Make A Wish (Dandelion #1) (22 page)

I laughed wickedly recalling the phone conversation. I wasn’t scared of anyone, but I was damned well not planning on spending the rest of my life in prison, especially at the hands of
Jules.
I would finish what I started and Juliette Mitchell would pay—once and for all— for everything she’d done.

JULIETTE

“Beau. Please… Don’t make me.” I sat in the passenger seat of Beau’s truck, trying not to panic or throw a temper tantrum, as he drove in the direction of his mother’s house. “What if she hates me?” I hated feeling insecure, but I couldn’t help it.

I’d never met a guy’s mom before—basically because I rarely dated anyone. Not like I was dating Beau or anything, but I was unexpectedly pregnant with his love child. That was reason enough to be scared.

Making this moment perfect meant everything to me. This woman was my daughter’s grandmother.

“Juliette, breathe! I know my mom—she’ll love you. You know, I haven’t told you this, but I told her about you.” To say I was surprised was an understatement. “It was a few or so days after the detectives closed the investigation about your disappearance. I actually don’t know why I told her but it came right out of me. I’ve never seen my mom so happy before. She told me she wanted to—and these are her words—meet the amazing girl who captivated her baby.’”

I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped me at this newfound soft side of him I’d been seeing lately. I really liked it.

“Does she know about me, ya know, being pregnant?”

“I actually haven’t told her that little part, yet. I figured that we could tell her together.”

The smile he gave me made me want to just slap it off of his too handsome face.

“Are you freaking kidding me, Beau?” If I’d thought I was scared before, the little bit of info he just mentioned pushed me over the edge. “I mean, the minute she sees me, she’ll know. I’m a freaking
house
!” I sent my harshest glare in Beau’s direction.
Damn, he’s hot but he’s a total idiot.
“You don’t just show up and go, ‘Surprise! I’m your son’s baby mama!’ She’s going to think I’m some girl that sleeps around. Lets just turn around. We can do this another day. Perhaps, after I pop out this kid.” My anger was finally turning back into fear and it was taking everything in me
not
to turn into a blubbering mess.

“Look at me.” Beau pulled the car off to the side of the road and shifted in his seat to face me. “Yes, finding out that her son is gonna be a father and that she’s going to be a grandma is going to throw her for a loop, but she knows about you, she knows what you have gone through. She will not judge you, Jules. She will love you and she will spoil our daughter rotten when the time comes. I understand now that
not
telling her wasn’t fair to you, and I’m, once again, very sorry.” His eyes conveyed the truth in what he was speaking. “I know we’re still trying to figure everything out between us.” He motioned back and forth with his hand. “But please understand, I have your back.”

“Okay.” My heart lurched at his words and I quieted down, watching him pull back onto the road. The rest of the car ride was silent, both of us lost in our thoughts.

A good twenty minutes later, we pulled up to a white, cute two-story home in the middle of a suburb. Vibrant green grass surrounded the landscape and a small stone path led from the driveway to the front porch. A pot of various flowers sat on the porch and a small cross hung from the front door.

Before I could fully take in the scenery, the front door flew open and a small petite woman whom I assumed was Beau’s mom came bounding up to the truck.

She had straight shoulder length brown hair and bright brown eyes, and was wearing a pair of white capri pants and a black flow-y blouse. Beau climbed out of the car and enveloped his mother in a hug. It made me giggle to see such a big guy melt into his tiny mothers arms.

I climbed out from the passenger side, straightened out my mint green pastel dress, and walked around to the other side of the truck to meet his mom, breathing in and out to stay calm. When his mom caught a glance out of the corner of her eye, she stepped out of Beau’s embrace and pulled me into a tight hug.

“You must be Juliette, I’m so honored to meet you.” Pulling back to take a good look at me, her eyes grew big when she finally settled on my expanding stomach. “Oh my goodness.” Catching me even more off guard, she bent down to the belly, placing her hand on the front. “I can’t wait to meet you, little one!”

I stared at Beau in complete shock. He had a huge smirk spread across his beautiful face and I felt my stomach do flip flops—and that time it wasn’t cause of our baby.

“I-i-it’s very nice to meet you too, Ms. Lancaster,” I stuttered, my nerves still very much on edge.

“Darling, feel free to call me Laura.” She smiled. “Come inside you two, I made you some cookies.” His mom grabbed me by the hand and dragged me in the direction of the house.

Once inside, we were led into a kitchen with a large island counter top. A big platter of cookies sat smack dab in the middle. The smell of melted chocolate wafted around us, making my stomach grumble. As we all took a seat on the bar stools placed in front of the counter top, it was Beau who broke the silence as I shoved an entire cookie into my mouth, giggling as Laura smiled at me. I couldn’t help it, I was
always
hungry.

“I missed you, Mom.” The big goofy smile that I’ve come to know and love spread across his boyish face. His curly hair sporadically standing up.

“Oh my boy, I know. It’s been much longer than I’d have hoped but I understand your reasoning. I’m just glad you were finally able to bring this sweet girl by.” His mother winked at me and it instantly helped to ease the little bit of nerves that were still bouncing around. “But to address the elephant in the room, I’m assuming the baby is yours?” Laura pinned Beau with her questioning gaze.

“Yes, the baby’s mine.”

“Oh my goodness… My baby’s gonna have a baby!” She smiled and came around the counter to hug him, planting a kiss on his forehead as her eyes sparkled with excitement. “How did this happen? Wait. Don’t answer that, I know how it happened. I don’t need details. But why didn’t you tell me sooner, son?”

“I actually haven’t known for long. A couple weeks, tops. I would have told you but Juliette and I have had some things to work out between us and it wouldn’t have been right for you to hear over the phone.”

I cut Beau off before he could continue. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know he hadn’t told you. I yelled at him on the way here when he told me.” I half smiled at Laura, hoping that she wouldn’t stay upset with us.

“Oh darling, it’s okay, I don’t blame you. But this young man here—” she glared at her son, “—knows better.”

“Gee thanks, Mom.” Beau smiled awkwardly, giving me an apologetic look.

“I just want to know why you haven’t proposed to this girl yet. I raised you better than that.” She pinned her eyes on him and it was the first time I’d actually seen him squirm under pressure.
How cute!
I had to use all my will power to keep from busting out laughing.

“Uh… We aren’t actually together like that, Mom,” Beau responded.

“He’s right, Laura,” I interjected jumping to his rescue. “We’re just friends. We aren’t actually dating or anything.”

“Okay. Whatever you say.” She raised her hands in defeat as she placed some cookies on a plate and dragged me off to the living room.

“I want to hear all about you and my soon-to-be grandchild.”

BEAU

Juliette and my mom talked for hours. She talked about her childhood—growing up in the group home with Saylor. Her experience when she found out she was pregnant. The kidnapping. They talked about the ultrasound and finding out that it was a little girl. Juliette mentioned some baby names she’d been thinking about.

My mom talked about me and told some stories from my childhood, to my utter dismay. Time got away from us as they laughed and cried, enjoying every moment of being in each other’s company.

I never spoke a word. I sat off to the side watching the interaction between my two favorite women. My heart leapt in adoration.

My mom had gotten Jules to open up about things that she hadn’t even spoken about with me—things I never would’ve thought to ask her.

Juliette stood up and excused herself to use the restroom, giving me some quality time to chat with my mom.

“Wow, Beau. I really don’t know how to put into words how impressed I am by her. She is so much more than I imagined her to be. When you told me about Jules before, I could see the emotion that you felt for her. Though time has passed and she went through this unspeakable experience, I still see the way you look at her, how much you care for her. When she looks at you, it’s clear to see she’s crazy about you too.”

“I think she’s it, Mom. My soul mate.” I looked at my mom, waiting for her to speak.

“How can that be?” she asked, though for my sake, she didn’t deny it.

“I haven’t had the courage to tell her what I discovered. I just don’t know how. Harlow was able to prove that our child is full Were, which only left more questions. So she analyzed Juliette’s results, and it has been proven by her blood that she is as well. I don’t know how it’s possible because Jules doesn’t have any wolf abilities and has never phased, but it is.”

“God works in mysterious ways, my boy. Soul mate, huh?”

“Yeah. I think she is. I feel complete when I’m near her, and it’s as if my heart beats just to put a smile on her face.”

“I’m so proud of the person you’ve become, Beau. You’re a worthy man. Now you need to tell her how much you love her. She deserves to hear it.” My mom winked as she stood up and began clearing the plate of cookies and glasses of milk. “You know, I wasn’t expecting a grand baby so soon, but I’m so incredibly excited to meet her. A girl, huh. Who knew?”

“It’s pretty incredible isn’t it?” I smiled real big.

Juliette made her way into the room. “B, I’m not feeling good,” she said as she walked over to me, leaning against my body to keep her balance. “I think I ate too many cookies.” Juliette’s face was beginning to lose coloring and she looked miserable, struggling to keep her eyes open.

“Mom, I have to get Jules home. She isn’t feeling well right now. Do you mind if we come back another time to finish catching up?”

“Not at all—get the poor girl home.” My mom began ushering me to quicken my pace.

With the tiniest movement, I had Juliette’s body cradled in my arms, her head curled into my chest.

I slid into the driver’s side of the car and held her as I drove quickly but safely back home. She looked tiny and fragile in my arms, her baby bump barely adding any weight to her small frame.

JULIETTE

Beau sat beside me in the bathroom, holding my hair back as I threw up everything in my stomach. It was humiliating and so
not
attractive—not like I was trying to impress him or anything, but it wouldn’t hurt.

“Oh god no… Not this shit again,” I whined, wiping my mouth with a strip of toilet paper. “Last time I was puking my guts out was when I had morning sickness— which by the way, is awful. You’re lucky you’re a guy.” Beau looked at me, worried, and it only left an unsettling—well, even more unsettling—feeling in my stomach.

“That bad?”

“Yeah, that’s not even the half of it.” I smiled at him as he stood and pulled me to my feet. “You don’t have to be so good to me, you know.”

“Yes I do. You deserve to be taken care of, and since it’s my child inside of you, you’re going sit back and enjoy it, keeping that pretty little mouth of yours shut.”

I could only roll my eyes to hide my momentary shock as I stumbled back to the couch that I’d taken up residence on for the past day. “I really can’t catch a break. Whoever is up in heaven playing games with me should stop. It’s getting really old.”

“You don’t actually believe that, do you? That someone in heaven is messing with your life?”

“B, I don’t even know what to believe. I just know I want things to go smoothly for once in my life. It’d be nice to have some semblance of peace.”

Beau sat on the ground, his back leaning against the couch I was laying on, clearly in thought. “You’re kinda pessimistic, Jules.”

“Oh shut it. If you were me, you would be too.” I sighed, covering my head with the blanket—willing sleep to take over. After no more than five minutes, I grumbled, twirling to lie on my back. “Great. Now I can’t sleep. As much as I love our child, B, the huge belly is super inconvenient. Being fat sucks.”

Beau’s shoulders shook against the couch and I couldn’t stop myself from smirking. “Are you laughing at me?” I asked. I was glad to be of his amusement.

“No. Not laughing at all.” He winked as he stood up and bent down beside me, giving my baby bump a gentle kiss. “Night, my beautiful girls. Get some sleep.” He kissed the top of my head afterwards—which only left my cheeks flustered—before he made his way out of the room.

I couldn’t help falling asleep thinking about how possessive his voice sounded in regards to our daughter and I, but a part of me thoroughly loved it. I could feel myself beginning to care deeply for him, but as quickly as that thought appeared, it floated away.

BEAU

I sat in my study—worried. Worried about Juliette and our daughter. Something wasn’t right about her all of a sudden becoming sick. Maybe I was being the paranoid expectant dad or maybe I was on to something.

It’d been a day since we were at my mother’s place and Juliette had become worse, though she tried her best to stay in good spirits.

I kept my voice low while I paged Harlow. It was late, but I knew I’d be able to reach her; she was well known for being available at crazy hours.

It had taken two minutes tops for her to reach my home and walk into the study. I put my pointer finger to my lips and motioned for her to be quiet, closing the door behind her.

“What do you know about pregnant werewolves getting sick?” I spoke loud enough for only Harlow’s ears to catch, making sure we wouldn’t be heard through the thin wood door.

“Since pregnancies are rare, it doesn’t happen often, but I’ve been alive long enough to have seen a few things. What’s going on with Juliette?”

“We went to my mom’s and she ate some cookies and milk. Within a couple hours, she was struggling to stand and keep her eyes open. For the past twenty-four or more hours, she’s been basically living on the bathroom floor throwing up anything she puts between her lips.”

“That’s an easy fix, Alpha,” Harlow responded. I couldn’t help the instant relaxation at her words. “From first hand experience, when it involves food and pregnancies, its most likely a temporary food allergy that the pup obtains while in the womb. I can give you a few antibiotics that will work wonders in her werewolf system—human meds
won’t
do a thing.”

“That’s all it is?” I really wasn’t sure whether I believed her, though I knew she’d never been wrong before.

“Alpha, I’m certain. I can tell you’re worried about them both but I’ve been doing this for a very long time. It’ll help. I’ll drop some medication off first thing in the morning and it should begin to take effect after about a day or so.”

“Thank you for all your assistance, Harlow. While you’re here, any luck on the other thing you’re looking into for me?”

She bowed her head respectfully before speaking. “No, Sir. Nothing, but I intend to continue searching. There must be something somewhere in the archives.”

“Okay. I appreciate it. Goodnight, Harlow.”

“Night, Sir,”

***

The pain in Jules’ back was so massive that she couldn’t help but cry and moan.

I’d been by her side since the moment she’d woken up complaining about the shooting pain in her waist. I rubbed her back and massaged her shoulders—even ran to the store and picked up some hot and cold patches—which didn’t seem to help.

“Make it stop. Make it stop,” she cried, hugging her knees as close to her as she could, begging for the pain to subside, if for only a moment.

“I’m trying, Jules. I really am.” My eyes were filled with fear and it hurt to see her in so much pain and not be able to do anything to really assist. She really looked like she needed a doctor but I was terrified of them running blood tests, plus the last time she’d gone to the doctor, it had ended horribly wrong. Harlow was our only chance.

I grabbed my phone and speed dialed Saylor, Eve, and Griffin—asking them to bring anything they thought might alleviate her pain. Eve somehow knew to bring some werewolf herbs in case whatever was causing the pain was baby related—which was smart considering she didn’t yet know that Juliette was like us.

The four of us rushed around her, putting our four brains to use. Griffin was in the kitchen whipping up a smoothie with some of the herbs Eve had brought. Saylor lay beside her friend, soothing her and getting her to calm down—which I was eternally grateful for. Eve rushed back and forth, gathering anything that was asked of her, though most of the time it included ice packs, pillows, and lots of blankets.

Saylor had managed to soothe Juliette enough for the tears to calm, her breathing still labored. Having managed to usher the group from the room, I leaned my forehead to hers, breathing in her scent and whispering words of encouragement and strength.

My heart held so much worry. I just wanted to see her sweet smile make an appearance and the gleam in her eyes as she purposely irritated and teased me.

“Drink this. Please, for me,” I begged as another round of pain coursed through her, sending her back into a ball of tears. “I can’t bear to see you like this, please.”

With the straw held out to her, Juliette hesitated before placing her baby pink lips over the straw and sucking—taking in the mixture of fruit and herbs.

“There you go. Keep on going, Jules. Just a little more.” I continued urging her to drink a little and then a little bit more, until I heard her small voice fill my ears.

“B?”

“Yes? I’m here.”

“That was the pure definition of hell on earth,” she said, the words leaving her mouth in a breathy whisper.

I smiled at her, seeing her bright spirit slowly begin to seep back into her face. “I know.”

“She’s good now?” Eve and Saylor popped their heads into the doorway at the same time.

“For the time being. Harlow is bringing some meds by, but it’ll take a bit for them to kick in all the way. Thanks for the herbs, Eve. They seemed like they helped almost immediately. And last but not least, ladies, please take it easy on her,” I warned, which only had all three girls rolling their eyes in perfect sync.

“Shut it, B. I won’t be running a marathon anytime soon but I can talk to friends.”

“If you insist, but don’t think I won’t be watching. If I see you strain once, they’re gone.”

“Gah… You’re such a billy buzz kill.” Saylor flicked me off, which only caused a giggle from Juliette as she laughed into the pillow to avoid my gaze.

Clearly surprising everyone in the room, I returned the favor, holding up both middle fingers at her.

“Oh, Boss grew some balls. Who knew?” Griffin laughed from the doorway he’d been leaning against.

“Regarder vos mots, mon ami,” I said to him while he held his hands up in surrender, suppressing the urge to laugh.

“Oui monsieur.”

“What’d they say, Evie?” Saylor whisper yelled to Eve, who’d been watching the exchange between the guys.

“Beau said ‘watch your words, my friend,’ and Griffin said ‘yes, sir.’”

“You’re no fun, B. I thought his joke was pretty funny,” Juliette whined and I could only smile at her, super happy she had enough energy to laugh and joke around with the others.

“I’m sure you did, Beautiful.”

JULIETTE

After a single yawn, Beau had happily kicked everyone out of the house for the night to ensure, and these were his words, ‘that I got some much needed rest.’

I waited for him to retreat to another area of the house before pulling out the baby journal that I’d allowed Beau to borrow. He’d returned it quietly and hadn’t spoken a word about it, so neither had I.

I noticed a couple sheets of paper folded up and sticking out of the top of the book. With a gentle tug, they came freely into my hands. I unfolded them and gasped as I read the beginning of the first page.

My Angel,

I’ve dreamt of having a family since I was young. I was raised with a very strong single mother, who did her best and raised me to be the best person that I could be. I only hope that I’m able to do her proud and be as good of a father to you as she was to me.

Up until I found out about you, I had given up every hope of ever having a family of my very own. A wife and mate that I can cherish every day for the rest of our lives. A child that is equally parts me and equally parts her, a perfect mixture of us both.