Accidental Surrogate

Ella

Two hours later, Sinclair and I welcome our friends back to our house for a casual breakfast and coffee

or mimosas, according to preference to celebrate Rafe’s moonlight baptism. I can tell our guests are dragging – they’ve been up all night, after all – but spirits are high.

“Wow,” I say, leaning back against Sinclair’s chest with a croissant in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other. Rafe, thankfully, is asleep in his little recline stroller. Usually I’d put him to bed in his crib, but I want people to be able to say goodbye if they have to leave. “I can’t believe everyone I still up,” I say, peering around at our friends and family. “I mean, I know we’re on baby time so normal hours mean nothing anymore, but everyone else…”

“It’s a special occasion,” Sinclair murmurs; lowering his face to my hair and taking a long sniff of my scent. “We’re used to it. In wolf culture shifter children are rarer than we’d like, so we take the time to celebrate them when they’re born.”

“That’s so nice…” I say, sniffing a little, my eyes filling with tears.

“What?” Sinclair asks, pulling away from me a little, shocked. “Are you – why are you crying –

I swat at him, laughing a little. “What! Hormones! I’m tired! Leave me be.” Then I brush the tears off my cheeks, smiling despite them. I’m just overwhelmed and grateful, honestly, for all the love that our family has shown our baby. “It really is a beautiful tradition,” I murmur, and Sinclair kisses my cheek before moving away to talk to some of the Alphas who have come to see their new prince.

As Sinclair moves away, Isabel quickly moves to my side to take his place. “Hi, mama,” she says, giving me a warm smile as she wraps an arm around my waist. “How are you doing?”

“Forget about me!” I cry out, wrapping my arms around her again, “how are you? How are James, and Sadie?”

“They’re good,” she says, but the way she smiles at her mate across the room lets me know that her words are an understatement. James raises a hand to me, little Sadie slumped against his shoulder, deeply asleep.

quickly, taking her hand and squeezing it. “You can stay as long as you like

could be here and meet the baby – but we both want to get home. We have…a lot of work to do there.” Her face changes, then, and I feel my

nods to a little love seat in the corner and I follow her there, Rafe’s little pram in tow, so that

and as private as

with that you’ve had such a hard pregnancy, and I know that the birth wasn’t easy on you either – you really shouldn’t have been paying attention to anything besides your body and Rafe and Sinclair – ”

I say, staring at her and tightening my hold on her hand, “please just tell me –“My stomach is roiling with guilt to think that I’ve neglected something when

you were away on the boat. It’s nothing that he’s done wrong – Sinclair has made so

no idea where he was, if

Ella,” she says softly, anxiously looking to where Sinclair is standing.

need to do this sort of work. If Sinclair intends to

you – not because …well, Ella, if you’re still healing, you need to focus on

heart softens and I take a deep breath, still worried but touched by my friend’s concern. She knows me so well. “Thank you, love,” I say, giving her a little smile. “I’ll take care of myself, and my family. But I’m going to help too. Can you tell me? Who

lowering her voice and

her, not understanding, but giving her the space to

if he could. Sinclair, we know, wants equal rights and peace – but there

during the war when even some of

to think of it, to see some of those men in

– and I’m aware. It’s something that I know Sinclair is working on but…old prejudices, they die hard. But, Isabel, what