Entangled

Chapter 21

I got hit with a bunch of spam comments today, so apologies for the clutter. I tried to report them all, so hopefully Wattpad does something about them.

"Honey, is everything okay?"

Seth pauses on his mother's doorstep, struck by the concern on her face as she opens her front door. He's been so wrapped up in his pack and Becky's pregnancy that he's forgotten to consider what his dazed state must look like to everyone else in his life. "Hey, Mom." Setting the tray of take-out coffees on the entry table, he gives his mother a long hug. "Yeah, everything's fine. Why?"

"Well, usually when we have breakfast together," Holly says, taking the coffees off the table before they can leave heat marks, "I come over to your house because you always like to walk Kevin after."

Shit. Seth wanted to start his visit with his mother as normally as possible so she wouldn't be alarmed, and now she's already suspicious. "Sasha and Becky are there," he says with just a hint of hesitance. His mother knows both women are werewolves, because she had noticed that they were in Iowa for a lot of full moon nights; Seth had asked for Becky and Sasha's permission to tell his mother about them and they both agreed, but he hasn't quite revealed the full nature of their relationships to Holly. He thinks she suspects he's dating Becky, but he's never really brought it up. No time like the present.... Then he clears his throat. "Kevin gets along really well with both of them," he adds, "and they said they'd take him for a walk. Becky still hasn't got another dog and she misses the walks, so I thought she might enjoy it."

"Oh, no." Holly puts the coffees on the kitchen counter beside the bowl of pancake batter she made and clasps both hands over her mouth. "Did you get released?"

"What? Mom, no. I'm fine—"

"But the moon's over." She sounds more confused than anything. "I thought they tended to leave after you had your moon run."

Seth's not sure where to start. It would all be easier if he had just been honest from the beginning—at least as far as Becky's concerned. He can't imagine his mother ever being cool with him having sex with someone's who's married, even if their spouse was aware and fine with the arrangement. "I haven't been released, Mom. Or fired. It's nothing like that, I promise."

"Okay." Holly takes a long swig of her coffee before letting out a sigh. "It's not another photo leak, is it? I know it's none of my business, but you said—"

"No, Mom." Seth motions to the counter. "Let's work on breakfast," he suggests. "We can talk while we're cooking." His mother's not the violent type, so he doesn't have to worry about her having access to knives, but he figures that she might take the news better if her hands are busy. After taking a frying pan from the cupboard, he goes to the fridge to grab some eggs. "Becky and I—well, we started dating a little while ago." Dating seems like an especially mild term to use for their bond, but he's trying to ease into the explanation. "We've been keeping it quiet because of work."

Holly nods slowly. "That makes sense. Well, she seems like a nice girl. I know you've been friends for a long time, which is always a good sign. I'd be happy to have her over for dinner on one of your full-moon weekends. Sasha too, of course," she adds hurriedly. "Unless you think it would make her feel like a third wheel. I wouldn't want her to be uncomfortable."

Seth grabs his coffee and swallows a huge gulp, hoping to drown the laughter that was threatening to bubble up. "I'll let them know," he says simply. Then he waits a minute to see if his mother will make the next logical assumption on her own, but she just looks at him expectantly. Of course it can't be that easy, he gripes. After fortifying himself with more coffee, he meets his mother's gaze and says, "Becky's pregnant. She had it confirmed by a witch and by a human doctor."

"Oh." Holly had been reaching for the stove to turn on one of the burners, but her hand goes still in mid-air. "Will it... will it be a puppy?"

The laughter Seth managed to stifle before bursts out now, sharp and incredulous. Of all the comments he expected his mother to make, that didn't even make the list. "I—no. It—he," he corrects himself. "He. We're having a boy." It's the first time he's said it out loud to anyone outside his pack and he takes a moment to bask in it. "He may be a werewolf, he may not. It's probably more likely because both his parents are werewolves, but it's not a given."

"Don't wolves have litters, though?" Holly's eyebrows dip in confusion. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I just don't understand most of the werewolf details. I did my best to learn when you were younger, since...." She leaves the obvious unsaid and Seth is grateful for it: his biological father wasn't a part of his life, and that's not a legacy he wants to continue. Even if he and Becky don't work out as a couple, he'll do whatever he needs to in order to ensure his son is happy and healthy. "I'm guessing the pregnancy will be different since you're both werewolves," she says instead.

The forced positivity in her voice makes Seth's shoulders stiffen, but he tries to see it from her point of view. His relationship history isn't the greatest, and he hasn't exactly been enthusiastic when it comes to having children. "Yeah. It's around six months instead of nine, and that could be even shorter since it's her first baby." Rattling off the facts is easy; the next bit makes his stomach clench. "She's around the halfway point right now. We just found out this week; apparently werewolf pregnancies can be subtle."

Holly's jaw drops—and so does the ladle, right back into the bowl of pancake batter. Seth quickly wipes up the spatter. "She's—three months along? Halfway? But she's been wrestling all this time!"

"I know. We know. The witch and the doctor both ran a bunch of tests, though," he assures his mother, "and he's healthy. He's okay. Becks can't wrestle for a while, of course, but...."

A different sort of concern darkens Holly's gaze. "What about her job? I know you said she was just getting some momentum again. Does she really want—"

"We didn't plan this, Mom." Seth tries to keep his interjection gentle. Even though he was the one who screwed up most of his relationships, Holly's always been inclined to shift the blame onto his partners. "But Becky's always wanted kids and... I'm happy. We're happy. She knows she'll need some time off—especially since she'll give birth before a human would—but we're going to make it work."

Holly still looks concerned, but she nods slowly, grabbing the ladle again and wiping the handle clean. "So that attack backstage—I didn't see all of it; I was on the phone with your aunt—but was that their way of writing her out of the story?"

Seth nods. "They know she's pregnant and they took every precaution. The boxes on top of her were empty and everything was done really carefully. She's going to find it hard being on the sidelines," he adds, knowing his mother will ask, "but she''ll be spending a lot of time here, so she can work out at Black & Brave as long as it's safe."

He can tell his mother probably has a dozen more questions—and twice as many concerns—but she sets the ladle down so she can hug him. "I hope the pregnancy goes well. I know she'd rather talk with her own mother, but if Becky's going to be here most of for the pregnancy... well, please let her know she can talk with me. I know it's not the same and I know I'm not a werewolf," she adds, "but I'll do whatever I can to help."

"We'll definitely need a babysitter on full-moon nights for a few years," Seth replies, wrapping his arms around his mother. She's made no secret of the fact that she would love to have grandchildren, but he knows this isn't how she envisioned it. It's not how he expected things to play out either, but he also hadn't expected to find other werewolves in WWE—let alone ones who would become his friends and lovers. One of the main tenets of professional wrestling was card subject to change, and their card was about to change in the biggest way possible.