When Maddox and Tatiana returned, they went straight for the stage where the DJ was.
There was a live music performance scheduled for after dinner, and until then, DJ was ensuring that soft and trendy music covered the murmurs from the guests.
Maddox helped Tatiana climb the stairs and he held onto her tightly as he spoke into the microphone.
"I would like your attention for just a moment," Maddox said. "We want to thank everyone for coming today and for watching the live stream to make this occasion a grand one. In addition to Tatiana and I tying the knot, we also want to share important news." He made a dramatic pause. "We just confirmed that Tatiana is pregnant." He turned to look at the camera. "The Blue River pack has an Alpha pup on the way!"
Humans were a bit confused with the Alpha pup reference, but they just accepted it because everyone clapped and cheered as Maddox was kissing Tatiana like no one was watching.
"Do you feel this, my love?" Maddox spoke into Tatiana's lips. "People are happy for us."
Did she feel it? Yes, she did. Since she became the Luna of the Blue River pack, Tatiana's mood was impacted by the overall atmosphere in the pack. The people were happy and the happiest one was Maddox.
Tatiana and Maddox were still under the shock of this news that came out of nowhere, and anxious about what it meant, but the overall support was encouraging, and Tatiana was confident that things will be alright.
She smiled at Maddox whose eyes were sparkling with excitement, and she couldn't believe that only two months ago she had a totally different life, a life she was happy with, yet she turned her back to it in exchange for this. And she had no regrets. It was a new home, and they were starting their own family and even though it was totally new and unexpected, it felt right. Everything with Maddox felt right.
Damon watched as Maddox helped Tatiana off the stage, and then they drowned in the people from the Wilkow and River family who were waiting to congratulate them.
"Do you want to go there?" Talia asked.
Damon refused. "Not now. We should let their family go first."
Mindy was there bouncing from excitement, and Varya, Kalina, Tony, and Gideon were there as well, but they were letting future grandparents have the first round of hugs.
Kalina was happy for her sister, she really was, but she was mated to Tony before Tatiana and Maddox met, and Kalina also had her heat (more than a month ago) but no baby on the way. Sure, heat doesn't guarantee a pregnancy, but the chances of conceiving a child were high, yet Kalina's oven was empty. Tony told her that this didn't change anything, and they will try again next time, and she shouldn't worry because they were still young, but now that Tatiana was baking Maddox's bun, Kalina felt that she was lacking.
Damon saw that future grandparents were super-excited, giving hugs and kisses and sharing advice on healthy pregnancy, and Damon felt a pang in his chest.
'What's wrong?' Talia's voice sounded in Damon's mind, and he turned to look at her.
He was sure that he blocked all negativity seeping through the mate bond, but Talia could always sense what was going on with him. Was it because Liseli was stronger than Sapa?
'Is there something I can hide from you?' He asked.
'That didn't answer my question.'
He puffed his cheeks. 'It's just… Look how happy Max and Tanya are, surrounded by parents and siblings, and we will never have that. No amount of love will be able to substitute a family you lost.'
Talia's heart shook under the weight of his words. She never met her parents, so any ideas about what family was were just that… ideas. Compared to that, Damon lived with his parents for seventeen years before they were ripped out of his life, and she knew that he yearned for their presence and things that would never happen. Even with all that, he spoke about her needs, putting her first. Wasn't he the sweetest?
'We are a family, Damon,' Talia said while squeezing his hand under the table. 'And we have Maya and Caden, and Axel, Yasmin, Mindy, Gideon, Max, Tanya, Tony, Kalina, Meg, Kai, and so many others. We are not alone.'
Damon stared at Talia and wondered, how did this turn into her comforting him?
'If you don't want to expose Talia's identity, you should stop what you are doing. Right now,' Caden's voice sounded in Damon's head, and Damon realized that he was inching toward Talia. Was he about to kiss her? Probably.
'What is it?' Talia asked when she saw Damon frowning after his eyes lost focus for a moment.
'Caden reminded me that I should keep my lips to myself.'
Talia stifled a laugh, and then she remembered, 'Tell him that Maya will go into heat in about a month. We should give them a vacation.'
Damon was surprised to hear this. 'You can tell when someone is about to go into heat?'
'Not me. Liseli can. Oh, and she said that Mindy will go in heat in five days.'
Damon's eyes lost focus for a moment, and both Mindy and Gideon froze and then whipped their heads to look toward Damon and Talia. They just heard that in five days there will be a window open for them to become parents, and that was huge!
But Damon was ignoring them as he was focused entirely on Talia.
Gideon turned to Mindy. "Did you hear what I heard?"
"I don't know. What did you hear?"
"I heard that in five days…" Gideon paused to pick his words so that his in-laws don't think badly of him. "…my pumpkin will be ready for harvesting."
Mindy's cheeks warmed as moisture pooled at the cradle of her thighs. She knew that she shouldn't imagine visuals of Gideon and her entangled, but it just happened, and she was getting aroused. Mindy took Gideon's hand in hers and pulled him to the side. She didn't want her parents to smell her arousal, and they needed to talk about babies!
At the table, Damon was staring at Talia. He just heard that she can not only diagnose pregnancies but also predict heat, and he had to ask, 'What about you, kitten?'
Talia's eyes widened in slow motion. Was he asking about her heat? It looked like it.
Did she want to know? No matter if it's one day, one month, or one year, she will be super-stressed, and she could only imagine how much fuss Damon will make about it.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, a scary thought appeared. What if she can't have babies? Will Damon hate her for it? Before coming to the Dark Howlers pack, her life was not exactly healthy. She was malnourished, surviving on scraps, and didn't exercise, and even now, her frame was smaller compared to any she-wolf her age. And there was also the point that they marked each other weeks ago (months! If they count time spent in other realms), and she still didn't go into heat.
'I prefer not to know.'
Damon was visibly disappointed but didn't want to push for it.
