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~Rosa~

“I think I'm…pregnant,” Luna Rosa of the Everwoods pack said slowly, each syllable was uttered with care as she looked at the mirror to gauge her mate, Alpha Kevin’s reaction.

 “A-are you sure?” His bare feet crossed the bathroom, his huge arms encircled her waist. His voice belched with anxiety and sprinkled with doubt. She couldn't blame him, she could hardly believe it herself. It had been four years already. To Rosa, they had been the longest four years of her life. 

 “I've been having morning sickness for a week now, and I'm also two weeks past my period and nothing,” She wasn't sure if she was reassuring him or herself.

 There have been many times when she had broken down in this very bathroom waiting for the second red line to pop up and announce to her that she had taken in, only to be hit with disappointment with the dizzying impact of a sledgehammer.

 “What should we do?” She said looking at her husband with endearing eyes, asking him that question came like a reflex. After all, the big decisions in her life had been made by the men in them.

 “Let's not jinx it,” he said half to himself and had to her, holding a palm over his mouth. “We’ll wait a little while, then you’ll get tested and…” 

 The sound of her mate's ringtone traveled from the bedroom into the bathroom where it was attached. 

“It's your mother,” she said, her voice tightening when she went ahead to pick it up for him. She could only smell the trouble she had when he held the phone up to his ear.

 They exchanged pleasantries and then Kevin's face partly hardened with a frown. “Mother, how can you ask for something like that from my mate?” 

 “Something like what?” Rosa asked tensely, pressing herself against her husband, she noticed his attention remained on the phone call.

 Rosa migrated her weight from another, she had more than enough reason to be nervous. Her mother-in-law could not stand the sight of her. The older female, crossing briskly over to her, mid-fifties, had fought tooth and nail to get into the current Alpha king's bed and bear him his son, Kevin.

 Currently, there was already a crown prince Alpha, and Kevin was the second in line for the Alpha throne; his standing would ever be more significant than his brothers if he had already borne an heir. The aching absence of one was threatening to dash all of his mother's efforts into the rocks. 

 As such, Rosa was often a victim of her mother-in-law's wrath and malice.

 Kevin lowered his phone from his ear, cupping it with his hand. Then he tossed his wife an apologetic look. “My mother was wondering if you could host a small family gathering next week to celebrate my sister’s new baby.” He looked helpless. Rosa's voice cracked as she responded, “B-but our anniversary is also next week!”

 Refusing Magret, Kevin's mother, was not an option–she’d go berserk before listening to the word ‘No’ but even so…

 “Maybe we can celebrate our anniversary the week after,” Kevin said thoughtlessly and Rosa's heart was pricked at her mate’s words.

 Why was it their big day that had to be moved aside? 

 Rosa was slightly startled as Kevin stretched over his phone to her with the words “Mom wants to talk with you,” 

 She took the phone and she shookly brought it up to her ears. “I want it to be a very grand occasion, after all this is my daughter's first son,” she said smugly over the line. 

 “Magret, I hope you don't take this the wrong way but I've already made a lot of plans preparing for my anniversary with Kevin. I'll have to cancel a lot of reservations and refund so much money, too. There's also…”

 “Like I said earlier, I want it to be a very grand occasion, since it's a boy I want the theme to be blue and…” 

 Rosa bit back her retort as her mother-in-law blabbed on, totally ignoring her worries. When she was done, she addressed it dismissively by saying, “Considering your current situation, don't you think you should be putting your money somewhere else?” 

 It wasn't really a conversation with her mother-in-law if her infertility was not brought up.

“Right,” Rosa mumbled an agreement and handed her mate’s phone back to him.

 Kevin exchanged a few more words with his mother and ended the call while Rosa watched him with a heavy heart. 

 She sat on the bed, her body as heavy as lead.

“I don't know how long I can do this Kevin,” She sighed into her palms. “The pressure, it's too much,” 

 She waited for consolation to pierce the silence, but it never came. Rather he sluggishly walked over gave her a pat on the shoulder and said; “I need to get to the office so I'm going to grab a shower,” 

 Rosa sighed, but left without the choice of backing out. She buckled up and arranged a lovely dinner, which was attended by Kevin’s maternal relatives. From the decorations to the food, she handled everything with precise care, knowing that her nit-picky mother-in-law would try to find fault. 

  High efforts were rewarded with the most backhanded of compliments when her mother-in-law said without stuttering, “Hmpf, The party's alright. At least you are good at something.” 

 After that, she mostly faded into the background while trying to make sure the rest of the party continued without a hitch, but just as the guest was beginning to think, something unexpected happened and left Rosa breathless.

 Her husband and mate yelled loud enough for the roof to come off, “My mate is pregnant, too.”