Something was pulling me from a deep sleep, and my brain fought against waking. However, the sensation, novel yet familiar, was enough to make me stir a little, groan, and begin to feel something in my body. It felt as though I had been asleep for ages, though my belly felt quite full.
This feeling, coupled with the sensation on my face, made me open my eyes. I blinked a few times to clear the crust from my eyes and looked at Sadie's triumphant expression as she grabbed my nose and lips.
"Mama, up," she babbled.
How in the world she was in my bed was beyond me. The door was slightly open, and there were no other toddlers around.
I finally managed to get my muscles to work, and I hugged her, muttering in my sleepy voice, "Yeah, Mom is up, and Mommy is gonna eat you right up."
I tickled her, and she giggled and wiggled next to me. As I pulled myself into a more sitting position, I noticed a note on my desk, with an envelope underneath. I grabbed the note and read it; it was from Number One. I was surprised, frankly, but then again, it was a new start, and all that jazz.
"Baby, my love, Mimi," the note began. "I know it's easy to dismiss this as mere words, and you have no reason to trust my sincerity. But I truly was a dickweed. I missed too much and paid a heavy price. However, you endured a much greater ordeal. So, I had to do something. You've been sleeping for five days, heavily sedated after the surgery to remove the 56 spleens. You needed a boost. The babies took a three-day nap as well and were also heavily fed. Don't worry about them; they're fine. As you read this, remember you're still recovering and doped up, groggy, so no showering just yet. Put on some decent clothes and start your day. You're probably full, so I'm not sure if you can eat anything right now, but food will be plentiful as soon as you're hungry. I'm with numbers two and four, your medical guardians. The papers and my paternity announcement are in an envelope. I'd appreciate it, we all would, if you could kindly release all of your medical notes in our files. They've been redacted; we can see that much. And though I could subpoena them, I'd appreciate it if you made this easier. Love, Damon. P.S. I know we'll have 'the talk' eventually, but it can wait for now. I'm ready when you are."
I stared at the damn note in my hand for a few seconds. Then, Sadie tugged at my hair, demanding my attention. I was naked under the blanket and would have to get dressed. It seemed they hadn't paid any attention to the kids' whereabouts.
Well, things were about to change. I was enough of a control freak to not let them roam unsupervised.
I asked Mariella through our hive mind, telepathically, "Morning. It seems my husbands were a bit overprotective of me again. But tell me, do they have any eyes on my babies currently? My guess is no, since Sadie's in my bed; she woke me up."
Mariella's reply in my mind was surprised, "Well, I can't say, as I'm downstairs with nine men and girls. I'll tell them."
I rolled my eyes. Oh, really, this again?
I said to Sadie, "It seems Mommy needs to show them how this is done."
I got out of bed and grabbed my robe, pulling it on as I walked to my dresser to choose clothes. Sadie was curling up in my place, pulling the blanket over her, and smelling it. It seemed she had missed me, which wasn't surprising.
As I was taking out my clothes, a voice from the doorway said, "Sorry, I didn't notice her sneak out. She's fast, but how in hell did she get on your bed or find you?"
I turned to see Number One standing in the doorway, his expression sheepish.
I replied, "She missed me, and now she's just nodded off after getting me up. Let her nap a bit."
He came to the bed and picked up the now sleepy Sadie in his arms, saying, "I'll take her to her own bed. You dress up, and we'll talk some more later."
He walked away, carrying Sadie, who woke up and wanted down, no longer sleepy. I could hear him trying to shush her, but she was already awake and entering a phase where she wanted to do everything herself. I noticed Damon talking about breakfast for the kids, and realized it was just after 8 am, so they were likely hungry. I wondered just how early they had woken up, or if the babies had woken up themselves.
Well, time to get going with our lives. I focused on dressing myself while simultaneously organizing things in my mind. First, I needed to get our routine back on track, as it was one thing that helped the babies. Since total anarchy seemed to have taken over this pack while I was out, it was time for me to do something about that.
First step: be nice, not to attack anyone right away, but to do it subtly. And most importantly, get rid of Mr. Packleader by making him do packleader business. I knew I had quite a nice pile of paperwork, and since I had paid some of our hospital bills (not all, but they were in my email), normally Charles would take care of them, but not now. Damon would get them all. Let's see if he will do the job or if he will give them to Charles.
Hearing frustrated voices from the kitchen, I finally went there.
I heard, "Oh my god, will you eat it? Oh, no you don't!" followed by someone starting to wail.
I sighed inwardly, realizing someone was hungry, and the food wasn't being well-received. The scene was chaotic: five babies sat with plates in front of them, covered in spit-up food. Food scraps littered the floor.
Sabrina had just thrown her spoon and twisted her face in a cry, refusing to eat what looked like a waffle or pancake. I didn't comment, instead heading to the food prep area. I opened the freezer, grabbed a few items, and checked the fridge. It was nearly empty, but I managed to find a piece of wagyu beef.
I took the wagyu, some sour cream, and regular cream. I also took some cooked eggs and put them in a blender. Simultaneously, I thawed crackers and broke them into smaller pieces. Then, I took their silicone plates, placed cracker pieces on them, and added my meat mousse.
With extra spoons in hand, I piled everything on a tray and carried it to the table. I gave each toddler their own plate and a new spoon, wiping their faces. Soon, they eagerly grabbed the crackers, scooped up some mousse, and ate.
Damon looked at me and said, "How in hell did you do that? I've been trying to feed them for two days, and they refuse most of what I give them."
Calmly, I replied, "If you had given me a chance to tell you about what we ate on our trip, it might have been easier. But no, you had to knock me out before I could tell you. They're in a self-feeding phase, so thin crackers or some kind of vessel with mousse works for them. You can also make crackers out of meat; they also love breaded pieces. They want to use their hands when eating. For dessert, yogurt, berries, sugar, and whipped cream. You can maximize their nutritional load, but that's their favorite. Now that we're back home, routine is important, doing things like we used to do."
Damon said, "Well, we'll see about that, but thanks, I'll get on that dessert thing. You've given me ideas."
Adam, Lepard, and Demon were also in the kitchen. It seemed most of the Salvatores were with Mariella, who was once again in analytical mode, talking with them. Good for them.
I was just getting my bearings when I noticed that no one had logged anything in our system. Fine. I took my stats and started to input the most critical information. The system was preprogrammed with those points, so my actions were somewhat limited. However, when you're good, you can accomplish a lot.
Damon walked behind me, watching. "One day, baby, I will have you explaining this whole system. What are you doing?" He asked.
"I am logging in tasks. Since it's Friday, and no one has logged anything, I'm taking what I can over the weekend. We usually plan for the next week during the weekend, so I at least have a few days to function. Has anyone done any laundry?" I explained.
Damon was quiet.
Adam said, "I think not. Well, honey, I'm off to do the laundry. Mark it for me. Oh, actually, let me. I will come and put what I want to do over the weekend."
I nodded and said to Adam, "The girls are probably at the Salvatores' childminding business, so we have to do other stuff. "
"Oh, Damon, wait up, I have something for you," I said, having logged the most critical information to myself.
I walked up to my study, or my craft room, Damon following me, looking around curiously. I went to one cabinet. I had printed those bills, and I had my hours logged in, so they would be informed in Finland, and then ensure my salary from the flower shop was paid as well for those hours. Then there was more.
I got my papers in a stack and handed them to Damon, explaining, "So there you have it, Packleader. Normally, Charles will take care of these as the leader, but since you are one, have at it. There's the rest of my and our hospital bills. They didn't have direct payment, so you have to file a reimbursement for my insurance and what's left for me to pay. You can send them to Finland, to my health insurance there. Not sure how much they will pay, but it is worth trying."
He furrowed his brow as he looked at one bill; it was huge. One day in the ICU cost a little over seven thousand dollars. Five babies plus me, for five days, so the sum was hefty. I had already paid about 20 percent of it, but the whole thing could be sent to my insurance company and see what they would pay, and the rest to Finland.
Damon muttered, "One damn expensive lesson for me. Well, this I will remember. Not going to let you down next time."
I didn't comment on that; anyway, it was what it was. The future was not ours to see. It was just day by day, living the life and hoping for the best while trying to make this work.
He leafed through my papers, furrowing his brow, unsure what to do with them.
I suggested, "Ask Charles, or just dump them on him; he knows them and can handle them in his sleep."
Damon's eyes flashed, and he replied, "Fine, I'll ask, but I *will* get these done. It won't be long until I'm the sole leader, and you'll see I'll do my part. Now, have *you* worked this much?"
I nodded and explained, "I've been at the shop for a few days; my hours are all there. I was thinking of going next week, depending on how I can get things to work out, as there's still a lot to be done, and this sort of anarchy isn't getting it done."
He raised his eyebrows and muttered, "Anarchy, huh? Well, we'll see about that, my lovely lady. But right now, I'll go work on these, and then we'll see where things stand."
I just nodded and said, "Well, I'll be busy. There's a lot to do, and since most of Salvatore's people are down, I have to do a bit extra."
He muttered something as he walked away, still perusing my papers. Those would surely keep him busy, and he might want to try to negotiate my hospital bill and whatnot, but it wasn't that simple. Still, he was welcome to try, meaning he wouldn't harass me.
Maybe this was a bit of payback for my five-day coma, too. I knew my stuff and how to get some work done, as well as the peace to do it as I liked, not as he said.
A few hours later, I was in the kitchen preparing dinner. It was nothing fancy, just meat and other staples. Mariella walked in, looking disturbed and almost sad.
She said, "I don't mean to doubt you, but are you sure you heard four babies? Damon did my ultrasound and only found three, hearing three heartbeats. I know it's common for one to disappear, but he's seemed so cold towards me ever since, like he's blaming me. Did I really lose a baby?"
My alpha side let me feel one certain thing, and it made me smirk.
"Oh my god, what a glorious 1-0 against Damon," I said to Mariella. "Congratulations, you've just become something more."
She looked confused, not really understanding why I was smiling.
So I explained, "You are now the pack's beta female, and you just scored a major 1-0 against Damon, and he's not too happy about it. You have new power, beta power, meaning your feline side has finally accepted my status as alpha. My alpha side made you beta, my second in command, granting you this new and unique power. Since it's not from Damon, it will make you, how should I say, resistant to him, making him a little edgy."
Mariella gaped at me, her mouth hanging open.
She couldn't speak, so I continued. "As the beta female, your feline side decided to show Damon her might. You were carrying four: one from Adam, one from Charles, one from Wulfe, and one from Damon. Your beta side put the embryo from Damon back to sleep. So yeah, Damon might be a little offended that you have none of his babies, but others'. If he had sensed your beta side, he might react. And I mean in bed; he will want to flatten you under him to show you his might, and it might be rough."
Mariella shook her head. "Oh my freaking god, how the hell am I going to... how do I use my power? I can't feel it."
I released my alpha power, causing her beta power to flare up as well. "Oh, oh, I get it now. Oh wow, it's amazing! I can't wait to try this out. Thanks, Mimi! I must go now; I want to show him. Oh my god, when I show him!"
I just nodded, feeling so damn smug. Now my next little part was done. With Mariella aware of her new power and going after Damon with all guns blazing would keep him busy for days. Oh, perfect. Time for me to make this pack work again, as it should, my way.