17. Lucy

"I'm going out," Michelle said. "Is there anything you need me to pick up for you?"

"No. I've been ordering my books and everything else online," Lucy said. "Thank you, though."

"Micah is upstairs working in his home office. Don't answer the door for anyone unless you know them, especially delivery guys. Get Micah to do it."

"I promise," Lucy said.

"Lock the door behind me. I have keys," Michelle ordered.

"Yes, Mama." Lucy smiled.

Michelle hugged her and walked out the door. She stood on the porch for a minute to make sure that Lucy locked the door.

Lucy went into the library, curling up on the couch. She had a book in her hand, but her eyes felt heavy. They flew open suddenly when she heard the doorbell ring.

Sighing, she went into the foyer. Remembering Michelle's orders, she looked through the peephole to see who it was. Shocked, she unlocked the door.

"Leo. What in the world are you doing here?" she asked.

"I missed you. I made a huge mistake when I hurt you and I want another chance. Please, please forgive me."

"How did you even find me?" Lucy asked, shocked.

"I overheard your mom and dad talking at a restaurant the other day." His eyes bugged out. "Are you pregnant?"

"Yes."

"If you'll take me back, I swear that I'll treat the baby like it was my own, no questions asked. Please. I'm so sorry," Leo said.

Lucy stared at him, wondering how she could have ever imagined herself in love with him.

"There is no way in the world that I would let you back into my life," Lucy said. "I'm sorry that you came all this way, but you need to go back to Ashley. Last I heard, she was having your baby."

"She is. We tried living together, but she's… well, she's just not you," Leo said.

"Not happening," Lucy said. "Go back to the shifter world. I wish you the best of luck."

Lucy started to shut the door, but Leo pushed the door back hard and grabbed her arm.

"You have to listen to me," Leo said.

Suddenly, his eyes got wide and he dropped his hand. Micah physically picked him up and tossed him onto the lawn.

"Don't ever lay a hand on her again," Micah said, walking back into the house.

"I will find a way to make you love me again," Leo said.

Lucy shut the door.

"Do you want Leo back?" Micah asked.

"How could you even ask me a question like that?" Lucy asked crossly.

She felt Micah's eyes on her as she walked back into the library.

"How can he be so blind and stupid?" Lucy asked herself. "If he just paid attention, the tiniest little bit, the fool would know that I'm in love with him."

Lucy picked up her book but stared off into space. "Maybe I just need to tell him and let the chips fall where they may. Of course, I tried before and providence stopped me."

She massaged her head and sighed. A headache was creeping up on her.

When Michelle returned from shopping, Lucy told her about Leo and then Micah's stupid question.

"You might have to tell him how you feel," Michelle said. "Some people wouldn't see an elephant if it was standing on their foot."

"That's what I told myself earlier," Lucy said.

She had a doctor's appointment the next day. Dr. Ratliff did the ultrasound and then smiled widely.

"Guess what. You're having twins," he said.

"I'm having what?" Lucy asked, shocked.

"Twins. You know, two babies at the same time," he said, smiling.

"Wow. I guess that explains why I got so big so fast," Lucy said.

She looked over at Micah, who was staring at the screen that showed two distinct babies.

Worried, she asked, "Are you okay?"

He looked at her, looked at the screen, looked at the doctor, and then back at Lucy. A huge smile spread across his face. "Woohoo. Two babies."

Micah did a little dance. Lucy and the doctor laughed.

"Can I still shift and go for walks?" Lucy asked.

"Walks yes. Shifting, no. You don't want to jolt the babies around too much. It might not hurt them, but you don't want to take the chance," Dr. Ratliff said.

Lucy sighed heavily but said, "Okay."

She would miss shifting and going for walks, but she needed to make sure that the babies were safe.

"Are they healthy?" Micah asked.

"They look perfect. Their heartbeats are good," Dr. Ratliff said.

The doctor told Lucy that moderate exercise was okay. He winked at Micah and said, "Sex is okay, too, at least for now."

Lucy blushed.

"I think we should go out to dinner and celebrate," Micah said, as they headed out into the sunshine. "How about some Mexican food?"

"I'm not so sure I can handle spicy today," Lucy said. "I'm thinking that maybe a cheeseburger with bacon and the works."

"How about Howlers'?" he asked.

"Sounds good."

Jade greeted them as they walked in the door and said, "You're getting big, fast."

"There's two of them," Lucy said.

"Twins. Wow. Congrats," Jade said.

"Thanks. We're pretty happy," Micah said.

Lucy had a feeling that people were watching them. She didn't actually catch people staring, but the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

"They aren't used to seeing me here with a woman," Micah said when Lucy mentioned the sensation. "They are curious, especially since you have a little bump going on."

"Little?" Lucy laughed.

"Okay, medium-sized," Micah said. "Plus, I'm sure that Dad has made sure that the word got out that I knocked up a bear shifter."

"Would people care that I'm a bear shifter and you are a wolf shifter?"

"Not anyone who matters," Micah replied. "The people who care about us and love us don't care who you are. My dad will have a problem with it, but he isn't an important part of my life. I only support him because of my mom. If they got divorced tomorrow, I would completely cut him out of my life."

Lucy touched his arm. "I'm sorry you feel that way about your dad. I can't imagine that. My parents are so amazing. I can't wait for you to meet them."

She mentally groaned after she said that because it inferred that they would be together in the future. Lucy was relieved when he said, "I would like that. They sound pretty awesome."

"You, know, Micah. I really…"

"Hey, Micah, Lucy. How are you guys?"

Lucy sighed as Conner slid into a chair at their table.

"Hey, man. We're great. You'll never guess what we found out today," Micah said.

"What?"

"We're having twins," Micah said.

Conner laughed. "You two are going to be up to your ears with dirty diapers, clothes, and everything else."

"Luckily, it won't just be the two of us. Vera and Michelle will likely be hands-on when it comes to taking care of the babies. I don't see Ronnie volunteering to change too many diapers, though," Lucy said.

"Probably not. He's a great guy and will be the first one to take them fishing and to play ball, though."

They finished eating and headed back to the house. As expected, Ronnie, Michelle, and Vera were extremely excited to find out that there were going to be two babies in the house soon.

"You're going to have to pick out some great names," Vera said. "Vera the second would be a good one if the baby is a girl." She winked exaggeratingly at Lucy.

"We haven't even discussed names," Lucy said. "I 'spose we'll get to that when we find out whether they are boys or girls or one of each."

"That would be so awesome," Vera said.

"It would be pretty cool." Ronnie smiled. "A baby Micah and Lucy running around."

"I'm sure we'll find different names than that." Lucy laughed.

That night, Micah pulled Lucy into his room with him and they made sweet love before falling asleep together.

I could get used to this,was Lucy's last thought.

Micah had to be at the office early the next morning. Lucy ate breakfast with everyone else and then decided that it was the perfect day to work on her book. She packed up some bottles of water, her computer, and a couple of snack bars.

She finished the rough draft of her first chapter when she heard footsteps walking up behind her. Lucy excitedly looked behind her, expecting to see Micah. Her heart sank when she realized who it was.

"Lucy," the man said.

"Gavin," Lucy replied.

"We need to talk."

"About what?"

"You. You are a disgrace to my son. Everyone knows that you are just a gold digger out to get his money, which is why you went and got yourself knocked up. I doubt that it is even Micah's kid, yet you are going to force him to take care of it," Gavin said.

Lucy wasn't going to bother arguing with him. It wouldn't matter what she said. "I'm sorry you feel that way."

"What's even worse is that you are a bear shifter. You have no place in Micah's life."

"You are entitled to your opinion."

"What will it take to make you give up your game and go back to the shifter world, taking the bastard with you?"

"I will leave if Micah asks me to," Lucy replied, trying her best to keep her temper in check. She knew that it would only feed his bullying if she showed that she was upset.

Gavin pulled out a checkbook and signed a check with a flourish. He wrote her name on the payee line and handed it to her.

"Write whatever number you want. Take the check and go home."

Lucy stared into his eyes as she slowly, deliberately ripped the check into shreds.

"I don't want anything from you."

"If you were any kind of decent woman and if you cared about Micah the slightest bit, you would leave. You are making him a laughing stock with our pack, his friends, and his colleagues."

"Thank you for your feedback. I will take it under advisement," Lucy said, her hands clenched under the table. There was no way that her pride would let this jerk now that he was affecting her.

"You are going to regret this. Don't say that I didn't give you fair warning."

"Gavin, what are you doing here?" Ronnie asked as he rushed toward them.

"Lucy and I were merely having a conversation," Gavin said.

"You need to leave," Ronnie said.

Gavin glared at the tiger shifter and bared his teeth. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm the man who's going to make you leave," Ronnie said, his voice deadly cold.

Gavin looked at Lucy and back at Ronnie. "I was just leaving anyway." He shot a nasty look at Lucy and said, "Remember what I said."

Lucy didn't react. She watched the older man march out the gate with Ronnie right behind him, making sure that he left.

When they were gone, she slumped in her seat, with her hand over her heart. She hated confrontations, but it seemed like she had a huge target on her back, between Caroline and Gavin.

She closed her eyes and a single tear slipped out. Wiping it away angrily, she said, "You will not let him upset you. The babies do not need stress."

Lucy had recently read a journal article where doctors made the link between cortisol, the stress hormone, and fetal development. She didn't want anything to hurt the babies.

Closing her eyes, she folded her hands on the table and inhaled deeply. Out to the count of four, hold it to the count of four, in to the count of four, hold it to the count of four.

She pictured the oasis near the creek full of colorful wildflowers as she practiced breathing. The stress slowly seeped out of her.

Lucy focused on her book. A few hours later, she heard heavy footsteps walking toward her. Instantly, her stress level jumped through the roof, as she expected Gavin to come back and harass her.

She almost fainted with relief when she saw Micah. Lucy could tell by the look on his face that Ronnie had told him about Gavin's visit.

Micah kissed her on the cheek and sat on the bench across from her. He reached for her hands and kissed each one.

"I understand you had a visitor today."

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"He suggested that I was bad for you and your image. Apparently, he thinks that the baby doesn't even belong to you, and I was trying to trap you into taking care of it and me. He offered me a blank check if I would leave."

"That bastard," Micah growled. "I'm going to wring his miserable neck."

"I'm a little worried," Lucy said. "I think he threatened me. He said that I was going to regret not leaving."

"I'm so sorry," Micah said.

He stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"To put a man in his rightful place," Micah replied.

Lucy hung her head. She knew that this wasn't her fault, but she felt responsible anyway. Looking around, she sighed. Lucy felt as though the world was closing in on her.