Chapter Ninety-Seven

*2-day time skip: the day of the dinner*

***Kautious***

I have a doctor’s appointment today to check on the pup. I’m so nervous because it’s still so early, but the doctor wants frequent checkups to avoid any miscarriage-type situations. I am getting dressed to leave when Faye walks into the room. She smiles at me, “Would you like me to go with you?” I give her a small smile, trying to hide the nervousness, “No, it’s okay. I want to do this one alone if that’s okay.” She nods, “Whatever makes you most comfortable.” Walking up to me, she plants a gentle kiss on my cheek and walks over to the bed, lying down and propping her feet up. I give her a small wave and leave the room. When I get to the kitchen, I explain to Scorpius and Hadrian that I’d like to do this appointment alone and that I will be fine. I’ll contact them through the mind link if anything comes up. Then I’m walking out the front door and heading to the doctor’s office.

Once I arrive, I greet the receptionist and she takes me back for my appointment. I speak with the doctor a bit about how I’ve been feeling and he checks my vitals. When all that is done, he pulls out the ultrasound machine, “Okay Kautious. I need you to lay back and lift your shirt. This gel will be a bit cold.” I nod and do as told, hissing when the gel touches my stomach. The picture comes up on the screen and I smile as I see the little bean-sized baby in my stomach. The doctor moves the wand around and stares at the screen, shocked, “Well, this is a pleasant surprise!” I look at him, slightly confused. He prints the ultrasound and quickly writes something on a paper before putting them both in an envelope. He then helps me clean the gel and sit up before holding out the envelope, “Well, here you are. This will explain everything. All is well! Your next appointment card is in there as well. Please call or stop by if you have any questions!” I walk out of the office, extremely confused. When I’m outside of the clinic, I glance into the envelope, completely astonished by what’s in the ultrasound. I mind link my mates for a moment, “Hey guys. Going to stop to pick up some things for the pregnancy reveal gifts so I can make them when I get back. Need anything?” I get 3 no’s before Hadrian asks, “How did the appointment go?” I smile and bite my lip, “All is well! I’ll see you all soon!” I shut the link off before anyone could say anything else. I make my way to a small shop that sells shirts. As I open the door, the young girl at the counter greets me, “Welcome in! What can I help you with today Kautious?” I smile and bring her the envelope, “Okay, so no one knows yet. Please keep this on the down low. But I need the picture on this envelope printed on a shirt. I will also need it to have a tear away sheet the same color as the shirt. I was thinking a white shirt, then we can do a white fabric over the picture with maybe velcro or something so it’s easy to remove?” She looks in the envelope and squeals, “CONGRATS! Yes, I can do that for you!” I grab a piece of paper and write out a phrase on it, “Oh, can I get this written somewhere on the picture, please? I’m announcing tonight and want it to be a total surprise.” She nods eagerly, “This will take me about 15 minutes, is that okay?” I nod and give her a big smile, “That’s fine. I have to go run and get a few more things, so I’ll be back!” I pay her and then head out to go to another store.

When I reach the store, I grab a few pacifiers and cheap bottles. I also grabbed some blue and pink grass to fill the gift bags I grabbed. When I make my way to the register, I also purchase cards. The male checking me out smiles, “Hello! Is this everything?” I nod, “Yes, that’s all, but do you have a pen I can borrow?” He hands me a pen and I write my notes on the cards before putting the gift bags together quickly. Each bag has a bottle, a pacifier, and a note asking them to be the godparents. Once that’s done, I head back over to the shirt shop, where the sweet girl named Alyssa, greets me and shows me the shirt and the tear-away portion. It is absolutely perfect! I make my way back home and am almost immediately tackled in a hug by Kai as soon as I walk in the door. I let out a squeak and hugged him back. He pulls away, gripping my shoulders, “Kautious! So good to see you! How are you? What’s with the bags? Are we having dinner because it’s an important birthday?” I shake my head and chuckle, “You’ll find out at dinner Kai. I need to go change real quick. I’ll be right back.” I rush up the stairs, changing into black cargo pants, white sneakers, and the new shirt I just bought. I am so nervous to make this announcement tonight. I wonder how everyone will react.

Several hours have passed of everyone visiting in the livingroom. Hadrian and Imani are cooking dinner and it’s almost ready, meaning it’s almost time to do the announcements. Oh, goddess, I hope I don’t fuck this up. Imani calls everyone to the table and we all make our way there. Hadrian is sitting at the head of the table, Faye to his left and Scorpius to his right. Next to Faye is Brad and Tristan, then Jack and Rollie. Next to Scorpius are Akamu and Imani, then Miranda and Kai. I sit at the other head of the table, facing my mates, because this is where I asked to be. I think it’d be easiest to do the announcement from here. Everyone is enjoying dinner, talking happily amongst ourselves. Kai told me how their pack is now doing a new training program, and then Rollie told me about his latest traveling job. I smile and nod along until I hear Faye get up. She smiles at the table, “Can I have everyone’s attention? As you can all see, we are expecting a pup! Which most of you knew already, but tonight, there’s something else important to say.” She pulls out 2 small, rectangular boxes and hands them to Brad and Tristan. They look at her, completely puzzled, and she urges them to open it. They do at the same time and both gasp. Inside the boxes are each their own custom necklace with a note on the lid saying, ‘I’d be honored if you were the godfather.’ Tristan bursts into tears and pulls her into a hug, Brad joining soon after, both saying yes to being the godfather of the pup.

Once they’ve calmed down and everyone has congratulated them, I slowly stand up, drawing everyone’s attention. I shift nervously for a second, looking at my mates, who are all giving me encouraging smiles. I pull out 2 bags from my chair and hand one to Rollie and one to Kai. They give me the most puzzled looks, but before they can speak, I go first, “Okay, here’s how I want to do this. I would like you guys to open the gifts quietly and read the cards inside in silence, okay?” They nod at me, looking suspicious. I gesture for them to open the gifts, and when they do, I see their eyes go wide as they look at me and hand the card to the person closest to them as instructed in the card (Kai’s goes to Miranda while Rollie’s goes to Jack). I get more owl-eyed looks from the next 2 as the rest of the table has tilted heads and confused looks as to what is happening. Suddenly, all the others are startled as Rollie, Jack, Kai, and Miranda all stand and make their way to my sides, Kai on my left and Rollie on my right. They both reach for my shirt and when I nod, they tear off the white fabric covering the picture, to which everyone’s jaws drop, especially my mates. On the shirt is my ultrasound picture. In pretty green writing, it says, “Surprise! We’re having TWINS!” With an arrow pointing to Baby A and Baby B.