The Queen Alpha

Jack Frost is on His Way

(Kara)

I wake to the sounds of Emma dry heaving again. Cracking my eyes open I peer at the clock and see it’s only 5:30 am. I sigh quietly, I only have half an hour before I have to get up anyway, may as well get a start on the day. “Kitten, are you okay?” I call out to her and hear the toilet flush.

“Yeah I’m fine, apparently the baby wasn’t a fan of the cookies I ate before bed.” I watch her waddle back towards the bed, her hair stacked in a bun to keep it out of her way. She rubs her swollen belly and crawls under the sheets, curled up in the heated blanket I had just bought her for Christmas last week. It’s been a difficult winter already, and the cold makes my poor mate’s sore body ache more.

I roll onto my side and wrap myself around Emma. “Mm, I love when your the big spoon. You’re always so warm.” She murmurs, scooting her butt against me. My mind wanders to s*x for a second, but the high libido she had at the beginning quickly dissipated when she started getting bigger and more uncomfortable.

I rub her stomach, the skin tight and stiff. Our son kicks my hand and I press down slightly, earning another one. Emma groans in frustration. “Damn it, you woke him up. Now he’ll be doing that all morning.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I just like to feel him move.” I whimper and she turns her head to look at me.

“I know you do, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m just so tired and ready for him to get out of me already. I’m never doing this again.” She grumbles and I really do feel bad for her. I can’t imagine what it’s like to sacrifice your body to grow another.

“I’m going to head downstairs and get some work done before the baby shower, try to get some sleep beautiful.” I whisper and kiss her cheek. I quietly grab some undergarments from my dresser then go into the walk in closet, closing the door behind me so the light doesn’t keep Emma up. The one positive thing she likes about winter is it’s dark most of the day so she’s able to sleep in.

I change into some leggings and a loose tee shirt. I’m not going into the office today, it’s the day before New Years Eve so thankfully I won’t have any important meetings to tend to until next week. Darlene and I planned Emma’s baby shower for this afternoon and it’s rather small so we’re just having it in the ground floor where my personal office and entertainment area is.

I slide my house shoes on and tiptoe downstairs. Capone stirs in his kennel and I snap my fingers to wake him up. “Psst, do you need to go potty?” He immediately stretches and wags his tail happily. I unlock his cage and he happily follows me to the back door. I stand by the door waiting for him to do his business and come back inside. He may be a husky but so far he’s not been a fan of the snow. It only takes him a few minutes before he’s prancing back up the steps. The fluffy sorrel and white dog walks alongside me to the kitchen. I grab his food bowl and fill it with kibble for him, then start brewing some coffee for myself.

I add creamer to a mug and fill it the rest of the way with coffee then head downstairs to my office, clapping a hand on my leg so Capone will come with me, leaving Emma to get some sleep. Turning on the lights and my computer, I settle in at my desk and begin checking my emails, looking over different purchase orders, signing invoices, approving the hiring and firing of various employees. My mind gets so focused into my work I don’t notice Emma coming down the stairs until Capone stands and alerts to the door. I’ve had him going to a protection trainer twice a week and it’s paid off, he’s an excellent guard dog.

Emma is fully dressed in a beautiful baby blue gown with white flats and her hair and makeup is done in a soft, subtle way to match her dress. “You aren’t dressed yet?” She asks, slightly concerned.

I look at the clock and my eyes widen, it’s been nearly five hours. “Oh my gosh, I didn’t realize what time it was. I’ll run upstairs and get ready now. Did you call your mom and Darlene to see when they’re coming with the decorations?” I log off my computer and shut everything down.

Emma rests a hand on her round belly. “They’re on their way now, which is what I came to tell you. You better hurry.”

I jog up the stairs and dig through my closet for something to wear. I find a navy blue pencil dress with long sleeves and slip into that, along with a pair of matching heels. I smooth my hair back into a high ponytail and briefly apply some eyeshadow and lipstick.

Capone barks once from downstairs and I shut the lights off and go down to greet our guests.

Darlene and Anthony are the first to arrive, with two car seats. “Hi Darlene, are the bags for the decor in your car?” I question and she nods. I walk out, immediately regretting wearing heels because it’s once again snowing and we’ve gotten well over another inch. Shivering, I grab all the bags out of the backseat and bring them inside, dropping it all in a huff.

“Careful with those babe.” Emma warns and I raise an eyebrow.

“There’s only ten or so people coming, do we really need this much stuff for decorations?”

Darlene nods happily. “Of course we need a bunch of decor. This is our future King. He deserves the best.”

I sigh and Anthony laughs at me. “Well let’s get these put up while we wait on everyone.”

We spend the next hour taping snowflake’s to the ceiling, draping the tables with snowy table cloths, hanging a banner that says ‘It’s a Boy’ and placing the wintry looking center pieces. Darlene had come up with the theme ‘Jack Frost is on his way’ and Emma loved it.

There’s a short knock and Dr. Scott comes in with a massive cake box in her hand. Marcus follows, carrying a crockpot and cheese platter. “We’re here! Anthony, be a dear and go grab the drinks out of my car.” Emma’s mother asks as she sets the cake down on the dining table.

“Amelia, I’m going to go grab the gifts.” Marcus tells Dr. Scott, pecking her on the cheek.

Shortly after we found out the gender, Emma decided she was ready to forgive her mother. She had already lost one parent and didn’t want to lose her mom as well. It was awkward for them at first, but soon they were just as close as they were before.

Emma walks over to great her mom, baby Karp in her hands. We love Darlene’s kids and Emma can’t help but always having one to hold. “Hi mom, I’m so glad you’re here. And you brought Marcus this time.”

She winks and Amelia swats at her. “Stop it, don’t make a big deal of it.” Emma agrees obediently and wanders over to Karp’s car seat so she can set him down. He coos and grabs a toy to chew on. Amelia and Marcus had both lost their mates years ago and found comfort in each others presence, which eventually led to a romantic relationship. They looked great together.

Marcus and Anthony both come in and my eyes widen at the seven different gift bags lined across Marcus’s arms.

“Oh my gosh, did you buy the whole store?” Emma exclaims and Amelia shrugs. “I’m grandma, I have to spoil my little man.”

There’s another knock in the door and Felix comes in, his gift hidden in a giant blue bag. Emma rushes over to hug him and tries to peek in the bag but he stops her. “I don’t think so, you don’t get to see until it’s time to open it.” Emma feigns hurt but quickly recovers when my dad lumbers through the door.

“Jorah, I wasn’t sure if you’d come, I know baby showers aren’t your thing.” She giggles when he throws a giant arm over her shoulder.

“Now Emma, you know I would never miss the opportunity to buy my grandson something. Grandparents are here to spoil the little monsters.” He winks and Amelia claps.

“That’s what I said! We buy the toys, the parents have to listen to them, am I right?” Amelia and Jorah laugh together and I smile, feeling completely content with my friends and family here.

Misera and her sister Fawn enter, briefly saying hello to everyone. With all our guests here, we play a series of baby shower games like guessing which symptoms and cravings Emma’s had, how big her belly is with a string, and seeing who can drink the water out of a baby bottle the fastest.

Emma and I sit at the front of the room, opening our presents together. First she opens my father’s gift, which is a set of fishing themed teething toys and a pair of insulated baby overalls. Anthony got us a series of camouflage baby clothes and a toy g*n set.

Felix is grinning ear to ear when it’s his gifts turn. Emma digs through the tissue paper and pulls out a junior sized bow and arrow set.

Her eyes widen and she glared at Felix, who smiled sheepishly. “Now before you freak out, I fully intend to show him how to use it properly.”

Emma laughs dryly. “That frightens me even more! You all are going to turn my boy into a wild child aren’t you?”

Everyone laughs and Darlene hands her another bag. “Here, mines not as bad as everyone else’s, I promise.” She chuckles and Emma pulls out a beautiful blanket set for his crib. We hadn’t decided on a name yet so she got ‘Baby Kingston’ embroidered on a blanket. The blanket is a pattern of little blue and navy wolves howling at a gray moon. My mate’s eyes tear up and she hugs her best friend tightly, thanking her for such a beautiful gift.

Next she opens her mothers heap of presents consisting of multiple bags of baby clothes, blankets, bottles, pacifiers and toys. She continues through the presents until everything is opened and revealed. Emma starts to thank everyone for their generosity but I stop her.

“There is one more gift you have to open, it’s from me.” I had her a small jewelry box.

Emma cracks the lid open and exposes the necklace hidden inside. It’s a delicate rose gold chain with three gemstones in the center of a snowflake. A sapphire for my birthday, an emerald for hers, and a tiny garnet tucked in the middle of them for our son’s birthday. She covers her mouth in awe as everyone looks over her shoulder to see it.

“I got the garnet because he’s due January 15th and I don’t think he’ll come tomorrow. But if he does I’ll get it changed.” I move closer to her and she comes back to life, hugging and kissing me graciously.

The crowd flitters out and soon it’s just us cleaning up the tissue paper and taking things upstairs to put in his nursery. If today was any hint at what he have to look forward to for the rest of our lives, I think we’re going to be very happy.