chapter 25: family

I reacted the same way as everyone else around me. My jaw dropped and eyes widened in the same shock as Jason had on his face. I had no idea that was even possible.

"Are you serious?" I gaped at him. He was once again speechless as he nodded very slowly.

"It's rare when a shapeshifter gets pregnant. The girls are usually told by an elder of their pack if they are able to have children or not. Anya was told she wasn't. It's a mistake that's never been made before." The female explained for him. "The signs are much different from humans. Worse even. It makes her seem like she's dying, when in fact she has life growing inside her." She shook her head. "Why it took this long for him to get her pregnant beats me..." She gave him a small, but whitty smile, trying to lighten the mood. Which mostly worked. It made a few of the pack members, Jake and Shane snicker.

"Can we see her?" I asked.

She nodded, stepping aside. I hesitanted a moment then walked past the still stunned Jason and went into the tent as Kale trailed behind me. Jason followed and so did Shane and Jake but the pack and the elders stayed behind.

Anya's eyes opened carefully, looking over at us. She smiled brightly. Her arms were drapped across her stomach.

"You heard?" She asked. Her eyes were slightly brighter. Jason moved cautiously around the bed, taking her hand. We nodded in unison. She laughed. "You all seem just as shocked as me."

We nodded in unison again.

"I'm just glad you're not dying." Jake was the first to speak. She smiled.

"Me too." She looked down at her stomach. "I had no idea this could ever happen to me, to us." She took the words right out of my mouth, probably out of the other's too. She looked up at Jason. "Do you need to sit down?" She asked concerned.

"No." He shook his head. "I'm fine. What about you? Do you need anything? Another pillow? Water? Food? Are you hungry?"

"Just breath, Jason. You're alright." She pulled him down to her. He landed on his knees and pressed his face into her neck, throwing his arms around her. "Nothing bad can come out of this." She comforted him, stroking his hair.

"How far along are you?" I asked, watching the opposite of what should have been happening. To be honest, I was trying not to laugh. He was a mess. She looked at me with a grin.

"Three months but he's growing fast. He should be out within the next two months."

First of all, I knew it happened differently then a human pregnancy but I was surprised just how fast it was and secondly, she wasn't even showing! Her tummy was flat as ever.

"He?" Shane asked. She nodded. "How do you know?"

"I just have this feeling it's going to be a boy."

Kale pulled me closer to him in the midst of all this talk. His body seemed like it was tense against mine.

"Let's just hope he doesn't turn out like Jason." Jacob teased. Jason finally chucled against Anya's neck. But he didn't say anything or even lift his head.

We stayed with her until she drifted off to sleep. She did so just as I asked what she was thinking about naming him. She shrugged once again;

"I'm not sure yet..."

We left her to rest. Jason kissed her softly then followed behind us.

"I'm terrified." He let out suddenly when we were a few feet away from the tent. All four of us turned to him.

"Why?" I was the only one to respond. He looked down.

"I don't know how good of a dad I'll be. I'm not sure if I can raise him right."

"You sound like you're going to be a single father. Anya isn't going anywhere." I comforted him. "You can handle your pack, they're all just fine with you leading them. It's almost the same as raising a child, not to mention your entire pack will be by your side through his whole life. If anything, you'll raise him to be just as amazing as his parents."

"Are you sure?" He frowned as if unconvinced.

"All you have to do is love him, Jason. Teach him everything you know."

"Anya seems so sure of this." He sighed.

"But she's just as terrified as you are. Be there for her like you always have been. Everything will turn out just fine." I promised.

He looked back at me, obviously not in shock anymore but looking as he said he felt, completely terrified. After a moment a small-like smile finally cracked on his face.

"Thank you Jamie. You're a great friend, dolcetto." He tugged on my arm. His warmth engulped me. I was sure the chill of my body did the same to him. "Even if you are a vampire." He teased.

"Same to you, even if you are a mut." I teased back.

I felt his laugh then we both pulled away from eachother. I backed into Kale. Jason threw him a wink, like he did when he gave me away at our wedding. He spun back around, going into the tent with that seemed to be new found confidence. All three of them were staring at me.

"That was a surprise." I broke the silence, gazing at the tent he just disappeared into.

"Definitely." Shane agreed.

William and Anabelle were back in eachother's presence. They stood in front of the boulders Shane and Jake had been sitting on, talking quietly. Roy's clan was gone except for Kevin who was pouting nearby. When they saw us come out they came over to us.

"Everything OK?" William asked. They still held hands but Anabelle was standing so close to him their hands were hidden behind their backs.

"Anya's pregnant." I filled them in. They had the same shocked expression of their faces now as we all had before. Will let out a long whistle.

"I wasn't expecting that."

"Neither were we." Jacob agreed.

"Neither were they." I motioned back towards Anya's tent.

There was a long silence. William seemed to be studying me carefully. Anabelle began chewing on her lip as if she were trying not to be impatient. As I gazed at them I was suddenly glaring at William.

"You're leaving already." I didn't ask, I stated. The corner of his lips curled up.

"You catch on quickly, my little human."

"William..." I sighed.

"I know." He sighed back. "We won't stay away. You know me, I can't stay in one place for too long."

I let out a long breath, moving some of the hair that was in my face away.

"Of course I know that." I murmured. "You are a Stray, afterall."

His smile was full now. "Indeed."

He grabbed my arm as Jason had done. Kale was a little bit hesitant to let me go this time. William pulled me against him.

"Try not to get hurt while I'm away this time." He teased. They were always picking on me.

"I'll try." I sighed.

We pulled away. I turned to Anabelle. She stopped chewing on her lip, smiled and stepped away from Will toward me, her arms outreached. She hugged me tighter then I expected. I gasped under my breath.

"Thanks for everything, Jamie." She barely whispered. It took me a moment to respond.

"Anytime Anabelle. Keep him safe." We pulled back at the same time.

"Of course." Her eyes wandered for a moment at the others then looked at me again. "Keep yourself safe." She grinned.

"Will do." I nodded. Didn't any of them trust me with myself?

They said goodbye to the others and were gone in no time. It was something I still wasn't used to but knew this was how it was always going to be. As the sun rose we all headed back to our own tents. It wasn't something that was completely nessasary but we alwasy did it anyways.

When Kale and I got into our tent, I turned to him. He seemed to be deep in thought. He had been quiet ever since we saw Anya. I moved so close to him our bodies nearly intertwined. I looked up at him, seeing the frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" I cocked my head to the side. His frown deepened. He took a step back which stunned me. "Kale? What is it?"

"Did you want to have children?" He asked slowly and quietly.

"Why?" I didn't answer his question because the way he asked confused me.

"It's just that..." He looked away from me. "If you did, it's too late. You're body can't produce a baby now."

"Oh," I shrugged. "Not really. I've never had a fondness for children."

He finally looked back at me. "You're not just saying that to make me feel better are you?"

I smiled at him. "No, I promise. That's never been something I've wanted."

He sighed as if he felt better. He moved back toward me.

"I'm sorry. I've worried about alot of the human things that you might miss out on but that never crossed my mind."

"You don't need to worry about any of that. I have everything I could ever want, everything I could ever miss, right here." I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down so I could kiss him the way he always kisses me when I needed comfort.

He pulled me tightly against him now, trying to make up for stepping back. I'm sure he saw the pain in my eyes when he did it. It was hard to contain. I pulled him with me backwards until we finally hit the bed.

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As the day of Anya's due date drew near, everyone was getting excited. We managed to get her back to their house. Roy's clan didn't like the idea of a baby shapeshifter in their canyon. I'm pretty sure he would have softened their hearts. This baby was going to be adorable if he was going to look anything like Jason or Anya or both. Instead of going back to the beach, I talked Kale into staying in our room in the basement so we could help out in anyway. (Yes, we stole Jacob's room but he got over it eventually.)

I was making Anya and Jason breakfast this morning. The shower was running upstairs where Jason showered. Anya was still asleep. Kale sat at the counter, watching me as he always did. Shane had actually accompanied Jake out on a hunt, his eyes had gotten too black to ignore.

"How can you stand the smell of that?" Kale wrinkled his adorable nose.

"How could you? You used to do this for me all the time." I reminded him, turning the sausage links.

"Yeah, key word in your sentence is I did it for you. It didn't disgust me as much because I knew you loved it, and needed it."

I shrugged. "It's not disgusting. I just have no desire to eat it what-so-ever."

I had been a vampire now for almost a year but my human habits were still in my head. I made two plates and poured a glass of orange juice for Anya and milk for Jason. I knew exactly what they liked: scrambled eggs for both of them, peanutbutter toast for Anya, buttered toast for Jason, five sausage links for both and they'd probably want even more. Usually Anya didn't eat this much but lately it's been very different.

"Help me?" I held out Jason's plate and glass. Kale took them and followed me up the stairs. The shower turned off by the time we got up there. Kale knocked on the bathroom door with his foot...pounded on it, really.

"Breakfast! I'll put it in your room." He called into the door.

"Kale? You made me--" His voice echoed.

"Jamie, idiot!" He corrected him, irritated. It had gotten to the point where, despite it seeming other wise, Jason and Kale had gotten pretty close recently.

"Awwe, of course!" Jason chuckled on the other side of the door. "Thanks dolcetto!"

"No problem!" I called over my shoulder. I knocked on their bedroom door with my foot, but lighter then Kale would have.

"Anya?" I kicked again. Jason came out of the bathroom in his towel.

"Oh, I got it..." He said opening the door with a smile. I smiled back at him.

Our eyes moved to the silent room and we both let out a gasp. Kale was instantly behind us. She wasn't in the room. The window was broken. How was it none of us, no one had heard anything?! Within seconds, Jason dropped his towel but formed fast and took off out the shattered window. We dropped the food without a second thought, following quickly behind him.

No other scent had been in the room. But maybe it was someone like William who didn't even have a scent? Someone wanted to hurt Anya but who? A werewolf? Someone from Emily's pack? That would make sense right? Or maybe someone from Roy's clan? Who couldn't control their thirst for mut blood? The thought made me shutter.

We were able to pick up on her scent and follow it. Eventually Jake and Shane caught up to us, joining us after I had made a phone call to them. The whole pack was out rampaging the area to find her. Kale was about to call the clan for more help when his cell phone went off. It was Jason.

"I found her!" He gasped as soon as Kale answered.

"Who did it?!"

"No one. She's in her form, she came into the forest." He seemed relieved to just have found her.

"Why would she do that?" Kale frowned.

"To have our son." He breathed as if in awe. We looked at eachother in shock.

When we finally found them, Anya was still in her wolf form. A small cub was curled up beside her. Kale handed Jason some pants we went back and got for him as we both stared down at Anya. She looked up with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Is he human?" I couldn't help but ask breathlessly.

The little cub had beautiful golden-brown fur and big golden eyes. Just that alone was a sign that he was a child of Anya and Jason. Anya nodded at my feet in response to my question.

"In a few months he'll be able to change forms. By then he'll already be both physically and mentally 5 years old. He'll reach maturity, about 16 or 17, in three years." Jason explained as he pulled up his pants.

"Why—how so fast?" I gasped. He shrugged.

"We grow quickly to protect ourselves. Anya and I, everyone in the pack, grew the same way. The only thing we can't be sure of is when he'll stop actually aging. The elders stopped aging at 60, physically and mentally but in reality they're somewhere around 200 years old. Which is why they're so wise. Anya and I have stopped aging all together so I'm sure he will too around our age." He continued to explain the best he could. It didn't make alot of sense and seemed completely impossible but I guess impossible shouldn't even be in my vocabulary anymore.

"Until he's able to form, we're going to stay in our forms as well." He finally finished after a moment of staring down at the little cub.

"Wait, what's his name?" I asked before he could change forms. He smiled.

"Nathan. After my father." A moment passed and he was suddenly in his form. His pants were in shreds.

"Oh sure, just tear up the clothes I brought you..." Kale muttered.

Jason rolled his eyes at him as I gently hit his arm. I knelt down at Anya's level. She nudged my hand with her cold, wet nose then at the little pup.

"I can hold him?" I asked, unsure.

She nodded. I looked up. Kale smiled at me. Jake and Shane looked curious. Hesitantly, I picked him up. My cold skin must not have bothered him much as he curled into my arms and against my chest. Anya and Jason seemed to smile at eachother.

"Hi Nathan." I cooed quietly, stroking his little head. "Welcome to the family..."

"I like how that sounds." Shane breathed out above me.

"Me too." Jake nodded in agreement. "We're not a pack, or a clan, we're a family."

"A damn strange family." Kale muttered but I could tell he was teasing, I think. I shrugged.

"But a family none the less."

Kale sat down beside me, patting Nathan on the head carefully. Jacob and Shane did the same as Anya curled into Jason, shutting her eyes to rest. Jason laid his head in my lap and also drifted off to sleep as I craddled the small, also sleeping, new member of our family in my arms. Kale put his arm around my waist, kissing me softly on the lips and resting his head against mine. Shane and Jacob scooted closer, making our little circle tighter.

This time we weren't all together because something was wrong or someone was after us. We were all together because something was finally going right...