"He just tried calling the man," Jack said. "But Jed don't want nothing to do with him."

"Dad," Noah warned before turning back to Harland. "No, I didn't tell him. I wanted to see him face-to-face, but"-he waved a hand at his body-"since I can't drive, he needs to come to me."

Harland seemed fascinated with Noah's stomach. He reached out, as if in a trance, and placed the palm of his hand on Noah's belly. "Do you know how much Jed wants a family?"

Noah knew. But with his dad having a stroke and taking care of the man, Noah hadn't found the time to go see the cowboy. By the time he had his dad settled in, Noah had become too big to drive. Hell, the first month of his pregnancy was when Noah had blown up to epic size. "Yes."

"Twins," Harland whispered. "That's very rare."

Oh, crap. His dad was right. "Could you just tell Jed that I need to see him?"

Harland pulled his cell phone out, dialed, and waited, his hand never leaving Noah's belly.

"Jed, I need you out at Jack Cross's place."

Harland listened and then his face became a mask of rage. "I don't give a shit. You need to haul ass over here, now!"

He listened some more. "Yeah, it's a matter of great importance."

Harland hung up, shaking his head. "And I thought Clayton was stubborn."

"How's he been?" It felt good to finally ask that question. Although Noah had been busy taking care of his father, Jed was never too far from his mind.

"If you want me to be totally honest," Harland said, "he's been a miserable pain in the ass to deal with."

Not what Noah wanted to hear. It hurt to be away from Jed, but he truly wanted the man to be happy. To find out that Jed was just as miserable as Noah was didn't bring him any solace. Harland helped Noah sit back down before heading outside.

"Shit's about to hit the fan," Jack said.

"No, it's not," Noah argued. "Jed had no idea."

Jack chuckled. "I'm not talking about for Jed, but for you. That man is going to tan your hide for keeping this from him for so long."

Noah ignored his father as he dug into his food. The wings tasted like heaven. He knew he was making a mess with the sauce, but he couldn't stop long enough to wipe his face. Noah was starving.

He paused in his eating when he heard shouting outside. Fuck, Jed was here. Noah had an urge to run and hide. Correction. Waddle and hide.

"Just get your fucking ass in there," Harland shouted before the door swung open. At first, no one appeared. And then there was a long shadow on the steps before Jed slowly walked through the door.

Noah found it hard to breathe. He wished to god he'd wiped the sauce from his face, but it was too late. Jedediah Gibbs was staring directly at him, or to be more precise, at Noah's belly.

The man stumbled to the side, gripping the counter as he paled. Well, that wasn't exactly the reaction Noah had been hoping for. Jed looked like he was on the verge of fainting.

Harland walked in behind Jed, closing the door. "Don't just stand there stuck on stupid, go see your mate."

That one word damn near made Noah cry. He set his wings aside, tried his best to get the sauce from his face, and then scooted to the edge of the couch. Ouch, his damn back was killing him.

"How?" Jed whispered.

"If he has to tell you that," Jack said, "you and me need to have a long talk."

Jed walked toward him as if in a dream and then slowly lowered to his knees. When he reached out to touch Noah's belly, Noah could see the man's hands shaking.

"Hell if I know," Noah stated, remembering the doctor's assertion that if it didn't take the first time, then he and Jed weren't mates.

Jack clucked his tongue. "It seems I need to have a talk with you as well, Noah."

Noah rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant, Dad."

Jed's fingers grazed over Noah's distended belly before his eyes shot up to Noah's. The widest grin appeared on his face before it fell, replaced by a deep scowl. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm telling you now," Noah argued. "Besides-" He went on to tell Jed and Harland about Jack's stroke and his long stay in the hospital. He explained to Jed how he'd been so worried about his father that he hadn't noticed the changes at first. That was until his belly shot out like he had a damn tumor rapidly growing inside of him.

Jed hugged Noah so tightly that he found it hard to breathe. "Jed, ease up."

Jed pulled back, smiling widely. "You're my mate."

"Seems so," Noah said, but he couldn't find the joy he should be feeling. "But I can't leave my dad. He needs me."

"Then he'll move to the ranch with us."

Noah shook his head. "I can't ask you to take him on, Jed. That isn't fair to you."

"If you argue with me on this," Jed said, his hands going right back to Noah's belly, smoothing over the roundness, "I'll spank your ass after you give birth." Jed looked at Jack. "Sorry."

Jack shook his head. "You do what you got to do to drill some sense into Noah's head. Those babies need both their daddies."

"I'll have Clayton and Bryson help me pack this place," Harland said. "We have a small apartment-size loft behind the house where your dad can stay." Harland held up his hand when Noah opened his mouth to argue. "Your pa probably wants to keep some of his freedom. He doesn't want to be in a house full of loud men and screaming kids."

"The hell I don't!" Jack shouted. "Just try and keep me away from my grandkids."

Harland chuckled. "Fair enough."

Jed cupped Noah's face, placing a soft kiss on his lips. "Come on, baby. You're coming home."

Although this hadn't quite worked out how Noah thought it would, there was no mistaking the joy that flooded him at the thought of finally being back in Jed's arms.

Chapter Nine.

Jed chuckled as he watched Harland scowl. Harland's mother had returned when she found out that Noah was having twins. Although Harland's mother was a widow, Jed could tell the bear didn't like the way Jack was flirting with Renee.

Jed thought the two were adorable together.

"I swear, if he tries to make a move on her, I'll make him move out back," Harland threatened.

"How old are you, five?" Jed asked. "Renee is a grown woman and can do what she wants."

"No, she can't." Harland pouted as he walked away with Austin in his arms and Markey on his heels. Jed could only shake his head as he went upstairs to check on his mate.

He still couldn't believe that his wish had come true. Noah was his and he didn't plan to ever let the man go. The shifter doctor had come by, shocked that Noah was finally pregnant, until he learned that Jed hadn't bitten Noah the first time they'd had sex. The doctor said that explained everything.

Jed hadn't known that he had to bite Noah in order for things to fall into place. It would have saved him and Noah months of agony had he found this out sooner.

The doctor also confirmed that Noah was having twins. Jed felt like the luckiest man on the planet as he entered his bedroom. He came to a stop when he saw Noah on the side of the bed, squatting as he held the mattress in a death grip. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for my dick, have you seen it?" Noah nearly shouted at him. "Going into fucking labor. What in the hell does it look like?" Noah cried out, pressing his face into the side of the bed.

Jed hurried across the room and lifted his mate from the floor, placing him on the bed.

"No," Noah argued. "It hurts to lie down."

Jed quickly grabbed his phone and called Renee. All he had to do was tell her that Noah was in labor and she would take care of the rest. God bless her because Jed was on the verge of panicking. He shoved a ton of pillows behind Noah, trying his best to make the man more comfortable.

"Did I say I needed damn pillows?"

Jed was waiting for the man's head to spin around. Noah clutched his belly and cried out, kicking his legs this way and that. Jed felt helpless as hell. He wasn't sure what to do.

Noah reached up and grabbed Jed by the front of his shirt. "Next time, you carry the babies!"

"Yeah, sure, okay." Jed was not about to argue when Noah looked so demonic. Whatever his mate wanted right now, he was getting.

"Oh, god! Oh, god! Oh, god!" Noah started to shout. "I think they're coming."

"Not yet!" Jed hollered as he held his hands up, like he could stop the birth of his children with that single gesture. "The doctor has to get here."

"Then he better be here in the next five seconds," Noah cried out. Jed stood there and watched as the birthing canal began to form. Oh, fuck. This was really happening.

"Renee!"

"Get your ass over here," Noah shouted between pants. "Don't you dare chicken out on me now."

"I'm not," Jed said. "But I'm going to need help. There are two babies in there."

Sweat quickly formed over Noah's brows and then his entire face. Jed undressed his mate and then hurriedly grabbed some clean linens from the closet.

Before Renee crossed the threshold to the room, the first baby's head had appeared. Damn, the child wasn't waiting. Jed had no damn clue about what he was doing. He'd never delivered a baby before. Hell, before Austin, Jed had never attended a birth. He hadn't even attended Austin's. Jed had stayed downstairs while Dresden had the baby.

Now he wished he had stuck around and watched. At least he would have an idea of what to do.

Renee dropped a dark bag on the bed. "I brought this just in case the doctor didn't make it in time." Jed had no idea what was in the bag and didn't care. He just wanted to make sure his children were born healthy and that Noah made it through childbirth. He'd heard some horror stories about-why in the hell was he thinking such morbid thoughts right now?

Harland's mother was a godsend. She jumped right in, seeming to know what she was doing. Jed slid in behind Noah, giving his mate the support he needed-physically and emotionally.

He didn't know what else to do.

"You got a beautiful princess," Renee said as she delivered the first baby. For the first time in forever, Jed felt tears streaming down his face as he gazed at the gorgeous baby in Renee's hands.

Harland came in with towels, wrapping the first baby up. The doctor finally made it and Jed was seven kinds of relieved. Although he trusted Renee to do an excellent job delivering his children, Jed was more at ease with a professional taking the wheel.

When the second baby was born, Jed hugged Noah tightly in his arms. "You did an amazing job, baby." Noah cried out again. Jed stilled. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, my," the doctor said.

"Hell, no," Jed said. "There isn't an oh my. The deliveries are supposed to go off without a hitch." His heart was in his throat as he worried that something was wrong with his mate.

"It seems this little one was hidden behind the other two."

Jed felt faint. "Triplets!" he and Noah nearly shouted at the same time.

"Seems so," the doctor said. "That's two girls so far. Let's see if we can make that three."

Jed held Noah close as his mate birthed their third child. When Jed had prayed for a miracle, he hadn't expected three babies. He would need to be a little more specific next time.

"A son," the doctor announced proudly. "When you defy the laws of fate, you go all the way."

No shit.

Renee was beaming as she and Harland tended to the babies while the doctor worked on Noah. By the time the doctor was finished, both Noah and Jed were fast asleep.

Noah was exhausted as he walked the long, dark hallway. It had been three weeks since the babies were born and he hadn't had a full night's sleep yet. It was his turn to go make bottles. Jed was passed out in the rocker in the nursery.

He had no idea taking care of three tiny people could be so hard. Everyone around here pitched in, but the late-night hours belonged to Noah and Jed.

Noah dragged his feet, fighting the urge to sit on the steps for just a few minutes. He knew that if he did, he wouldn't be getting back up any time soon. Noah didn't even bother to turn the kitchen light on. The overhead above the stove was sufficient. Besides, if he turned the lights on, he just might wake up.

God forbid that happens.

Noah grabbed three bottles from the cupboard and the can of powdered milk. He put the water on the stove to heat and glanced at the kitchen chair longingly.

Don't you dare sit down.

He leaned against the counter instead, blinking into the shadows in the kitchen when a vague memory surfaced. Noah stood there staring at nothing, his mind trying to show him things that weren't familiar to him. He shook himself out of his daze. He must be more tired than he thought.

Noah turned the fire off under the kettle. As the whistling died down, he heard something behind him. He curled his fingers around the handle of the kettle as he turned.

His knees felt weak when he saw Devil standing just inside the back door. "Think I forgot about you?" the man asked as he leaned against the frame. "You are a very hard man to track down."

Noah's throat grew tight. He wanted to scream, but no noise would come out.