[Mike]We started eating our food, but the thought of losing my second child made it less pleasant. I knew I should be optimistic, but I was too careful for that. I tried to shake it off and enjoy the time with my sister. It had been two weeks since I last saw her. “What else did you learn at the healer?” Beth asked. “They said they can teach me to use the magic I’ve been blessed with to see. I’m practicing every night. And… Rock and I can have one baby safely. After that, I won’t be able to carry another one,” Carmen told us. She always wanted two pups. She told me that she would want her children to be close and love each other like she and I did. I could see that Rock was affected by this. He put his arm around Carmen and hugged her. She leaned her head against him for a moment, then pushed away. “Do you know if the pup will be blind?” I asked. “No. If the baby is born with eyes, then it should be able to see, according to the healer. Since blind trolls exist, there is a possibility, but I’m not descended from any blind trolls, so I’m not worried,” Rock answered. I nodded. He seemed resigned to the idea, but he was hard to read in his glamour. I could imagine he could be hiding more than just his face, but he didn’t smell as if he was lying. Rock would know Carmen wanted two pups and was hopeful they wouldn’t be blind. He knew the weight of what they heard as much as I did.  We continued to eat and talked about Carmen’s new life with Rock. She told me about the assistant she hired to take Gemma’s place at the company. It seemed like they would have her trained up before Gemma left for the national conference. I was happy about that.Gemma was a kind and loving woman. She deserved to find a mate and be happy. This was the first time our pack would be able to join in the conference. A lot of people wanted to go, but others wanted to wait for the regional conferences, mostly young pups. The older wolves were tired of waiting.Our food was great and the portions were huge. They were more than enough to feed a werewolf. It was nice to know there was another restaurant that catered to larger appetites. Beth shared some of her food with me and I did the same. Rock watched us and did the same with Carmen. She seemed pleasantly surprised. I got the distinct feeling he was using this as a chance to learn to learn a little more about how werewolf couples worked. I liked that. He was learning how to be a good mate for my sister. I shouldn’t have doubted him earlier. I should have told him that I was there to answer questions if he needed me to. That wouldn’t have been seen as an insult as much. I was learning more about fae, but still didn’t know a lot. Carmen asked about our parents and I told her mom was reprimanded for approaching her at the hospital. Both of them were taking lessons about the importance of the mate bond and the goddess’ plan. I didn’t tell Carmen about my interactions with dad. He seemed to be getting worse. We were adding information about the fae and trolls. Neither of them wanted to learn about them, but they were threatened by Trent that if they didn’t learn more about their family they would not be permitted to see Carmen. As we were wrapping up the meal, the waitress came by and tapped Rock on the shoulder. She waved him out of the booth. He told Carmen what was going on and stood up. They stood there looking like they were just staring at each other. Neither of their mouths moved, I guessed that was one way of keeping people from reading their lips. Rock looked back over at Carmen, then Beth. I wanted to know what was going on, but I didn’t want to be rude by butting into their conversation. Being rude around fae was never a good idea. Beth and Carmen were talking about having another barbecue with both of Carmen and Rock’s friends and family. I tried to take part in their conversation, but I kept an eye on Rock and his reactions. He reached for his wallet and handed a card to the waitress. She bowed and left before he came back to the table. Rock put an arm around Carmen and smiled at us. “What was that about? I was planning to buy lunch,” I told him. “This took a payment other than money, but you can still pay for the meal,” he replied then nodded over to the waitress who was returning with a little cake on a plate. She smiled and put it in front of Beth, then left. It was a pretty little cake with a sugar flower on top that looked like the flowers that were around the table. “Oh, how pretty,” Beth said in awe of the beautiful confection. Her fingers caressed the sugar petals of the flower. “Why did they only bring one, though?” “It’s a blessing for a safe and healthy birth. Apparently, the flowers told the owner that you were expecting. Unlike most fae blessings, this one doesn’t have a negative consequence and I will be paying the debt with some maintenance work. Congratulations,” Rock told her. Beth’s eyes widened and her hand went over her stomach. She turned to me with tears in her eyes. I couldn’t help but smile at her happiness. Beth was finally going to have the pup she always wanted. “Mike. A baby…. The goddess really gave us a baby.” “You deserve one, my love. I’m glad you’re happy,” I murmured and caressed her cheek. “Congratulations, Beth. You’re going to be the best mother,” Carmen said with a grin.After a week of going at it like teens, this was the best news we could have gotten. I hoped Carmen was right and we weren’t going to owe the fae for my grandparents’ debt. I wanted Beth to be happy whenever we found out we were pregnant from now on. Beth turned back to her dessert and ate it carefully. A safe and healthy birth. A healthy baby. I didn’t even care if the baby was a Beta. I would give it all up for the happiness in Beth’s eyes. The waitress brought the check and I handed her my card to pay for the food. She bowed and took it away. I put my arm around Beth and held her close to me. My mate gripped my shirt and buried her face in my chest. Her parents would be excited for her and I knew her siblings would be thrilled. They all prayed to the goddess for us every day. Part of me wanted to tell my parents, but part of me wanted to keep this away from them. They didn’t deserve to know about this, considering that all of our struggles were caused by their choices. Before we left, Beth and Carmen were making plans for baby shopping and a baby shower. I’d make sure my parents were nowhere near that baby shower so Carmen could come without worrying. Carmen was the one who broke this curse, not my parents. They didn’t deserve to be part of this. Beth and I gave Carmen hugs and I even hugged Rock. He patted my back firmly and let me go quickly. I knew trolls probably weren’t big on displays of affection from people who weren’t their mates, but I didn’t care. He paid for a blessing for my pup and he was my sister’s mate. “Can we go home?” Beth asked. “I know we have plans, but I want to see the doctor to confirm before we tell our family and friends. Getting pregnant outside of the heat cycle is rare, but I would have had symptoms sooner if I’d gotten pregnant back then,” Beth told me. “Anything you want, love. I don’t want my family to know, though. My sister knows and that’s enough for now.”“You’re mad at your parents, and I understand that, but maybe this is what makes them accept Rock and Carmen. If they hadn’t gotten together, we wouldn’t have had this blessing from the goddess.” “You are too kind to them, Beth. I love that about you, but I can’t forgive them that easily. My dad said he was happy we couldn’t have pups if I was going to accept Carmen and Rock. He should have been happy for my sister, but he didn’t care about her feelings. He only cared about his prejudice,” I said. “Do you think it really won’t matter to them?” she asked. “I think they’ll overlook the fact that we couldn’t have a pup until Carmen accepted Rock. They’ll find out from someone else this way and that will tell them what we think of them. I can’t let them too close to us right now. They didn’t tell you and me about the fae situation. We suffered because of them. Let them suffer a little,” I replied. She frowned at me, but nodded her head. There was no way to change my mind. They deserved to suffer for what they did to all of us. I wouldn’t be swayed from it by anyone. My parents had their chance. We drove out to the pack lands and straight to the pack hospital. I wasn’t going to waste any time. After parking, I pulled Beth out of the car and carried her into the hospital. She laughed at me, but I wasn’t going to put her down until we were upstairs. I took her to the ranked member exam room and a nurse came in to get her vitals and find out why we were there. I was beaming when I told her we needed a pregnancy checkup and that it was top secret. She laughed and said she would get the doctor. Beth went from happy to nervous, but I was right there with her to perk her back up. I stayed close to her with one hand on her stomach and the other holding her close to me. I kissed her shoulder, cheek, and lips when she turned to tell me to stop. The doctor came in a few moments later. She smiled at us and laughed. “I know you want to shower your mate with affection, Beta, but I need to get at her for the exam. Please go sit over there. We’ll do a pregnancy test, an exam, and an ultrasound to find out how far along you are. Beth, will you go fill this cup and change into a gown, please?” the doctor asked. “Sure,” Beth said taking the cup and gown from the doctor and heading into the connected bathroom. “Beta, can you tell me what makes you suspect that your mate may be pregnant?” “Her breasts have been a little tender, but I thought that was just because I was being rougher. Something has made me more… amorous… lately. What told us it was a pregnancy was some flowers at a fae restaurant. They told the owner that Beth was pregnant. I know it sounds weird, but you can’t expect normal with the fae,” I replied. “Flowers? Definitely the strangest pregnancy test I’ve heard of. So we’re just confirming if the flowers were correct and how far along she is if they were. You know that the chances of her conceiving are low if she hasn’t yet, right?” I shook my head. “It wasn’t that she was having trouble. I was the problem. I went to a human doctor to confirm it because I didn’t want it all over the pack. Beth was never the problem, it was always me.” “Oh, dear…. I’m sorry, Beta. I want you to know I would have been careful with your information, but I can entirely understand your caution. I hope the flowers were correct, then. You’re a great Beta and I know your child would be just as amazing.” She smiled. “Thank you.” Beth came out a moment later in the medical gown and handed the cup to the doctor. She sat on the table while the doctor took the cup to the counter and dipped a stick in it, then placed the stick over the top of the cup before turning back. She approached my mate and started looking her over. “Any nausea, pain, or dizziness?” “I heard Mike tell you that my breasts have been tender, but I had a headache the other day. I didn’t tell him about that, because I didn’t want him to worry. There has been a little nausea, but I thought it was caused by hunger because eating seemed to make it go away,” Beth answered. “When did those symptoms start?” “A few days ago, on Wednesday… I think….” “All right. I’m going to check the results of the test,” the doctor said. She turned back to the counter and I moved closer to Beth to hold her hand. Beth squeezed my hand so tightly that I thought it might fall off. I rubbed her back gently and prayed to the goddess to confirm what we already knew. “Well, congratulations, the test is positive. It looks like our future Beta is on the way,” she told us with a smile.