Sacrifice

Epilogue

Epilogue

Something was definitely not right. Sophia had her shirt lifted part way up and was looking at her abs in the mirror. Instead of seeing well-defined muscle, she saw fat. But it couldn't be fat. She worked out frequently and  knew she hadn't changed her eating habits significantly. When she thought about it, she thought maybe she had been eating a little more. While she hoped she wasn't gaining weight, she also knew it was probably the best possible explanation for what was happening to her.

She stepped out in the hallway, listening to the sounds of conversation downstairs and she heard Gabriel's loud laughter. She couldn't help but smile at how well he fit into the pack. It had been over four years since he had first showed up on her doorstep, but as shy as he had been, Sophia never thought he'd have been so comfortable with the pack.

Her smile faded as she reminded herself she might be mad at Gabriel. Extremely mad. But she still had another couple of minutes to figure that out. It felt like the longest two minutes of her life. She knew she should have gone downstairs and quietly pulled Gabriel aside, but Jason was there with his kids, and Viola would start talking her ear off the moment she saw her. Sophia had grown accustomed to the eight-year-old girl's hero worship, but she simply wasn't in the mood.

Finally, the time was up and Sophia looked at the test. The result was not what she wanted.

"GABRIEL!" she shouted. Instantly, the house was silent. Shortly after, she could hear the sound of hurried footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Sophia!" he cried, rushing into the bathroom. "What's wrong? What happened?" He glanced around, almost expecting to see some sort of threat, but it was just Sophia in the bathroom.

"Gabriel! You tell me! What the hell is this?" She picked up the test she had just looked at and held it out for Gabriel to see.

"A pregnancy test?" Gabriel asked confused. He looked at the blue lines, not sure what they meant, but it didn't take him long to figure it out. Had the test been negative, she would not have been so pissed. "You're pregnant?"

"Apparently! God damn it Gabriel! Why would you do this to me?"

"Sophia." Even though she was yelling at him, he remained calm. He had long since learned that was the best way to deal with her. Getting loud himself would only escalate things. He reached out to touch her stomach, but she pushed his hands away. Ignoring that, he reached out again, this time, without interference.

He put his hands under her shirt and lightly caressed the skin of her stomach. He had noticed it had been getting softer, but hadn't given it much thought. He held back a smile as he let his hand rest on top of the slight protrusion.

"Sophia…" he said softly. "Can I keep it?"

"What?" Keeping it hadn't even crossed Sophia's mind, but now that Gabriel mentioned it, she remembered that he was her mate and it was something they'd have to talk about. She didn't want it, but she could hear in Gabriel's voice that he did.

"Gabriel," she said, a slight growl to her voice. "Did you do this on purpose?" She pushed his hand away from her stomach, thinking about what he might have done.

"What? No! Of course not! Why would I?"

"You want a kid, don't you? Are you sure you've been using condoms?"

"Of course I have! I wouldn't sabotage a condom! Seriously. Yes, I would like a child, but I know you don't. And I am okay with that. Or was. Now that it's here…" He sighed. "You want to terminate."

He pulled her into his arms. As much as he would have loved to have a child, he didn't want Sophia to go through something she dreaded. He didn't need to have his own child anyway. Being part of a pack meant he could help raise as many children as he wanted. With Talon and Melanie's two daughters, Blake and Jason's twins, and Emma and Lukas having one on the way, he knew there were enough kids in his life.