130. Jayce

CHAPTER 130

Jayce

I'm so excited about the new babies joining the family, it's not even funny. With the help of Dominik, I set to converting one of the spare bedrooms downstairs into a nursery. We also planned to do a nursery for upstairs so we can stay with the pack while the babies rest.

There are so many plans that need to be made in the short period of time that we have left. I race around, gathering all the necessary items that will be used in both rooms. I try to do it when Aurora's either sleeping or out of the house to be a great surprise for her. Right now, she's out with Alaric and her two older children, so my brother and I sit here working on painting the walls and redoing the trim. We've already built two cribs upstairs and the two cribs downstairs.

We went with neutral colors in both rooms just in case of a little boy being born or if they're both little girls. I know that Dimitri and Klaus would be happy either way with whatever gender they end up with. I get that dreamy look in my eye apparently because Dominik comes over and places his hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay, bro? You looked like you were off in your own world."

"Yeah, just daydreaming about one day having my own pups," I say and smile. Never in a million years did I think I would be a dad. Things thankfully improved with Tia and Ladon after the discussion Aurora had with them. So I kind of get to experience the dad thing now.

"Trust me, I'm right there with you, Jayce. I can't wait to see our babies." Dom comes over to me and hugs me tightly.

"We'll get there, little brother, don't worry." We break the hug and go back to work on the walls, making the two shades of forest green perfect. We wanted a warm woodsy feel to the bedroom.

Periodically I still get lost in my thoughts as I paint the walls. "We have much better odds next time, Dom," I say, shrugging my shoulders while I paint. To me, it honestly doesn't matter which of us fathered the next litter. Either way, the pups would be of my bloodline.

"Very true. I like these odds much better." Dominik smiles and winks at me. We work in relative silence for the next couple of hours, ensuring that the room is absolutely perfect. We return back upstairs to go over the other nursery making sure that the paint dried properly and didn't require a second coat.

Once all the paint is dry, we go out into the garage to grab the boxes for the babies' dressers as well as the changing tables. We acquired the help of other pack members to get all the boxes into the rooms they need to be in. Painstakingly slow, we assemble each of the items while assisting each other the best that we can.

It is late afternoon when our work gets interrupted by Aurora and the children. I was just putting up the last of the stencils on the wall, decorating it with different animals. One wall is done as a forest scene; another has the animals that each of us shift into. The third wall we are saving to put the babies' names on. The final wall we would leave for Aurora to do with whatever she wanted.

Tears shine in Aurora's pale-grey eyes as she looks on. Slowly, she enters the room and turns in a slow circle taking in all that my brother and I have accomplished while she was gone. Silently, she comes up and hugs and kisses both of us passionately, whispering her thanks.

Through the mate bond, she reaches out to everyone, summoning them into the room that she was currently in. As each of the guys enter, their eyes go wide as saucers as they take in what Dominik and I have accomplished. There is a series of high fives, back claps, and bro hugs to go around. Everyone was very impressed with what we did in the afternoon while they were gone.

My heart swells with love and affection from my bond mates. I didn't think this small gesture would mean so much to everyone. Dimitri gets bashful and crooks his finger, leading us out of the room that we were in.

He brings us down the hall to the last door on the left that now suspiciously has a lock on it. He unlocks the door, and oddly Arnulf enters first. We bring Aurora to the front and push her into the room before us and as if on cue, the lights flick on. In the corner of the room is a den with a nest inside. Aurora squeals with delight as she runs up and jumps into the pillowy softness that was made for her.

Her actions concern the rest of us. We are worried she will injure herself and or the babies she's carrying. We rush over and move the curtains aside to find her curled up in the middle of the nest, looking super comfortable.

Apparently, most of us had secrets today. In turn, we each turn and look at Dimitri, and he just smiles and shrugs his shoulders. The big guy doesn't do well with accepting congratulations or any kind of positive emotional feedback from the males in the family.

Arnulf surprisingly takes the lead and begins to explain everything that he and Dimitri had done. We stare in wonder as he points out all the little special things. He then explains what kind of products and materials were used in the making of the nest. You could tell that Aurora was exceptionally impressed by their craftsmanship by how she runs her hands over the bedding. Ever so carefully, she climbs out of the nest and then launches herself into Dimitri's waiting arms. She cries softly, thanking him profusely for all that he has done for her and the babies.

Being the honorable man that Dimitri is, he motions towards Arnulf and explains his part in the whole process. Aurora wiggles her way free from Dimitri's arms and goes and hugs Arnulf. She then comes over to me and tenderly kisses my cheek and then my lips, thanking me for what I did. She repeats the process with my twin, hugging him and kissing him, and thanking him as well. We go room to room upstairs and down, checking out the two new nurseries.

Klaus was exceptionally impressed by the color palette that we chose for both of the rooms. There are two shades of evergreen, one light, one dark, in both rooms. We alternated which walls had what colors. We alternated which wall was designated for what between the two rooms. Both rooms are the same, yet different in their own way. Alaric congratulates us and thanks us for the time and effort we put in to ensure that the babies had the perfect sleeping area. He's not even the male that fathered the children this time, and he's grateful for what we did. It just warms my heart to know that my brother and I's efforts are appreciated.

It's different being an Omega in this pack. I don't feel like I'm at the bottom of the ladder. I don't feel like I'm only useful for one thing. It's nice to be up at the top with those I love and all of us on equal footing. Klaus comes over and hugs me and then to my surprise, kisses me in front of everyone. It wasn't a soft, gentle kiss you would expect; this is full force, Klaus not holding back. He makes my toes curl, and butterflies rise up in my stomach. I can't help but wrap my arms around him and return his passionate kiss.

The kiss finally ends and I can't help but stare up into his eyes, lost. A slender hand rests on my shoulder, and I turn to look at Aurora, almost horrified at what we just did in front of her. Quickly, I look back to Klaus, and he is just as panic-stricken as I am.

"Don't worry, boys, I knew you two had a thing going and I'm fine with it." Aurora smiles at us and kisses us both, and then walks out.

Releasing the breath I didn't realize I was holding, my eyes dart back and forth between Klaus and Aurora. Shock doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling right now. Part of me feels as if my heart is soaring; the other half feels extremely blessed and grateful. Klaus hugs me tightly to him as we look to the others. The guys smile and high-five us and tell us that they knew. It's such a relief to get that off my chest. Aurora being okay with it makes it all that much better.

We spend a few moments alone before heading back up to the main part of the house. Tia and Ladon come running into the house. Tia is crying, and Ladon has three cuts across his arm. Aurora instantly flies into a rage as she drops to her knees in front of her children. "What happened?" Aurora looks Tia over then examines Ladon's arm before passing him off to Alaric.

I quickly go to Tia and cradle her against my chest before sitting across from Aurora. My wolf rumbles softly, trying to calm her. "Shadow man took Lia. We were playing under the peach tree, and he came up out of the ground and grabbed her." Deep in my heart, I have an idea about who she's speaking about. My fingers thread through Tia's hair as I try to soothe her.

Aurora's facial bone plates shift several times before she looks at me and Dominik. "Get Alex to go with you and search the area and report back. Oh, and find out when Alex wants to have his wedding too." Aurora's always multitasking if she can get away with it.

I quickly place Tia in Aurora's lap as Dominik and I head out of the house. Through the pack bond, we reach out to my brother and his mate to have them meet up with us. They arrive quickly, and we bring them up to speed as we walk towards the peach tree. The stench of sulfur and rot fills our sensitive noses. Dominik and I have smelled this before; the Strigoi have taken Lia. I reach out through the pack bond to Aurora and fill her and the rest of our pack mates in on our discovery.

We can clearly feel Aurora's rage through the bond, and she basically tells us to stay put. I raise a brow, looking at my brothers. We know that Aurora will go against medical orders and come herself. No sooner did I share that thought with my brothers and my future brother-in-law, Aurora arrives.

She charges over to the hole and starts searching around it. Her eyes raise up to the sky locating the sun. "More than likely, we will hear from them at sundown. They probably believe that they stole my daughter and will want me in exchange."

She raises a hand quickly and silences us all instantly. "We need to return and tell Anna what happened to her daughter. I also need to know if Lia has my scale with her or not before I attempt to locate her." Aurora turns quickly and starts heading back to camp without further adieu.

We lag behind the group, and when we arrive back at the pack house, Aurora already has Anna wrapped up in her arms. The child's mother is crying hysterically, and the father is speaking with Klaus and Dimitri. I pull my brothers off to the side as we wait to be needed. Alex and his mate pull out their phones, showing us their wedding plans.

We were so lost in the plans I didn't notice that Aurora was standing over us, looking over my shoulder at the plans as well. "The blue one would be best," she says and scares the hell out of all of us.

I clutch my chest as I turn to look at her, my eyes still wide from fright. "Excellent choice, babe. Um, does the little one have your scale?" Slowly, I tilt my head to the side, trying to get her back on track.

"In fact, she does!" Aurora smiles broadly. "The downside is all things considered." She motions to her stomach.

"I'll need Alaric and Nicodeamus to boost me; I don't believe I can do it alone." As soon as she utters their names, they move to her side, and we prepare for some freaky dragon location thing to happen.