It's boring, but it's up.

----

The good witch pointed towards the ceiling. Mikko scooped her up and held her with one arm as he scaled the side of my home. I wanted to smack the look off her face. She looked at him with longing and he wasn't hissing at her about not being in a relationship.

When he put her down, she smiled widely and flirtatiously at him. I rubbed the pendant, recalling the words Clare had given me.

Maybe I could use it now. How did the words go?

"When did you get that?" Nikki asked, pulling my attention away from the roof. "It's beautiful."
I nodded and held it out for her to see. "It's new."

She smiled. Maybe she was happy that I got out of the house. "Where'd you get it? I want one."

"It's one of a kind." I offered her a shrug, sad that I couldn't give her a better answer. "I don't know where you can get one like it, but I'll keep an eye out for it."

She pursed her lips unhappily before looking at the woman on my roof. "You'd think that she'd be prettier for a witch. I heard they all steal away beauty from anyone who's prettier." I smiled as Nikki voiced my own thoughts.

"Don't start with your fairy tales," Mike shushed Nikki. "This one is actually a good witch. That doesn't mean she won't turn you into a frog."

I laughed at Nikki. "Mike wants you to be a frog."

She rolled her eyes. "Watch the witch."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Maybe I don’t want to watch the witch." I looked back at the roof to see her chatting with Mikko. "They're awfully chatty up there," I grumbled.

Nikki gently nudged me. "Apparently Mikko's known her since she was born."

I scoffed and crossed my arms over my chest. "Mikko's so old he probably hung out with Michelangelo."

Mike tried, and failed, to stifle a laugh. Which in turn made Nikki and I have giggle fits... which we discovered was highly inappropriate once we were on the receiving end of 'the look' from several members of the pack.

We pulled ourselves together just in time for the witch to pull her show.

Mikko jumped off the (two story) roof without making much of a sound. He stayed near the house, probably incase the witch fell off.

Then I saw what all the protectors had been sad to miss out on. The woman started dancing... well, writhing would have been a better description of it. After a few minutes I was already bored with it, while everyone else around me watched in amazement. Even Nikki was entranced by it. Usually Nikki and I were mystified by the same things, but she couldn't take her eyes off of the woman.

Finn stood beside me, startling me a bit. "The white witch's ritual dance usually acquires a lot of attention."

I looked around. "Well I'd say she got it."

"It's normal." Finn was smiling when I looked back at him. "The only reason you're not staring is because you're shielded from influence."

"From your psychic." He nodded. "I don't have to worry about Nikki then?"

He shook his head once. "No. Your friend will be fine. I wouldn't let my wolves be here if it were dangerous to them."

I felt better knowing that everyone was safe from her influence. I don't know why I felt I couldn't trust this witch, but I felt sorry for Clare, the witch everyone else hated.

The woman on my roof fell to her knees with a groan and not even a second later I felt an invisible wave of energy hit me.

I stumbled back a step and instantly had Finn's hand grabbing me so I wouldn't fall. I glared up at the witch. She was now lying on her back, staring up at the sky and breathing heavily.

Finn lightly clenched my shoulder. "It was just a little kickback. Sometimes it happens."

"A warning would've been nice." I kept staring at the woman as she got off of her back.

Finn smiled. "Witches don't tell anyone more than their price for providing services." He jerked his chin towards the witch. "This one told us how much she expected to be paid, which tripled once we told her she couldn't keep the residue she collected."

"I thought you said she was good."

He smirked. "Good doesn't mean she won't take the lingering power where she finds it."

The woman looked confused when she stood up and looked away. Finn cursed and looked towards his son. Mikko was already climbing onto the roof. The panic was gone from her face when she saw Mikko, but she was still confused.

"What's wrong with her?"

Finn let out a long, regretful sigh. "She siphoned off some of the power for herself."

"And that gave her amnesia?"

Finn nodded. "Apparently so."

Mikko hopped off the roof and carried the confused woman towards us. The wolves looked around, coming out of their trancelike states.

Nikki smiled at me. "That was beautiful."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

Nikki watched the witch being carried by Mikko with obvious concern. "What's wrong with her?"

"Exhaustion." Mikko stopped in front of Finn. "I'm going to take her home."

I narrowed my eyes on him suspiciously. He slept with anything with legs, so who's to say he wouldn't fool around with the witch. Mikko looked at me, not even acknowledging that I was glaring at him. "You should pack. When I get back we're leaving."

"I have an ultrasound the day after tomorrow. We were supposed to find out what we're having." I didn't doubt that he caught the undercurrent of anger coming from me.

"I'm not sleeping over." He threw me a look to tell me he knew what I was accusing him of in my head. "I'll be back tonight or tomorrow morning."

He left with the witch still in his arms. Nikki looked between Mikko and me as he walked away. "What did I miss?"

I shook my head and walked towards my home. The wolves would clear out soon, leaving me to myself to pack my things.

Nikki came into my room holding a box. "I figured I could help you out. I know you have a lot of stuff."

I nodded and started yanking clothes out of the closet, breaking some hangers in the process, and throwing them over my shoulder. Nikki stood back and let me have my tantrum. The closet was completely empty when I was finished. Of course, when I turned around I could see the new devastation my room had become.

Nikki was leaning on the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. "You finished?"

I bobbed my head a few times. "I think so."

"Good." She pushed herself off the wall. "Now do you want to let me know what I missed?"

I sighed and sat down on the mess covering my bed. "What's wrong with me Nikki?"

Her brows scrunched. "Wrong with you?"

"Is it because I'm pregnant and not a size two? Did I turn into a total bitch along the way?"

Nikki shook her head as she came over to me. "No. Nothing's wrong with you."

"Then why can't he even pretend to like me? He doesn't have to find me attractive, but he doesn't have to flaunt the ass he can get."

Nikki's face told me she was still confused. "What are you talking about?"

"What makes me undesirable to him?" I wanted to scream my frustrations to the world. "Why do I have to feel so territorial all the time while he couldn't care less?"

Nikki leaned down and wrapped an arm around me with a teasing smile. "I think someone's hormones are making someone a little crazy."

I paused for a moment, trying to clear out my thoughts. Maybe I was blowing it all out of proportion, but Mikko didn't have the best track record with me. I nodded in agreement with her. "I think you're right."

Nikki chuckled. "Of course I am." She got up and started taking my clothes off their broken hangers. "You're pregnant, so I'm sure it's normal to feel territorial over your baby daddy. It's even worse since he's a player."

"Yeah, but my brain tells me I shouldn't feel this way because he's such an ass."

Nikki gave me a small smile and kept folding clothes. "I'm not going to try to give you advice with Mikko. The dynamic between you two is so confusing to me, and I'm an outsider. Usually werewolves mark the women they get pregnant, or they at least put a claim on them."

Oh yeah, I thought to myself, Nikki didn't know about that yet…

It was time to tell my best friend about the mark Mikko had given me. I avoided looking at her directly, choosing to look over my clothes instead. "I have his claim Nikki."

She froze mid-shirt-fold. "Say what?"

"I have a claim," I repeated. "I've had it for a while."

She finished folding the shirt then looked at me. "Is it permanent?"

Permanent? The claim could be temporary? "I-I don't know."

She looked at my neck. "Where is it?"

I rubbed over my shirt where the mark was, "Right here."

She looked at my hand."Can I see it?"

I lifted my shirt and bunched it right above the mark. Nikki sighed unhappily as she bent down closer and looked carefully over it. "It's not permanent," she said confidently. "If you wanted to, you could gouge it out."

"That would hurt."

"It would hurt a lot." Nikki stood up straight, so I pulled my shirt back down. "You'd probably have to go down to the bone."

I made a face of disapproval. "He hasn't pissed me off that much yet."

She smiled, obviously relieved that the mark wasn't permanent. "At least it's not permanent."

I couldn't have agreed more. It was bad enough that I was stuck with Mikko already, but to be bound to him would make it torturous for me.

Nikki and I packed up my clothes and threw away the broken hangers. The ones that made it were put back in the closet.

It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would to get it all packed. It felt like I would have more to move since I had to move my entire life to another place completely.

I would be living out of my suitcase until the time came to move to Mikko's house.

I don't know what time Mikko got back, but when I woke up he was sleeping on my couch. He looked tired, and I didn't want to wake him, so I left him alone. He'd wake up whenever he felt like it because he was the master of the world. Everything went the way he wanted it to go.

When I looked at the clock, I noticed it was already ten thirty. That was an okay time to go check in with Albert. So I put the dishes away, loudly. I even banged some pans together to ensure that I was being loud enough.

"What are you doing in here?" Mikko asked from the doorway.

I smiled as innocently as I could. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm putting everything away."

"Sounds like a herd of elephants in here."

I put my hands on my hips, knowing it was a joke, but turning it on him. "What are you saying? I'm sorry I'm not a size two."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "I don't think anyone's ever called you fat. You're just being insecure." That sparked some real anger. "There we go," he said with a satisfied smirk. "Don't pretend to be mad at me. I know when you're faking."

"With your amount of experience I'm sure you know when everyone is faking." I put the last of the utensils away. "I want to go get the ultrasound done soon."

"Your father wants you to pick out things for the nursery before we leave."

I nodded and walked to the car.

I called Nikki from the car, inviting her along. There was a part of me that feared she wouldn't want to meet me here, or if she did want to come, Mike wouldn't want her to.
Maybe it was the fact that Mikko was going to be there too. To my surprise, she even wanted us to pick her up on the way to the alpha's house! So of course, I made Mikko swing by and pick her up.

I felt my excitement bubble over now that she was here. I could finally be really excited. I couldn't stand not knowing what I was having. I needed to start buying things for these babies. After all, these were probably going to be the only babies I ever had, so I planned on going all out on everything they'd need.

I couldn't stop moving on the ride to the alpha's house.

"Will you stop fidgeting?" Nikki muttered from the back seat. "You're making me anxious."

"I just can't help it." I looked back unable to keep a smile off my face. "I'm too excited."

Nikki smiled at me. "I'm excited too." She confessed in a squeal.

"We'll have to go shopping for stuff too after we find out. And we can start designing the nursery too."

Nikki and I bounced ideas off each other while Mikko tuned us out. The big tough guy was bored to tears with all the baby talk Nikki and I were doing.

When Mikko stopped the car, I got out and headed right for the infirmary. Albert was waiting in the waiting area for us. No one in the pack was hurt, so he was a bored doctor. It was better to have a bored doctor than a busy doctor.

He let both Nikki and Mikko come into the ultrasound room. Somehow we all managed to pack into the room, but it was a tight fit.

Once the screen lit up with the silhouette of a baby's profile, I couldn't help but let out a content sigh at seeing my baby.

"Are you ready for the big reveal?" he asked me with a big smile.

I nodded eagerly. "Very ready."

I leaned back into position as Albert lifted my shirt to reveal my belly. I purposely wore low riding leggings because I didn't like Albert adjusting my clothes next to my private area.

Once the cold gel was on, Albert got to business trying to find a good angle to reveal the babies sex.

"Alright," he said adjusting the monitor so Nikki wouldn't have to hover over me to see it. "This is baby B. He is a boy."

A boy! I was having a boy! Maybe two boys!

He saved a picture before moving his hand to the other side of my belly. "And this is baby A. She is a girl."

Nikki burst into a celebratory dance. I was having a girl and a boy! Now I'd never have to regret not having one of the sexes. I was getting both in one shot!

Albert took another picture. "Now you can set off choosing names for the twins."

I smiled with a nod. "And go shopping!"

Straight from the house we went to the store, where my dad met up with us. We had to set up the nursery at my father's house for when we visited here.

I couldn't say when the visiting would be happening, all I knew was that my father was going to be as much as a part of my children's lives as Finn was going to be.

When we got to the baby store, I was nearly overwhelmed. My dad and Mikko stayed behind us, they were probably just as overwhelmed at the amount of baby supplies.

"Wow," Nikki said looking around, "we're going to get lost in here."

I nodded in agreement as a young woman bounced up. She was definitely lively. "Hello." She beamed, almost making me feel uncomfortable with her exuberance. "Can I help you folks with something today?"

Nikki nodded. We didn't know where anything was and this girl would. She'd probably even give us suggestions.

When we told her we had absolutely nothing, she looked hesitant. "I thought you were farther along!" She looked at the baby bump before looking at my face again. "You must be having multiples since you're so big."

I gave her an unimpressed look as Nikki tried not to laugh. "She's a bit sensitive about how much she shows."

The look on the worker's face was priceless. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to offend you! I--"

I shook my head and interrupted her. "It's fine. I know I'm bigger than I look. Let's just find what we need and get out."

"Start with the bedding. I need to go to the hardware store to pick out a few things and get the painting done tonight."

I nodded as the girl smiled again. "You must be the expectant father."

Nikki burst into laughter, while I could've hit the girl. "Oh this is priceless."

I never realized my father would appear to strangers as someone I was dating. I looked at my father, really looked at him. I never noticed how young he seemed. Now that I thought about it, he and Mikko could be aged a few years apart.

I pointed my thumb over my shoulder at Mikko. "This one’s the expectant daddy." I then pointed at my dad, who looked as uncomfortable as I felt. "He's my dad... the grandfather."

Her jaw dropped and she looked down. "I am so sorry!" Her face was red with embarrassment when she looked back up at me. "I'm just saying all the wrong things today."

Nikki continued laughing. "Oh, this is awesome." She wiped her eyes, ridding them of the tears of laughter. "Let's check the bedding out."

I shot Nikki a glare as we followed the girl to the section where there was bedding. As we looked at the bedding, I couldn't find anything that would be right for a boy and a girl.

"How are we going to buy anything without making it obvious that you're carrying multiples?" Nikki whispered when the girl stepped away for a minute to look for something unisex.

I had no idea.

"How are we going to pick out paint?" I asked right back.

We both looked at the girl when she came back with three sets. "We have yellow and green sets. We also have a brown set that's embroidered with blues and pinks." She looked at the belly. "It's popular for mothers with multiples having both sexes."

Nikki's head whipped to mine with her eyes big. That was her choice, and honestly, it was mine too.

"We'll take the brown." I motioned for the girl to throw it in the basket, but she turned and picked up the two sets with that huge smile again.

"Which color would you like?" She held out the blue set and the pink set. They were both very pretty.

"Both." I admitted, knowing that she would automatically assume she was right and that I was having multiples.

She smiled and put them both in the basket. I knew that on the inside, this girl was probably doing a happy dance about being right about me having a multiple pregnancy.

Dad snapped pictures of both of the bedding sets. He kissed my forehead, then left. I trusted him to pick out paint.