Chapter 100

"Marcus!" I shout, tripping over the last step at the bottom of the staircase. "Ouch! Damn it, we need to get that fixed. Marcus, where are you?"

"I'm in here, carina," Marcus calls back. He comes out of the kitchen with a raised eyebrow. "Just making your coffee. I think I've almost got this machine figured out, I swear."

I burst out laughing. "It's been five years, honey. I think if you were going to get along with that machine, it would've happened by now."

"My people did very well without overly-complicated coffee machines for centuries," Marcus says, pretending to be offended. "I think I'm doing very well at this battle between Wolf and Machine, my dearest."

"Well, abandon that battle for a moment and go upstairs for another one," I say. "I have a great challenge for you."

Marcus groans. "Please tell me it's not a battle of Wolf versus Baby Poop."

"More like Father versus Daughter," I say. "I don't know how or why she manages to take her diaper off in the middle of the night every single day, but she does. She has your stubborn spirit. But yes, there's poop involved. Quite a lot of it, in fact, and I'm going to be late for work if I deal with it myself."

Marcus groans again, already heading up the stairs.

"Tala!" I hear him call as he reaches the top step. "I'm very cross with you, my little wolfling. I'm going to start duct taping that diaper to your precious little bottom one of these days…" His loving tone contrasts with his grouchy words, and I laugh.

I've never seen anyone take to fatherhood like Marcus has. He loved Tala deeply before she was even born, reading every baby book he could get his hands on late into the night and informing me of everything he'd learned over breakfast the next morning.

"She's the size of a kumquat by now!" he'd excitedly told me when I was 10 weeks pregnant. "Imagine that! Our own little kumquat! Maybe I should start calling her kumquat. She needs a nickname, you know."

"How do you know it's going to be a girl?" I'd asked.

"I just know," he said. "Wolves can sense these things, carina."

I'd laughed at the time, but even then, I'd known he was right. I could feel Tala from the moment I conceived her, that tiny little spark of life that grew and grew until my baby girl, more precious than life itself, made her appearance into the world.

It wasn't always joyful and easy. I was very sick for the first few months of the pregnancy, for one thing, though Daisy came up with a miraculous herbal tea blend that did wonders for my nausea.

And it was emotionally hard, too. I missed the presence of my mother deeply. This time in my life is something that so many women get to share with their mothers, and I didn't have that. I didn't have a father, either.

Obviously, Emmett and Jeanette have become like my own parents, in every way that truly matters. But it was still difficult. Thankfully, everyone understood that - sometimes better than I did myself.

"It's hard, dearest," Jeanette had said to me one day when she dropped by with more of Daisy's herbal tea blend. "You know that Emmett and I love you like our own daughter, and Daisy loves you as a sister. And we know that you love us just the same.

"But, at certain times in your life, you will feel the absence of your own mother - and your father - so keenly. It's inevitable - you have a wound there that can never be truly healed, not fully. We understand, darling."

She'd smoothed my hair and held me when I started to cry, rubbing my back until I had worn myself out. Then she'd gone downstairs to make me a cup of healing tea and sat with me until I fell asleep.

Daisy herself has been nothing but wonderful, too. Over the past five years, she's really proven herself trustworthy again. Beyond that, we are incredibly close - like sisters, as Jeanette said, but she's also become one of my best friends.

I don't think I could've gotten through my pregnancy without Daisy, who supported me every step of the way with a kind of easy grace and cheerful irreverent humor that made me laugh even in the darkest spots.

She found a way to always make me feel that it was both okay to not be okay, and to laugh about it when I could.

"You're grateful for so much, Nicole," she'd told me at one point while we sat on my living room couch, keeping half an eye on Liberty, Daisy's daughter, who was coloring at the kitchen table. "I know that you really feel that way, and I know that you're genuinely so happy.

"But you need to remember that it's okay to be pissed off or tired or sad or just in a bad mood once in a while. I love Liberty more than anything else in this world, but I still get irritated with her, I still feel overwhelmed and worn out sometimes.

"I sometimes still get irrationally annoyed with Elsa, or snap at Liberty, or get into a stupid argument with Marcus. Just because I'm happy and you're happy, after going through a really shitty time in our lives, doesn't mean that we have to be perfect or grateful 24/7.

"Give yourself some grace, honey."

Now, filling up my travel mug with the coffee that Marcus made, I smile at the memory. Some days are hard, but overall, everything is so wonderful. I give myself space to grieve or feel cranky on the hard days, and I let Marcus and my family be my support when I need it.

I also support them in return, of course. Marcus has officially taken over as Alpha, because Emmett decided to retire fully from his duties.

He's in great health, even for a 75-year-old man. He has to be diligent about it, but he's strong and well enough to enjoy his retirement properly. He and Jeanette have been traveling again, this time just for pleasure instead of business.

Marcus still hates the business travel side of things, so he does it as little as possible. Liam, who has taken over Charles's position and also acts as Marcus's Chief Advisor, goes in his stead when necessary.

That doesn't mean Marcus and I never go anywhere, though. We take short diplomatic trips about twice a year, and we make sure to take one vacation that's just for us, too. We also host a great deal of diplomatic emissaries ourselves, which I discovered that I enjoy much more than I'd ever expected to.

Daisy is Marcus's Secretary of Werewolf Affairs, a position as laudable and prestigious as Liam's. Marcus likes to joke that he has "two right-hand men," to which Daisy will inevitably reply, "You mean two right-hand wolves," and elbow him in the ribs. It's a running joke by this point.

The Secretary of Werewolf Affairs handles all the major issues faced by the wolf community and works to make improvements. The rights and roles of werewolf women have taken astonishing strides since Daisy took over, of course with the full support of Liam, Marcus, and myself.

We're such a happy family, I think to myself, shouting goodbye to Marcus and Tala before grabbing my keys and dashing out to my car. It's a full clinic day today at my private practice, which means that all my clients are subsidized ones: people who can't pay for treatment themselves.

Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays are full clinic days, and Tuesdays and Thursdays are for my rich, private clients who can pay out the nose.

Most of them are wealthy werewolves who have been thrilled to be treated by their Luna personally. Their money allows me to keep the clinic open the other three days a week, for my wolf and human clients who need free or discounted care.

Tonight, after work, we're all going to a family dinner at the Alpha's mansion, which has long since been restored from Charles's damages. Charles himself is still in prison, where he's going to remain for a very long time.

I pull out into traffic and head toward my clinic, my window cracked and music blaring as I run my hands through my short brown curls.

I'm going to spend the day helping people, and then I'm going to have a wonderful relaxed dinner with my husband, my parents-in-law, my sister, my niece, and my sweet little werewolf princess baby.

Really, I just couldn't be happier.