Their Mistake

Chapter Three

REMI

“TWINS!” Pip screeched, jumping up from the table. We sat on the back porch for lunch. The twins were busy preparing for a meeting tomorrow, so they were able to take the rest of the night off for my night. I winced at her volume.

“Remi, Goddess, you are having twins! Oh my gosh!” she cheered.

“I know,” I told her, smiling. Once the twins gave me a little space, I was able to calm down and relax into the idea of having twins. By the time I exited the bathroom and returned to the anxiously waiting arms of my mates, I was even a little excited.

I knew I should expect boys since these were Alpha children, but I was secretly hoping for girls.

“I can’t even imagine. Twins all day and night. You’ll be so outnumbered!” Pip gushed.

I laughed at that. “I’m sure between Aunty Pip and Grandma Nicole, I will survive this,” I told her.

Pip smiled even brighter at that. “Wait, really?” she asked. “I love spending my days with Grayson! You want help with the twins, too?”

“If you are willing? I honestly don’t know how to fulfill my Luna duties and mother two babies without help,” I told her.

“I would love to help watch them!” she smiled. “Are you worried about having the babies and being Luna?”

“Yea,” I sighed. “I feel like I am just getting the hang of this whole Luna thing. I still have to call Nicole all the time, too. I don’t even know what having pups is going to be like. I never heavily considered it until Cullen and Calder found me.”

“Have you talked to Caldy and Cully about it?” she asked, worry now present on her face.

“No,” I said, pursing my lips. “They have so much on their plate. I don’t want them to be worried about my worries, too.”

Pip shook her head. “You can rely on Nicole and me for help, of course, but Rem, you should talk to the guys. What did hiding your feelings from them result in before?”

“That was different, though!” I argued. “This is not the same thing at all. Heck, some days, I wish they would pay a little less attention to me.”

Pip laughed at that one. “They do seem like a lot to handle sometimes. Seriously though, just talk to them. Isn’t tonight your night?”

I nodded. “Yep,” I said, popping the ‘p’ loudly. “Don’t have any clue what I would like to do, but I’ve still got a couple of hours to decide.”

“So the real question I have now is,” she said with a mischievous smile on her face. “Which baby shower theme have you picked?”

CALDER

I strolled into my brother’s office, carrying the latest philanthropic reports from the Ordinary Realm. I tossed the folder onto his desk and sat down in a chair.

“Where’s our mate?” he asked.

“Downstairs with Pip, I think,” I told him.

“Did she tell you what we are doing tonight?” he asked. I shook my head. I asked her twice this morning, and she shrugged both times.

“Mom called about the baby shower,” I told him.

“Dad called to tell me to get Remi to decide so that Mom would calm down. She wants to move the date up,” Cullen said.

I laughed at that. “Mom was asking me to push Remi along too,” I told him. “She is seven weeks now, so Mom thinks she is running out of time.”

“Let’s take her away,” Cullen said. “We could go spend a couple of days at the apartment, just us.”

“That will have to wait,” I told him. “Did you forget about our meeting tomorrow?”

Cullen rolled his eyes. “No,” he grumbled. “I do not appreciate pack disputes getting in the way of spending time with my mate.” He grabbed the folder I had previously dropped on top of his pile and started leafing through it.

“Alpha Remington is adamant that we are best suited to help him,” I told Cullen. “We did position ourselves as arbiters among our kind in the realm after the Summit.”

“Fine, but after Remington is gone, I want to spoil our mate. I can tell she is still scared about having pups,” Cullen agreed. “She is giving us more than we could ask for; she deserves to be happy.”

“I need approval signatures on those by tomorrow morning,” I told him, standing to my feet. Cullen waved me off but kept his eyes on the folder.

-

My assistant called me as I was headed out of my office, making me late. Remi was always upset when we were late. It was one of the rules of her night. Cullen and I knew things would change some when the pups arrived, so we were determined to continue this until they came and as much as possible after.

When I rushed into our room, I found Remi straddling Cullen’s lap, distracted by her other mate. “Nice of you to join us,” Cullen linked me.

I came over to the couch and sat down next to them. Remi stopped kissing Cullen to look at me. “Hi,” she voiced softly. She did not comment on my tardiness.

“What’s on the agenda?” I asked her, not bringing attention to my late arrival.

She shrugged, and I looked at Cullen skeptically. He was also giving Remi a confused look. She always had a plan for us, whether it be us enjoying dinner she made herself, going for a run together or any number of other things.

“Really, love, we are all yours,” Cullen said, reaching up to tuck some hair behind her ears.

“I know,” she said. “I just don’t have anything in particular tonight.” She moved off of Cullen’s lap and settled herself between us. I watched as she laid her head against my shoulder and her eyes slowly closed. She let out a contented little sigh.

I looked up at Cullen. It looked like he was trying to figure out something in his own head. “Do you want us to have some dinner sent up?” I asked her.

“Sure,” she sighed, not moving.

“How did Pip take the news?” Cullen asked her.

“She’s excited,” Remi said, but her face had a small frown on it. “She is happy to help with them as well.”

I could tell Remi was nervous, but I couldn’t imagine about what. She seemed so much more relaxed after we gave her some space to process the news. She was even cheerful again in the morning.

“Should we call Pip? Sometimes she knows what Remi is thinking or feeling before even she does,” I linked my brother.

“No,” he said, eyes on our mate. “I don’t know what she is nervous about.”

“Maybe we should ignore it,” I suggested. “Let her tell us when she is ready?”

“I’ll arrange us some dinner,” Cullen said, standing up. I slung my arm over my mate, and she cuddled into me further. We sat like that as I watched her rest against me. I wanted to know what was going through her mind.

My eyes fell to her adorably round belly. My hand gravitated to it, and I softly caressed her over her shirt. A smile flickered on her lips for just a moment. Cullen came out of the closet, now changed into comfortable clothes.

He knelt down in front of Remi, his hands resting on her thighs. He started to knead her gently. “How about we pamper you tonight?” he whispered.

“Okay,” Remi said. He grabbed her hands and pulled her carefully to her feet. I helped her with a gentle push from behind. Cullen led her over to the bed while I went to change clothes as well.

When I came out of the closet, Remi was lying on the bed, and Cullen rubbed her feet. I could feel a combination of guilt and nervousness coming from my mate, which puzzled me. I climbed onto the bed, lifting Remi so that her upper body was in my lap and I could rub her shoulders. Cullen was observing her curiously.

“Mom called today to ask if you made any decisions about the baby shower theme,” I told her casually. Her body tensed for a moment.

“Not yet,” she said softly. She turned her head so that she was facing downward now with her arms over my legs.

“How would you feel about moving the shower up?” I asked.

“Um,” she whispered. “Sure.” I looked over at Cullen worriedly. His expression mirrored mine. Remi wasn’t acting like herself at all. I moved from her shoulders to her hair, first pulling the hair tie from it before rubbing my fingertips into her scalp.

“We don’t have to,” I pointed out. “Mom just thought it might give us more time to prepare, plus twins can come a week or two early.”

Remi’s whole body went rigid, but she didn’t say a word. “What are you doing?” Cullen linked me.

“Trying to figure out what she is upset about!” I shot back.

“You’re upsetting her more,” he said.

We both stopped when we heard Remi sniffle. “Baby?” I said gently. Cullen stopped and moved up the bed. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

She shook her head in my lap. “Love, please tell us. We didn’t mean to upset you!” Cullen tried.

“We just want to fix whatever it is that is upsetting you,” I told her.

“You can’t,” she said, her voice muffled.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She slowly pushed herself up. Her eyes were glassy. “I feel guilty because I am not as excited as you both are,” she said, looking down at her hands. “I’m so happy to be having a baby with you both, but I just started getting used to all this Luna stuff. I still have to call your mom all the time for help. And humans have nine whole months to get ready for these changes. We have 15-17 weeks, and we’re almost halfway there. What if I can’t do both? I don’t want to let you down.”

I looked at Remi hopelessly. I had no idea that’s what she was worried about. Cullen and I moved in sync, reaching for her. She looked a little surprised as we both pulled her close.

“That is what you are worried about?” I asked into the top of her head. She nodded slightly.

“You could never let us down,” Cullen said. “We don’t expect you to raise our pups all on your own.”

“And no one expects you to do it while also being Luna,” I told her. “You have two mates to help you.”

We both tightened our arms around her. “We know this feels like it’s all happening really fast, and we aren’t upset that you are nervous,” Cullen whispered.

“We’re nervous, too,” I told her.

“Really?” she piped in.

“Yes,” I said, kissing her head. “We have never been parents before.”

“You guys don’t seem afraid of anything,” she said quietly.

“Only because we are far more excited to be having pups with the girl we love the most,” Cullen said.

Remi was sandwiched sideways between us. She shifted herself so she was facing me and looked up into my face. “What if I can’t do both?” she whispered.

I smoothed her hair away from her face. “My mother told me that our father’s mother helped her a lot when we were babies, then again when Carson came along. Our mother will be overjoyed to help; she likes feeling needed. Plus, two Alphas means we can take on some Luna responsibilities, too. We’ll figure out the balance.”

I leaned down and planted a soft kiss on the tip of her nose.

“Don’t be scared, love,” Cullen said into her ear. “We will love you no matter what.”

Cullen moved her hair aside and started to kiss her neck and shoulder. Remi’s head fell back, and her eyes fluttered closed. I came down to kiss the other side. Remi’s hands reached under my shirt as her fingers trailed up my back. I felt her fingers splay against my skin as the electricity of our bond poured from her to me.

Cullen’s hands were in between us, holding and caressing Remi. “I love you, Calder,” she breathed softly. “I love you, Cullen.”

“I love you, too, Remi,” we said in unison as we pulled her down onto the bed with us. She let us soothe her until there was no guilt left. Then, we took our time kissing and loving every inch of our beautiful mate until we were confident she felt better about everything.