“Why?”
“I don’t know. I just think it’s an important thing to know for us and for them.”
“Well, let’s get some food in you first.”
“That sounds good,” she replied.
This was one good thing about being shifters, Malcolm surmised. Even after a major event like multiple births and an appendectomy, their bodies healed fast. Whereas a human might not be able to eat for days, she was already ready to eat at least a few bites, and probably more once she got started. No Jell-O for shifters.
It was evident though that Autumn was far from recovered when she could only manage half a sandwich and a bit of water. He wasn’t sure if this was normal but would ask Kara in private when she came back to check on her. Bess was still there, but she was more of a caretaker than medically trained.
Kara went by the term midwife in the pack, but she was a well-respected surgeon out in the human world. There was another midwife that served the pack, but she wasn’t as formally trained. It had been sheer luck that they had ended up with Kara, and Malcolm was so grateful that they had. Who knows what might have happened otherwise.
“How funny,” Autumn commented as Bess came in and handed her the list of times and sexes, as well as a notebook and pen she had retrieved from the drawer in their kitchen where Malcolm had told her to look.
“What?” Bess asked, a puzzled look on her face.
“They are like bookends.”
“Bookends? I don’t follow,” Bess said.
“The oldest and youngest are girls. It’s like they hold all the boys in the middle together.”
Bess laughed and shrugged, “Ain’t that a statement on life?”
Autumn laughed and continued to look down the list, running her finger down it softly as she went. Malcolm reached for his phone and snapped a photo of her, causing her to look up at him, her brows knotted together.
“You just looked so lost in thought, so pensive. I wanted a photo to remember the moment,” he told her, looking down at the image.
“I think you’re getting a soft belly,” she laughed.
“Maybe. Let’s just keep that between ourselves.”
“I only have one thing I need you to promise me, Malcolm.”
“What is that?”
“Promise me you will never make our girls do something they don’t want to do.”
“Like brush their teeth?”
“You know what I mean, Malcolm,” she told him.
“Yes, I do. I promise.”
“I wish my mom could see them. She’d love having so many babies to spoil.”
“I know. I’m sorry that’s been taken from you.”
Autumn nodded and went back to the list. They sat there tossing potential names back and forth until they had some ideas about what to name so many children. Several of the women stayed, camping in the living room floor on air mattresses and tending the babies overnight so Autumn could rest.
In the morning, Malcolm made them all breakfast and set about finishing the two remaining baby beds. They were still two short, so he left to pick up those from the furniture store. It would be crowded, but they would fit. He suspected that would be the case for a lot of things in the days to come, which only made him realize that he was going to have to get going on a bigger house sooner than he had anticipated.CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVEAutumn
“I don’t know how to thank all of you,” Autumn said to the group of women gathered in their living room a few days later. “You’ve all helped me so much, and I can never repay you,” she said.
“Wanna bet? Just wait until one of us has our next litter,” a voice called out from the back.
Autumn laughed, nodding her head in agreement.
“Right. Well, until I can make it up to you, just know that I am so grateful. I can’t imagine trying to get through this without you.”
After a light lunch of sandwiches and chips that Malcolm had brought in from the local deli, the women began to slowly file out, with the exception of two girls who didn’t look much younger than herself. She didn’t remember them being there before and couldn’t recall if she had ever met them before, but her questions were quickly answered.
“Autumn, you haven’t met us. We just moved here from another pack. We, um, we ran away from home together.”
“Oh? Why is that?” Autumn asked uncertainly.
“Well, our parents wanted us to marry and do the whole thing...”
“Well, you know what is expected of Omegas,” the other one said, causing the first to give her a sharp look. She immediately looked apologetic, “Oh, I didn’t mean anything by that. There is nothing wrong with you being a wife and mother.”
Autumn chuckled and held up her hand toward them to hold on a moment. They immediately grew quiet and looked at her expectantly.