Chapter 158 The future
“Why are we going to the doctor, Mommy?” Sophia asked, tugging her mother‘s hand. “The doctor is go ing to show us what the baby looks like,” she explained. “We‘ll see the baby?” Charlie asked. “But how ?”
Their mom laughed lightly. Sophia and Charlie rolled their eyes at each other. “There‘s a machine that allows doctors to see inside my belly while they baby is still growing. We will see the baby on a screen, like a TV screen,” she told them. “That‘s so cool!” Sophia said. “Is the baby going to see us too?” Gabri el asked. “No, the baby can‘t see us. But the baby can hear and feel.” Their mom stopped walking and took each of their hands, putting them on her belly. “Th e baby knows who is who and they you‘re their siblings.” “Really?” Charlie asked, eyes nearly popping out of his head. “Really,” their mom said, laughing again. The doctor put their mom on a table, laying her down. Their dad held her hand as the doctor squeezed some blue gel on her stomac h. She was getting rounder. The kids noticed it but now they could see her big belly with her shirt lifted up. “Ready to see what‘s cooking in there?” the doctor said. “Our baby isn‘t cooking!” Sophia cried, horr ified at the idea of the baby ‘cooking! “Honey, it is just an expression,” her mom assured, patting her ha nd. “I just meant that there‘s a baby growing in there,” the doctor confirmed, nodding at the kids.
She pressed a little wand on their mom‘s belly, and the screen flickered with a black and white image of lines and blobs. “That‘s the baby?” Charlie asked, wrinkling his face. “Yes, that‘s the baby,” the doctor said. She pointed to some of the lines. “There‘s the head, and you can see the little heart beating. It loo ks like you‘re having a girl.” “A girl?” their mom gushed. She looked at their dad, starry eyed. “A girl?” S ophia asked, crossing her arms. “Yay! No more boys!” Charlie cried. “Two boys and two girls,” Gabriel s aid, “That‘s perfect.” “Yeah, I guess,” Sophia grumbled. She liked being the only girl, but everyone else was really happy. “What do you think, is a girl good?” their mom asked their dad The kids waited for him to answer. He hadn‘t smiled at all yet, Sophia hoped that he thought of her as his o nly princess No room for another girl,
“I think a girl is the perfect addition to our family.” their dad said. He leaned in and kissed their mom‘s h ead, then put his hand on the back of Sophia‘s. “I want to be the only princess,” Sophia insisted,
“You are a princess,” her dad assured. “This new baby won‘t be a replacement. Just another princess f or our family.” Sophia smiled. As long as she was the original princess, she could be okay with a young er sister “We‘re going to have a girl!” Charlie cried.
Gabriel, Charlie, and Sophia started running around the room. “We‘re going to have a girl, we‘re going t o have a girl,” they sang as they ran around, \[Flash Forward
When all his kids were grown, Thomas finally decided to step down as Alpha, handing over the reins of Starseeker to Santino. They were going to have a formal ceremony for both Starseeker and Moon See ker to become one pack. Serena and Logan were there with their kids. Oliver had grown into a strong prospective Alpha and Olivia was always push ing him out of his comfort zone.
Sophia and Olivia had become best friends and had recently become roommates in their own house
Charlie, Gabriel, and Oliver had arranged similar living conditions for themselves. Sophia and Olivia we re on the Moon Seeker side of the territory line while the three boys were on the Night Sky side, Santin o and Alexandra‘s youngest daughter, Viki – short for Victoria in honor of her great grandmother – wasn‘t ready to move out yet and still lived in the big house with her parents
Life had been good for Santino and Alexandra the past fifteen years. “Are you ready for this?” Alexandr a asked, slipping her hand into his. Santino smirked and nodded, “I‘ve been ready for this for a while.” “ Just waiting on the old man to make up his mind about retirement,” Thomas said, laughing and clappin g Santino on the back. Santino rolled his eyes but laughed. “Yeah, it only took
you fifteen years.” “Well, you had four young kids to take care of, and a pack to rebuild. I didn‘t want to throw more responsibility at you,” Thomas admitted, “Thanks, ever 30” Santino said, rolling his eyes. “I, for one, am grateful that you only had one pack to focus on while we were raisi ng our kids,” Alexandra said, kissing his cheek.
“Dad!” Sophia called, waving to him. “Hey, you, I‘m glad you could make it,” Santino said, hugging his e ldest daughter. She hugged her mother too. “Of course, I‘m here. Charlie and Gabriel are on their way with Oliver. This is a pretty big day,” Sophia said. “It‘s not like I haven‘t been Alpha of my own pack for y ears,” Santino grumbled. “Yeah, but this is the first time two packs in the Federation have merged,” she pointed out.
To no one‘s surprise, Sophia, Charlie, and Gabriel were beyond smart. “Oh, I‘ve got to go say hi to Uncle Logan and Aunt Serena. See you guys!” Sophia ran of f.
“Do you have your speech prepared?” Alexandra asked. She nodded out at the gathered crowd, a huge collection of Moon Seeker and Starseeker members. “I‘m ready, don‘t worry about me,” Santino assure d. Thomas took the microphone first. “Settle down, everyone. I am happy to be here today, as the long– time Alpha of Starseeker. I always knew that when I stepped down, my son, Santino, would take over fo r me. When I leave this stage tonight, I will no – longer be Alpha, and Starseeker will no longer be Starseeker.”
It was a short speech, and there was a ripple of clapping through the crowd. Both packs knew this day w
“It‘s all up to you now, my son,” he muttered.
Santino chuckled nervously and cleared his throat. “Thank you everyone, for gather today. As you all know, the Federation has struggled in the past and humility that I take on the role of Alpha for a newly merged pack. Under one Alpha, in a combined te
“You‘re late,” Alexandra chastised. “I heard the speeches. What else is there?” she asked, still owning that teena
Gabriel and Sophia wandered over, laughing. “That‘s not too hard, you know,” Sophia teased, flipping a Viki‘s hair. The youngest girl glared at her older siblings. She‘d always been the one to get teased most, but Viki had really learned to hold h wide embrace. The tangle of bodies and arms swayed dangerously, causing them all the laugh and try to and enjoy the party, Santino put his arm around Alexandra‘s shoulders. “Well, we finally did it,” he mused.