Chasing Cristabel (Ashland Pride Six) (23 page)

Cris leaned against Hunter’s shoulder and
sighed. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m going to miss her,” she said.

“We’ll take you to see her after our cub is
born.”

“I’d like that.” She tipped her face up to
look at him, her eyes glistening with tears. “I don’t mean to be
sad, but it’s hard not to be.”

“It’s okay to be sad that she’s leaving.”

“It feels selfish.”

“You’re the least selfish person I know.”

She smiled. “You always know just what to say
to make me feel better.”

He was glad. A few weeks ago he wouldn’t have
thought it was possible to care so much about one woman’s
happiness, but he thought of nothing but her all the time.

Lily stopped at their booth once more, her
cheeks wet with tears that she rubbed away with the backs of her
hands.

“How are you holding up?” Cris asked.

“This is the happiest sad thing I’ve ever
done in my life.”

Salem chuckled as he put his arm around her
and kissed her temple. “Happiest sad thing?”

“I’m sad to leave, but I’m happy because I
found you.” Then she turned her attention to Cris and said, “I’ve
got something for you.”

Salem’s mother appeared and handed Lily a
large gift bag with baby animals on the front, which she set on the
table in front of Cris.

“Oh, you didn’t have to get me anything. I’m
just, like, two days pregnant,” Cris said.

“I had to be the first one to give you a
gift. It’s in the bestie code. Go on. Open it.”

“But it’s your party,” Cris protested.

“And I get to decide what happens. Open
it!”

Cris glanced at her mates and then smiled
broadly. “Our first baby gift. This is so cool!”

She pulled out several pieces of pink and
blue tissue paper and then lifted out a stuffed lion. Cris gasped.
“It’s so cute!”

She handed the lion to Hunter, who smiled,
thinking about their cub who may or may not be able to shift into
an African lion, depending on whether he or she took more after
Cris. Digging farther into the bag, Cris pulled out two pairs of
footy pajamas, with baby animals on them, both in neutral soft
browns. A little hat with golden crocheted lion ears sewn into the
top was the last gift.

Cris slipped from the booth and hugged Lily
tightly. “You’re the bestest bestie who ever lived. Thank you so
much.”

“I can’t have your little one thinking that
his or her Aunt Lily isn’t super excited about meeting in the
future. You’re going to be a mom, and I’m going to miss it.”

“You’re going to be a mom, too, and our kids
can be besties like we are,” Cris promised.

The party dwindled until they were the last
ones in the diner aside from Lily’s pride. Cris was reluctant to
leave, and so was Lily, but eventually the women parted ways.
Hunter and his cousins took their mate home after she said a final,
tearful goodbye.

Hunter opened the front door of the boarding
house for her, and she walked in, covering her mouth as she yawned.
In her other hand she held the stuffed lion, who she had named
Leo.

“Do you think we’ll have a boy or a girl?”
she asked. Then she added, “And don’t just say you want a happy and
healthy baby. That’s a cop out.”

They all chuckled. It actually wasn’t that
easy of a question. Although healthy and happy topped the list, for
his entire life, Hunter had always hoped that if he ever had a cub
someday, he’d have a boy. Because boy mountain lions weren’t
poisoned by the adults like the females, he didn’t have to worry
that sons would turn away from their families and break their dads’
hearts. In Ashland, there were only two female mountain lions –
Jilly and Melody – and neither of them were under the goddess’s
curse any longer. Melody had been raised away from the King pride,
so she’d never been poisoned, and Jilly’s twin mates had shared
blood with her and freed her from the curse. If Cris carried a
girl, she’d never be exposed to the females and their poisonous
claws, and that meant he could freely hope for a little girl to
spoil.

“I feel compelled to say that I would be
thrilled with either a boy or a girl,” Hunter said. Cris rolled her
eyes so hard that he was surprised they stayed in her skull. “But,”
he added, “I think I’d like a little girl.”

Cris smiled sweetly up at him, going onto her
toes and kissing him. “Whatever this little one growing inside me
is, I know that he or she will be very loved.”

“I’d like a girl, too,” Chase said.

“Me too,” Dylan said.

“If we do have a girl, and she happens to
take after me, then you guys are in for some trouble because I was
quite the boy chaser when I was little,” Cris said.

“Well, she’s not dating until she’s thirty,”
Hunter said.

“Thirty at the minimum,” Chase said. “I’m
thinking more like forty.”

She laughed. “You guys are going to be the
best dads. Boys or girls, our kids are going to be so loved.”

Hunter was sure that there hadn’t ever been a
sentence spoken in existence that was truer than that. He already
loved the little one Cris carried, and the baby was only days old.
Since he loved Cris more every day, he wasn’t surprised. That’s
what family was supposed to be like.

Chapter 18

*Two
Years Later*

Cris set the centerpiece on the large table,
adjusting it slightly and then straightening. The adorable diaper
cake looked like a three-layer confection, except it was made of
diapers covered with baby blankets and onesies, all in pink. Baby
hair bows decorated the layers, along with little goodies she’d
tucked inside, like pink pacifiers and bottles.

“That looks really good, baby,” Chase said,
bringing in a large stack of pink paper plates and setting them on
a buffet.

“Thank you. And thank you for helping me set
up.”

“Well, Danielle was crying, so I thought,
‘Why not help my wife?’”

She laughed. Their daughter, who was fifteen
months old, was going through a phase when she cried about
everything
. That morning she’d been fussing because she
didn’t want to wear the dress that her grandpas had sent for her
birthday, a pretty, yellow gingham outfit complete with a matching
fabric headband.

Glancing at the clock, Cris said, “I think we
can start putting out the food.”

Cris had been happy to host the party to
celebrate Lachlyn, Alek, and Jericho’s first child, Brileigh, who
had been born a week earlier. Chase headed into the kitchen to get
the platters of food that she and Dylan had prepared the night
before just as a knock sounded against the front door moments
before it swung open.

Cris walked swiftly to the front door and
greeted the new parents. Lachlyn glowed with happiness, and so did
her mates. Jericho cradled the little girl, who looked even tinier
in his muscular arms.

“Oh, it looks so nice in here. Thank you,
Cris!” Lachlyn said as she hugged Cris.

“You’re welcome. Not everyone is here yet, so
go make yourself comfortable. I made sure to save you the comfiest
seat.”

Dylan walked down the stairs carrying
Danielle, whose red face and pout told Cris that she still wasn’t
happy about the dress, but she was wearing it so that was a win in
her book.

“See? Mommy’s wearing a dress,” Dylan said as
he joined Cris and kissed her cheek.

Cris took Danielle and hugged her. “You look
so pretty.”

She gave Cris a watery smile and rested her
head on her shoulder with a yawn.

Hunter came down the stairs, and Cris noticed
he was wearing the yellow headband wrapped around his wrist. He
shook his head. “She would only wear the dress if I wore the
headband.”

Cris’s heart melted and she laughed. “That’s
so sweet.”

Dylan answered the door as Hunter joined her,
wrapping his strong arms around her and their child and kissing
Cris on the top of the head. “How are you feeling? Do you want to
go lie down?”

“I’m only three months pregnant,” she
reminded him, but the thought of lying down made her yawn. “I don’t
want to miss the party. But feel free to offer to lie down with me
after it’s over.”

He purred softly in her ear, his arms
tightening around her. “I will
so
do that.”

Two more pride trios walked into the house
with their kids. Ray, Wesley, and Scarlett with their one-year-old
daughter, Caralynn, who squealed in happiness to see Danielle. Cris
put her daughter down, and the two little girls hugged and babbled
at each other. Then Tristan, Micah, and Melody came in with their
nearly one-year-old son, Bradley.

After greeting everyone, Cris led them into
the family room for the party. Gifts were overflowing around the
big chair that Lachlyn sat in with her daughter, while her mates
hovered around her, happily protective the way that all pride males
were.

“Can we get started?” Chase asked, coming to
stand next to her. “I got all the trays on the buffet.”

“Jilly and her guys aren’t here,” Dylan said
after a quick head count of the attendees.

John piped up from where he stood with his
mate Rue. “She just texted to say she was running late and not to
wait for them.”

“Okay,” Hunter said. Everyone quieted down,
and he motioned to James, who was the unofficial head of the
pride.

James cleared his throat. “This is a
wonderful day. Not only do we get to welcome our newest
granddaughter, but we also get to welcome her into the pride.
Brileigh, along with the other littlest pride members, is part of
the next generation of the pride. As their parents, grandparents,
aunts, uncles, and adult pride members, it’s our job to ensure that
they understand the value of family and pride, so that they can
carry on our traditions.” He paused and looked around the room with
a smile. “When we followed Eryx, Ethan, and Callie here from King,
I had no idea what a wonderful thing had been started. To see you
all here, your families growing and the pride stronger than ever,
I’m humbled.” Lifting his pink plastic cup of punch, he said, “To
Brileigh. Welcome to the pride.”

The group cheered, and Brileigh opened her
eyes, yawned, and closed them, which made the adults laugh.

Lisa slipped away from Rhett and came over to
Cris. “It looks so wonderful. I love the diaper cake you made. You
could sell them online. I bet you’d make a fortune.”

“Thank you for helping with the food. Dylan
and I were wiped out last night after assembling all those
sandwiches and cutting veggies.”

“My pleasure. Between the two of us, we put
on a pretty great party,” Lisa said. “How are you feeling?”

“Well, after we figured out that the smell of
dill pickles was what was making me sick yesterday, and, therefore,
none of the sandwiches have them, I’m feeling pretty good.”

“Aw, I’m glad you discovered what it was that
made you feel yucky.”

Dylan said, “I love dill pickles. It’s quite
a hardship for me to go without.”

At his wink and teasing grin, Cris elbowed
him. “Be nice to me. I’m having your baby.”

His grin slid into a sweet smile. “I promise
to
always
be nice to the love of my life.”

Chase slid his arms around Cris from behind
and nuzzled her ear. “I promise that, too,” she said.

Hunter, who had been watching Danielle play
with the other kids, looked up from where he was squatting down to
play blocks with them, and said, “Me three.”

“I’m the luckiest lioness around,” Cris said,
resting her hands on top of Chase’s and smiling at her mates. In
another six months, their family would grow once more, and whether
they had a boy or girl didn’t really matter to her. Her motherly
instincts told her she was carrying a boy, and they’d already
decided to name him Colin.

As Lachlyn began to open the gifts that the
pride had brought, Cris thought back to how much had changed since
she’d arrived in Ashland and taken the job at the were-clinic. Her
relationship with her parents was stronger than ever, and her dad
had decided to review all pride laws to make sure that he wasn’t
oppressing anyone else the way he’d done to her. Lily was pregnant
with her first child. Cris and her family had traveled to St. Louis
in the fall for a visit, and Cris and Lily had spent the time
planning their kids’ futures, very certain that at least one set of
their kids would end up being truemates, which both of their mates
called romantically silly. And here Cris was now, pregnant with her
second child, throwing a party for another pride baby.

“We’ve got a wonderful life,” she said,
looking at her mates.

“Because of you,” Chase said, kissing her
ear.

“I think it’s because we all fit together so
well,” Cris said. When she’d come to Ashland, she never thought
she’d find one male to share her life with, and she’d ended up with
three very different but perfectly amazing males to call her own.
As their family grew, her love for her mates deepened and
sweetened, and she couldn’t wait to see what the future would
bring.

* * *

With the baby gift tucked under one arm,
Jilly Fallon walked with her mates, Wyked and Fate, up the front
porch steps of the home belonging to Cris and her mates. She could
hear the laughter and talking from inside even with the front door
shut. The pride loved a good party, and they especially loved one
that celebrated a new baby.

“You know we can’t stay long,” Fate said.

She let out a sigh. “I know. I’ve got that
report for Hanai he wants tomorrow, but honestly…he’s family. He’ll
let me turn it in to him late.”

“No, he won’t, because you made him promise
not to give you too much slack when it came to this,” Wyked
said.

She looked at her twin mates. They were
nearly identical, and to most people who didn’t know them, they
were impossible to tell apart. Wyked’s hair was slightly longer,
and Fate’s eyes were slightly paler green, but more than those
physical differences that she could spot a mile away was that she
instinctively knew which one was which. Even the time they’d played
an April Fool’s Day prank on her by dressing up in each other’s
clothes, they hadn’t fooled her.