Shades of Green

Chapter 16: Sarah

Eight months after leaving the pack....

"Push Hope." Her mom said, holding her legs up for the doctor. The Beta's mom had arrived a month ago to help her prepare for the pup that was about to arrive. Hope pushed one last time and felt a sense of release of pressure. Then there was a cry. The nurse held up the most beautiful pup Hope had ever seen. All the trauma Hope had been through in the past year just disappeared and a bright light brought forth a new passion, a new desire, and a new love.

Her name was Sarah and she was Hope's whole world. With her perfect ten little toes and her perfect ten little fingers, Hope couldn't get enough of her. Every time someone came close to the Beta and pup, Hope's Beta would lose it and nip and growl at them. This was normal for wolves to do when they had a newborn. It would take about three days in the delivery room before the wolves would calm down enough just to go home. Many chose home births for this reason, but Hope wanted to make sure she and the baby were safe, so she chose to have her at the hospital.

Once they arrived home from the hospital, Hope and Sarah began to form a schedule. The Beta's mom stayed for another month in order to help, but Hope insisted she go back home. She knew the Omega missed her pack and the pack missed her.

"Mom, please go home. Daddy misses you so much, it's starting to make me cry." Hope pleaded with her mother.

"Baby, you need me the most now and your dad will be fine. The old wolf just doesn't like how the other Omega's will not let him get away with certain things like I do." Her mom laughed.

"Momma please, me and Sarah need to learn our own schedule. If you stay any longer, then we might not want you to ever leave, and daddy will make the whole pack move just to be with his Omega. I promise I don't care how much he says he loves all the Omegas the same, he has a soft spot for you and you alone." Hope giggled. Her mom huffed and looked at her hard for a good minute, as if she was making sure Hope was telling the truth and processing the fact that maybe she did need to get back to her pack.

"You promise to call me when and if you need me? Don't bull s**t me, Hope. If you need help, your ass better call me." Hope's mom only cussed when she knew she had lost the fight. Hope smiled, bounced to her and started snuggling up to her.

"I promise momma. I will even have a red-eye flight for you already booked, if needed." Hope grin. She would miss the warmth of another person, but she had to give her back to her pack. She rubbed Hope's head and kissed the top of it.

"I am going to miss you and this little one. You sure you can't come with me?" Hope's mom started to smell like rain.

"Mom, we discussed this. I don't want Sarah growing up not knowing her pack, and I don't want her to have to move around a lot. She will meet the pack when the time comes so that she can understand why I made my decisions." The Beta said, snuggling in closer to get all her cuddles in before her mom left. Hope's mom ran her finger through her hair.

"Ok, I understand. You're such a brave woman now. My little girl is not so little now. I know you are going to make a great mother." Her mom said. "I love you."

"I love you too mom." Hope beamed at the praise. It was over a year since she had gotten any true praise. Her mom left a few days after their conversation. Hope was standing at the door of their small house with Sarah in her arms as she waved good bye to the Omega. She shut the door and turned to look at the house.

"Well, I guess I can say welcome to my life," Hope said. Sarah began to stir. Hope pulled down the blanket she was wrapped in and rubbed her face. "Don't worry my love, I promise it might not be easy but we are going to live our best lives together." as she bounced the bundle in her arms. Sarah opened her eyes and looked at her mom. The Beta knew at that moment she would do anything for this little girl. She kissed her head and scented her nose, making the pup close her eyes.

Hope beamed at the pup and took into account how much she had looked like Sergio. She recalled that night how she didn't want him to touch her, so she did all the work so he wouldn't. Hope giggled a little, and said, "I would have done an even better job if I knew you were being conceived that night." it was a silly notion, but the Beta knew she could never let Sergio or Sarah know that she was conceived out of duty and not love. It might not have made a difference to Sergio, but that wasn't how she was going to raise her child. She shivered at the fact of everyone not loving this pup and only using her for duty. Sarah began to cry, because Hope's scent had all of a sudden turned to rain because of thinking about how sad that some sub-genders are used for duty and not love.

"Oh baby, I am sorry. I will try not to smell like rain no more." Hope kissed the pup on the forehead. "Mama will be happy I promise." At that moment, she vowed to always show the pup love and to raise her in a happy home. She had to push back the past and let it go. It had been over a year since she left her Pack and they had stopped calling her Family Pack to see if they had heard anything from her a few months ago. The Beta had come to terms that they had moved on and so must she. She had Sarah now and that was all the love she needed.

Years marched on, Sarah was all-girl. When she was one, Hope put a cake in front of her, thinking she would do what other children do. Grab the cake and eat it, making a mess all over her face and giving Hope plenty of photo opportunities. That's not what happened. Sarah did grab the cake but saw her hands were dirty and started screaming and crying, shaking her hands trying to get the frosting off. Hope's family that had flown in for Sarah's birthday laughed and video taped the one-year-old eating her cake with a spoon instead of her hands. The terrible twos, Sarah was helping Hope put her outfits together and if they didn't look princess enough there would be a fight to get out of the house. Luckily, Hope found a preschool with uniforms and signed Sarah up as soon as she could. Hope couldn't get Sarah into that school fast enough. The outfit fights were finally gone when she started. The new fight was eating more than just chicken nuggets for dinner. Hope finally told her if she wanted to keep eating ice cream on the weekends, then she had to eat more than just chicken nuggets. Which in a way fixed those fights, but there is still some pull on Sarah's of trying new foods. With pink walls that are lined with dolls and other stuff-dolls to a canopy bed that was custom made by Hope's business. Sarah's room was something out of any little girl's daydream.

Hope and Sarah created a schedule that perfectly fits them. Mondays-Friday, Sarah went to preschool and Hope went to work. After school, Sarah would come to work with Hope and "help" out as much as a toddler could. She mainly colored in the assistants' offices or the small playroom Hope had built for her beside her office. On the weekends, Sarah and Hope would do all their errands on Saturday and then on Sunday they would go to the park and have ice cream. It was a simple life and Hope loved every moment of it. At times she wondered what it would be like to have the pack with her, but she had figured they were happy now and more than likely to have a Beta mate or maybe two who knew. She wondered how many pups they had now. She was sure they more than likely had three or four. Hope would look at Sarah at times and think that she was the gift given to her in remembrance of their love they once had. She didn't know what she was going to do when she told them about Sarah. Her worst fear was for the pup to be rejected, but that's another fear for later, not today. Today is about chocolate ice cream and sliding down the slide at the park.