Midfield Academy: Book 3

Chapter 6: Expecting (2 years)

Aden took a deep breath and glanced into his mother's kitchen. It was only a matter of time before everyone arrived to celebrate the twins turning two. His mother hadn't appreciated the lack of enthusiasm with Raven and Daven's first birthday. Karen even held another one a week later and had taken it upon herself to be in charge of birthdays from now on.

He tried to calm his pounding heart, but nothing was working. Would she be mad, happy, both? Shoving his hands in his pockets, he wandered over and leaned against the counter as his mother finished up with the cake decorations. A couple less sweet pies sat nearby.

Karen's eyes ran over her son's face. "Do you need something, sweetheart?"

Looking at his feet, he swallowed hard. "I need to tell you something."

She stopped what she was doing and smile. "I already know."

His mouth dropped open. "How no one knows? Titus even told the doctor to keep it from his parents. We made sure not to tell anyone just in case..." his voice trailed off.

With a warm smile, she grabbed her son's hand. "Because I'm your mother. I saw how losing the last one tore you apart and then suddenly you were perking up again. Not to mention, the last time I visited, you left a baby website up, and you're very bad at hiding those parenting books." She took a deep breath. "So sweetheart, when will my grandbaby finally be here?"

Aden bit his lip. "Next month."

She slapped his arm.

"Aw!" He rubbed the spot. "What?"

"Aden Perri," she said sternly. "I may have figured it out by myself, but I thought the baby was like five months along, six tops. Now I've been told my grandbaby going to be here in a month!"

"We were worried." He bowed his head. "I just didn't want to jinx it. I didn't want it to turn out like last time. I'm sorry." He sucked in his lips. "Like honestly, I wanted to wait until we were on the way to the hospital and just call everyone to meet us."

She grabbed both of her son's hand and looked him square in the eyes. "We have talked about this. It took me a few tries to get you. It's no one's fault. Millions of couples have a hard time having kids. I was one of them. But I will let you know I did not give my mother a month's notice either. Quint!" She marched from the kitchen. "Quint, where are you?"

"In here," he called from the living room.

She stopped in the entryway and put her hands on her hips.

Titus started to squirm in his seat. "I'm guessing you told her."

Aden nodded.

"Told her what?" asked Quint.

"Next month," she stated firmly. "We have one short month to get ready for the baby."

The man's mouth fell open. He looked between Titus and his son. "Really? I'm going to be a grandpa. Everything's okay, I'm really going to have a grandbaby?"

Aden nodded. "Surprise." He hesitantly waved his hands. "Um... we're planning on telling everyone else tonight at the party."

"Well, at least, I'm not the last one to find out." Karen threw her hands in the air. "Like the whole Titus's is a werewolf thing." She turned to her son. "If you weren't a married man, I'd ground you. Giving me just one month." She marched back to her bedroom. "Quint, start assembling."

"Assembling what?" asked Titus.

The old forest ranger groaned and slowly sat up. "Baby furniture. Karen had me hide it."