Three. Merissa couldn't believe it. She was lucky and unlucky, all at once. Three little babies in her womb, their arrival date would be in four moons. The doctor estimated that she was already a month pregnant which was a little shocking to Merissa. She didn't even realise that she was late. As the doctor talked about what was ahead of them, Merissa looked down at the app on her phone. Rolling her eyes, she tucked the phone back into her bag. The app was working fine, telling her that she hadn't logged anything and that she should get a pregnancy test or update the details.

Returning to the conversation, Merissa listened to the doctor telling Adley that she was accustomed to werewolves but not vampires. She advised that it wouldn't be an issue but agreed to consult a vampire doctor to ensure Merissa felt at ease. Merissa wondered if the doctor understood that three babies was not a relaxing situation and nothing would put her at ease. Their lives were about to be turned upside down.

It was late in the afternoon when they emerged from the doctor's office.

"You know what? I think we need a little friends time. How about we see what Lennon and Lyla are up to?"

"Sure," Ris murmured.

"It's going to be okay, you know that, right?"

Merissa looked up at Adley. He was so assured that everything would be fine but Merissa could only see the negatives.

She knew what it was like to be a part of a family, in the end. The first few months of being in Fielding Hall were a little difficult. Once she was adopted by Gamichee and Marguerite, things were better.

Adley stopped, taking both of her hands.

"I can see that fear. I know what you're thinking and I understand why you can't let it go. You believe it's natural for a werewolf to be,"

"Insatiable?"

"Yeah. The thing is, that kind of drops lower when we take a mate. More so when they become pregnant. Haven't you noticed?"

She shrugged, pretending the cars on the street were more interesting. Facing reality has never been her thing. Hiding from life, living in a fantasy, that was Merissa's ideal pastime.

"It's okay," Adley said, pulling Merissa in for a hug. "You'll figure it out eventually. In the meantime, we've got some friends to annoy."

Merissa couldn't help but smile. Annoy was probably not the right word to use, at least not at the moment. Perhaps in a few months, maybe in a year. Once Lyla had begun to move on from the death of her daughter, things would improve. Merissa and Adley both knew that she would never fully move on but as the days passed, life would get easier for her.

They both liked Lyla. Their beginning had been rough but in the end, Lyla proved to be a good friend. They wanted her to feel better. Mourning was never easy, more so when a parent grieves for a lost child. Neither of them knew the words to say or how to offer their help. Instead, they decided on little moments like these where they would visit and distract Lyla for a little while.

Merissa and Adley walked down the street together, hand in hand. The mood was all over the place. Happy because of the news, uneasy because of where they were going.

When they turned the corner, the couple were struck with the strangest of scenes. Lennon and Lyla were at the front door with a basket, Lyla was crying again. That was normal since the funeral. There hadn't been many days where they saw anything else.

Curiously, a woman was delivering baby furniture. Both Merissa and Adley frowned.

Lennon was trying to comfort Lyla who was kneeling in front of a basket with a blue blanket in it. From where they stood, the couple saw the blanket move.

"Is this how vampire babies are delivered now?"

Adley grinned widely as he shrugged. He was an uncle now and that baby, he was going to howl his first words.

"This is cool, right?"

"Yeah, that's why Lyla's sobbing. God, Nironsa was such an asshole. He knocked up Eloise."

"He was your uncle."

"Adopted. I am not claiming ownership of that relation. Come on, we can't stand here all afternoon."

The girl tipped her head with a nod as they approached, grateful that Adley helped her with the furniture. It had taken a lot of effort to get everything in and to only make one trip.

"Hey, you're Gamichee's daughter, right?"

"Yeah," She said hesitantly. "Were you hanging around Nironsa?"

The girl nodded uneasily.

"Look, we know that we're all marked for associating with him but if there's a chance for forgiveness, do you think that he might give it?"

"Dunno. Delivering his nephew will win you some points but everything else will go against you. Give me your number and I'll mention it."

Grateful for the chance at redemption, the young woman wrote her number on a scrap of paper and gave it to the boss man's daughter. If there was a chance to walk these streets as a free vampire, it was likely to be done with this woman, at this moment.

She was right, returning the child to his family was going to earn some points. If it were enough, then it would have been worth the sleepless days caring for him.

Merissa turned to the front steps, Lennon was scratching his head with a bewildered look on his face.

"Len," She chided. "Take the kid inside, comfort Lyla. I'll call dad. Maybe call Isaac while you're figuring things out."

Isaac was Eloise's father. Lennon liked the guy, he'd helped out a lot when they needed it recently. He didn't know how much he could give at the moment though, Sammy was a vampire and Isaac was still human. There would be something that Isaac could do for the child, even if it was babysitting for a few hours.

Lennon nodded, picking up a box to take into the house. Lyla had already retreated to the lounge room with the baby.

"This is some crazy shit," Merissa muttered.

"Do you think she'll raise him?"

"Yeah, I think she will."

The dial tone echoed, her father answered.

"Merissa, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Okay, this is going to blow your mind. Are you sitting down?"

"I am now."

"Eloise had a baby, he's just been delivered to Lyla."

There was momentary silence at the other end of the line, as expected. It was shocking news.

"I'm on my way."

The call was ended before Merissa could say another word. She turned to Adley with a grim smile.

"Well, at least he didn't get angry."

Entering the house, Merissa snaked her way through the piles of things in the entryway. The baby was still asleep in the basket, Lennon was in the kitchen on the phone and Lyla was sitting on the lounge chair. She had a picture of her daughter in her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I can't do this," Lyla whispered as Merissa sat down next to her. "Not again. I can't lose another child."

"You're not going to lose him," Merissa said softly, rubbing her back. "We're going to help, all of us. You want to know something crazy?"

Lyla wiped the tears, looking at her friend with curiosity.

"The bastard got me pregnant." She whispered.

A giggle escaped, then Lyla choked back a sob.

"Sorry,"

"Oh, it's okay. Only, it's kind of worse than that."

"Worse? I don't understand."

"There's three of them."

"Good grief."

Lyla couldn't help but smile. It was still filled with pain but she found happiness in Merissa's good news.

"So, this is me telling you that it's okay to be scared because I am too. We'll be here for you, helping you while secretly learning everything that we need to prepare for our own future. You're okay with us using you, right?"

Lyla nodded as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Merissa crushed her in for a hug.

"No matter what, we've got your back. You're not alone and you won't lose him. He won't be able to scratch his backside without one of us knowing exactly what he's up to."

Merissa knew her father. He would do everything within his power to keep this kid on the straight and narrow. Sammy was all that he had left of his brother now.