Chapter twelve

Jude

My hands slide down my front, gently touching my stomach. I'm huge. I'm not sure if it's because I'm on the shorter side or because this baby is going to be a giant hellhound like his alpha daddy, but I'm all stomach.

Carlos hasn't let his admiration go unnoticed. Every day he puts his hands on me, kisses me, and reminds me how beautiful he finds me. It helps ease away the stresses of pregnancy, even if it's only for a moment.

Once the box of containment was finally completed, we stuck that rabbit's foot inside and locked it away. It can't harm anyone anymore. I couldn't have been more proud of my spark for all the hard work he's put in. More and more each day, he's learning to trust the magic within himself, even pulling off simple spells without being near me. I can't help but wonder if our baby will be able to wield magic. No matter what, there will be some type of magic in his blood whether he's a shifter or spark or familiar, and I'm excited to see them grow and learn which magic is theirs.

"Yeah, yeah," Carlos says into his phone, looking over at me and giving me a soft smile. "I promise, Mama, I'll be back soon. Right now we're on a case over on the west coast. Of course I'm being careful!"

I chuckle to myself, watching as my mate chats with his mother. I'm so proud of him for putting the work in and reestablishing his relationship with his parents. They love him so much and they couldn't be more excited about their grandbaby. We promised to come visit once they're born so they can meet them properly.

We'll be doing all sorts of traveling once they're born, stopping by Carlos' family and then over to mine as well. I send out a text into the group chat, checking in on my cousins.

I grin from ear to ear, watching as they all text back in a hurry. Apparently Willow has found his spark. Lady Fate knew what she was doing when she gave us that compass. It's slowly bringing each of us to where we're supposed to be. I'm so proud of our little group. I'm so proud of this hunting crew. I'm overwhelmed with how fucking happy I am.

Tears spring to my eyes, the overwhelming press of emotions leaking from my eyes. I've been doing that a lot and I'm happy to blame it on the pregnancy. Everyone is growing and learning and I just have so much to be happy about, to be proud of.

"Okay, Mama. Tell Dad I say hi and I love him, okay? We're coming up to our next stop so I have to go. Okay, I'll tell him." Carlos hangs up his phone and sets it on the seat between us. He reaches over, lacing our fingers together. "My mom says hello."

I pull Carlos' hand to my mouth, kissing the back of his hand. "She's so great. I can't wait until we get to visit again." My stomach rumbles and I giggle. "Apparently the baby agrees with me. They're craving your mother's enchiladas."

"We'll find a Mexican place to stop at just for you, okay?"

"That would be lovely. Thank you, Carlos."

"Anything for you," he says, kissing the side of my head before his eyes are back on the road.

Since my due date is fast approaching, instead of staying in the back of the truck, we've been staying at different hotels. It's been nice being able to take hot baths and lay in fluffy beds, but it does bring up the question of what we're going to do once the baby is here.

"Hey, Carlos? Have you thought about getting a new vehicle?"

Carlos hums. "Why would I need something new?"

"Well, because of the baby? There's nowhere to put a car seat."

"Oh," he says slowly and I can see the way his mind is going around in circles. I give him a moment to collect his thoughts. We pull into the hotel parking lot and he puts the truck into park, turning to face me. Taking my hands in his own he softly says, "there's actually something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

"Okay?"

"The guys and I have been talking about the future of the crew," he starts and my heart seizes in panic.

"You can't disband, babe. I've only just gotten Cooper in my life. I can't be separated from him."

"No, no, no," Carlos says, kissing my hands. "Nothing like that, Jude. I promise."

I take a deep breath, letting him finish. "Sorry, go on."

Carlos smiles, kissing my cheek before continuing. "We found a little cul-de-sac. It's on the outside of a bigger town but far enough away that we'd all have some privacy. There's a giant lake practically in the backyard for Dorian. Ronny found it, I have no idea how he found something so perfect but the man is a genius on the computer," Carlos says with an amused snort. But something isn't quite clicking in my head.

"I'm confused. Why would we need a cul-de-sac?"

"To settle down," he says gently.

"But we're hunters."

"We are," he says with a soft smile. "But now we have mates and kids. It's not safe for us to always be out on the road. And I could never be far from you and you could never be far from Cooper. So we found something that can essentially be our home base. There's a couple extra houses we could make into guest houses for our families or safe houses for supernatural people that need it. We could basically be a hunter hub." Carlos squeezes my hand. "Imagine a group of hunters that could help the next generation. Ronny has the computer smarts to connect us all with other hunters, Cooper has the lore and the magic to help answer questions. Martin can keep stock of weapons and hand them out when needed. We could basically be a giant help to the supernatural world but without actually being the ones out there."

"Oh," I say, unable to form the words that encompass my feelings properly. "We could have a house right next to Cooper's," I say, a smile slowly spreading across my lips.

"Exactly. And all of our kids will grow up together in a place where they're safe."

"Yes," I say, excitement starting to take hold. "I can teach Cooper how to make barriers around the cul-de-sac so the kids can shift without worry. Oh my gods, Carlos, I love this idea so much. This is perfect. I love it." I pause, looking into my mates eyes, seeing the excitement mirrored back at me. "Carlos, I love you."

"You do?" I nod my head and suddenly I'm being pulled into a fierce kiss, one that steals my breath. "I love you, too," he says once he pulls back.

I take his hand, pushing it against the side of my belly as I look into his gorgeous brown eyes. "I love this plan. It feels so right. I love being on the road, and I have a feeling once the kids are older, we might go back into the road life, but for now, this feels so right."

"It does," he whispers, rubbing my belly gently. "I just want to do everything in my power to keep you and the baby safe while also staying a hunter."

"This means we'll have an address for your parents to come visit. And Cooper's! Oh my gods, this is so perfect, Carlos." Tears well up in my eyes but my mate is there to wipe them away and replace them with soft kisses.

"Axel knows a pack that's not too far away from this city. It's the town he met us all in, where he used to live. Apparently they have a shifter school. It's like an hour drive but that's not terrible."

I smile so wide my cheeks hurt. "By the time our kids are old enough to start school, there's a chance Cooper will be able to open portals."

Carlos freezes. "Wait. Hold up. Teleportation magic is real?"

I shrug. "It depends on Cooper's magic. His is still developing and finding itself, but I have a feeling that yes, that will be a thing one day he can do."

"Holy shit, that's cool as hell. Imagine being able to use that on a hunt!"

"I'm proud of my spark," I tell him, puffing up my chest. Carlos smiles, leaning over and kissing my head. My chest is so warm, filled with nothing but joy in this moment. When I met Carlos I never dreamed my life would change so quickly and so drastically but I wouldn't have had it any other way. I can't imagine going back to how things were before. This is where I'm supposed to be.

***

One Month Later

"Why the fuck did I think this was a good idea?"

"Hey," Carlos murmurs, his voice soothing but I just grit my teeth, doing my best to growl at him. I'm not a shifter despite having an animal form so it sounds ridiculous and the fact that it doesn't sound how I want only makes me angrier. "Take a deep breath, baby."

"Fuck your breathing techniques. Fuck you. Fuck your stupid knot that feels so fucking good. Fuck."

Carlos stares at me with wide eyes, his hand going to his phone again. He's probably texting his mom asking for advice. I know I'm acting like a jerk, but I can't stop the words from boiling over. I'm in pain. So much fucking pain. Oh my gods.

"Fucking fuck! My back and my stomach and my thighs and everything hurts so fucking bad," I groan out. Carlos' eyes are filled with so much worry.

"At least we made it home, right? Imagine doing this at a hotel instead of here at our new house."

I growl again and Carlos takes a step back, his hands raised in surrender. I lean my elbows against the side of my bed, swaying my hips back and forth. "I will never let you knot me again. Never, Carlos. Never ever in the history of ever. I'm going to top from now on."

"That's fine," Carlos says slowly. "You can top me all you want, I promise."

"Damn fucking right," I tell him, shaking my head. Sweat drips down the side of my head. "I'll top you so good you won't even need your knot anymore."

"What an interesting conversation to walk into," a woman's voice says and I turn around, my body sagging with relief. I've heard so many stories about the mysterious midwife who knows just what each person needs. Everyone who's had a baby in this crew has dealt with her and had nothing but good things to say about her. Which means of course I needed her here during my birth. She's small with white hair and a streak of black, but there's something about her eyes that make me feel safe on a level that I don't understand.

"I'm so sorry you had to hear that," I grit out through clenched teeth, only feeling a tiny bit embarrassed, too busy feeling pain. "It's really nice to meet you, Star. Sorry we couldn't have met when I was a little more composed," I say, my words trailing off with a groan as pain lances through me.

"You're alright," she murmurs, walking over to me. She puts her hands on the back of my hips, her thumbs digging into my lower back and rubbing in soothing circles. She helps me rock back and forth and before I know it, I feel like I can breathe again. "You're tensing up and fighting your body. Relax into the pain, deary."

"Easier said than fucking done," I say back. Instead of argument I get a snort of amusement back.

"You're absolutely right. This is one of the toughest things you'll have to do but I have no doubt you'll make it out the other side and you'll have a little one to make up for all this pain."

"Eyes on the prize," I whisper to myself, taking a steadying breath as another contraction tenses my body. "Oh, I hate this. I hate this. This sucks. I hate everything. Nothing will ever be good again in this world. It's all dark and gloom and sucky and fuck!"

Star giggles behind me and when I open my eyes, I find my mate staring at me in horror. "As long as you don't start pecking either of us, get it all out," she tells me seriously, her hands never stopping their soothing rubs on my lower back.

"Pecking?"

"I once helped a swan shifter through labor. Funniest delivery I've ever done."

Carlos' face of absolute horror finally breaks something in me and I start to laugh. I laugh and I laugh and I laugh until tears are streaming down my face. From that moment on, labor doesn't feel quite as bad as it did before. It seems the stories about Star were right.

Another hour passes before it's time to push this baby out. I welcome them into the world with open arms, not only because it means this bullshit process is over but because oh my gods, look I have the cutest little baby in the whole wide world and oh my gods, yes, I made this.

Star helps to gently clean everything away as I move to sit against the headboard of my bed. Carlos stands near, looking unsure. He runs his fingers through his hair and gently reaches for me before pulling his hand back.

"Umm," he murmurs, "can I touch you, Jude?"

"What? Of course! Get in bed with me, babe. Don't you want to meet your child?"

"Of course I do," he says, shaking his head, the tiniest bit of a smile playing at his lips. "But you just spent the last six hours talking about how much you hate me."

"That wasn't me," I tell him with a wide smile. "That was labor Jude. He's not the real Jude. Labor Jude can't hurt you, Carlos. Now get in this bed and give me snuggles while we admire the most perfect baby that we made together."

Carlos tentatively gets into bed with me, sitting beside me. I lean against his shoulder. Our baby has a head of dark hair already that matches Carlos, their eyes closed but I have a feeling they'll shine just like Carlos' do in his shifter form. The tiniest little hellhound I've ever met.

I run my thumb over my baby's cheek. "Thank you, baby," Carlos murmurs, kissing the side of my head, his hand covering our baby's chest, feeling their heartbeat against his palm. They look so small against his hand.

"I'm taking full credit for this," I say, looking over at my mate with a soft smile.

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

Star comes back into the room, handing me a bottle. "He's gorgeous," Star says, looking down at our baby. "Do you have a name?"

"Fuck," I hiss out, looking at Carlos. "I knew we were forgetting something. The house, the moving, the renovations. How the fuck did we forget about names in all of that?"

Carlos chuckles but it's a strained noise as he looks at me with wide eyes. "Oops?"

I take the bottle from Star, bringing it to my baby's lips. He takes to it quickly and after sucking for a moment, he opens his eyes. I suck in a sharp breath, realizing I was right. Two bright eyes blink up at me, identical to Carlos' shifter eyes. Soon they'll shift into his natural human eyes but as a newborn, his shifter side is shining through. Gods, he's beautiful.

"Oh," Carlos breathes beside me, staring at our son. "He looks just like me."

"He's perfect," I say, knowing how much Carlos still struggles with his shifter side. Seeing our son reflect that side of him might just be the thing for Carlos' to see it's not bad or evil. How can it be when our baby has that side to him as well? "I think I have a name," I say, kissing Carlos' shoulder. "How about CJ?"

"CJ," Carlos says slowly, really thinking the name over in his head. "I like it. I've only known him for like five minutes but it feels like him. You know?"

Star hums. "Carlos Junior. I think that's lovely and fits perfectly."

"Then it's settled," I say with a wide smile as Carlos freezes beside me.

"Wait, what?"

"Sorry, babe, it's already settled," I say with a giggle.

We lay back in bed, watching our son drink his bottle. This might not be the life I imagined but it's everything I didn't know I wanted. I know there's ups and downs that will come our way but with Carlos by my side, I welcome them, knowing that we can take on anything that tries to knock us down.

We have this new home that we're still making our own, making our home. Our new house is part of a little cul-de-sac just like Ronny promised. The little lake is perfect and I admit I've taken a dip or two in it. We live beside Jeff's family, and Ronny's family, and right next to my spark's family. We're safe here and can lean on each other. Our kids will all grow up together. It's everything I didn't know to wish for. These people are my family and I can't imagine my life going back to before I knew them. Thankfully, it doesn't seem I have to ever have them far from me.

Gods, I didn't know it was possible to be this happy and whole.

And yet, I know without a doubt that it's only the beginning.