The King (Black Dagger Brotherhood #12)(150)
Author: J.R. Ward

“You ready to be a big…” Beth glanced at Z and then her husband. “…a big sister?”

Yes, Beth thought. Because that’s what the Brotherhood and their families were. Close as siblings, tighter than blood because they were chosen.

“Yes, she is,” Bella said as she wiped under her eyes and looked back at Z. “She is so ready.”

“My brother.” Z shoved out his palm, his scarred face in a half smile, his yellow eyes warm. “Congratulations.”

Instead of shaking anything, Wrath shoved that ultrasound picture into his Brother’s face. “Do you see him? See my son? He’s big, right, Beth?”

She kissed Nalla’s supersoft hair. “Yes.”

“Big and healthy, right?”

Beth laughed some more. “Big and healthy. Absolutely perfect.”

“Perfect!” Wrath bellowed. “And this is a doctor saying it—I mean, she went to medical school.”

Even Z started laughing at that point.

Beth gave Nalla back to her parents. “And Dr. Sam told me she’s delivered over fifteen thousand babies over the course of her career—”

“See!” Wrath yelled. “She knows these things. My son is perfect! Where’s the champagne? Fritz! Get the f**king champagne!”

Shaking her head, Beth took a deep breath and decided to go with the moment. There was still a long haul in front of them, capped off with the delivery—which, Christ, was scaring the shit out of her already. With so many hurdles ahead, and so many unknowns, it was tempting to get lost in a tailspin.

But for the next hour, she just wanted to live with Wrath in all this high-octane joy—be a part of the celebration of this miracle.

So damn funny: All the while they had been fighting about children … they’d already had one cooking.

Life was really ironic sometimes.

Lounging back in her husband’s arms, she just enjoyed watching him as he clapped his Brothers on the back, and even accepted a flute of Cristal from Fritz.

Her hellren was a tall guy. But right now? He put Mount Everest to shame.

“You can put me down,” she said with a smile.

The frown that got shot her way was a brick wall if she’d ever seen one. “Absolutely not! You’re my wife, and you’re carrying my child. You’ll be lucky if I let your feet touch the floor three years from now.”

With that, he bent in and kissed her on the mouth.

Ah, hell, maybe she should have been all, “This baby is a we thing, not a you thing”—but that wasn’t how she felt. She’d been so terrified he wouldn’t accept and love a child, she was relieved and overjoyed that he was getting possessive already.

Falling in love, already.

Which was the best news for their unborn child: When Wrath, son of Wrath, decided someone was his? He would drag the moon down to Earth if they needed it.

The reaction was exactly what she had been too scared to wish for.

Wrath lifted his glass. “To my son,” he shouted over the crowd. “And more importantly … to my wife.”

As he turned his face to her, the love he felt made his eyes glow so fiercely, she could see the pale green light even through the wraparounds.

The household shouted in joy … and everyone drank.

Except her, of course.

Because she was pregnant, she thought with a bright smile to rival Wrath’s.

Wrath rode the wave for as long as it took him. With his brothers surrounding him, and a new purpose jacking his shit up, he knew that this was one of the best nights of his life. Or … shit, it was still day, wasn’t it.

Who the f**k cared, really.

It was difficult to explain, even to himself, what exactly had changed. But suddenly everything felt different, from the way he shook his brothers’ hands to how he smiled at their mates to the hold he kept on Beth.

And she was the best part of everything.

With champagne flowing, and the laughter echoing around the foyer, he couldn’t believe he had reached this moment in his life. Just a night before he had been throne-less and potentially mate-less. And here he was with the crown still on his head and his wife pregnant with his young.

Four months along.

He thought back, sifting through the weeks and then the months. There had been a night, about four months ago, when Beth had come to find him in the study during the day. They hadn’t been together for a while at that point, what with everything going on—and he’d been shocked, in a good way, by how aggressively she’d gotten on him. Afterward … come to think of it, her scent had changed—deepening, although not in the way a vampire female’s would with pregnancy.

All along, she had been with young.

Destiny had served them both up what she had wanted but feared would never have, and what he didn’t know he’d needed.

As he heard his mate yawn, he went on instant alert. “Okay, time to go up.”

The crowd calmed down immediately, and he could sense the focus on his Beth. She was going to get a lot of that from now on, not just from him but from his brothers. They were protective of her already. Pregnant? She was going to get that shit twenty-fold now.

“And I think I need to feed again,” his Beth said as he started up the stairs, George leading him by subtle pressure on his leg.

“I gotchu.” He frowned. “What did the doc say about the nausea?”

“She really does think I have the flu. But then, she doesn’t know about the whole needing thing and maybe that’s why?”

“I’ll talk to Havers—you don’t have to go see him.”

“That would be great, actually. I’m really nervous.”

“Don’t you worry. I got this.”

And he absolutely, positively did. He felt in control of the universe, an old, familiar part of him waking up once again.

George guided him to the door that opened up to the stairs to the third floor, and when they got to the top, Wrath went to the left.

As the vault was unlocked, he walked inside, taking her immediately to the bed. “You want me to run a bath? A shower? The sink?”

She laughed. “I just want to lie here. I feel like I’ve been on a roller-coaster ride that’s been going too fast.”

Sitting down beside her, he found her lower belly with his hand. “I love this.”

“Love what?”

“This bump thing you got going on.” He smiled. “That’s our young.”

“It sure is.”

“I wish I could see it. That picture.”