Grimacing, I run my hand over my chest, trying to relieve some of the burning. This has been going on for the last week or so, every time I eat something heavy, my chest tries to catch itself on fire. Taylor has patiently informed me on multiple occasions that my body isn't actually trying to spontaneously combust, but that I am having heartburn. Apparently, it is a common symptom during the second trimester. He says its natural but I say it's the universe's way of getting back at me for having a pretty easy first trimester.

"Heartburn still getting you?" a voice says from behind me. Turning, I watch as Liam makes his way over to me, Matty toddling behind him and Rosalie settled on his hip.

"Mhm," I respond.

Liam just nods his head before taking a seat in the lawn chair next to mine. It is a hot day out, one of the last ones we will have until next summer. So, everyone is out enjoying it, taking a much needed break from everything we have been doing in preparation for the coming winter.

Alpha Seren and his sons have been out strengthening the fences and trimming the tree branches that are within easy reach of someone trying to get over those fences. So far, everything has been going okay and the fences are more fortified than ever before. Liam, Taylor, and I have been busy canning all the perishable foods that have been growing in the garden and in the small orchard that is located behind the house. We just canned the last of the fruits and vegetables late last night, so now we have to move on to making sure we have enough supplies for the children.

Avery, who apparently used to be a preschool teacher, has been helping out with the younger ones, taking them every morning to the top floor that was converted into a play room and teaching them some basic educational things. The little ones have been loving it, and it has allowed the rest of us to work on everything that needs to be completed. Nik and Andrea have been working a lot with Tate, organizing supplies and working on any repairs for the house. It has been a long and tedious week, and all of us are just waiting to be done with everything.

Liam sitting down in the chair next to me pulls me out of my musings, and for that I am grateful. Worrying about all the tasks that need to be done is not something I should be doing, especially while pregnant.

"Well, apparently Taylor knew that you would be suffering, because he sent me out to give you these." He holds out his hand, and waits until I raise my palm before dropping two brightly colored tablets into my hand. When I look at him curiously, Liam answers my silent question. "Tums, they worked wonders for me during my last couple of months."

Without hesitation, I pop them into my mouth, not really caring for how powdery they taste, but I am desperate to get rid of the burning in my chest. The baby inside me seems to agree with me, because I get a soft kick, bringing a smile to my face. They have been doing that for the last couple days and I could not be happier. It felt weird at first, but now every movement makes a smile break across my face and wish for Jesse to be here so that he could feel our baby moving around, too.

Matty- now that Liam is sitting down- toddles over to me, reaching his tiny hands up so that I will pick him up. Not able to say no to him when he is looking up at me with those wide blue eyes of his, I let him grab onto my hands before pulling him up. He giggles when I bounce him on my knee, but quickly settles into my side.

Liam grumbles something under his breath, and looking over at him, I see that he has a fond look in his eyes as he watches his baby.

"Thinking of having another one?" I ask with a small laugh.

Liam hesitates slightly before meeting my eyes, looking as if he got caught stealing from the cookie jar.

"Oh my god," I say, my own eyes widening in understanding. "You do want to have another baby!"

"Well..." Liam says, but then he seems to not be able to say anything else.

"Wait! Are you already pregnant?" I ask, scooting a bit closer to him. Matty grumbles a little bit at the movement but settles back into my side.

"What? No!" Liam says quickly, his words finally seeming to come back to him.

My eyebrow raises skeptically because Liam is acting a bit strange right now.

Liam lets out a long sigh and settles into the chair, which results in Rosalie laying across his chest. Matty startles against me, pushing himself up and using the hand resting on my belly to keep his balance. His bottom lip starts to wobble as he looks over at Liam and before either of us can react, he starts to cry.

Luckily, I have a hand on him, or else he would have toppled off the chair as he reached his arms out to Liam. The cries are heartbreaking, making my heart clench in sympathy for the baby. Liam lets out a long sigh before handing me Rosalie and taking Matty in to his arms. Rosalie doesn't seem to mind the movement, just looking up at me from where she is seated on my bump.

Matty, though, clings to Liam, a few 'mama's mumbled between his cries. Liam quietly shushes him, rubbing the baby's back soothingly. Matty rubs his face along Liam's chest, and Liam lifts his shirt to let the baby nurse. This seems to settle Matty, who quickly latches on, only a few sniffles coming in between his swallows.

Liam looks over at me. "The twins and I have been discussing having another baby, but as you just saw, Matty gets jealous whenever he sees me with Rosalie. We don't know how well he would handle having a younger sibling if he cries every time I cuddle with another baby."

"Ah, I see."

And I truly do. Matty is very close to his parents, but especially his 'mama'. I can remember the stories my parents used to tell us about how jealous my older brother Levi used to get whenever my dad held me. It took a while, but he eventually got over his animosity of me and instead became the most protective over me. I have no idea, though, how we got from the first stage to the last one.

"Maybe cuddle them together? That way Matty can see that just because you are cuddling another baby doesn't mean you don't love him."

Liam bites his lip, his eyebrows pursed together as he mulls over my words. "I hadn't thought of that," he mumbles before looking up at me. "But that sounds like a good place to start with warming him up to the idea of being a big brother."

"So..."

Liam looks up at me curiously, his eyes squinting slightly when he sees the laughter in my eyes. "What?" he asks somewhat warily.

"Another baby, huh?"

A blush spreads across Liam's face, but it does nothing to retract from his smile. "Yeah, we all want another one, especially since we are somewhere safe now." The blush darkens a little bit. "And all the sex that comes out of it is great."

"Kinky sex?" I ask, my libido deciding to wake up.

Liam shoots me a look but nods his head anyways.

"Oh god, you have to tell me about it sometime," I whisper, wanting to hear about someone else's sex life when mine is nonexistent. "The horniness hasn't gone away at all and I am just going to have to live vicariously through you and Taylor until Jesse gets back and I can pounce on him."

Liam's mouth drops open, but before he can say anything in response to my words that I am not embarrassed in the least by, someone calls our names from the porch.

Turning- somewhat difficultly with a five-month belly and a baby sitting on me- I see Taylor gesturing for us to come inside.

"We'll finish this talk later," I tell Liam before pushing myself out of the chair. Liam grumbles something under his breath while unlatching Matty and holding him across his chest but joins me in the walk back to the house anyways.

Taylor watches us as we get closer, eyes flickering between the both of us in scrutiny. "What were you two discussing out there, you both are completely flushed."

Before I can even open my mouth to share with Taylor our lovely conversation, Liam slaps me with the hand that isn't holding the now sleeping Matty.

"Nothing," Liam says, but Taylor doesn't look convinced.

"I'll just get it out of the two of you later," he says, walking back into the house and not even bothering to check that we are following him.

We settle into the living room, where Taylor eagerly takes a squirming Rosalie from my arms.

"There's my beautiful baby. I missed you so much!" he coos at the baby girl, who just babbles something back to her father.

"You two were separated for maybe twenty minutes, if that," Liam says, watching Taylor with amusement.

Taylor just settles into the recliner with Rosalie, rubbing the baby's back as she nuzzles into his neck. "Well, it was a long-ass twenty minutes."

Liam just chuffs, but it soon turns into a laugh. Looking between them, I try to understand what is so funny.

"You'll understand when your own little one is here," Taylor explains, kissing the top of Rosalie's head. "It is hard to be away from them for any amount of time, especially in this world we live in."

Slowly, I nod my head in understanding. "I can see how that can be hard."

Liam settles down into the couch, pulling his feet underneath him before looking over at Taylor. "So, what did you call us in here for?"

"Oh yes, thanks for reminding me." Taylor picks up a sheet of paper from the coffee table and brings it closer to him so that he can read it. "Alpha Seren made a list of things we still have to complete before fall rolls in, and everyone is supposed to sign up for a task, that way it is all taken care of."

He picks up a pen from the side table and scribbles his name on the paper. "Besides me, you guys have first choice. Just choose something and then I will give it to the next person I see."

He hands the paper over to me, which means I have to bend in order to reach it. Not one of my strong suits at this point in time with my body as it is. With a grunt, I settle back into the couch, reading over the list.

Chopping wood

Preparing generators

Insulating the pipes

Making jerky and other dried meats

Organizing supplies (Taylor)

Do supply runs

Make sure well is running properly

Restock backups

Check/fix roof and gutters

After reading over the list, I sign my name next to the restocking back ups, since that shouldn't consist of too much manual labor. Liam takes the list and pen from me when I hand it to him, and with a bit of rearranging, he is able to sign his name without waking Matty.

The baby kicks me again, and my hand settles over my stomach, rubbing against the pressure.

When will Jesse be home already? He has been gone for over a month and we need him here. I need him here. We have to prepare for our own baby, both physically and mentally, and I don't want to do that by myself while he is off in the woods.

"When do you think he will be home?" I ask no one in particular, but Liam and Taylor look over at me anyway.

Taylor, as always, seems to read my mind. "Jesse will be back soon, Micah. I know it is hard, but try not to worry, it isn't good for you and the baby."

"How the hell am I not supposed to worry?" I ask, my aggravation slipping into my voice no matter how hard I try to hold it back. "He is out there where the infected, claistes, and now apparently humans are. Something could happen to him and I wouldn't even know about it."

Liam scoots closer to me, settling his hand on my thigh. "Nothing is going to happen to him. Jesse is the most capable out of all of us out there. I have no doubt that he will make it back unscathed."

"They are right, Micah, and besides, we need to worry about preparing ourselves for the threats of Winter and anything that might wander across us."

Looking up, I see Erik leaning against the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. Now that we know he is here, he pushes himself away from the frame and settles himself next to his mate on the couch.

"Erik?" Liam says, his eyes scrunching slightly in confusion. "What are you doing here? I thought you were out with Ethan and your father reinforcing the fence."

Erik leans over to place a kiss on Matty's forehead before meeting his mate's lips with his own. "We decided to take a small break since we have been out there since morning. But I decided to head back over here and check on all of you while Ethan is checking on the others."

"Why do you need to be checking on all of us?" I ask, looking over at the alpha. "It isn't like we are in any immediate danger."

Erik purses his lips, looking as if he is debating something in his head before letting out a long sigh. "Look, I am not supposed to talk about this since my father is going to tell everyone after dinner tonight, but I don't like keeping secrets from my pack."

"What is it, love?" Liam asks, settling into his side.

Running one hand though his hair, Erik pulls Liam closer to him with the other. "I don't know all the particulars; I just know that my dad has apparently been having some trouble with a group of humans that are about a two hours drive from here. He never thought too much of them since they never really knew about us, but something has my dad on guard. I think that is why he has us strengthening all the fences."

"He is worried about humans?" Taylor asks, looking a little confused. "They were never much of a threat before all of this, and I thought they all went crazy from the virus."

Erik nods his head. "That's what we all thought, but I think my dad knows something and that is why he is all tense."

My heart skips a beat when my mind flashes back to when I was floating in the creek and heard those humans all those weeks ago. Taylor seems to read my unease because he clears his throat while sitting up in his seat.

"Let's not worry too much about it now." He gives me a reassuring smile. "Maybe your dad is just overthinking, is all."

Erik opens his mouth to say something, but Liam squeezes his leg, making the alpha let out a startled grunt but no words.

Liam looks over at me. "Yes, no use worrying when we don't have all the facts." He turns back to his mate. "Erik, love, would you mind taking Matty up to his crib, we need to get some things done, and I can't do that with him in my arms."

The alpha slowly nods his head before taking his son from Liam and slipping out of the room.

"Yes, well, how about we start on lunch before we go on with our other tasks." Liam sits up from the couch before pulling me up behind him.

Something is going on, and I can tell that the two of them are worried. But if having them think that pretending that everything is fine for my sake keeps them from panicking, then I have no problem playing the innocent and naïve omega they believe me to be.