Soon enough we finished our drinks and it was time to get back to Lisa and my exam results. A different kind of worry plagued my mind, back to mundane things and away from the supernatural. Slowly we made our way back to the auditorium (stopping at the toilet once again, because let's face it, pregnant ladies have weak bladders and a lot of nerves). Lisa met us by the entrance with a huge grin on her face, but for the love of God I couldn't determine weather it was a good one meaning that I passed, or the one that proved that all the students indeed are morons. I sure hoped it was the first one, for never in my life have I ever failed a test and it would just be humiliating. With enormous amount of excitement she waved my stack of paper in front of doc Evan's face and as hard as I tried to spot a grade in this blur of sheets, I couldn't.

"Adrian, this is why I insist you start teaching! Not a single mistake, you hear me? Not. A. Single. One!"

I huge breath escaped my lungs, I did it! Now a huge smile was plastered on my face as well, and even do Evans hade a satisfied look on his face.

"I told you you could do it!" And for the first time in the time we've been acquainted he gave me a hug. It was a bear hug, but a warm and comforting one. And a proud one. Tears welled in my eyes, because for the first time in a very long while someone was proud of me.

"Thank you." I whispered into his chest and his hug tightened even more. His chin rested on my head and for a minute we just stayed there like that. The feeling of family surrounded me and I thought that maybe that is how hope feels like, maybe everything would be fine with my life and the pack will accept me, and my baby will have a bright future, surrounded by caring people and will never have to experience sadness like I did. And maybe for me it was also a start of a new and better life.

Soon enough the moment faded and it was time to get back to reality. We broke our hug and turned back to Lisa.

"Congratulations, Emily! We just need to finalize your documents and in a short while you'll be a brand new graduate!" Lisa shook my hand and turned to doc Evans.

"Let's pay a visit to the dean while he is still here, get his signature and then the secretary will do the rest."

Doc turned to me with that proud smile still on his face.

"I say you enjoy the sunny weather here on the bench while we do all the paper work, that fine with you, girlie?"

"Sure, thanks."

And with that I limped to the nearest bench and closed my eyes in satisfaction. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, students rushing to their classes, but for me... a huge page in my life was turning and I decided to just reel in this feeling for a while.

I don't know how long I sat there enjoying the gentle rays of July's sun, deep in my own world, but soon something changed. My baby kicked. With a small smile I placed my hand on the exact spot where she kicked and gave out a small laugh. She was communicating for the first time. A warm feeling settled in my heart. This was my child, my baby girl, a life I was creating. Screw the circumstances of the conception, screw all the pain and horror I went through that night. Screw everything, my child just kicked me for the first time! And then she kicked again, this time harder, but still not painful, so I smiled again.

"Hey there, baby girl," I cooed to my stomach. "I love you, mommy loves you..."

I chanted this over and over again while she continued giving me her first kicks right there, on the bench in front of the university I just graduated from. What more could I ask from life?

At some point her kicks stopped being gentle and got more intense.

"Baby girl, I hear you, but you've got to be gentle with mommy, ok?" I whispered a bit worried now. She was becoming active, and while I was glad to experience that, the kicks started to hurt a bit, but she never stopped, no, her kicks became more frantic and hard. I changed my pose and started rubbing my stomach more actively. Looked like my unborn angel was having an aerobics session in there.

"Sweetie, calm down, please..." I don't know if she could hear me, but I continued talking, trying to soothe her. Then a bigger kick followed, that made my eyes bulge. The same time I got that weird feeling that someone was watching me. I rubbed my stomach again and turned around, trying to ease my paranoia. I looked to my surroundings, observed the people nearby, but sure enough no one met my eyes, no one seemed suspicious.

"Baby, it's fine, calm down." The aerobics inside of me continued, my heart rate picked up, it was becoming creepy. I looked around once again, but still couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, although the feeling of someones eyes on me never subsided. And then suddenly it stopped. A huge weight lifted from my shoulders, my baby girl calmed down as if nothing happened, only slight tingles where she kicked me from the inside. How weird.

I turned back to facing the entrance of the university and saw doc Evans marching to me with an even bigger grin on his face and with a big package in his hands.

"Emily, sweetheart, I say on our way back home we stop at the clinic and put that on the wall!" With that hi pulled an impressive sized photo frame out of the bag, and to my surprise it was my vet license, signed by the dean of this very university. A bright laugh was shared between me and doc Evans and he sat next to me to give me a sideways hug.

"I hope you're happy, because I sure am!" He said looking me with those wise eyes of his.

"I am, in more ways you can imagine!", I said returning his hug.

"Have you had enough rest? Or you want to sit a bit more?" Doc Evans asked me with slight concern in his voice.

"One more minute and we can go, ok?" I said still excited, but my baby girls activities have drained me a bit, thus the smile on my face a bit smaller than expected.

"Is everything fine? Are you feeling well?" The smile from doc's face have vanished suddenly.

"Yeah, yeah", I reassured him, trying to be cheerful. "It's just... the baby kicked for the first time just moments before you arrived", I said brightly, but the exhaustion that has started in my bones was getting to me.

"She did?" He gently placed his hand on my stomach and rubbed it softly.

"Yeah...", I placed my hand on top of his and we just sat there a couple more minutes, until my baby girl kicked again. Doc's eyes shone as brightly as the sun and he turned to me with an awe on his face.

"Little bandit, heh?"

"Yeah..." indeed she was.

"Although just before you arrived she was kicking more aggressively. I even started to worry for a bit."

"Did she now..." the awe was gone from his face in an instant, but the smile remained. He appeared deep in thought. "Describe it to me."

I contemplated for a minute and then recited the course of events as precisely as I could. Doc's brows furrowed a bit, but he never said that something was wrong, so I let it go. With one more stroke to my belly he helped me up and we slowly went in the direction of the truck.

* * *

Just as we talked about, we did stop at the clinic on the was home, and now my license was proudly hanging on the wall behind the receptionists desc right next to doc's. for a few moments I just stared at it, basking in this proud feeling, while doc went to his office to make some calls. When he came out of the office, he was carrying one of those instant photo cameras in his hands, the one that printed pictures right away, just as an old polaroid cameras used to do in the nineties, but a newer version. With a mischievous smile he instructed me to stand near the framed license and took a couple of pictures, one he kept to himself, and a couple of others gave to me, with strict instructions to give one to Shirley to stick to the fridge right next to the sonogram, and another would go to Hannah, because that's what family does, and they were my family now, who would be mighty proud of my achievements. We left the clinic right after that, me with teary eyes again (what can I say, I'm pregnant, hormones, and that was sweet), doc with a proud smile. Although his eyes held this spark of seriousness still left from our time on the bench. Again, I let it go.

At home we were met with another hot meal, because Shirley made it her mission to keep me well fead, although I haven't gained a single bit of weight. My picture for now gracing the fridge, I received tons of hugs from everyone. That evening looked more like a party to me - the house was full of people. Lena arrived soon after us, Jonathan and the twins were summoned from the woods by Shirley's strict orders to get cleaned up before the meal, Hannah arrived not long after and soon enough we all were settled in the kitchen chatting about everything without a care in the world. It was so different from the family dinners at my previous home with my real family. Surely we shared every dinner, and the conversations occurred, but nothing this light and playful. My parents were very modest and were not into displaying affection towards each other in public, teasing at the table was not polite, so I would say out dinners were a bit cold. In contrast this one was more like a celebration with no reprimands, warm and loving, and I was happy, truly.

After dinner we all settled in the living room. I was lounging in a huge puffy armchair like a queen, beast of a tog at my feet, the twins were on the floor near the fireplace, doc Evans and Hannah shared a love seat, Lena grabbed a pillow and dropped her tush near me and the don, Jonathan and Shirley were settled in another love seat. Everyone enjoyed a cup of hot tea and a light conversation, until the door bell rang. Doc Evans went to get the door and came back with Dr. Green.

"Lara! Welcome!" Shirley swiftly got up from her spot and went to embrace Dr. Green.

"What brings you here? Do you want a cup of tea?", she chirped while guiding Dr. Green towards the living room.

"Thank you for the hospitality, Shirley, I would love a cup of tea, but maybe a bit later.", Dr. Green said placing a hand on Shirley's elbow.

"Doc Evans called me and said that the baby kicked, so I decided to drom by and check if everything is fine with the little one."

"Oh my! Emily! Why didn't you say a thing!" Shirley clapped her hands excitedly.

"Congratulations, honey! How was it?"

"Magical!", I laughed in response to Shirley.

"Emily, would you mind if I took a look? I have a portable sonogram machine with me, it will only take a couple of minutes.", Dr. Green smiled at me reassuringly.

"But we just made a sonogram a couple of days ago..." I asked a bit confused.

"We did, but the kicking is a big development in were pregnancies, I just want to check that everything goes as it should, nothing to worry about.", she tried reassuring me with a warm smile.

And then all the ladies of the house went to my bedroom, leaving the men to do their thing in the living room.

The procedure was the same as in the hospital - Dr. Green poured some gel on mu stomach and observed the small monitor while wondering with a thingy over my belly. Everyone's eyes were glued to the screen, endless cheers and coos filled the space of my small room, smiles were share, pictures printed. Then Dr. Green spoke:

"Emily, everything seems fine. Now let's talk business.", and with that everyone went quiet in the room.

"Since you are carrying a wolf child the course of your pregnancy is a bit different. The baby kicked today, and it means that you are entering the final stage of the pregnancy. From this moment the baby will start growing rapidly, that's why I brought you a cream to prevent the stretch marks and some more vitamins. I would recommend to stop working at the clinic and stay at hope, you will need plenty of rest. Drink water and eat a lot, your baby needs energy. Don't lift anything heavy and refrain from long walks, you need to save your strength. I won't lie to you, the delivery will be hard, but we will try making it as comfortable for you as possible. I will be stopping by every week and keep track with the baby's growth, ok?"

"Sure...", I rubbed my belly and took a look around. Everyone looked concerned, but as soon as they seen me watching, they tried smiling. That made me feel unease, but I tried to be brave. The baby is coming.