Surprised Daddy Read online

  Surprised Daddy

  Timberwood Cove: Book 2

  Liam Kingsley

  Contents

  1. Linc

  2. Shawn

  3. Linc

  4. Shawn

  5. Linc

  6. Shawn

  7. Linc

  8. Shawn

  9. Linc

  10. Shawn

  11. Linc

  12. Shawn

  13. Linc

  14. Shawn

  15. Linc

  16. Shawn

  17. Linc

  18. Shawn

  19. Linc

  20. Shawn

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  1

  Linc

  Timberwood Cove was my idea of heaven on earth… Except in December. The cold was so brittle it turned me into a stiff, cranky old man. The mornings were the worst, and this one was no exception. I stayed in bed for as long as I could, bundled up in wool blankets pulled up to my nose. I watched flecks of dust float off the timber beams above my bed every time there was a thud coming from upstairs in my son Cole's room. He and his best friend Liam had learned to wrestle quietly, lest they wake me, but an occasional, “Hey, no fair!” echoed through the floorboards.

  I turned my head to look at the clock beside my bed and groaned when I saw it was well and truly breakfast time. I'd have to feed the boys before they got overly hungry and irritable, and attacked each other for real. I hauled the heavy blankets back, inhaled sharply as the cold hit my limbs, and pulled myself out of bed. I felt like I was getting a premature preview of old age even though I was only thirty. I bent over to touch my toes, just to prove to myself I was still flexible, and groaned as I felt my lower back aching. Maybe it wasn't such a premature preview after all.

  My joints became a little more limber as I took a searing hot shower, dressed in jeans, a heavy flannel shirt and a warm wool sweater, then trotted downstairs to the kitchen.

  “Breakfast!” I called behind me, and immediately heard Cole's bedroom door fly open followed by a stampede of nearly nine-year-old feet on two flights of stairs. They were fast. They pushed past me, got to the breakfast table, and sat up straight before I’d even made it through the kitchen door.

  “Wow, who are these well-behaved boys?” I smiled as I turned on the stove to warm up a pot of overnight oats.

  “Just two cool kids who deserve really cool Christmas gifts.” My son, Cole, shrugged nonchalantly.

  His best friend, Liam, nodded enthusiastically as I placed mix-ins on the table in front of them.

  “Excited for the holidays, huh?” I gave Cole a kiss on the top of his head and he gave me a big cheesy grin as he reached for the milk and poured himself a glass.

  “Yeah!” Liam said, then he proceeded to eat a spoonful of butter. He'd been eating weird stuff ever since his alpha dad, my best friend Jaxon, had bitten him to turn him into a shifter. Butter was a new one, though.

  “You're going to have a new baby sister or brother, Liam. What more could you even want for Christmas?” Cole asked before he took a big gulp of his milk.

  “Um, a new bike. Duh,” Liam said like Cole was an idiot.

  Cole rolled his eyes. “That is not as cool as a sibling,” he insisted, looking up at me accusingly. He'd been expressing his jealousy about Liam’s new sibling since Liam's omega dad had become pregnant nine months ago. I'd thought it would be a phase that passed, but it had just become more intense as the due date drew closer. Cole's nagging had hit a fever pitch because Liam was staying over at our house while his dad, Bryce, was in the hospital giving birth.

  It wouldn't be so bad, except his nagging was just echoing what I felt too—I wasn’t exactly done with having kids, but I had been deeply, pathetically single for a long time.

  “Well…” I cleared my throat as I spooned out the oats into our bowls. “Good things come to those who wait.”

  “I'm eight,” he sighed, putting his chin in his hand. “I've been waiting.”

  “Do you complain to your mom about this too?” I asked as I put the bowls in front of them.

  He nodded, immediately taking a big spoonful of the oats before hissing from the heat and spitting them back out.

  “And what does she say?” I asked, genuinely wondering how my ex, Nicole, dealt with him.

  “She says that Paco is my little brother,” he grumbled as he poured cold milk into his bowl, and I let out a laugh.

  “Paco is a cool dog,” Liam interjected, blowing on a spoonful of his oats and taking a tentative bite.

  “Yeah but he's also crazy,” Cole said.

  “You're both right,” I agreed. “That husky is full of personality, and he's also got some…uh…mild behavior issues.”

  “Mild!” Cole exclaimed. “He ate my astronomy magazine last week! Like, the whole magazine!”

  “Well, who says a brother or sister wouldn't also be crazy?” I asked while spooning peanut butter and jelly on top of my oats.

  “Imagine if a baby ate a magazine,” Liam said.

  “Imagine if a magazine ate a baby.” Cole giggled and Liam broke out into a fit of laughter.

  The conversation degraded into imagining objects eating other objects, and I enjoyed the oats warming up my insides until Cole came back around to complaining about not having a sibling.

  “Alright, playtime. Go run out back to warm up while I chop some wood,” I said as I stood and pointed to the backyard.

  Spoons immediately hit the edges of their bowls, chairs were practically thrown backward, and the two boys were outside before I'd even blinked. I grabbed my coat from beside the back door and headed out after them.

  The branches of the Douglas fir trees and the ponderosa pines in the backyard were whirring around in the wind, and I watched as the boys’ long hair blew wildly around their heads. They laughed and sprinted across the yard toward the woods. As they hit the tree line, I watched as both boys shifted into their wolf forms, clumsily falling over their long legs and wildly blundering toward the forest that separated our homestead—the Timberwood Cove Country Club—from the human side of town.

  I was surprised to see Liam shift as he hadn’t been able to do it yesterday, as far as I knew. But I was glad to know he’d finally managed after months of trying with Jaxon helping him. It could sometimes be difficult for humans who had been bitten to learn how to shift for the first time, but it seemed Liam had got the hang of it now.

  I pulled on my boots, and then trudged out after them, making my way to the wood shed just off the side of our porch while bracing against the freezing cold wind.

  Chopping wood warmed me up, but it also made my arms ache like a bitch. I was relieved when I felt my phone buzz in the back pocket of my jeans—it was Jaxon.

  “Everything all good at the hospital?” I asked as I balanced the phone between my ear and shoulder and gathered a day's worth of wood in my arms.

  “Perfect,” he said, sounding incredibly proud. “It’s all done. Bryce did an amazing job. We've got ourselves a baby girl.”

  “Congratulations!”

  “Thanks, Linc,” Jaxon said, sounding proud. “Is Liam doing alright? Think he'll be okay with a new baby sister?” There was a hint of worry in his tone now.

  “Are you joking? That kid is the most well-balanced creature on the planet. He's ecstatic about the new addition to your family. It's Cole we should be worried about, he's jealous as hell.” I moved the wood to one arm and started toward the door.

  “Your boy loves having Liam over to play, so yeah, I can understand him wanting a brother or sister of his own,” Jaxon said. “Hey, I have to go in. Bryce is ready for visitors, so can you bring Liam by?”

&
nbsp; “Of course. We'll see you soon.”

  I stopped at the back door and let out an ear-piercing whistle and watched the tree line. In an instant, the boys came tumbling through the scrub, fur matted and stuck with twigs, mud, and leaves. They shifted back into their lanky human forms as they ran up to the porch.

  “Inside!” I said, holding the door open. “Showers! Clean clothes! Make it snappy—it's time to hit the hospital!”

  Liam's face lit up and he looked at me excitedly. “Did Dad…”

  “Yep, you've got a baby sister, kiddo,” I said and he laughed happily before sprinting inside.

  “And you,” I said, grabbing Cole's sleeve as he tried to slink past. “You have a new friend. She's going to need you to look after her for the rest of her life. That's nothing to turn your nose up at.”

  “It's not the same as having a sister,” he grumbled.

  “How would you know?” I asked with a smirk.

  He gave me a stink-eye and stomped into the house. I rolled my eyes and followed him in. After dropping the cut timber by the wood burner I added a few logs to the glowing embers so the house would be nice and warm when we got back. Then I helped the kids get ready.

  The drive to the hospital wasn't long, but Cole managed to pack in so much awkward conversation it seemed like it took a thousand years to get there.

  “If Jaxon and Bryce have just had a baby, wouldn't it be the best time for you to have another baby? Then they could grow up together and be best friends like Liam and me. Right Liam?”

  I glanced in the rearview mirror and raised my eyebrows at him.

  “Uh, yeah probably,” Liam said with a shrug, clearly not wanting to be pulled into Cole's plot.

  “See, Dad.” Cole gestured to Liam like he was scientific evidence.

  “Unfortunately, I can't just have a baby—procreation doesn't work like that.”

  “So? Get a mate.”

  “Uh, that's not as simple as it sounds either,” I said, and felt my heart sink a little, deeply wishing it was that easy.

  “Why don't you just get back with Mom then?” he asked as we pulled up to a red light.

  “Oh shit, that reminds me—” I reached for my phone.

  “Dad! Don't text and drive!” Cole stretched over the back seat and slapped my hand. I pushed his shoulder and smooshed him against his door as he laughed and squealed until the lights switched to green and I turned back to drive.

  “You text her for me then,” I said, tossing the phone into his lap.

  “Okay, what do you want me to say?” he asked.

  “Tell her that Bryce has given birth and ask her to spread the news.”

  “Here's what I've got,” he said, clearing his throat. “Dear Nicole, our son is so awesome. Let's have another awesome baby—”

  I growled and snatched blindly at the phone, and he broke out into a fit of hysterics. As we pulled into the hospital, I searched for a parking spot as Liam threw off his seatbelt and body slammed Cole.

  “Hey!” Cole yelled and laughed as he kicked his legs. “Traitor!”

  Liam laughed and elbowed him in the ribs until he was able to snatch the phone out of Cole's grip. They were an even match in size and weight, but Liam had a bit of a speed advantage. The fight was over by the time I pulled up and parked.

  “Here, Linc,” Liam said, handing the phone to me over my shoulder.

  “Traitor!” Cole repeated, making a last-effort grab for it before I snatched it and shoved it in my jeans pocket.

  “Alright, cubs. Where are we?” I asked in my “serious alpha” voice as I turned to face them.

  “The hospital?” they asked in unison.

  “Right. And there are rules when we're in the hospital. What are they?”

  “Touch everything,” Cole said with a snicker.

  “Talk super loudly about everything!” Liam suggested.

  “Shift into wolves and—” Cole laughed and couldn't continue because he was laughing too hard. I waited patiently.

  “Shift into wolves and run through the halls at top speed!” Liam said to finish Cole’s sentence, and then he joined Cole's hysterics. I took a deep breath and let out a quiet but serious growl. They immediately pulled it together and sat upright.

  “Touch nothing,” I growled. “Stay quiet. And there are no wolves in Timberwood Cove.”

  “There are no wolves in Timberwood Cove,” they both said at the same time, repeating the credo.

  “Once more,” I insisted, coaxing them with my hands.

  “There are no wolves in Timberwood Cove!” they said louder.

  “Duh, of course there are no wolves in Timberwood Cove! Are you crazy?” I grinned at both of them. “Alright, good job. Let's go and meet this new addition to the pack. I mean, family.”

  Cole and Liam giggled and we clambered out of the car.

  The minute we stepped into the hospital, I was hit with the smell of anesthetic and a whole lot of stuff I didn’t want to identify. My stomach turned. It wasn't often that I cursed my heightened senses, but a hospital was one place I'd rather not be. I choked back a gag and glanced down at the boys. They seemed completely un-phased and I wondered if their senses hadn't fully developed, or if they just didn't yet know to associate the smell of iron with blood, guts, and gore. I held back another surge of nausea and was about to walk quickly down the halls to Bryce's room before I felt Liam tug at my sleeve.

  “Linc… Can we go in there?” he asked me quietly as he pointed to the gift shop.

  “Balloons!” Cole yelled. “We have to get balloons, Dad!” A nurse and a woman in a wheelchair craned their necks to see what the fuss was about and I gave them an apologetic smile.

  “Uh.” I hesitated, wanting to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible, but Liam's face was beaming up at me with pleading eyes and Cole was already racing across the linoleum floor to a huge stand of helium-filled balloons.

  “Well, sure,” I said, resigned. “But let's keep it snappy.”

  I stood deep in a flower-filled corner of the gift shop while the boys debated about which balloons were best, and I took the opportunity to call Nicole.

  “Hey good lookin',” she answered. “You feeling clucky?”

  I frowned, not sure what she meant. “Uh, me?”

  “Your texts sounded like you were hot for momma,” she said, amusement lacing her tone.

  “Oh shit.” I laughed and ran a hand over my face. “Uh, sorry about that. Cole is impatient for a baby brother or sister… We're at the hospital.”

  “Wow, you move fast! A new baby already? Who's the lucky omega?”

  I laughed again. “It’s Bryce!”

  “Ah, wow. Send my congratulations to him and Jax. Everything went okay, right?”

  “Yeah, it sounded like it when I spoke to Jax. We haven't met the baby yet—in fact we haven't made it further than the gift shop,” I said as I watched Cole shaking his head at Liam’s suggestion of a Batman themed balloon. “That's what I called about though. Could you spread the word about our newest pack member?”

  “Yeah, honey, you know my finger is ready to speed dial my girls the moment you hang up.”

  “I'm counting on it,” I said, smiling.

  “Hey, get down from there!” she shouted. “Oh my god, Linc. This dog is out of control. Hey, tell Cole he can have a new sibling after he trains Paco to stay off the breakfast table.”

  “So, never?” I chuckled.

  “Right. Oh man, now he's eating my cereal. No, Paco!”

  “Dad! Look at this!” Cole called across the shop at me, holding up a balloon covered in stars and galaxies.

  “Gotta go, we've made a balloon choice,” I said to Nicole.

  “Good, and I need to research doggy obedience schools,” she grumbled.

  “Dad!” Cole yelled. I hung up the phone, grabbed an oversized bouquet of roses from the flower corner and made my way over to where the kids were holding way too many balloons. It looked like they could float up to th
e ceiling at any minute.

  “Cool,” I said, nodding to Cole's selection of space-themed balloons. They weren't exactly appropriate to congratulate a new baby or her dads, but Cole was so obsessed with astronomy I knew there was no arguing with him. Liam held more appropriately themed balloons—one shaped like a teddy bear, another one with bright sparkles reading “CONGRATULATIONS!” and a few that were filled with confetti.

  “Which ones are your favorites?” I asked.

  “All of them,” Cole said.

  “All of them,” Liam echoed.

  “Alright,” I said, resigned. I paid for all of them, as well as the huge bouquet in my arms. I kept my nose pressed close to the flowers as we hurried down the halls to Bryce's room, pleased by how well the roses blocked out the smell of the hospital. Just as we turned a corner I saw Greer, our previous pack alpha, carrying a couple of colorful bags.

  “Greer, hey,” I said as I walked up to him. “Come to see the baby?” Of course he had, and by the grin on his face he couldn’t wait to see his first grandchild.

  “Yeah. I got a call from Jaxon saying they’re ready to take visitors.”

  “Well, come on then.” We both continued down the hall, Cole and Liam skipping ahead, barely stopping themselves from running, but they knew my rules, even though Cole hadn’t particularly obeyed the no yelling rule.

  However, the second I walked through the hospital room door I didn’t give a shit about the rule.

  “We come bearing gifts!” I announced as we paraded into the room. “Now let me see that baby girl!”

  Jaxon's face lit up as we came in, and a huge smile broke across my face as my gaze fell on the tiny bundle in his arms.

  I felt my wolf whining in my chest, and a strong paternal energy moved through me. I heard Liam gasp, and for once, Cole was quiet.