Wolves Ch. 07

Speaking of long, Kevin came in no time flat. I guess a week of abstinence will do that for you and that led me to an idea that I would talk about with them later. One by one I took each of my guys into my mouth with the exception of Matt, I wanted him somewhere else.

After I had taken care of the other's Matt asked me again if I was having any pain.

"Matt I'm fine!" I said more than a little exasperated.

Matt looked into my eyes and I saw his wolf assessing me before it retreated apparently satisfied that I was truly alright. I felt my legs being lifted and parted for Matt as he positioned himself in between them. We both cried out as he entered me slowly and then stilled to look down at me. I wiggled my ass telling him to stop teasing and get on with it. Unfortunately, neither of us lasted long and more unfortunately we could do no more. Damn, this was how it was going to be until the babies came and more than likely for a little while afterwards.

We had the next few days to ourselves because Dee and the boys were talking to someone -a therapist on a daily basis. Once they moved into the house, it would be weekly until they and the therapist decided otherwise. When we did see them again, there was a vast improvement. Dee was more like her usual bubbly self and the boys seemed more at peace with themselves. None of them mentioned Cecil; it was if they had come to an agreement between them that while they acknowledged him as their father, which was as far as it would go.

The biggest change was in Tyler. He smiled easily and stuck to Marshall like glue which Marshall didn't seem to mind at all. He would be a good godfather to our babies and a good father to his own children should he be blessed enough to have any.

We had already moved to another bedroom so that nursery could be finished. Dee volunteered to help decorate, she was into that feng shui thing and to be honest, I'm not big into decorating and it would give us something to do together.

That evening, Kev came home with seven copies of 'The dictionary of Baby Names'.

"Why seven? I asked as he laid the box on the couch.

"A copy for each of us." He replied. "I figured that we could each make a list of the names we like and then start eliminating the ones that we don't like." he added.

He handed me a copy complete with a packet of those tiny sticky marker things and a yellow highlighter. He was really taking this name thing seriously. As each of the other guys came in he handed them a copy, with the last copy being for Marshall. As godfather he got to help name the babies, as you can see this godfather thing was a big deal. As of yet I hadn't asked anyone about being the godmother but that was going to be changing soon, I was going to ask Dee. I couldn't imagine asking anyone else and if she was going to be living here it only made sense.

I asked her about it a day later, she was so thrilled that she started to cry. I know that some people would think that she wasn't a good choice because of what happened with Tyler and I would disagree with that. I will concede that she could have done things differently in that she should have asked for help but I also know that if she could have gone back, she would have done things differently.

I gave her my copy of the book and shared with Matt until Kev bought me another copy. We planned the first baby naming party for the following week. Finally I'm having fun with this, all of the drama is behind us and we can begin to concentrate on our growing family.

I was starting to get used to making love once a day but I was also anxious for the time when things would more or less become more normal at least in that respect. The guys were all going to be around to help with the babies, which was a change from the original plan that one or two of them would always be around. Seven babies changed that which was fine by me. I was starting to get scared. Me who went through a grilling and killed someone was scared of being a mother.

I still had a several weeks to adjust and started watching videos and reading about babies. Dee sensed my nerves and took the books away.

"Allie, the books are fine for general information but they don't beat a mother's instincts. You'll make mistakes, it's a trial and error thing but soon you'll know what each cry means and what it takes to comfort them. The thing is you have five guys no make that six guys, three nephews and me to help if you'll let us. Don't try to be super woman and handle it yourself."

I had forgotten how well she knew me. Remember my forgetting that I wasn't alone was one of the issues that we had to work through as a married group. It was going to be more important than ever that I remember that I had all kinds of support and that there was no way that I could do this alone.

The next week we met for the first official baby naming party. Marshall and Dee made all kinds of snacks and the guys took turns getting me whatever I needed and helping me up so that I could make my frequent trips to the bathroom. There were a wide variety of names and some of them were just hideous, thrown in for comedic relief I guess. By the end of the evening we had thirty boy's names and thirty girl's names. Cecil Jr. wrote the names down, went to the study and made copies for everyone. The plan was to meet again next week to try to finalize the names that we would use plus have a few spares ones just in case.

I don't know why but I looked at Marshall and he was looking at Dee in a more than friendly way. Hmmm, I wondered what was going on there but I figured that Dee would tell me when she was ready and that's if there was anything to tell.

A few days later the nursery was complete. I wasn't allowed to actively participate in the decorating but was promoted to boss. In other words, I sat in a recliner with my swollen ankles and feet elevated with the required glass of water in my hand.

The room was painted in a soft blue with hints of yellows and whites. According to Dee, the blues were to be soothing and represented the element of water and peace while the yellows were supposed to reflect cheerfulness. Soft music played from the sound system as the guys-all of them put the cribs together and set up the changing tables. Tyler put the mobiles that would hang from the cribs together while Cecil Jr. and David put the book cases together.

Dee was folding the outfits that we bought after she washed them and getting them ready to go in the dressers. Her next task was going to be making sure that the breast pumps were in working order and making sure that we had plenty of supplies like diapers and such.

As I sat like a queen watching her subjects work, I took the time to watch Dee and Marshall. Yep, there was definitely something there at least on his part but I suspected on hers too but her it hadn't been that long ago that Cecil died. I decided that I was going to be nosy and ask her about Marshall; the worst thing that would happen is that she would tell me to mind my own business.

By dinner time the nursery was done and it was beautiful. The rocking chairs were lined up along one wall just waiting to be used. Louis helped me out of the recliner and held my hand as I walked around the nursery, I touched everything. Chalk it up to hormones but I started to cry, I was so damned happy and blessed to have my family with me. It was a feeling that I couldn't quite put into words adequate enough to really describe what I was feeling.

That night Dee, Marshall and the boys stayed over. We watched movies, ate popcorn and just had a good time together. The next evening we would meet again to discuss baby names but in the meantime it was all about relaxation.

I finally got a moment alone with Dee when the guys went to the kitchen to make sandwiches.

"Dee, what's up with you and Marshall?" I asked deciding to be straight forward.

"Nothing, why?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't know," I said. "Maybe it's because of the way that he's been looking at you and don't you dare pretend that you haven't noticed."

She blushed but didn't say anything.

"Dee, you and Cecil stopped being married years ago. Even the boys knew it so if that's what you're thinking about..."

"It's not just that." she interrupted. "It's the whole wolf thing, I mean he's not human." she said.

"No, he isn't." I agreed not quite sure if that was the real issue or not.

"Have you talked about any of this?" I asked.

"Not really and that's because I not ready to." she admitted.

"Well, Marshall is a very patient man, he won't push you but know that you'll be able to ask him anything and he won't lie to you." I told her.

I think that helped her some, she relaxed a little and patted my hand. The guys came in with the sandwiches and drinks both of which I declined. I couldn't take another drink or bite of anything even if there was a gun held to my head.

We watched one more movie or rather they did because I fell asleep on Matt's shoulder, I was getting tired more easily and believe it or not, I was thinking less and less about making love and more and more about sleep. I mentioned that to the doctor at the last appointment and he told me that it was my body getting ready to deliver.

We had eight weeks to go but it could be sooner so Dee helped me pack my little overnight bag that we kept in the truck. The guys had everything planned down to the minute, as soon as it was clear that I was in labor, Matt would call the doctor while Kevin called the hospital. Louis would call Marshall if he wasn't here while Tony would get the truck while Paul took me downstairs to the truck. Dee and the boys would meet us at the hospital. Sounds good right? We'll see.

The next evening after dinner we once again convened to talk about names. Four hours later, we had out names picked out along with the alternates. Once again Cecil Jr. acted as secretary and wrote the names down, made copies and handed each of us one. The guys folded the names up and put them in their wallets while Dee put hers in her purse.

I noticed that she looked a little sad and wondered what was up.

"I'm fine." she told me when I asked. "I was just wishing that Cecil would have been half as excited as these guys are when he found out that I was pregnant."

"Cecil was a fool who didn't know a good thing when he saw it and definitely when he had it." I told her. "I also think that you know that Marshall is a completely different kind of man." I added.

"But what about the wolf thing? Didn't it bother you at first?" she asked.

"No." I replied truthfully. "It didn't and it doesn't. Dee, I can't tell you what to do or how to think but you said that you wanted someone to look at you the way Matt and the others look at me. There is someone who looks at you that way if you're not too afraid to look- Marshall cares for and about you and the boys but what happens is up to you." I said.

"You're right." she said quietly. "I don't know why I feel so guilty about wanting to be with someone else, Cecil and I hadn't been a couple for years. I know that he didn't love me and let's be honest, I didn't love him either so what's wrong with me?" she asked.

"You're scared." I said taking her hand. "And after everything that's happened, I'm not surprised. I would be scared too." I said. "And I think that you and Marshall need to have a heart to heart at some point." I added.

Enough 'Dear Abby' I had babies to get emotionally ready for.

We all sat in the waiting room at the Dr's office, I felt like three Goodyear blimps rolled into one and seriously waddled instead of walked. My back ached horribly and I literally had to be pulled to my feet when I had to stand up. I was tired of having strangers rub my stomach for luck; I was tired of being force fed water and then peeing all night and let's not forget that there was no position comfortable enough that I could sleep. I now slept in a recliner that one of the guys moved into the bedroom.

One morning I was looking at myself in the bathroom mirror and had a bout of insecurity. Remember that I wasn't a small woman before I got pregnant, now I was just huge and I didn't see anything remotely beautiful or pretty about myself.

"You are absolutely gorgeous." Tony said from behind me. I hadn't heard him come in; how long he had been standing there I didn't know.

"Liar." I said as I wiped away a tear.

"You know that I don't lie." he told me as he put his arms around me and kissed my neck. "You are so beautiful and don't you ever think otherwise."

I didn't feel beautiful but I wasn't in the mood to debate it. That night at supper I barely ate anything, I was on edge and trying really hard to relax. I had to; I still had another four to six weeks to go. Dee, Marshall and the boys for all practical purposes were living at the house because they were afraid that they would miss something. I was so preoccupied that I didn't even ask Dee about how things stood between her and Marshall. I just wanted this to be over, yep you got it; the novelty of being pregnant had worn off.

That night we went to bed early and as usual, I was helped into the shower, washed clean dried off and massaged with coconut oil. They say it's supposed to help stretch marks, well we'll see about that. Matt and Kevin helped me into my chair, raised the feet and lay on the floor one on either side of me. I looked over at the bed and longed to be in it with my guys surrounding me. I missed the warmth of their bodies but in spite of all of the discomfort and grouchiness, I couldn't wait to meet our babies.

The next three weeks drug by mostly because I could barely move on my own. Even the chair had become uncomfortable. We padded the headboard of the bed and tried to have me sleep that way but the problem was I kept sliding down so Tony lay across the bed length wise after I got in. Louis and Paul arranged my legs so that they were draped over Tony's back in effect making him my stopper which was fine until I had to go to the bathroom and we started all over again.

By now the doctor was coming here instead of me going there. Every time he came I prayed that he would say that it was time for me to go to the hospital and each time he left without saying the magic words, I wanted to cry. Darrin and Glenda stopped by several times but never stayed for long thanks to Matt but I knew that he talked to them several times a day. Everybody it seemed was holding their breaths waiting for the appearance of seven lucky babies.

The one thing that I did notice was that Dee and Marshall were a lot cozier. Cecil Jr. was the one to fill me in.

"She likes him and so do we." he said. "It's about time that she was happy." he added looking at her with a smile.

Well there you have it, Dee and Marshall. It's about damned time, Cecil wasn't worthy of her guilt or loyalty. Dee told me herself later in the evening.

"I took your advice and we talked. You were right, I asked him everything that I could think of and he didn't lie to me. He told me about that woman Misty and that you killed her, Jesus Allie! Weren't you scared?" she asked.

I didn't want to talk about Misty any more than I wanted to talk about Cecil, they were both bad memories and I told her that.

"Well ok, but I do want to hear about how you kicked her ass." Dee replied.

"So what's the scoop with you and Marshall?" I asked as I tried to get more comfortable in the chair and failing miserably.

"I... I don't know yet. I like him a lot and he has the ringing endorsement from the boys, Tyler especially. I just don't want it to be a rebound type of thing." she replied.

"Rebound? What in the hell from?" I asked.

I really didn't understand and I told Dee that I didn't but then again, I didn't need to and I told her that too.

*****

So here it is, September 10 and I'm still pregnant and if at all possible bigger. I've given up on trying to sleep and sat in my chair with Matt holding my hand. Somewhere around one am, I had a contraction, I ignored it because I'd been having them off and on now for weeks. What got my attention was when I felt like I had just wet my pants, my water had just broken.

Now here's where we find out how well the plan was going to work.

"Umm Matt, you'd better call the doctor." I said calmly.

"What? Are you sure?" he asked as he reached for his phone and dropped it. "Shit!" he cursed as he reached for it again.

"What's going on?" Paul asked.

"Matt is trying to call the doctor." I said.

"The doctor?" Paul asked and then he understood.

By then Matt had the phone in his hand and was waiting for the doctor to pick up. Kev had better luck in keeping a hold of his phone and called the hospital. Louis was already calling Marshall and Dee and Tony was headed out of the bedroom to go get the truck. In the mean time, Paul was already carrying me down the stairs, in hindsight; we should have slept in one of the downstairs rooms. We'd have to remember that for the next time... next time? Was I nuts? I hadn't even had these yet and I'm thinking about the next time? I had to be certifiable.

The truck was waiting out front with the doors already open. In no time flat we were in the truck and headed toward the hospital. We were almost there when Louis realized that no one had called Darrin and Glenda, he made the call and I could hear Glenda's excited squeals from where I was sitting. I was really hoping that she wouldn't insist on being in the room too, seven people was plenty. The boys would wait in the waiting area that was set aside specifically for us, the room was set up with a television, snacks and cots to rest on. There was even a staff person there to do whatever they could to keep everyone comfy.

As soon as we got to the hospital, someone came out with a wheelchair but Paul refused to put me in it and carried me inside. We were taken to a huge room that looked like a luxurious hotel room that came complete with a cold buffet that had sandwiches and things like that.

The Doctor came in just after I got into my gown.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"A little nervous but fine." I replied.

"Good, your water broke is that right?" he asked.

I told him that it broke about an hour ago and that the contractions were about twenty minutes apart. He had Matt help me up onto the bed and examined me.

"Alright Allie, you're beginning to dilate. There's no need for you to be in bed unless you want to be but it can speed things up some if you walk." he said.

I was all for expediting things and headed for the door. Matt stopped me.

"You want to wait for us?" he asked.

Two hours later I was still walking Matt and the others tried to get me to rest but I wanted to keep walking. Finally I was tired enough and the contractions were strong enough that I wanted to lie down. Once again, I was examined and was told that I was now in active labor and boy could I tell. The contractions were considerably stronger and coming faster. Paul sat behind me with his legs on either side of me while Matt and Kev each had a hand, Louis and Paul were rubbing my legs as Dee and Marshall each rubbed a foot.

This was really happening in a few hours we would be parents and responsible for the care, safety and well being of seven defenseless beings, talk about humbling and scary! The doctor came in to check and offered me pain meds which I refused. This isn't so bad I thought as I was massaged through the contractions.

I'm not sure of how long this went on when I was hit by a contraction that was stronger than any of the others. Paul hit the call light and the doctor followed by seven nurses came in. The little beds with the lights were already turned on and set to go. It wasn't long before all I could feel was pain. I forgot all of the breathing exercises that we had practiced for weeks, I was almost panicked. I found myself wishing that I had taken the offer for pain meds, because I'll tell you I didn't know such pain existed. Paul kept talking to me and rubbing my belly which became as hard as a rock with each contraction. Matt washed my face with a cool cloth while Kev let me squeeze his hand as hard as I could. He never flinched even when I squeezed really hard.