The Unwanted Wife and Her Secret Twins (Mia and Kyle) novel Chapter 505

Mia's POV

Gas looked up at us. Her eyes were bright, wild with something ancient and instinctive. She whined.

"Mama." Alexander's hand found mine. "Is Gas okay?"

"She's fine. This is normal." I squeezed his fingers. "But it might take a long time. Hours, maybe. Dogs don't have their babies all at once."

"How long?"

"I don't know exactly. Every dog is different."

"Can we stay? Can we watch?"

I looked at them. Three small faces, still damp from the bath, still flushed from the warm water. Three sets of eyes, wide and worried and hopeful.

"Not tonight," I said.

"But—"

"It's almost two in the morning. You need to sleep."

"We're not tired!"

"Alexander, you were literally falling asleep in the car."

"That was CAR tired. This is PUPPY tired. Different kinds of tired."

"There's only one kind of tired, and you have it."

"That's not scientifically accurate," Ethan said.

"Bed. Now."

Alexander opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. "What if they're born while we're sleeping?" His voice was smaller now.

I knelt down. Took his face in my hands—his damp, warm, bubble-scented face.

"Listen to me," I said. "Gas is just getting started. This is the very beginning. She's making her nest, getting comfortable. The real labor—the pushing, the puppies—that's still hours away."

"How do you know?"

"I am a mother."I glanced at Gas, still circling, still digging. "She's not ready yet. When she's ready, you'll know. She'll lie down and stay down. Her breathing will change. She'll start pushing."

"And you'll wake us up?"

"I promise."

"PROMISE promise?"

"Promise promise."

Alexander studied my face. Looking for lies. Looking for the particular kind of adult dishonesty. "The first puppy," he said finally. "You have to wake us up for the first puppy. Not the second. Not the third. The FIRST."

"The first," I agreed."Alexander." I kissed his forehead. Right between the eyebrows, where a small wrinkle had formed from all his worrying. "I promise. The first puppy. You'll be there."

He exhaled. A long, slow breath. Relief.

"Okay," he said. "Okay. But I'm not going to sleep. I'm just going to lie down with my eyes closed. That's different."

"Whatever you say."

"It IS different."

"I believe you."

"You don't. But that's okay."

I tucked them in one by one.

Alexander first. He was already half-asleep by the time his head hit the pillow, his protests about not being tired dissolving into mumbles.

"Mama?"

"Mm?"

"Tell Gas I love her. And that I'm proud of her. And that she's going to be a great mom."

"I'll tell her."

"And tell the puppies—" A yawn, huge, jaw-cracking. "—tell them welcome to the family."

"I will."

"And tell Daddy—"

But he was asleep. Whatever message he'd had for Kyle, lost to dreams.

Madison looked at him. "Alexander and Ethan are asleep." I nodded.

"I was thinking about Gas. And her babies."

"What about them?"

"She's going to be a mama." Madison's voice was soft.

"Yes."

"That's... that's really something. Isn't it?"

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