The driving urge inside me is getting stronger, and I feel as if I am about to snap. Over the past few days, the urge has only gotten worse. At first, it had started out as a little itch at the edge of my consciousness, but now, it as if someone is constantly poking me, pushing me to be near my mate, especially since I am more vulnerable than I was before.

Throwing back the covers to my bed, I decide that it is time I do something about it. The cool spring air is a harsh contrast to the warmth I had while bundled under my blankets. Grabbing the extra blanket draped along the bottom of my bed, I wrap it around my shoulders in an effort to stave off the cold.

The rest of the house is quiet, which isn't too surprising seeing as it is the middle of the night. Everyone is still exhausted from the last full moon. It happened to be the one that pushed omegas into heats and alphas into ruts. But this time around, mine didn't come.

Honestly, I wasn't too surprised when the urge to mate didn't over power me last week when the full moon was at its highest. It was almost a relief not to have that irritating feeling, but the reason behind it always wiped away all of my relief.

The fact that I am pregnant, around twelve weeks or so, should be something to celebrate. In any other circumstance, I would be, but Jesse still hasn't had a real conversation with me since the night this baby was conceived. Even then, all we said to each other were a few words.

My mate almost seems to be afraid to be in the same room with me. Anytime we happen to be in the near vicinity of one another, he finds some excuse to leave. The pang of hurt that I used to feel at his rejection isn't as strong as it was before, but the driving urge to be near him makes ignoring him difficult.

The baby inside me wants to be near their father, an instinct to be near a strong protector. Any pregnant werewolf would feel the urge, and usually, it wanes a bit towards the end. But this is only the beginning. Six more months to go.

Knowing that I am keeping the baby's existence a secret makes a wave of guilt flood through me, but it isn't really like I have a choice. Jesse refuses to be in the same room as me. Telling him about a baby that he most likely doesn't want is not something I want to do in the near future.

And telling the others is not something that I am excited about either. I can just imagine the pitying looks Taylor and Liam will give me, and I do not feel like dealing with them. They are both great, but their omega instincts to comfort and soothe can be a bit overwhelming at times.

The floor creaks beneath me and I shake my head to clear my thoughts. Blinking my eyes, I look up to see that I have wandered over to Jesse's door. My hand reaches for the doorknob without my permission, and I have to physically pull it away with my other hand.

I don't know if Jesse is in his room or not, and walking into his room in the middle of the night uninvited wouldn't be a fun thing to do. Taking a deep breath, I wrap my blanket tighter around me while turning away from his door.

Maybe he will have some of his dirty laundry down in the wash room. Nodding my head in silent encouragement, I walk as quietly as I can to the stair well and down the steps. The wash room happens to be in the basement, the place furthest in this house from my room.

A hushed cry comes from one of the rooms on the floor below mine, but I keep walking, knowing that someone will wake up soon enough to calm the crying baby. No other sound comes from the house, and soon enough, I find myself opening the door to the basement.

The old wooden door lets of a long creak when I pull it open. With a cringe on my face, I stay still for a second, trying to hear if anyone is waking up from the noise. Nothing sounds from upstairs though, and I let out the breath I had been holding. Not wasting another second, I slip through the small opening in the door, leaving it open behind me.

Everything is dark in front of me, and a spike of fear runs through me. I know nothing is down here, especially with all the locks that are in this house, but I flail my hand around in an effort to find the light switch anyway.

My heart doesn't calm down completely until the light flicks on, illuminating the stair well and basement in a warm glow. With one hand on the rail connected to the wall, I walk down the stairs.

The basement is completely empty when I get down there, nothing too surprising, but I let out a relieved breath anyway. Not wanting to waste another second, I hurry over to the wash room, sliding open the door and stepping into the crowded room.

My eyebrows raise slightly at the large amount of clothes piled around the room. Taking a deep breath, I am met by the multiple scents of my pack members. One scent stands out, though, and I find myself hurrying over to one pile in particular.

Sitting right on top of the pile is a large sweatshirt. Dropping the blanket from my shoulders, I don't waste another second before slipping the sweatshirt over my head. The sleeves are way too long, and the sweatshirt falls only a few inches above my knees, but the scent radiating off of it causes a smile to spread across my face.

Jesse's scent is the most amazing thing. The strong scent of pine and cinnamon intertwine with the unique smell of my mate. Taking a deep breath, I bury my head in the collar, feeling my muscles relax as I release the air in my lungs.

Now that I am completely surrounded by the scent of my mate, tiredness overcomes me. My eyelids start to feel heavy and every muscle in my body feels more relaxed than I can remember. Almost clumsily, I bend down to pick up my blanket and stumble out of the room.

It is hard to pull myself up the stairs, but I manage to do so anyway. Waiting at the top of the stairs, though, is someone I wasn't expecting. My heavy eyes blink open as I squint at the figure leaning against the doorframe.

"Taylor?" I mumble, my voice sounding loud against the quietness of the night. "What are you doing awake?"

The omega raises an eyebrow at me before nodding down at the small wiggling bundle he is holding is his arms. "Rosalie woke up hungry, so I decided to feed her down here by the fireplace. Tate has been waking up every time she cries, and when he kept sleeping this time around, I decided to bring her down here so she wouldn't wake him."

He pauses as he steps aside so that I can walk past him and close the basement door. "What are you doing awake in the middle of the night?" he questions, curious eyes running over my body. They narrow slightly when they land on the bulky sweatshirt I have on, and Taylor's eyebrow raises even higher. "Is that Jesse's?"

"Maybe," I mumble, and when he opens his mouth to question further, I walk past him into the living room, his footsteps trailing behind me. "I'll keep you company while you feed her."

I need to learn how to take care of a baby anyway, and silent observation is the way to go. Taylor lets the subject of Jesse's sweatshirt drop, but I can see the wheels turning in his head.

He sits down on the other side of the couch, pulling on the lever on the side to make the seat recline and bring the foot rests up. Rosalie must be irritated that she hasn't gotten her food yet because she lets out a displeased cry.

"Oh hush, love, let me get comfortable first." Taylor pulls the extra blanket off the back of the couch and settles it over his lap. The combination of the blanket and the low fire in the fireplace should be enough to keep the cold out.

Rosalie's cries only grow louder as Taylor unbuttons his night shirt. Once she is latched, though, her cries cut off, and she lets out a loud huff. Her sucks and swallows are the only things to be heard, and she waves her hand around while she eats. Taylor holds his finger out to her, and she grabs on, letting out a small sound at the contact.

"She is so sweet," I whisper, my eyes fixed on the small baby.

Now that she is out of the whole newborn stage, her actual features are starting to become more noticeable. The hair on her head is light blonde, and it curls at the end. Her eyes are a turquoise blue, greener than Tate's bright blue ones. Taylor had said earlier that they are the same exact color as his mother's. Everything else is a combination of her parents. Her cheeks are chubby, and tiny dimples appear whenever she smiles, which is quite often. Everything about her is sweet and adorable.

"She is when she isn't hungry," Taylor says with a smile, looking up at me once Rosalie settles down. Her eyes are drifting closed, but she fights to keep them open.

A million questions are flying through my head at the moment. I know practically nothing about babies. I was only two when Allie was born, and I had always stayed away from the babies of my other pack members. Liam and Taylor are pretty close, so I have never had a chance to watch either of the babies on my own. Now, I am going to be having a baby by myself, and I have no idea whether or not I can really do it.

"Taylor?"

"Hm?"

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

The curiosity from before returns to Taylor's face, and he nods his head.

Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I ask the question that has been plaguing my mind ever since I found out I was pregnant. "How do you know if you are a good father?"

Taylor's curious expression melts into an understanding one. "You're pregnant aren't you?"

"W-what?" I stammer, my heart racing in my chest.

Taylor's eyes soften even more, and he reaches over to grab my hand. "You're showing a lot of the symptoms." His thumb runs along the back of my hand in a reassuring motion. "It's alright if you are, we can figure everything out."

Shaking my head, I try to pull my hand away from Taylor, but he just tightens his hand in response, not allowing me to slip away. "It isn't alright," I say, my words harsh as I try to push down the rush of emotion running through me. My hormones are going crazy, and I refuse to cry in front of anyone.

"What do you mean?" Taylor asks, his head tilting to the side in confusion. "Do you not want the baby?"

"I-I don't know." A rush of nausea comes over me, and I bury my head into the sweatshirt I am wearing. It seems to help calm down my body, and the queasiness subsides marginally. "I'm on my own, and I know nothing about babies or children. How am I supposed to take care of something so tiny and helpless?"

"Jesse will help you, I'm sure, and even in the small possibility that he does not, you will have all of us." Taylor squeezes my hand.

"Jesse isn't going to help me. He doesn't even know about the baby anyway. He can't even stand to be in the same room as me. Why would he want to help me with a baby he most likely doesn't want?"

"You're his mate, of course he will be happy."

My eyebrow raises incredulously at Taylor's words. "Are you being serious?" Taylor's eyes squint in confusion. "Just because someone is your mate doesn't mean they want to be with you. You should know that better than anyone."

Understanding comes over Taylor's face and he gives me a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I guess I should. I couldn't imagine being with Zalo instead of Tate." A shudder comes over Taylor and I nod in sympathetic understanding.

Zalo was a monster, the absolute last person anyone would want for a mate. He and Taylor are a prime example of how not every mate relationship works. And the tense situation Jesse and I are in is just another way of how mate relationships are tricky. Not everyone feels the same about their mate. Even though I love Jesse, I know he doesn't feel the same about me.

"He really doesn't know?" Taylor asks quietly, as if afraid someone might hear us.

"No, he doesn't."

"Well, no matter what happens, you will always have me and Tate, and Rosalie too." Taylor smiles when he says his baby's name. As if knowing that we are talking about her, Rosalie lets out a sleepy gurgle. Looking down at her, I see that she is practically asleep, with her head resting on Taylor's chest since she is done eating.

Taylor seems to be thinking something over in his head, and after a minute or two, he nods his head in finality before looking over at me. His smile becomes even wider when he meets my gaze. Despite his tiredness, a mischievous twinkle appears in his eyes. When I give him a skeptical look, his smile only grows wider. I'm not too sure I like where his thoughts are going.

"You say you're not good with babies?" he asks, carefully scooting over closer to me in an effort not to wake the sleeping baby.

"Yeah..."

"Well, I'll teach you all the important things you will need to know, starting now." He leans back on the couch before gently lifting Rosalie off his chest and holding her out to me.

"What are you doing?" I say, my words coming out a little higher than I wanted them to. "I don't want her to wake up and start crying."

Taylor just shakes his head in a dismissive way. "She's fine. She is like her father and sleeps like the dead once she finally passes out."

When I don't immediately take her, Taylor just rolls his eyes and scoots over so that his side is pressed against mine. Rosalie doesn't make a sound when her father passes her over to me and only snuffles against my chest once she is placed against me.

"Now just put one hand on her back and one under her butt and you are good to go." Taylor picks up her lavender colored blanket and places it over her, allowing me to slip my hands out from under the blanket before tucking it under her.

Rosalie stays asleep the entire time, and surprisingly, her warmth and weight on my chest is actually kind of comforting.

"I'm not going to lie and say that having a baby is easy because it isn't," Taylor says from beside me. "Being a parent is one of the hardest things I have done in my entire life. I always worry that I am doing something wrong or that I will hurt her somehow. But the fears always melt away when Rosalie, the sweet girl that she is, smiles or giggles at me. My favorite, though, is when she falls asleep on me because I feel like we are keeping each other safe by being together."

He doesn't say anything after that, instead turning to look towards the fire. My hand moves along Rosalie's back and over her hair, reveling in how soft and wispy it is.

My mind wanders for a bit, thinking about everything Taylor said. My heart clenches when I even think about not having this baby or giving it to someone else when they are born. Even though I know nothing about babies, I can't bear the thought of not loving and caring for the one growing inside me right now. It is half Jesse, the man I love, which makes this baby perfect in my eyes.

"Micah?" Taylor says, breaking the peaceful silence that we had been sitting in.

"Hm?"

"You should really think about telling Jesse. I can't imagine him being upset about this."

My eyes move away from Rosalie and over to Taylor, who meets my gaze. Taylor may not be as comforting and open as Liam, but he is more understanding and supportive, the two things I need right now.

My teeth start nibbling on my lip, and the driving need to be near Jesse starts up again. Closing my eyes, I pull Rosalie closer to me and breathe in her scent. The combination of the sweet smell of a baby and Jesse's own unique scent causes me to relax slightly into the couch.

No matter how hard I try, though, I can't seem to think of a way to tell Jesse about the baby. But the way Taylor is looking at me makes me utter a quiet, "I'll think about it."

The small smile he gives makes me want to escape from everyone again because it is all too knowing.