Meghan came running in behind the twins, Edison on her hip. "Elijah! Emmerson! I said stop! " When she spotted us, she stopped. "Oh, thank the Goddess!" She huffed out in between breaths. It was funny to see that Meghan was completely oblivious to the tension in the room.

She walked over to Tim and handed Edison to him before plopping down in the chair next to him letting out a long breath. The twins stood bouncing between Tim and I, talking animatedly about everything and nothing at the same time it was hard to understand what they were saying.

"They are completely full of it today!" She starts, "I have NEVER seen them this bad. They have wiped me out! " She dramatically swiped her hand over her forehead for affect, causing me to chuckle. That is one thing that we all adored about Meghan; she was just a genuinely fun person.

"Are you going to live?" I asked her, if I let my eyes drift over to Tate who had yet to take his eyes off of Eli and Emma. They still had not realized he was sitting there with us. Tate was getting a firsthand view of our family, the family that should have been his. I kept glancing at him from the corner of my eye, wishing I knew what he was thinking as I watched happiness, sadness, guilt, and love flash though his eyes.

She nodded her head, "Eventually! You would not believe it. Eddie was in his pack n 'play, so I went to the bathroom really quick. In the two minutes, "holding up two fingers," Two minutes! Elias had gotten a chair, brought it to the door, unlocked the dead bolt and chain and took off to find you. And this time Miss Emma went with him! "

Now it was all making sense, I picked Elias up setting him on the table in front of me, before doing the same with Emmerson. "Did you two run off from Miss Meghan?"

They both looked down at the floor, Eli nodding his head, "Now why did you do that?" Neither one of them spoke, so I asked again. This time Eli decided to fess up. Tate watched on with an amused look on his face, I knew he was now seeing the similarities in his and Eli's personalities.

"Wanted Mommy, missed you." He was now looking me directly in the eye and putting his hands on my shoulders. Emma was giving her best puppy dog ​​eyes and pouty lip. Tim sat chuckling at me, knowing that they had me bested, with the looks on their faces I could not resist them.

I pulled them both into a hug, "I missed you too! But no running off okay. " Damn if they did not steal my heart every time, I looked at them.

"You are such a softy." Tim said, "So much for Mommy being the tough one, huh?" They turned to look at him, "Mommy may forgive you easily, but no dessert tonight. Little boys and girls that run off do not get treats. "

They both looked sad now and chimed together, "Sorry Mommy. Sorry Daddy. " Tim cleared his throat, so they turned to Meghan, "Sorry Miss Meghan." It was all a bit rehearsed, but that's how they were, Eli and Emma were connected on a level that no one could truly understand or appreciate.

"Apology accepted. Just please do not do it again. It scares Miss Meghan when you do something like that. " They nodded to her.

"Hey Meghan, do you think you could take Eddie? We still have some things to clear up here. We will keep the mischief makers. "

"Sure thing," she held out her arms to Eddie. "Come on little man, let's go get a snack and take a tubby." As Meghan left with Eddie it was now the moment of truth, since we were all together there was no time like the present to introduce the twins to Tate.

I was an outsider looking in, I truly felt like a voyeur watching this family moment. Parents with their pups, talking to them, being together with them. The immense amount of love I already felt for these two little lives I had just learned about was almost too much for me to process. I was also feeling a bit jealous, that this had been stolen from me.

My son, Elias sat on the table squarely in front of his mother his hands on her shoulders and looking directly into her eyes. It was the most adorable thing I had ever seen a pup do; he was already working on his Alpha skills. If this was any indication, he would be a great Alpha one day, and with any luck he would be better than I am.

Emma sat quietly beside her brother, looking down at her hands and then giving a sad puppy dog ​​face to her mother. I could see Ally melting as they played her for the soft-hearted person she was. I loved seeing her interact with our pups, being a mother came naturally to her.

A pang of remorse hit my heart as I realized I was the only reason I was not with them. Had I only been honest with Ally, told her everything from the start, I would be with her today. My pups would be with us today, they would not be calling someone else daddy. Of course, I knew there were others that manipulated Ally and I along the way, but still I knew that at the core this was my doing and this was the Goddess' punishment for me.

I could see Ally watching me from the corner of her eye as I watched the scene in front of me. As all of these warring emotions ran through me, I was doing my best to hide them, steeling my face. Yet, I knew that Ally could read me. Even though she was trying not to show it the concern that she had for me was written all over her face.

Tim on the other hand made no attempt to hide the fact that he was watching me. In fact, I think he was studying me, trying to gauge my character. The more he watched the more anxious it was making me, so I started rubbing my tattoo, the one that matched Ally's. It was something I did whenever I was trying to calm myself, it gave me a connection to her which was soothing to me and my wolf.

I could not blame Tim for his reaction to me, after all he probably had never heard a single good thing about me. Given time I was hoping that any negative opinions that he had of me could be proven wrong, because now that I knew about my pups there was no way that I was walking away. We were going to be forever tied together, there was nothing that was going to get me to walk away.

Noticing that their nanny was now leaving with the youngest pup, Eddie there was an unease that was settling in the room. Almost like no one knew how to proceed with the introductions, that was until Elias finally noticed that I was sitting there.

At some point he had jumped off the table and was now standing beside me, Emma was turned on the table watching me. I turned to look at Eli, his head was tipped to the side with a serious look on his face. I looked to Ally, who appeared to be holding her breath.

"Pick me up." Eli said holding his hands up to me. A quick glance to Ally let me know it was okay. Tim's eyes were still trained on me. I picked Eli up setting him on the table in front of me, my hands were trembling a bit from nerves. Not the best thing for an Alpha, but right now I all my control was going into holding Knox back. He was pressing to be let out, he wanted to meet his pups.

Both of the pups looked to Ally and then to Tim. They then looked at each other, almost like they were speaking, but being so young they would not have the pack link yet. That did not happen until you reached six when your wolf would start to emerge. After a few dozen heartbeats Eli looked back at me, Emma's eyes following his. Honestly, I felt like I was under a microscope and that these two little pups were burrowing into the depths of my soul with just their gazes.

It was both a bit unnerving, but also a moment of pride and happiness for me. I was getting to see a glimpse of their personality and meet them for the very first time. Eli held out his hand, "I Eli."

I shook his hand, "I'm Tate." He turned to his sister.

"That Emma." Eli was very serious and matter of fact in how he was talking. It was like he was trying to talk like he was much older than he really was. I was completely enamored with him and how he was presenting himself, thinking back to when I was his age it was remarkable at how much he was like me.

"It's nice to meet you Emma." I said looking over to her, holding out my hand to shake hers. Emma carefully studied my hand, not sure if she should take it. Instead of taking my hand to shake it, Emma started scooting herself across the table moving closer to me. Next thing I knew she was all but flinging herself at me, her little arms wrapped around my neck.

I wrapped one of my arms around her, holding her close to me a tear falling from my eye, "I know you. Mommy's picture. "

"That's right baby." Ally spoke up, "He is in the picture that we gave you." Emma pulled herself away but stayed sitting on my lap.

Tim had stayed quiet, watching our interaction. No doubt deciding if or when he might have to step in, at this point in time I was treading in waters that had always belonged to him. He was doing his best to hold his feelings in, but I could see them and so could Ally. She reached across the table lacing her fingers through his, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

Tim shifted himself forward, so he was now leaning on the table, never having let go of Ally's hand. "Eli, Emma do you know who Tate is." Emma looked at Tim and nodded her head. "Can you tell me who he is?"

"He's my other dad." She calmly replied, my heart constricting a little bit that they really knew who I was.

"Mine too!" Eli stated, not wanting to be left out. I was left a bit stunned; I had not expected them to take to me so quickly or be accepting of me, but they were proving me wrong.

"That's right. He is your other dad. " He said looking at them with a sad smile. In this moment I was happy for myself, but as I looked at Tim, I could see that this was the moment he had been dreading, having to share being a dad to these two amazing pups. "Mommy and I wanted you to meet him and get to know him."

I looked to Ally; she too seemed a bit shocked by how quickly that they attached themselves to me while Tim continued talking to Elias and Emmerson. Ally and I only paying half attention to what was being said, instead of studying each other. There was a look in her eyes that I could not quite decipher, Eli clapped causing me to pull my gaze from Ally's.

Eli looked at Tim, Ally and then to me, "Play now?" And he jumped off the table, running for the door. Emma squirming to get down.

"Yes, you can play now." Ally said.

I set Emma down, but she grabbed ahold of my hand, "Go play with us." She said more than asked as she started tugging me.

"I would love to play with you." Even though I had been here many times and knew where the playground was, I still let Eli lead the way as Emma pulled on my hand behind me. Ally and Tim giving us a bit of distance as they too followed us.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"And they lived happily ever after." I finished the story that Emmerson had picked out to read, it was her favorite Cinderella. She never got tired of hearing how the Price found his true love, really, she loved every princess story, but the magical part about the fairy godmother changing the pumpkin into a carriage and the mice into horses had her giggling every time.

"My turn." Eli said, thrusting a book about dinosaurs into my hands. "Read Daddy, pwease." With Eli snuggled under one arm and Emma under my other, I began reading Eli's book. Before I got to the end of the second story, both of them were fast asleep. I sat there for a little bit longer than normal, soaking in the moment, committing it to my memory.

I am not sure how long I was there, but Allison eventually made her way to the doorway. "You going to sleep there tonight?" She was teasing me, but honestly, I had thought about it. Ally walked in a placed Edison into his bed, then walked over and kissed each of the twins on the forehead. Unsure if I wanted the moment to end, I did not answer Allison. She walked out leaving me sitting there, cuddled up.

Snuggling them closer for another minute or two, I finally wiggled my way out careful not to wake them up. I had done it hundreds of times by now, but each time I felt like I was trying to not set off a nuclear bomb. Covering them up, I gave them each a kiss and whispered, "I love you" just like it was any other night. Like today hadn't been any different than all the nights before it, but it was now. Tate knew and soon, he was going to want to be the one to do this with them. He is going to want more time with them, he is going to want them to know him, know their rightful pack. And I could not blame him, Allison and I always knew that this is what it was going to be like when Tate found out about the twins.

Walking over to Eddie I carefully covered him up and rubbed my finger over his rosy little cheek, "Love you too, Little Man." Standing in the doorway I looked back at my sleeping pups and turned off the light, leaving only the soft glow from the nightlight. I walked across the apartment toward the bedroom that I shared with Allison, each step my feet felt like they were getting heavier.

Dread filled my belly, there was a deep conversation that Allison and I needed to have. There were many things that hadn't been figured out, discussed. Everything happened so quickly, so many emotions needed to be processed. I stopped taking a deep breath I raked my hands through my hair. We will talk everything through, make the decisions that need to be made, but no one said that we had to make them all tonight, right?

Allison was already laying in bed when I came into the room. She had a book in her hand, but I could tell that she was not really focused enough on it because as I stood there, I watched her read the same page three times. I stripped my clothes off, tossing them on the floor and climbed into bed. Gently I pulled the book from Allison's hands and put a bookmark in it. "I think you are done for the night. You haven't changed the page since I got in here. "

"Yeah, I think you are right. My head is not really in it. I keep churning over everything that happened today. "

"Me too, Nemo. Me too. " I whispered back to her. "How are you feeling about everything?"

Allison closed her eyes and rubbed them with her hands, "I am not really sure. There is so much. I am heartbroken, how could McKenna do that to me? To you? To us? " Tears were glistening in her eyes now. "And Missy! How did she do that to her? I was so angry at her and the humiliation of everything. I hope Linc does something to rectify this. Although I do not think anything will ever make it better. " A few tears slipped out from her eyes and she brushed them away.

"I spoke to him at dinner tonight, he and McKenna are leaving in the morning. Next week is the pack meeting, so he will be addressing it there. " Allison nodded her head.

"I'm never going to be able to forgive her for this, Tim." Allison laid her head on my shoulder. "There is a lot I can forgive, but not this. This goes beyond trying to protect me, she hurts you, Missy, me, Tate, and the pups. It's just too much for me. "

"She is your best friend." I said it as a fact, trying to make Allison realize that you can not just turn off caring about someone.

"Was she? If this is how she treats her friends I would not want to be her enemy. " Allison was not leaving this up for debate, she was ready to cut McKenna off. Of course, I knew she would be civil to her and keep up pleasantries, but I knew that things would never again be how they were. McKenna and Allison's friendship was over, at least for now. Maybe one day Allison would be able to forgive her.

We sat in silence for a bit, enjoying the peace. "I do not want to stay for the wedding."

"What if we left the day after tomorrow, Nemo?" I hated to say this, but I knew I needed to be the father the pups deserved, "It will give Tate time to spend with Eli and Emma. And we can talk to him about visitation too. "

"How did I ever deserve you Tim Andrews? You are too good to be true. " Allison kissed me, wrapping my arms around her I pulled her close to me, sinking into the bed. Reaching over I click the light switch, coating us in darkness.

"The question Allison is not what you did to deserve me, but what did I do to deserve you? You have given me everything that I thought I would never have when I lost Nikki. I could never thank you enough for the last four years. " I kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"Love you too Tim." Allison said just before her breathing evened out and she felt asleep. Just the same as the night before I could not sleep, although I was weary, and my body was tired I could not fall asleep. I carefully climbed out of bed, much the same way I do when I am trying not to wake the pups. Quietly I slipped on a pair of my flannel pants and a t-shirt and walked out to the kitchen.

Grabbing a glass from the cabinet I turned the tap on and filled it with water. Leaning against the sink I sipped my glass of water, thinking through everything. What would I want if I were Allison? What would be best for Eli and Emma? Not to mention Eddie.

Taking my glass of water, I made my way out to the porch where I could see the light of the moon peaking through the clouds. Sitting down on one of the chairs I looked up to the night sky and for the first time in years I prayed to the Goddess, begged her really to give me something anything.

"What was all of this about? What was the purpose? You took Nikki from me and now this? I am not sure how much torment you think I can handle or why you think I needed to go through all of this. " I shook my head. "I am so lost, tell me what to do. How do Allison and I navigate this? Please Moon Goddess, give me something, anything I am begging you. " I dropped my head allowing the silence of the night to envelope me.

When I was a pup my father had often tried to tell me that sometimes the answers to our prayers can be found in the silence. That if you only opened your heart, you would be able to find the answers to whatever troubles you were facing. Maybe the answers would not always be fun or what you wanted, but they would guide you to where you needed to be. Until this moment I had never truly understood nor appreciated his lesson. Now as I sat there in the stillness of the night, the moon staring down on me, a gentle breeze picked up causing the leaves on the nearby trees to rustle. Everything about the night eased my troubled mind, calming my nerves, and settling my heart.

Looking back to the moon I said, "Thank you."

I was sitting in my room, the night turning into early morning. Sleep eluded me as I replayed everything from the day. I was still reeling over the fact that I was a father. I had two amazing pups that I did not know. But I would know them, it was just a matter of working things out with Ally and Tim. I knew we were forever going to be tied together, they were married, and Ally and I had the twins.