Charity Rising (Charity Series Book 2) (30 page)

He laughed. “Wel , you’re welcome. I love giving you gifts. You deserve them and more.”

“Wel ,” I said, trailing kisses down his neck. “I have something for you as wel . If you don’t mind though, I’d prefer if you carried me to the

parking garage. It’s a long walk.”

“With pleasure.”

He scooped me up into his arms and in only minutes we were entering the garage, where he sat me down on my feet again.

“Okay, close your eyes.”

He laughed as I took his hand and led him a little ways through the garage.

“Okay, you can open them now.”

When he did I jerked the covering off my gift, revealing a brand new four-wheeler.

“Wow, Charity! This is awesome!” he said, jumping in and grabbing the wheel as he pretended to drive it.

“Yeah, wel , now you and Josh can go deeper in the mountains and drive them to your hearts content, being the over-grown boys that you

are.”

He peered at me curiously. “Josh doesn’t have a four-wheeler.”

I smiled. “He wil when Ashley gives him his Christmas gift from her.”

He jumped out of the four-wheeler and pul ed me into his arms. “I love you, Charity Drake.” He kissed my lips deeply, passionately, until we

were both breathless and our legs wobbly, or maybe it was just mine. “You didn’t have to get me anything. Besides your heart, the best gift you

could ever give me is in here.” He let his hand rest lightly on my petruding bel y. “And you’re giving me three of those.”

“Yeah, wel , I don’t do anything smal . And I’m making a statement, you know.”

“Oh yeah, and what statement is that?”

“That Levi Thomas Drake deserves nothing but the best.”

“Wel , that I have, Charity—that—I—have.” Then his lips captured mine once again.

“Okay, do you have your list?”

“Of course I have my list,” I snapped. I was already a little tired and agitated. Ever since I felt the first kick, the babies had barely taken a

break. It felt like al three were taking karate classes at once. Doc had told me that once I began to feel the kicking it may progress fast since there are three of them, but I wasn’t at al prepared for what came. It felt like they were having a super duper kicking contest, and whoever was under my ribcage was winning.

“Are you al right?” Levi asked.

“Yeah, just tired. So, what’s on your list?”

“You go first.”

“Okay—how ‘bout Sam, Seth, and Shane?”

“No.”

“How ‘bout Abe, Alex, and Ashdon?”

“Why do they al have to start with the same letter?”

“It’l be easier to remember.”

“Or easier to cal al of them the wrong name.”

“Fine, Mr. Blurry and Furry, what do you have?”

He brightened immediately. “What if we name al three boys Levi Thomas Drake? We could cal them Jr., J.R., and J.J.” He smiled as if he’d

just shared the best idea ever.

I rol ed my eyes. “They don’t deserve you.”

“Hey—what’s wrong with that?”

“I’m not even going to honor that with a reply. Oh, I know, why don’t we name them Stake, Shake, and Bake Drake.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “You need to take this more seriously.”

“Seriously? Listen, maybe we should think about this some more and talk later.”

“Of course. Are you sure you’re al right?”

“Yeah, it’s just that you need to have a talk with these boys. They aren’t even born yet and they’re already fighting.”

He knelt at my feet, pul ed up my shirt, pressed his lips against my skin and said, “Hey boys, cut it out!” At once my stomach stil ed. Levi’s

face mimicked mine as I peered down at him in amazement. Then his face turned smug. “Wel , we know who is boss now, don’t we?”

He got up and strutted across the room and out the door with mock cockiness, my eyes trailing longingly over every inch of him.

“Hey! Where are you gonna be in case I need you again?!”

He laughed as his head appeared around the door. “Oh, kitten, don’t you know by now? Al you have to do is whistle.”

Al was quiet and the room was stil as I peered over at the three beautiful babies sleeping soundly in their bassinets, al lined up on the other

side of my hospital bed. Levi stood over me with arms crossed and eyes moist. I was wel aware it was a proud moment for him.

The Drake Medical Clinic was a convenient place, and having my babies at home was wonderful, and on top of that my mom was with me

every step of the way. She had embraced the wolf pack with remarkable grace and excitement. I never knew she’d always longed for a big family,

and now her life was complete—as was mine. She and Doc were planning a summer wedding.

“Charity,” Levi said, “now that the babies are asleep and everyone has final y cleared out, we need to talk about the boys.”

“I know. I’ve been thinking about that very thing. And I’ve come to the conclusion that our boys need to be here with us. Always. I mean, why

should we have to separate them when they’re not in line to become the next alpha—their children are? So there’s no reason for them to try to hurt

each other. It would be sil y to split them up because we’re scared of the ‘what if’s’. I didn’t give you up because of the ‘what if’s’, and I’m not going to do it with my babies.” I sighed. “And the truth is—I couldn’t part with any of them now if you threatened to kil me.”

His face was unreadable. “So, that’s your final decision then?”

I swal owed hard, and prayed to God he’d not counter my decision. “Yes, that’s my final decision.”

Slowly a smile stretched across his sleepy but beautiful face. “I knew you’d come to that conclusion. It’s settled then. Our babies—al three of

them—wil remain here with us.”

“You knew?”

“Knew what?”

“You knew al along the babies needed to be with us?”

“Yes, but you needed to come to that conclusion on your own.”

“But what if I chose differently? What would you have done?”

“I knew you’d make the right decision. It was real y the only choice.”

“Oh puppy, I love you.”

He grinned. “I love you too—so much. But, now that the babies are here, don’t you think we should final y settle on those names?”

“No. I think you should settle on the names I’ve picked.”

“Oh come on, Tom, Tim, and Ty—no thanks. Once again with the same letter. You know, Josh and Ashley already have a name for their baby

and they’ve got months yet before she’s even born. At the rate we’re going we’l be lucky if our boys have names by their first birthday. Hey, we

could always cal them 1, 2, and 3.”

I rol ed my eyes. “Why again was I surprised when I sent you to the store for diapers and you returned with Depends?”

We both recal ed the memory, glancing at each other for a moment before busting into laughter. “Wel , Grandmammy seemed to appreciate

them.”

We laughed harder and then shushed each other in unison.

I sighed as the contentment seeped into every ounce of my weary body. I’d been on bed rest for months, but that was al final y behind me. I

laid back on the bed, got comfortable, and peeped over at our three babies sleeping soundly, not a care in the world, and had a sil y thought. “You know we have a problem, don’t you?”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“I need another boob.”

He glanced at the babies and then back to me. “Wel , don’t look at me!”

“Oh shut up and come here.”

He laughed and climbed into my hospital bed, snuggling up against me. Soon we were both fast asleep, the twenty-four hour sleep

deprivation final y catching up to us. That is until babies cries woke us with a start—al three in unison. Oh wel , so much for being newlyweds, or even alpha male and female for that matter. Now we’re just plain and simply Mommy and Daddy—and that’s the way we liked it.

I turned to gaze at Levi and when our eyes met I knew there would never be a more precious moment in our entire lives. Suddenly his eyes

shifted, a slight glow of yel ow and white, and I was seeing images swirling through his eyes that stil ed my heart. It was as if I was walking in his shoes, seeing images as he remembered them. He was walking to his seat on his first transfer day to our school. Our eyes met, and I felt his

overpowering emotion and the stinging of his connection symbol forming in that exact moment. It was odd seeing me through his eyes. He did truly

fal in love with me the moment our eyes met. Then he was in the cafeteria, looking up at me as I leaned down and kissed him boldly and defiantly. It was as electrifying, and confusing, as I remembered. The images suddenly sped up. He was seeing our first argument, our first makeup kiss, him

rescuing me from Frank’s advances, watching me from the woods behind my house as I journaled on my roof, our wedding night and the agony he

felt holding my lifeless body in his arms, but then the miracle of my restoration, and then our first night together. It was al so overwhelming that I blinked rapidly, thus breaking the connection. His eyes returned to their bril iant purple and I was left with an overflowing love that was almost too much to bare. It was powerful, just like the morning in the surf at sunrise. Did he understand the importance of what just happened? Did he even

know? I couldn’t imagine loving him anymore than I did before, but I was wrong. I loved him more now than ever. I didn’t know how to respond, so I

remained silent.

Peering down at the beautiful babies we made together, I realized that al was wel in our little world—for how long no one knew—but this

was al we had—and this was our forever.

He picked up our new bundles of joy and placed them in my lap, helping me awkwardly secure two to my breasts and a pacifier to number 3.

I peered down at our sweet boys nursing sleepily and teased, “Oh look at our beautiful puppies.”

“Hey! That’s my name,” he mock pouted.

“Oh—is ‘Lava Hottie’ jealous? Don’t worry, I have plenty of names for you; like Skippy, or Spot, or Sparky, or Fido, or Snoopy, or—”

“Good Grief,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

A Note from the Author

I would like to acknowledge that I realize I could have marketed this one book as two, and would’ve profited more financial y having done so,

but felt strongly that this was the way Charity Rising was to be presented. Basical y, you got two books for the price of one. Sounds like a deal to me(wink). I also acknowledge that, just like Charity Moon, this story is busy, if not more so. But, feeling that this would be the last story starring Levi and Charity, I had a lot to tel , and thus did it on purpose. But don’t worry, some of your favorite characters wil find themselves stars of my upcoming stories, including Raven and Eli. I am not done with Windrake Mountain just yet.

Also, I don’t normal y switch POV’s briefly like I did, but felt it was important to let the reader in on what Levi was feeling at the time in order to soften the blow, so to speak. I hope this helped and not hurt.

I stressed over this sequel, knowing it needed to live up to the first one and please the fans. I truly hope it did this for you.

Stay tuned for future stories and lots more fun!! Who knows, maybe Charity and Levi’s children wil one day grow up and have stories of their

own.

If you would like to purchase Charity’s Raspberry Ice lip balm, visit this website and see what al the fuss is about.