Chapter 217

Justin’s POV

Just because she’d made a valid point didn’t mean I was ready to let other options go. I’m not sure why the idea of watching sharks creeped me out so badly, but it did.

In reality, Randy and Russo had both seen Helen and me fully engaged in such activities. And I’d argue that either of them was more dangerous than a shark. But I wasn’t worried that either of them would try to take a bite of my goods. And if they did, I might have to kill them. I couldn’t kill some poor dumb shark for acting on instinct.

Helen cocked her head. “Justin? What are you thinking about?”

“Oh, um, nothing, really.” I’d spaced out there for a moment.

“I looked at places where we could see historical things or metropolitan cities,” I explained. “Don’t you think it would be nice to go someplace like Paris or New York or Singapore? Or we could go to Egypt and see the pyramids and the other artifacts. Or Rome and see the Colosseum. Or we could go somewhere more remote. They have a chalet up in the mountains. We could go up into ski country and just hole up and drink hot chocolate and make love to one another.”

She yawned and took a seat in my desk chair. “I’ve had a lot of trouble with morning sickness, and I’ve been a little bit sleepy. To be honest, holing up someplace where there’s nothing to do except drink hot chocolate and have sex sounds exhausting.”

Helen grinned at me. “Don’t get me wrong. If we’re going on a proper honeymoon, then we’ll have plenty of sex. It’s just . . . at least if we’re in one of those cities, then we’ve got things to do and places to see. And if we’re in the overwater bungalow, we can go snorkeling and swimming and sunbathing, and we won’t be stuck inside away from the snow and the cold. Especially since I don’t think skiing would be a proper activity if I really am pregnant.”

As if in response to her comment, the timer on her phone chimed. The two of us made a mad dash for the counter, and my heart nearly slammed through my ribs. There, in the little oval on the stick, was a plus.

“Please tell me that means what I think it does.”

Helen leaped on top of me, hugging me wildly. “It does! It does! We’re pregnant! We’re going to have a baby. A new lycan pup.”

I grabbed her and swung her around, realized that I was going to smack her feet into the edge of the door frame, and stopped short, settling instead for kissing her all over her face. “This is the most fantastic news ever,” I said, setting her back down.

“No wonder you’ve been feeling guilty about Randy,” I said. “Here we are, we’re going to have a baby, and Lisa and Russo are going to get married. And he is all by himself.”

She nodded, looking at the floor. “It’s worse than that.”

“What do you mean, worse?” I asked.

“Well, we’re not the only ones going to have a baby. I should probably have waited and let Russo and Lisa tell you that, but just so you understand, why I felt so desperate.”

I grabbed her and squeezed her again. “Russo and Lisa are having a baby, too? That’s fantastic. Wait,” I gasped, “that means that I’m not going to be the last lycan anymore! And Russo’s not going to be the last fae. We’re both going to have a child to continue our legacy, to keep our kind alive!”

She nodded. “They’re thinking about moving their wedding up and doing one in the early spring instead,” she said. “Lisa figures she’ll still be small enough to fit into her wedding dress the way she wants, and there will still be enough flowers in season that it won’t cost a fortune to have the decoration she wanted.”

Helen’s eyes gleamed with borrowed excitement. “She’s just going to have to adjust her thinking, and instead of doing things like dahlias, she’ll do things like tulips and lilacs instead. Maybe some lilies and roses, too.”

“Well then, we should make renewing our vows just a small thing. Why don’t we do it in a couple of weeks? We can have Randy get ordained, and we can just have Julianne and Peter and Randy and Russo and Lisa attend. They’re our closest friends.”

“Oh, and Freya can bring the pixies,” I continued, “since you’re their queen, and of course, we don’t wanna offend them. But we can just make the vow renewal a small thing and then go straight to our honeymoon. That way, we can be back in time to do Lisa and Russo’s wedding so that they can be back in time for you guys to have babies.”

I gasped again. “This means that my lycan child and his fae child will be able to grow up playmates. This is even more fantastic. Have you been to see a doctor yet?”

Helen shook her head. “No. I kept crossing my fingers and hoping. I waited until after I missed my second period before I took the test. I didn’t really . . . couldn’t handle being disappointed if it was negative. And if it was just the stress of everything that had gone on that caused me to miss the first one, that would have been tragic. But now that I know for sure, I’ll make an appointment.”

I grabbed a black book out of my desk and started flipping through the pages. “Here. We’ll call this werewolf doctor. He’s been working with the heads of the pack for a very long time. In fact, I think he might have even seen Randy be born.”

“I don’t know if I want somebody that old,” Helen said.

“Don’t think of it as age. Think of it as experience,” I reassured her. “At the very least, call and see if he’s even still in practice.”

“I can do that for you,” she said. “If using this doctor means that much to you.”

I nodded my head. “I trust him.”

“Can I ask why? Since he served your family and all,” Helen asked.

“That’s a fair question, but I honestly trust him. He was the physician that my father sent to me while I was captive. And of everybody who ever attended me while I was chained by my father, he was the only one that treated me with kindness. He gave me special salves to put on underneath the shackles so that they wouldn’t ruin the skin. He would sneak me extra vitamins and such so that the strange diet that my father insisted I followed didn’t hurt my body in the long run. And I even heard him argue once with my father that I should be allowed to go out. He never convinced my father, but at least I know that he tried.”

“All right,” Helen said. “That’s enough for me. If he was willing to do those things, even though your father was the man that he was, then I will trust him to take good care of me.”

I already had my phone in my hand and was dialing the number from the book.

Helen laughed and tugged at my arm. “There’s no need to rush that fast. This is going to take another six months before we have a baby. A few extra minutes before calling the doctor isn’t going to matter.”

“I want to make sure that we’re doing everything correctly. I want this to be the healthiest lycan that’s ever been born. So anything you need to know about getting started and keeping a lycan pup in good form while you’re pregnant, I wanna know now.”

My expression darkened as new thoughts settled on me. “And we need to make sure now that there are no adverse effects from everything that went on with the Huntsman. I don’t know when you conceived the baby in the last two months, but it was only two months ago, the last time you had sex with the Huntsman. The last thing I want is for our baby to be tainted in any way. And if he is, then I need to know if there’s anything that Lisa can do with magic to fix the pup.”