Chapter Twenty-Four

"I don't think it's gonna fit," I said, feeling bad.

Thia was so excited for me to wear the new tutu that she and I had picked out from an Etsy shop. It would have fit had it come three months ago when we ordered it, but there had been a delay, and now it was iffy at best. I wanted to wear it, too. It was made of a glittery tulle I didn't even know could possibly exist, and it was absolutely fairy-prince-esque.

Thia had a matching one and looked absolutely adorable. Me, I was less adorable. Looking at me, people had to think I was a few decades past my due date. I was the size of a house—or nine. My feet were so swollen, all I could wear were flip-flops two sizes too big, I had pimples for the first time in over a decade, and I had ankles as huge as my calves. There was nothing that could be objectively looked at as adorable by anyone other than my mates, who were very biased. If you asked them, I looked more gorgeous by the day. I appreciated their love and support, but believing that? As much as I wanted to, I couldn't. The proof was in the mirror.

"It's a special one, I'll show you. Daddy asked her to switch the style when this one didn't come in on time." I hadn't known that.

She turned the skirt around to show me where there was actually a string instead of elastic. When I untied it and pulled it open as far as it could go, it was big enough to get on—not necessarily up and over my belly, but if I went top-down, I could get it on and tie it securely.

"How do I look?" I asked, spinning around as best I could, given how off my center of balance was.

"You look like a fairy!" She swished her wand in my direction. "Maybe you are a fairy?"

"Then I guess we'd better go look for my friends." I had promised her we would go fairy hunting today. Although "hunting" was a strong word for it. We were just going to see if we could meet one, but she insisted that saying "going fairy meeting" didn't sound very fancy at all.

And it didn't, but did you need fancy to have a search day? Not so much.

And, objectively speaking, it wasn't fair, but neither were my flip-flops that were two sizes too big.

She grabbed my hand and brought me out back to where she was sure some fairies were living. Zeus was already out there with Ripley, and the two of them were working on building an outdoor grill. We discovered very quickly that the garden was the favorite place for everybody, from friends visiting to motel guests. And while we'd had a grill in place before this, it had been one we bought from the store and pieced together. It was fine but not really big enough for our needs now that the motel was starting to thrive.

And really, making one from scratch was good for both the alphas—it gave them time piecing together a puzzle which they both loved, while making something that was going to put smiles on the hearts and faces of many.

"How's it coming?" I asked.

"Awful," Zeus replied, "I still haven't seen a fairy yet."

I laughed, loving both of them, but I especially loved the way he knew just how to make Thia smile.

"Then we will fix it now."

And she did. She dragged us all over the garden looking up down and all around for a fairy. We never did find one, but we found something far more fun.

"Look." I pointed to the "abandoned" fairy village that Zeus, Riley and I made for just this occasion.

"Whoa!" She ran right to it. "Fairies really live here!"

She squatted down, and looked at the village one house at a time. We had a school, a few mushroom homes, and a library. The excitement flowing off of her made every single paint stroke and glued pine cone piece glued worth it.

"This was such a good idea." I leaned in to Riley's side. "You are so clever."

"You were the one who thought about adding the library." He kissed my cheek.

"I think picking us was the best idea idea of all." Zeus placed his hand on my belly. "You were a pretty good idea, too." He spoke directly to my bump.

Thia came running over. "What was that?"

"A fairy?" I guessed, unsure what she was specifically talking about.

"There's a fairy in your belly with my baby? That's why it moved." It was cute how she loved the baby so much already.

I hadn't been aware of the baby kicking right then, but it was a pretty constant occurrence lately. I was far more likely to notice if they stopped.

"No, sweet girl." Riley ducked down to be eye level with her. "There's only a baby in there."

"And they make your belly do that?"

I nodded.

"I bet they are a fairy shifter." And she flitted away.

"Look at me, the father of Fae." I rested my head on Zeus' shoulder. "But I guess I always consider our daughter a fairy princess."

"She really is," Riley agreed.

Zeus stayed silent and when I looked to see his face, his eyes were glistened with tears.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing." Zeus blinked back some tears. "It's just, you both called her our daughter and…thank you for loving her so completely. I love you both so much."

"I love my family so much." Riley kissed my belly.

And now it was my turn to cry happy tears.