Page 114 of Pack Baby for the Silver Foxes

“I eat mine. Look.” Mac speared a carrot, ate it with a great deal of face-pulling, then flexed one arm to display a tiny muscle.

Lincoln kept adding things to my plate when he thought I wasn’t watching. I kept eating them, because twins made a girl hungry.

Later, when coffee arrived, Mateus set a leather folder on the table.

“Before anyone panics,” he said, “this is mostly boring.”

“Lawyers only say that before ruining digestion,” I said.

Pax opened his own folder. “Not ruining. Protecting.”

“Same paperwork, different outfit.”

Pax smiled. “Hudson said you might not enjoy this.”

“Hudson has a gift for understatement.”

Hudson’s hand found my knee beneath the table. Warm. Still. There if I wanted it. I put my hand over his before I could talk myself out of needing him.

Mateus saw it and politely looked at the papers.

“Mary,” he said, “Hudson and Lincoln asked us to look at three things. Your legal independence from your father. Your medical and financial protections during the pregnancy. And the babies’ position once they’re born.”

My stomach swished around like a washing machine.

Lincoln’s knee pressed lightly against mine on the other side.

“Position,” I repeated.

“Parental responsibility,” Pax said. “Birth registration. Guardianship. Protection from anyone using your family name, your age, or your relationship structure to argue you’re vulnerable in ways that suit them.”

“Am I vulnerable?”

The table quieted.

Mateus didn’t soften his voice too much, which helped. “Yes. In some ways, at this moment, you are. Pregnant people often are. So are young people dealing with powerful families, and omegas with fathers who mistake control for parenthood. The point isn’t pretending you’re untouchable. The point is making sure anyone who tries to touch your life without permission breaks their hand on the paperwork first.”

I stared at him.

Hudson’s thumb moved under my hand. “None of this signs you over to us,” he said quietly. I looked at him. He held my gaze. “That matters. Nothing in that folder makes you dependent on us. Nothing gives us control over you. Pax and Mateus know that was my first instruction.”

“Second,” Lincoln said.

Hudson glanced at him.

Lincoln’s mouth curved. “First was no one scares Mary.”

“And yet here I am at dinner with two lawyers,” I said.

Mateus lifted one hand. “A fair criticism.”

Pax turned a page without looking up. “Have your own attorney read every line of it before you sign anything. You should.”

Artem leaned back in his chair. “She will.”

I looked at him. “I can speak for myself.”

“I know,” Artem said calmly. “I’m agreeing with you in advance.”