotel room, but the rest of his body was flopped back on the bed staring at the ceiling as he tried to decompress. He had noted that there was a strange brown stain up there, most likely a water mark from a pipe above that had leaked at some point; dripping away on the plasterboard above his head until it was repaired. The stain however, was likely left to dry out before the ceiling could be repainted, then promptly forgotten about by the staff. At least that was Daniel's expectation.

Daniel thought about going and buying a small tub of white emulsion to fix it himself, but maybe a medium tub would be better, that way he could give the whole ceiling enough coats of paint, that there wouldn't be one glaringly white spot up there. He closed his eyes while he listed what he would need: paint, dust sheets, tape, brushes, rollers, and a paint tray. Probably should get some overalls as well to keep his clothes clean. But, then he questioned whether the reception would question him carting this stuff in through the lobby. Would he be better sneaking it into the room in small amounts to avoid being caught. He even considered that he may be better getting plain bags as well, instead of the generic ones from the hardware store. Possibly less noticeable that way.

He was still mentally going over the best techniques for his stealth painting mission, when he realised his arm had pins and needles, and was becomingrather uncomfortable. He opened his eyes and turned to look at the offending limb.

But the sight that met him was far from offensive.

Sammy was asleep. Snuggled up against him, halfway down the bed instead of in it, while using his arm for a pillow. She had even grabbed his jacket and spread it out over the two of them as opposed to climbing into bed properly herself. The sight made him smile, and filled his heart with joy. His mate, lying in his arms as she slept, with her whisps of blonde hair splayed across her face, as he goose pimpled flesh objected to the coolness of the room and to her light pyjamas.

Daniel quickly glanced across at the clock on the bedside table, the red lights made it to be four-thirty in the morning. He had fallen asleep.

He gently removed himself from his sleepy other half and discarded his clothes before pulling back the blankets and lifting Sammy into the bed properly. She was already in her pyjamas, and quite content to snuggle back against Daniel when he himself climbed in a moment later, a sigh of contentment leaving her lips as she resumed her small snores. Sammy refused to believe she snored, Daniel had threatened to record it to prove it to her on many an occasion. It was the one occasion she would frequently remember his otherwise forgotten hearing advances, and blame it quite openly. Daniel found this all hilarious, and took great pleasure in comparing her to a boat fog horn while she slept.

In truth, it didn't bother him in the slightest. He enjoyed drifting to sleep to his own live action white noise machine. It meant Sammy was close.

Daniel did fall asleep again, and quite easily too, watching and listening to the love of his life, the stain on the ceiling and his plans for a repair completely forgotten about.