Picture by SCCourtney! Thank you so much for the pictures!

I am out of fan made pictures again! Thank you to those who have sent me pictures to post with the chapters. I appreciate them all!

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I felt cozy when I walked into the kitchen. Albert had his stethoscope out and ready. I sat down next to him and grabbed the hot cocoa Nikki scooted towards me.

"When is Mikko going to be here?" I asked to anyone that was listening.

Nikki and Albert both shrugged their shoulders. But one of my guardians, this time it was Paul, spoke up. "Tomorrow afternoon." I nodded, taking a sip of the hot cocoa. It tasted like heaven.

Nikki looked surprised. "I didn't think he'd be back so soon. He's only been gone a couple of weeks."

Paul spoke up again, "He's not coming back because he's finished with his job."

Nikki harbored unidentifiable hate towards my guardians. "Then why?" She snapped.

"He doesn't trust me." I interjected. "He thinks I'll put the babies at risk again, so he's coming back to keep his eyes on me."

Albert breathed on the stethoscope to get the chill out of the metal before tucking it under my shirt. We all sat quietly as he listened. His ears would tell him if anything was wrong.

His face scrunched unhappily after a minute or two of his stethoscope roaming my belly. "I think I hear a murmur."

My stomach dropped. "A heart murmur?"

He nodded.

"And it wasn't there before?"

He shook his head. "Not that I've detected." I brought my hands up to cover my mouth as I stared at Nikki. "You need to stay in bed until I check on you tomorrow. You need rest and warmth."

Nikki immediately got her phone out, probably to call her mate. "Bring an overnight bag." She paused as he spoke. Albert smiled, probably at something Mike said. "Of course we're sleeping at Em's tonight." Then she hung up with a huff.

"You don't have to stay here tonight." I offered.

She shook her head. "You heard him." She jerked her chin towards Albert. "You need warmth. Warmth is cuddling up with werewolves."

I sighed and Albert put his stethoscope back in his bag. "It's a good idea." He interjected before I could protest again.

We finished the cocoa then Albert left saying he'd be back tomorrow afternoon. I knew that was because Mikko would want to talk to him about what had happened. There was no point in making repeat trips.

Nikki and I made a makeshift bed in the center of the living room. I fell asleep with three wolves surrounding me. Nikki and my dad were laid out around my sides and Mike used my thighs as a pillow, keeping my legs warm.

The big heavy wolves didn't crowd uncomfortably against me, but they stayed close. If I moved, I was checked on. I felt Mike nip me when I accidentally kneed him in the snout, but I was too tired to care. It felt nice to be surrounded by all that heat surrounding me.

The next morning was supposed to be the beginning of one of the best days of the year. It was the day before Christmas Eve day. Today was usually the day when I'd go out and pamper myself to make sure I looked my best for Christmas photos. It used to always make me feel warm and fuzzy with happiness, but I didn't have that feeling today.

Mikko was going to be here in a few hours. I rolled my neck and popped my back as I sat up. The only person left was my father. He was human now and thankfully fully clothed as he watched TV.

"Did Nikki already take off?"

Dad nodded. "She was going to wait for you, but it's already ten."

I rubbed out a kink in my neck as I walked to my room. Nikki had to go home and change. I needed to shower and get over to her house. Hopefully I would be gone before Mikko or Albert could come over to stop me from going out with Nikki because of my dumb decision yesterday.

When I walked into my bedroom I paused and took in the scene. Two of my guardians were lying only in their underwear on my bed. One had boxers while the other had on briefs. I contemplated waking them up, but I had a better idea.

Nikki had bought me a whip once as a gag birthday gift a couple years ago. I could say I'd only used it once for its intended purpose. Usually I just used it to chase Nikki around. She wasn't fond of spankings…as far as I knew.

I went into my closet and grabbed the black leather whip and tried to decide who I wanted to whip first. I couldn't startle them awake. You can, but the result wasn't conducive to my current health status.

I climbed onto the center of my bed, where there was a mutual understanding of not crossing the midline of the bed, for both of the men's comfort.

I cleared my throat. When they started stirring I was excited, I never got to prank strangers.

"Well, thank my lucky stars. I have two muscle clad men in my bed." I said so that they'd know it was me. They would've been aware that I was there since I had moved the bed by climbing on it and now had spoken to them. Hopefully there'd be no confusion about my identity.

That was all the warning they got. I managed to get a whip and a half before they both bolted out of my bed.

"What the hell?" Paul grumbled unhappily.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing uncontrollably at them. "I couldn't help it. You guys were just perfect!"

The other wolf grumbled and walked away.

Paul gave me evil eyes as he scowled at the weapon in my hand. "I didn't think a girl like you'd be into whips." His voice held a teasing tone.

I smirked at him. "Oh honey, you have no idea what a girl like me is into."

He huffed and smirked. "In another life maybe."

I felt my victory high edge off a bit at his comment, but tried not to let it show through. Paul said in another life because Mikko would never allow it. He'd send poor Paul to Antarctica if he felt like it.

I left the whip on the bed and went into my bathroom. After showering, I put on a little bit of makeup so that at least I'd look like I was happy. I was already showing enough depression for these wolves to be worried, I couldn't let them witness any more of it!

Normally I would've walked out of the bathroom without any clothes on. No one was supposed to barge in on me. But I learned that lesson very quickly. Now I kept a robe in the bathroom so I didn't give anyone watching over me the whole show. It was routine that someone was in my room at all times now.

I walked out tying my robe shut to see Mikko standing at the foot of my bed with his arms crossed over his chest. It made his biceps look absolutely yummy. I held onto the memory of our last encounter to keep from wanting to jump him. He was the bastard that forcibly marked me as his own. I had no such claim over him, so it was entirely unfair.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked with some bitterness in my voice.

"What did I tell you before I left?" His voice held an accusatory tone and he eyed me like I had done something wrong.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh please. With all your spies I'd be surprised if there was anything you didn't know." I walked towards my closet. "Can you go wait downstairs while I get dressed?"

I didn't wait to see if he was going to leave. He probably wouldn't just to spite me. I quickly pulled on some underwear so I wasn't completely naked with Mikko in the other room.

I grabbed a cute shirt that I could be comfortable in and it made my baby bump cute. I leaned over and pulled out some jeans that Nikki had decided to alter. She wouldn't let me wear my normal jeans anymore. She had taken them all away and had replaced them all with jeans with a special elastic front that gave my growing belly all the room it needed. I hated them…but I hate to admit that they were so damn comfortable.

An unmistakable crack and a stinging ass had me standing up straight and hissing, holding the portion of my ass that felt like it was on fire.

"What was that for?" I looked over at Mikko. He was holding my whip…that I had left on the bed. "That's not yours."

His brow rose. "And I suppose because your bed smells like both of your protectors that it was well used last night." He looked down at my exposed leg. "And caused a few bruises."

I looked down at my leg to see what he was talking about. The nip Mike had given me had bruised in a few places, leaving a weird patterned bruise on my thigh. Then it clicked. He thought I had slept with my guards. "Maybe I did use it on them." I taunted. It wasn't a lie. I had used the whip on both of my guardians just this morning.  Plus, I didn't specify from whom I received my bruises. "It surprised the hell out of them."

"I told you no men."

I scoffed. "I told you that you can't give me rules."

"Those are my kids." He growled.

Now he was getting too serious. "You're taking all the fun out of teasing." I muttered before taking my whip out of his hand before he tried to hit me with it again. "I didn't use the damn thing on anyone last night. I was forced to sleep with three wolves downstairs."

His eyes narrowed on me, obviously not believing me. "Don't play games with me."

"Then chill out. You're too serious and mean all the time."

"How could I be anything else with someone I don't trust?" He asked seriously.

"Because" I said simply, "I'm the mother of your children. You're stuck with me for the next eighteen years."

He huffed. "I don't have to be stuck with you for ten more minutes."

I felt my shoulders sag. His eyes quickly picked up on my body language and his eyes instantly went guarded. "See, that was unnecessarily mean!"

He rolled his shoulders, probably trying to stave off some frustration. "So is implying that you've been sleeping with the men I assigned to keep you safe!"

"I was kidding!" I said exasperatedly. "You would've known right? You're the one with the mark on me!"

"I haven't been spying on you." He defended himself.

"So what? I'm not pestering you about who you've been sleeping with. I'm sure you banged a few whores while you were gone these past few weeks!"

"We're not in a relationship."

I let out a frustrated groan. "I know we're not in a relationship! How do you not see this double standard you're putting on me? How am I the only one who has to go through so many changes? How come you're the only one who gets to have sex? These hormones are driving me crazy!"

"I can see that," he muttered to himself, before standing up straight assuming all the bravado of a dominate male. "You want to fuck; fine. When you get the itch for it, let me know and I'll take care of it." His tone made it feel like he'd be doing me a favor, like it was something that he didn't necessarily want but something he had to do.

It felt like I was just another one of his obligations. I didn't want to be someone's obligation. I wanted someone to want me.

I shook my head and looked down at the belly that was causing all this chaos in my life. "Get out." I muttered while trying to keep my every emotion wrapped up so he couldn't see them. He'd just use them against me anyway. I waited until Mikko was out of my room and the door was shut before I sat on my ankles and cried.

The babies started going crazy, kicking and squirming. I wanted to think that they were feeling how upset I was, but I knew that this intense emotion was sending tons of hormones to the babies. They were just reacting to the momentary increase of hormones.

Of course after I was done with my pity-party I felt like a big baby. I picked myself up off the floor and put my damn pants on. I had a girly day to get started with soon. Nikki would be calling me, telling me that I was late any second now.

How could Mikko be around for only thirty minutes and I was already in tears? Why couldn't he just treat me with some decency? Why did this pregnancy have to be so emotionally taxing on me?

When I got downstairs, I knew that my chance at a quick escape was long gone. I sent Nikki a quick text telling her to come get me since Albert was already here. He only had his stethoscope in his hand. He was going to check for that heart murmur again.

"Morning Albert." I admitted my fate and sat down on the couch. "Let's get this over with." I lifted my shirt to expose my entire twenty-four week expanded belly. It had grown a few inches in the time that Mikko had been gone. Mikko took the opportunity to bask in his virility. Making two babies was no small accomplishment for a werewolf.

Albert nodded with a smile and sat down next to me. He didn't bother trying to take the chill off the metal before he touched my warm belly with it. It was cold, but the metal warmed up quickly as he moved around my belly, trying to find the best spot to listen to their hearts.

After a tense few minutes, Albert smiled at me. "Whatever I heard yesterday is gone now. Both of their hearts sound normal."

"So no damage was done?" Mikko asked behind Albert.

Albert stood up and looked at the wolf. "No damage was done." Albert looked at me with a happy expression. "We'll double check at your ultrasound in a couple of weeks."

The tension that had been in the air was gone. Everyone was relieved and I was given a clean bill of health. Nikki knocked on the door before letting herself into the house.

She smiled at Albert. "Babies all good?"

I nodded and got off the couch, smoothing out my shirt. "Babies are good. Now let's go."

Mikko grabbed my arm gently, stopping me from making any more progress towards Nikki. Even with the good news about the babies, he was still on edge. I could see it.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, careful not to sound as bossy as he normally was.

"Nikki and I always go out on this day every year. We're not going to stop because you're here."

He let me go. "You're not going anywhere without me."

I opened my mouth to argue, but there was something in his eyes. He was worried about something.

"You have to agree to a few things." I said reluctantly. "You need to butt out. You're our shadow. You won't stop us from doing anything and you won't bother us."

His jaw clenched as he thought about it. "Fine." He agreed. "But I retain the right to stop this little outing if you get into any trouble."

"Fine. Any real trouble."

"Let's get this over with." Mikko led Nikki and me to his car. We both sat in the backseat and pretended Mikko was nothing more than our personal chauffeur today. It was nice to think of it that way.

First we went to a spa. I settled for a leg and foot massage since pregnant women aren't recommended to get full body massages. This place wouldn't even entertain the idea. Regardless, it was still a very relaxing experience. The first couple times I came to this spa I thought that the soft-spoken nature of the masseuses was weird. Now it was just a part of the experience.

After our spa, we went to a nail salon. Nikki and I indulged in mani-pedi's since Mikko had agreed to wait without bothering us, we chose the package that took the longest, just to spite him.

Then we went to a hair salon and got our hair updated. When it was finally time for lunch, Mikko went ahead and got us a table while Nikki and I paid for our haircuts. I shook my hair to get the stray strands out of my hair so I wasn't covered in them.

When Nikki and I spotted Mikko in the restaurant, he was sitting at a table with a model-looking woman. I felt self-conscious and from Nikki's stunned face, she was taken by surprise too.

"Should we even go over there?"

"Like hell we won't." She took my wrist.

I couldn't help but smile a bit at her attitude. Nikki would go crazy for me if she had to.

"Make sure you're smiling." Nikki said as we neared the table. "Look like the happy, pregnant wife in front of this bimbo."

Since Mikko and his model woman were sitting across from each other, it left two chairs (also across from each other) free. Nikki and I sat down without saying anything.

The look on Mikko's face was shock for a moment. Maybe he hadn't expected to be caught or maybe it was because I was messing up his chance at an easy lay because of my pregnant belly.

The woman smiled at me. "You must be Emily." Her voice was like honey.

I nodded at her, unable to take my eyes off of her.

"She's a pretty one Mikko."

The movement of my chair brought me out of whatever haze I had been in. Mikko had pulled me closer to him. Maybe this was someone Mikko had been worried about getting close to me. Nikki's plan didn't seem like such a good idea anymore. I wanted to be far away from this woman.

"Now tell me why you're here." Mikko growled. "And don't give me the bullshit run around."

The woman looked me up and down. "To get a good look at her. There are a lot of people who would pay handsomely to know who she is and what she looks like."

Mikko silently cursed in a language I had never even heard. "And what is your silence going to cost me?"

Her predatory smile made me feel very uncomfortable. I shifted towards Mikko to get farther away from this woman. She was a supernatural being. She had to be. Mikko wouldn't take threats from a human. If she were wolf, he could’ve strong armed her into silence. This woman he had to pay for silence. She could keep werewolves at bay and use information against them without fear of retaliation.

"It's going to cost a lot darling." She purred. Her lips silently moved, when she looked at me her lips stopped. I felt a tingling sensation run slowly and painfully though my torso. It felt like a limb 'waking up' after 'falling asleep.' I gasped at the suddenness of it. Mikko's eyes lightened a bit just as the sensation encircled my belly.

"Oh Mikko." The woman smiled in delight. "That is quite the secret you're trying to hide."

He growled just low enough so the sound was contained to the table. "Use anything on her again and you'll regret it." He threatened her, but her smile didn't falter.

"Oh it was just a little trick." Her eyes held a threat right back at him. "Would you like to discuss numbers in front of your woman? You might want to double, maybe even triple the offer you're planning in making me."

He looked at me for a moment before shaking his head and giving the woman a very serious stare. "You know how to reach me."

"This was fun." She got up with a smile. "We should do this again sometime."

Mikko huffed and watched the woman leave before he reached for the menu.

"What was that?" I asked with