Force of Nature Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 4) (45 page)

Chapter 5

Austin looked over at his mate. The way she was moving made him think that she should have stayed at home. She was miserable and he was terrified for her. Being near her term, everything made him think she was going to deliver at any second. He was sure they were going to have their pup in the airport waiting for his sister and her mate. He tried to smile when CJ glared at him.

“I swear to you the next time you want to have a baby you’re the one who is going to carry it. I’m so sick of having you look at me like I’m going to break that I want to get a knife and cut your dick off.” She didn’t even grin when she said it, so he knew that he had to tread lightly here or she’d follow through on her threat.

“I was just thinking about how beautiful you looked. Even in this heat you look as fresh as a daisy.” He knew he’d gone too far when she crossed her arms over her ample belly and tapped her foot. “What? A man can’t tell his mate that she looks lovely carrying his child?”

“Not when he says it with a frown marring his forehead. Nor when you know damn good and well that you think I look like a side of a house and waddle like a large, overstuffed penguin.”

He snapped his mouth closed, knowing that anything he said now would not only get him hurt, but maybe killed too. He was beginning to think that his brother was right when Dallas told him that he thought pregnancy wasn’t for everyone. CJ was definitely not the picture he’d had in mind of someone carrying his child.

“Have nothing to say, big boy? Well, that’s probably the smartest thing you’ve ever done.” She glared at a woman making noises about the beauty of pregnant women. “When is his stupid plane supposed to land anyway? I need a nap.”

Phil had called him not ten minutes ago and said they were on the tarmac, but he didn’t tell her that he’d already told her. He simply said he thought he was already there. Austin was going to do what his mother had told him to do…tread lightly and keep agreeing with everything she said, and never, ever mention the labor and delivery part of this baby. That had nearly cost him his nuts and his ear. He thought at first it had been something the two of them had worked up, but now he could see the wisdom of the advice.

When he saw his sister coming toward them from the gate he could tell something was different. He knew that she and Phil had become mates, not fully yet, but they had started the process. He wasn’t sure he liked the idea of his baby sister having sex, but knew that if he even mentioned that, someone, if not all of them, might do something to him. For an alpha, he was having a hard time staying in one piece, and not by anyone but his own family.

“Wow,” Holly said when she stepped back after hugging CJ. “You’re lovely. I think having babies suits you very well.”

Austin waited for the fireworks, a gun to be pulled, or a she-bitch fight to begin, but all CJ did was blush and tell her she’d never felt better. He nearly said, “What the fuck?” but wisely kept his mouth shut. He did look over at Phil, who looked horrified.

“She’s due soon. Well, yesterday as a matter of fact. We should be getting back.” He was babbling because he was afraid that Phil, for all his age and friendship toward CJ, was going to say something that would get him killed too. “We have to stop by the pack house, then by the doctor’s office to sign some papers.”

“Do you know what you’re having?” Phil asked suddenly. “I mean, have you had any sort of idea what the sex of the baby is yet?”

He looked at Austin when CJ shook her head. Before he could tell him that they’d decided to wait even though he and CJ had thought it was a girl, CJ spoke up.

“I don’t want to have someone tell me then they end up being wrong. I want a boy, really badly. A son for Austin.” She looked up at him and he could see the tears in her eyes. “I know I’ve been a real bitch, but I really do want a son for you.”

Phil nodded and then took her hand. CJ hugged him to her and Phil winked at him over her shoulder. “Would you like to know for sure? I can tell you both right now if you want to know.”

Austin didn’t move. They were standing in a busy airport with people moving all around him, and all he could think about was a son. He looked at CJ when he realized she hadn’t answered him either. He was so not making this decision without her input first.

“Can you tell one hundred percent what we’re having, and not just a guess like the doctor? I know he had one of those internal monitors, but the baby wasn’t cooperating with him so he couldn’t tell, and now I’m just a bit too far along for them to do another one.” CJ looked at Austin before she continued. “Do you want to know? I do if you do.”

He nodded. It was about all he could manage right now. Phil put his hands on CJ’s belly and closed his eyes. His smile told them nothing and when he stepped back, Austin decided that the next time he had the opportunity he was going to pound his friend into the dirt.

“You’re having one of each. The boy is head down and the girl is in the right position. Would you like to know what they think of you?” CJ nodded. “They think they are the luckiest babies in the entire world to have people like you as their parents. And the girl, she’s nearly all wolf, the boy is full-blooded.”

Austin grabbed the back of the chair he was standing next to. He realized that his sister was speaking to him, but for the life of him he couldn’t tell what she was saying. Twins…twins that already loved them.

Austin was suddenly sitting down and he could see the floor from his new position…his head between his knees. He started to rise but was pushed back down again.

“I’m fine. What the hell did you shove me here for, you moronic dick? Let me up I said.” He knew that Phil held him down; he could see his shoes in his line of site. “Phil, so help me, when I get up from here, I’m going to shift and tear you apart.”

Austin was suddenly free. He didn’t stand, not sure his knees would hold him just yet. For all his bravado, he was still a little stunned about twins. He reached for CJ, pulled her to him, and rested his head on her belly. The first kick he got in the cheek made him laugh, the second made him kiss her belly.

“Okay, big boy. If you stop on your way home to get me a glass of tea I’ll let you in on a little secret.” CJ wiggled her brows at him. “And if you’re really nice and get me one that isn’t sweetened, I’ll give you two.”

Austin looked over at Phil, who was frowning again. He wasn’t sure what the man had to be upset about…he wasn’t the one living with the moodiest woman in the world. He looked back at CJ, ready to give her whatever she wanted, when he noticed she was sweating. Profusely.

“How long have you been in labor, love?” Phil asked her. “I would say you’re what…having them about three minutes apart?”

Austin didn’t know what he was talking about until Holly spoke. “Oh Christ, you’re in labor? Now?”

CJ nodded and grabbed for the chair next to her. “I didn’t think it was real. They told me at the doctor’s office to expect to have a few dry runs, but these pains, they hurt like hell.”

Austin stared at her. He had to have missed something. He looked at Phil when he put his arm around CJ and started moving her toward the door. Quickly. It wasn’t until Holly hit him in the head with her purse that he realized something was going on.

“Wake up, you fuck-tard, and get going. You want her to deliver those babies without you?” He stood and stared after Phil and CJ. They were nearly to the door already. Holly hit him again and that’s when it sank in.

“Fuck. She’s in labor. I have to…where did they go?” Instead of answering him, Holly guided him after them. His mind was suddenly mush. “Where are they going?”

“To the car.” He wasn’t sure he liked her tone. Sort of a cross between her talking to him like he was four and afraid he was going to fall apart.

“I know that. I was…I was simply testing you.” She nodded, but again her body language led him to believe she was humoring him. They made it to the car, which was parked on the sidewalk in front of the doors. He was shoved in the back with CJ.

Austin was being handed out of the car before he could think. The guy standing there had a wheel chair, and Austin started to tell him he was fine now when he was pushed out of the way and the man reached in for CJ. Before he could help, she was being rushed into the hospital doors and away from him again.

“Are you going to be this dense when the pups are born? If so, let me know now so I can get them cell phones with GPS on them. That way when you leave them somewhere, I’ll be able to track them down with it.” Austin growled at Phil. “You know, you really should get in there, alpha. Your cubs are about to be born.”

That got him moving. He heard someone say his name and before he could slow and see what they wanted, Phil was there. He wondered briefly what he’d said to the nurse, but she simply sat back down and resumed working. The three of them rushed to the elevators.

~~~

Phil watched the others in the room. Gordon paced, worried, he was sure, about his own mate, Alexis, who was just beginning to look ready to pop with her pregnancy. Connor sat in the corner and talked with Gordon and Alexis’s two boys, Tim and Jake. Darcy and Sis sat and colored in the books that one of the nurses had given them. The four children weren’t really Gordon’s children and only Alexis’s nieces and nephews, but one couldn’t tell by looking at them. And they all called them Mom and Dad. The adoption was ready to be finalized any day now.

Nancy Force sat quietly with her eyes closed, but he’d bet all his money that she knew where every one of the people in the room were. She even smiled once in a while, he was sure at something one of the children said.

But Dallas looked upset. Phil had had a few minutes earlier, before everyone had shown up, to give him a heads up on the woman Theresa and her bloody mess and murder at the bar in New York. He didn’t mention Holly’s involvement, as the two of them had agreed to her telling her family what she did when everyone was all together. Even with them all here, he knew that it would be much later before they got to have a family meeting.

When Austin came through the double doors two hours later, he looked as strange as he’d ever seen him. Walking toward him, Phil was suddenly nervous. The man looked like he was going to first kill him, then eat him for dinner. When he wrapped both his beefy arms around him and almost squeezed the life out of him, Phil nearly passed out.

“Hey there, killer. Want to let me breathe a bit?” Austin let him go for a few seconds only to pull him back in and hug him tighter. “You’re happy, I get it, but I have to breathe.”

“They’re beautiful. And just like you said. My son first then my daughter. They’re…I can’t tell you how much I already love them.” Phil had an idea, but wasn’t breathing well yet, so only grunted. “You have to come see them.”

They all moved after the two of them. Phil tried in vain to pull his arm free of the giant man, but Austin seemed determined to be in the lead. It wasn’t until they were standing before a large glassed-in room that he could see where they’d been going. And right there in the front were two babies with the name “Force” written in a bold hand. Christ, they were beautiful too.

“That one is my son, Austin Jackson Force, and our daughter, Nancy Alexis Force.” He pointed to the pink little bundle next to the other one in blue. “She is going to be a daddy’s little girl.”

Holly snorted and then grinned when Austin glared at her. “You tried that crap on me and it didn’t stick. What makes you think I’m going to let her be a girly girl; or, for that matter, her mother let her be a girly girl? CJ is the coolest woman I know and she drives a big rig. That little girl is going to be as tough as nails and meaner than a snake. I’m going to make sure of it.”

Phil stepped back and then walked to the elevator. When Holly started to follow he told her he’d be right back. He wanted to go and get something from the gift shop. She said she did as well and they both went down. He looked over at her when she cleared her throat.

“Did you want kids, Phil? Ever?” She looked so sad that he nearly pulled her into his arms, but didn’t right away. “My job…I’m pretty sure when I try to quit, they aren’t going to throw me a retirement party unless it’s of the permanent kind. I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone to give notice with this group and not die of a natural or not so natural cause later.”

He nodded, glad that she understood too. “They won’t hurt you. Ever. Not so long as I’m around. I swear to you, Holly.”

She moved to him and he pulled her close even as the elevator came to a stop. “They don’t know what I am. I never told them. I never told anyone what I am. I let them think all this time that I’m super smart and know all there is to know about tracking. They don’t have a clue that I shift and hunt my target down by scent as a wolf.”

He had already figured out that she did that. He nodded over her head and watched the door open. He shoved her behind him when he saw who was standing there. Phil bowed before the two women and the man and, before he could stand, they spoke as one.

“The council needs you. You will come with us now, Knight of the Order.” He rose slowly as the man stepped forward. “There is a problem and you have been—”

“You’ve a mate. A she-wolf.” The darker of the two women spoke alone this time as she sniffed the air. “She will be required as well.”

When they touched him he could feel the air rushing around them, and knew that there was nothing at all he could do other than hope that Holly was all right. Phil hadn’t seen this group of warriors since just after his two hundredth year.