The weeks after Marnie's confirmation were a blur of change.
My body transformed. Belly swelling, breasts tender, energy fluctuating wildly. Some days I could run for hours. Others, I could barely make it to the porch.
Kael hovered.
Constantly. Endlessly. Lovingly.
"Elena, are you sure you should be carrying that?"
"It's a cup of tea, Kael."
"What if you trip?"
"I'm pregnant, not infirm."
"Still—" He took the cup from my hands. "Let me."
I sighed but let him. Because honestly, his hovering was kind of adorable.
---
Sasha thought it was hilarious.
"He's going to be insufferable for the next seven months," she said, watching Kael rearrange the cabin for the tenth time.
"Seven months?"
"Wolf pregnancies are shorter than human ones. About seven months total." She grinned at my expression. "Surprise!"
"That would have been nice to know earlier."
"Where's the fun in that?"
---
Lia was fascinated.
She spent hours with me, asking questions, feeling the baby move, reading books about pregnancy and birth.
"What will it be? Boy or girl?"
"I don't know. We want to be surprised."
"Will it be wolf or human?"
"Maybe both. We'll find out when it's born."
She nodded seriously. "I hope it's a girl."
"Why?"
"So I can teach her things. Like you taught me."
I pulled her into a hug. "You'll be the best big cousin ever."
"The best," she agreed.
---
The bond changed too.
I could feel the baby now—a small, warm presence alongside Kael's. Not fully formed, not conscious, but there. A new life. A new connection.
Kael felt it too.
"She's there," he whispered one night, hand on my belly. "I can feel her."
"Her?"
"Just a feeling." He kissed my stomach. "Our daughter."
I didn't know if he was right. But in that moment, it didn't matter. What mattered was us. Together. Hopeful. In love.
---
The cravings started in month four.
Pickles and ice cream. Strange combinations that made Kael laugh. Late-night runs to the kitchen for foods that didn't exist.
"You're lucky I love you," he said, returning from a 2 AM trip to find pickles.
"You love the baby too."
"I love both of you." He kissed me. "Even at 2 AM."
"Especially at 2 AM?"
"Especially always."
---
The quickening came at five months.
The first real movement—a flutter, then a kick. I gasped, grabbed Kael's hand, pressed it to my belly.
"Feel that?"
He went still. Then his eyes widened.
"She moved."
"She moved."
He dropped to his knees, pressed his face to my stomach.
"Hi, baby," he whispered. "I'm your daddy. I can't wait to meet you."
I cried. Obviously.
---
That night, we made love slowly.
Gently. Mindful of the life between us.
"I love you," he breathed. "Both of you."
"We love you too."
Afterward, he held me close.
"What do you think she'll be like?"
"Strong. Stubborn. Beautiful." I kissed his chest. "Like her father."
"Like her mother." He pulled me closer. "Perfect, basically."
"Basically."