Revolting

If William and I had officially taken bets on how long it would take Daisy and Gabe to co-sleep in one bed... we both would have lost. He said the first night after our arrival, I said the third. As it happened, they were together by the second night. She was so radiantly happy, I couldn't possibly be sad around her.

I was pouring over a hand-written budget at a makeshift desk when she approached me timidly. "Luna?"

I didn't even look up. "You know you don't have to keep calling me that."

She ignored me. "I told Gabe everything... about me... about us."

"Oh?" That made me look up with curiosity. "How did he take it?"

She blew out a breath. "Surprisingly well, I guess."

"That's good then." I waited. There was obviously something else on her mind, as she shifted anxiously from foot to foot.

"Luna..?"

"Daisy! Can you just spit it out already?"

"Can-he-join-our-pack-even-though-he's-human?" She said in one fast, short breath.

I took my time in answering, just to torture her a little. Some packs strictly forbid inter-species relations. Some were very open and free. Mating between humans and were's wasn't common, but it did happen sometimes. We'd never had a human in our pack at home. I don't think that it was because my father had expressly forbid it. I just think the situation had never arisen where he had to make that decision. For me it was very easy. "What the Divine has put together, let no man put asunder" I said, "Of course, he is your mate. He must be a part of our mighty and illustrious pack."

Daisy squealed and jumped up and down like a little kid. She grabbed me up in a fierce hug. "You are the most amazing Luna and friend ever."

I squeezed her back, "I think you are just incredibly easy to please."

Gabe got Daisy a job working in the housekeeping department of the upscale hotel where he also worked. He was a receptionist at the front desk. The manager of the housekeeping department was an old friend of the family, so they didn't ask too many questions about her application, or the gaping holes in her resume.

William was still perusing the help-wanted postings. He'd submitted an application to be a barista at coffee shop, and another application to work in the call-center of a distribution warehouse. "Nina," he said solemnly as we were preparing for bed "I know we need the income... but if I have to work in the call center, I think I may die of boredom."

I gave him a sideways look. "What do you really want to do, William?"

He squirmed a little bit, and then pulled a crumpled up, folded flier out of his back pocket. I could tell by the well-worn creases that he must have opened it and looked at it dozens of times. I smoothed it out, and choked on my own spit as I read the advertisement. "Male Dancers Wanted for Downtown Gentleman's Club." I gaped at him. "You want to be a stripper??"

William shrugged self-consciously. "Nina, I've been kept in this little tiny box my whole life. Don't talk about it William. Don't act gay, William. Don't hit on the boys, William. Act 'normal' William. Now I'm finally free... is it so bad to cut loose a little, have fun? Explore the culture?" I could see that he'd been rehearsing this argument in his head for a long time now. He dropped his pants and kicked them aside.

"Well..." I said sliding the paper back toward him. I eyeballed his body as he stood there next to the bed in a pair of tight fitting boxer-briefs. "You do have a really nice body. Do you know how to dance?"

"Please!" he scoffed, "Just because you have never SEEN me dance!"

"Then go audition. You are right. This is your chance to spread your wings and try new things... just don't get into anything disgusting, right? No prostitution? Promise me you're not going to become like a gigolo or something? Your mother would kill me."

His face became serious. "You know I respect myself more than that."

He pulled back the blankets and slid in beside me. Sleeping beside him had become a comfortable habit. I thought I would feel terribly lonely once the downstairs bedroom was completed, and we actually had separate beds. As per usual, he grabbed a hold of me, pulled me up to his bare chest, and happily buried his face in my neck.

And then he sniffed. And sniffed again. And then he reared back away from me.

"Nina! What is that smell!"

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Here it comes. I wasn't ready. I pulled the comforter over my head and curled away from him.

"Oh no you don't!" He pulled the covers away and stared down at me. "You are pregnant."

Damn Weres and their sense of smell. He could smell the hormonal change in my blood. Actually, I was a little surprised it had taken him this long to figure it out. I just nodded miserably.

I don't know what reaction I had expected of him. I wasn't expecting him to be happy about it. I certainly wasn't expecting him to jump off the bed and give me a quick demonstration of his dance moves. "We're going to have a baby! We're going to have a baby! I'm going to be an uncle!" He pounced back on the bed and yanked up my tank top to have a look at my stomach. It was still mostly-flat. There might have been the slightest bulge there, right under my belly button. "I can't believe you didn't tell me! This is so exciting!"

"You act like this is a good thing." I observed morosely.

"Why are you acting like it's not?" he asked me, with narrowed eyes.

"Its Nolan's baby." I said, as if that sufficed to explain everything.

"You can't blame the kid for that," William said firmly.

"You can't let Nolan find out." I said a little frantically. "If he knew I was pregnant?" I still shivered to think of what he would do to me. I knew what he was NOT going to do... he was not going to drop to his knees, beg my forgiveness, and start acting like a proper husband. I knew he was not going to be a loving and nurturing father. And that's all I needed to know.