This chapter is dedicated to Scott Hoying. We love you, Scott. Stay strong as you go through this difficult time.:(

"Avi, if you yell Scömìche one more time..."

"And he did," Kevin murmured, causing Alyssa to shake her head and smile.

"So I took my shotgun and shot two warning shots!"

"Into his head."

"HE HAD IT COMING!"

The four of them laughed as they walked into the hospital, waiting anxiously to see Mariposa and Macy. Mitch was a few weeks early, but that was normal with twins. Scott texted them endless updates about how Mitch was doing and they were excited but became nervous after one text. They came as quick as they could go see what happened with their other baby.

"Why hasn't Scott texted us back yet?" Tori asked, frowning as she read her phone. "All I have is 'Mariposa Ariel is here! Macy Athena is coming!' Anything for you guys?"

"Nope," Alyssa answered, groaning when Ariel ran off. She left Erik with Kevin, running after her daughter. "Ariel Giana Olusola! Stop right now or you'll get a spanking!"

Ariel stopped, her eyes turning blue as her mom caught her. She walked back, looking up at her parents with apologetic eyes.

"Am I going to a punmish mint?"

"No, just stay here," Alyssa scolded, looking over at Kevin while shaking her head. "I swear, if you made me pregnant again..."

"The Olusolas will have world domination."

Alyssa rolled her eyes, smiling when Erik hugged her legs. Ariel stood by her dad, smiling when he picked her up. Tori smiled at Avi, holding Jordyn close to her.

"I want to have another child, Avi."

"Tori, you know that we can't do that," Avi reminded her sadly, bringing a frown to her face. "We could try, but you might not be able to be pregnant. I can't do anything."

"We could always, you know, have an I.V.F baby."

"I know, but that's expensive. I don't want you to spend your money on that if I won't be able to help. We'll find a way."

Tori nodded, smiling when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around, smiling when she saw Ben, Jessi, and Jeremy coming inside. She ran to them, hugging them while Jordyn was in her arms.

"Oh my gosh! I missed you guys! How did you come here?!"

"We wanted to say hi," Jeremy answered, smiling when Ben and Jessi ran to the rest of the Pack. "We were going to drive to Scott and Mitch's home, but their car wasn't there. We then got the text message that Mariposa is coming so we came here as fast as we could. I'm happy we made it on time!"

Tori nodded as they walked over to the rest of the Pack, suddenly silent. They're happy that Scott and Mitch are having their children, but something seemed...wrong. The atmosphere was one of worry and doubt, not the usual happiness and joy that commences when a child is born.

"Jeremy?" Ben asked softly, getting his older brother's attention. "Was it like this when I was born? Was it this quiet?"

"A lot of people talked because they were happy to see you. It was never like this."

"I hope everything is okay," Jessi commented, frowning a bit. They smiled when Thomas came over to the Pack, frowning when they saw the tear tracks on his face.

"I have some bad news," Thomas began, his voice shaking. "Macy passed away. Mariposa is okay, but her sister died. I'm sorry."

Alyssa and Tori began to cry, holding onto their children tightly as Jeremy,Kevin, and Avi teared up. Ben and Jessi shared a look, tears rolling their cheeks.

"I'm so sorry."

~~~

Today is the day of the funeral. Mitch wiped his eyes, the whites of his eyes red from crying. Mariposa slept in her babysit, oblivious to the fact that she had a twin.

Had.

Mitch sobbed quietly, not wanting to cry again. He shook his head, fixing his hair so it won't look like he wasn't caring for himself. He can't remember the last time that he has a good night's sleep, but he knows he can't go back to sleep without thinking of sweet Macy. Macy didn't even get to cry when was welcomed to the world!

"What did I do?"

Mitch screamed suddenly, punching the mirror as hard as he could. The glass shattered, falling down on the ground and next to Mitch's feet. He shook his head, his lip trembling as tears welled up in his eyes.

Why me?

"Mitch, what happened? What did you do?"

He looked away from the broken mirror, Scott looking at him worriedly. The tall blond was in a gray suit, only making Mitch's day gloomier. He let a tear escape, looking at the broken mirror as a sob escaped.

"I broke it. I'm sorry, Scott. Please don't get mad at me."

Scott sighed, walking over to his husband carefully. The glass was all over the floor, making impossible to not break if stepped on. Scott took Mitch's hand, leading him and Mariposa out of the bathroom. Mitch sobbed quietly, trying to be quiet so he wouldn't make Scott cry.

"I'm not mad at you, Mitch. I'm just mad at the fact that you broke the mirror."

"I'm sorry," Mitch whimpered, more tears gracing his cheeks. "It's just so hard. I just wanted her to be here."

Scott frowned, bringing his husband close to him. His heart broke as Mitch whimpered more, allowing tears to run down his cheeks.

"We'll never get to know if she loves or absolutely despises the color pink. We'll never know if she loves dresses or pants that she always gets dirty. We'll never know if she is closer to you or me. We'll never know if she was an Alpha, Beta, Omega, or any of the other rankings.

"We'll never know if she loves Barbies or G.I Joes. We'll never know if she was blonde or burnet because she was bald. We'll never know what her personality is like. We'll never know if her eyes were blue or brown. We had all of that taken away from us, Scott. What did we do to deserve this?"

"We did nothing," Scott whispered, crying himself now. He could hear Melody giggling, wanting to get out of the playpen while Nel and Alex sat down and played with their toys. "We'll never know any of this stuff, but just know that she'll always be in our hearts forever."

"I want her to be in my arms though."

"I know, baby. Me too," Scott replied, separating himself from the hug so he could wipe away Mitch's tears. "She's happy up there. God knows what He was doing and I promise that what He will give us something amazing in the end. I promise."

Mitch nodded, sniffling as he picked up Mariposa. He smiled weakly as he saw Scott pick up the twins and let Melody out of the playpen, hoping that everything will be okay. Scott turned around, smiling as he walked over to
Mitch.

"There's that smile I love. Let's go, baby. I love you, Princess Ariel."

"I love you, Prince Erik."

The couple walked outside, tears in their eyes. They can't believe this.

We love you, Macy Athena.

~~~

"I'm so sorry, Scott and Mitch."

Mitch nodded as he gave Mariposa some formula. The funeral ended not too long ago, but everybody was still sad. They couldn't believe that this happened.

"I liked that suit she wore," Alyssa commented, smiling at Mitch. The Alphmega smiled weakly, mouthing thank you. "Where did you get it?"

"The baby store," Mitch whispered, looking down at his child. She was fast asleep, tired from today's events. "I didn't know if Macy would have loved dresses if she identified as a girl or if he identified as a boy or non-binary. It's important for parents to know if their children won't identify as the second they were born as."

Tori and Alyssa nodded, their eyes still burning from the tears they shed at the funeral. They've never Mitch try so hard not to cry before. It was like he was begging himself not to show emotion.

"Where's Ben and Jessi?"

"They're talking to Scott," Tori answered, smiling when Avi came inside. "Scott is doing something."

"Oh, okay," Mitch replied, nodding as he looked over at Melody and Jordyn playing with each other. He smiled,
looking at the Kaplans. "Do you still ship them together?"

"Of course," Avi answered, smiling when Mitch giggled silently. "Melody asked me if she could marry Jordyn not too long ago. I said yes."

"You're stupid," Tori whispered, a smile on her face. "How are you, Mitchy? Please tell the truth."

"I'm very sad," Mitch responded, holding his daughter tighter. Avi, Tori, and Alyssa all nodded, frowning slightly. "I don't know if I'll ever be better."

"Nobody ever really gets better when they're sad," Alyssa pointed out, hearing the door open. Scott and Kevin came in, Ben and Jessi behind them. "You'll be happy though. Not perfectly happily but happy. It takes a very long time to heal."

"I'm so sorry, Scott and Mitch," Ben spoke up, Jessi nodding behind him. The eighteen year old sighed, hugging Scott tightly. "I would do anything to take your pain away."

"Me too," Jessi spoke up, sitting down next to Mitch. They kissed Mitch's cheek, hugging him carefully. "I don't want you guys to feel pain."

"If you guys ever need anything, we're right here," Kevin spoke up, patting Scott's back. "How is everyone?"

Everyone mumbled their responses, laughing at how lazy they sounded.
Mariposa whimpered a bit, crying silently for her mommy. Mitch shushed her, picking up her formula when Scott stopped him.

"I got this, babe. Take a break. You need it."

Mitch smiled as he handed his husband their child, sitting back and relaxing. Scott feed his child, smiling as she smiled up at him. Avi smiled at the scene, looking at his wife to ask her something.

Something important.

"May I please scream Scömìche?"

"Sure."

"SCÖMÌCHE!"

Tori rolled her eyes as everyone jumped, glaring playfully at Avi. Mitch started to laugh hard, tears rolling down his cheeks as he tried to stop.

"I'm sorry," Mitch laughed out, bringing smiles to everyone's faces. "I'll stop, I promise."

"Don't stop," Scott replied, smiling when the childish laughter rang through the house. "Just keep on laughing forever."

The doorbell rang suddenly, stopping the laughter. Scott and Mitch shared a look, wondering who it could be.

"I'll get it," Avi volunteered, getting nods from the couple. He walked over slowly, looking back at the Pack. "Who could it be?

He opened the door, widening his eyes. His jaw dropped, shaking his head at the person.

"Hi, Avi. It's nice to see you again."

"Esther?"

Everybody gasped at his next words.

"Get...out."

A/N: A couple throwback moments in this chapter.xD This book is starting out greatly and I'm so happy, lol. A lot it going to happen because someone gave me a perfect idea for the basic plot. You know who are you are.;) Anyways, I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter and remember that I love you all.:)

-Maddie🐧🐧🐧