Accidental Surrogate

On Mom Time Now

For the next two weeks, Sinclair and I don’t get much sleep.

Instead, our precious. Darling. Wonderful. Amazing. Bundle. Of. Joy…tortures us until we’re basically mindless drones, trying to figure out what he wants and giving it to him as soon as possible.

“Oh my god,” I say to Sinclair one night at three in the morning, desperate with anxiety and lack of sleep. I walk around the room with Rafe pressed close to my chest, trying to comfort him. “He’s been fed, changed, burped… he’s probably just sleepy! But he’s keeping himself up with all this noise he’s making!”

“It will be all right,” says my ever–patient mate, holding out his arms. I passed the baby to him and… Rafe instantly quiets.

And this is the moment when I simultaneously figured out the best and the worst thing in my life: that my mate is a baby whisperer, and that my child loves his dad more than he loves me.

Of course, I’m so exhausted at this point that I don’t really care that Rafe quiets in Sinclair’s arms and not mine. I’m just glad that he’s quiet. “Okay,” I whisper, slowly backing away, as if from a live grenade. “You just hold him…just like that…”

“Ella,” Sinclair says, giving me a tiny scowl. “Don’t be ridiculous – it’s not as if – ” but he takes one step towards me and Rafe begins to cry. I freeze like a deer in the headlights. So does Sinclair. Slowly, he takes a step backwards. Rafe quiets.

“Right there, Dominic,” I whisper, backing away towards the bed. “Just stand there for…two, three hours…” I murmur as I climb into my messy nest, “and I’ll see you both…later…”

“This is ridiculous, Ella,” Sinclair half–whispers to me, but he doesn’t move. I barely hear him as I almost immediately fall asleep. We’re both completely at Rafe’s mercy. He’s the Alpha now.

raise myself on my elbows, looking around. I see that Sinclair made his way to the rocking chair in the corner of the room and he’s sleeping there now,

pull myself out of bed, though, and go to look at both of them my gigantic mate, my tiny baby, next to each other. They look so alike – their coloring, some of their features, the and yet so incredibly different. My

them sleep, turning to quickly and silently pad out of the room and

five–month span, but I am still voracious. I head straight to the pantry, reaching for the big box of shredded wheat as well as a king–sized candy bar. I peel the

my body has bounced back fast, at least in terms of health, probably because of my wolf biology and my mother’s gift. My figure still hasn’t returned to what it was before I was pregnant – I don’t care about that but health–wise, I feel

a little prayer of thanks and go to grab the milk out

my eyes land on Roger, grinning at me from the doorway. “Chocolate for breakfast? What kind of role model are you being

he demands it. And also, I’m also eating shredded wheat!” I say, gesturing towards my cereal bowl.

hug, which I warmly return. “Eat whatever you want, Ella. Just don’t bankrupt

the bowl. “Why are you here so early?” I ask, curious. “We don’t

eyes go wide with disbelief and I glance towards the stove, which reads 9:08. “Oh

shrugs and leans against the counter. “It’s all right, you’re

it and bolting for the stairs, “If we miss our appointment at the temple, we’ll never get another one! And then the moon ceremony won’t happen for another month and

“I think they’ll make an exception for you, Ella! For the woman who

my shoulder, pushing through the door into my

arrive at our appointment at the