Xael gathered their things, packed them up and made the bed. It was going to take a lot for her to keep things secret. This was the most important change, news whatever you wanted to call it but she also wanted to make sure that the pups growing within her would make it to their first month.

Walking into the living room, she saw where Adam had added more wood to the fire. That would be enough wood since they would all be leaving later that morning. Xael headed into the kitchen to start on coffee when Adam opened the back door.

"Babe, you need to come out here."

His tone worried her as she hurried to see what was going on. It was Moose and Gunner along with their Mates. The little pups were all over them which caused Xael to smile. She wasted no time in giving her boys a hug. They were all getting ready to head out and wanted to see their pups before they left since they were so close. Xael was glad that they did even though they didn't stay long. Kisses and more hugs and her boys left with their Mates, the pups not even phased by their leaving as they returned to her side.

Again Xael was hit with a flood of emotions but she put them in check, she had done enough crying for one day. Each time her boys left, it was getting a little easier for her to let them go.

"Let's get inside, coffee should be done hon."

"You going to be okay?"

"Yes, I'll be fine hon."

Entering the house, Grams was getting coffee mugs.

"Morning you two, make that four!" Upon seeing the Elder, the pups ran up to her for pets. "Aww good morning little ones!"

"Adam you want to ride into town together since we're both stopping at the station?"

"Sounds good?"

"You working today?" It was the first of Xael hearing about him going into work.

"No, just want to stop by and see how things are going, plus I need to order new uniforms."

"Ohhh, hey will you get ahold of Chris and Eli? They can get started on the windows."

"I was thinking the same thing."

As everyone had a seat, Xael poured them some fresh coffee.

"Oh Pup? There's a ton of biscuits and sausage gravy in the fridge. You can fix that."

"Okay, I'll add some scrambled eggs to the mix."

"Thank you dear."

"No problem Grams."

The pups were busy climbing all over Grams and Skylar. "Hey Puppers, I thought of names for the little ones. Tank and Dozer."

"Ha hahahaa, that's perfect!"

"The black one is Tank and the tan one Dozer cause these are going to be some biiiig boys."

"Wes is right dear, these two are going to be a handful!"

"They'll be fine once they get out of their puppy stage."

While Xael fixed breakfast, they talked about their plans for the day. Adam wanted to get more wood chopped and split. He had seen some downed trees near their cabin that he wanted to get cleared. Xael was going to work on getting things organized, dog food made and working on stuff for the diner. She was now glad that James was coming to take her place as head cook. With twins on the way, her time there would be limited.

Twins.

It finally hit. She was pregnant and pregnant with twins. Xael didn't care what she was having as long as they were healthy. She gazed out the window over the sink as she let the reality of things sink in some more.

"Xael!"

"Hm?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

"I'm sorry hon, no I didn't?"

"Saturday we can take the pups to the vet in the city that Skylar mentioned. I want to get the boys taken care of before it gets any colder out."

"Sounds like a plan hon."

Breakfast done and kitchen cleaned, Skylar made sure the fire was at a safe level to leave it unattended and put the glass safety screen in front of it just in case.

Adam road with Skylar and Xael helped her Grams in the jeep with the pups going in the backseat. They were quickly getting the hang of things as they laid down, each with their stuffed toys next to them.

"I'm so glad you have pups again dear."

"Me too. They've been so well behaved."

"So what are we going to do first?"

"Fix these two little hoodlums some puppy chow. I was thinking Grams, since everyone is moving to town soon and your house and my house seem to be the go to spots, maybe we should store up some more food for the winter? These city boys might have a hard time with it being their first winter up here.  Plus, you know they aren't gonna wanna cook."

"Oh Xael, I didn't even think about that!  Hmm, I tell you what, let's get some more stuff to can up and we can do it at the diner one weekend. The stove there has six burners so we can get more done. I'll just leave my canners up there one day. There's more room to work and we can store stuff in the back pantry.  I need to rearrange somethings to make more room. Oh!  I need to get your brothers or Wes to build more shelves. The power goes out, they're going to be hurting."

"Good point. Once it gets bad, you're not gonna want to leave the house and Skylar doesn't have to try to drive into town."

Xael had an unsettling thought. Right around the time for her to give birth is when winter would start. Since these were her first, she wanted to be with her Grams as she would need all the help she could get. The timeframe for snow was only about three months and she would love to spend that time with them so they could also bond with the babies.

As they drove, Xael attempted to work it all out in her head. When it came time for the pups to be born, they would stay out there with Grams and Skylar. Not wanting the cabin to sit empty through winter, she would offer it up to the guys. They would need a 4WD vehicle and chains but they would have a fireplace as the power was prone to go out in town and the pipes wouldn't freeze like they would if no one was there. Right now it was getting to be too much to think about. After everyone knew, they could figure things out from there. Now to enjoy the day and be productive.

Finally in town, Skylar's truck pulled into the reserved spot at the station building. Xael didn't stop because she didn't need to. Adam was communicating to her through their link.

"Grams, Chris and Eli should be by in a bit."

"Good, good. What are they doing again?"

"Replacing some of the windows and then putting in a new patio door."

"Oh nice!"

Back home and the jeep parked, Xael helped her Grams out first then let the pups out. They were still too small to go jumping down by themselves so she placed them on the ground. After stretching out their sleepies, they took off towards the tree line to pee. Not even half way back to their momma, one was tackling the other.

"Oh for pete's sake you two! Come on." Xael scooped them up as her Grams opened the door.

Pups on the floor they both sat and looked at her. "I know, you're hungry. I'll get you something in a minute."

"I'll start the fire dear, you get your boys something to eat."

"Thanks Grams." Xael went to the pantry and took out a small thing of canned beef. It was just meat and water so it was fine for the pups to eat. "Hey Grams?"

"Yes dear?"

"Does the butcher in town still keep meat scraps?"

"Ohh, not anymore I'm afraid."

"Why not?"

"Health regulations."

"Oh, What about bones?"

"That he does keep."

"Good!" Xael called Adam before they left town.

"Adam?"

"What's up babe?"

"Will you stop by the butcher and see if he has any large soup bones?"

"Okay, how much do you want?"

"10-20 pounds. Oh see if he has meat scraps but tell him it's for dog food!"

"Anything else?"

"No, thanks hon." Xael plugged her phone into the charger and sat it on the counter.

"Sneaky sneak! I heard that about the meat scraps!"

"He he heee, Hey! I wonder if he has fat to render into lard?"

"No, now that I know he doesn't have because I asked him the other day. For that we need to go into the next town over, the butcher there will have hog fat."

"Well, since I'm taking the pups into the city for the vet, you want to go? We can stop and get more stuff to can and go to the butcher for meat and lard."

Xael went to the pantry closet and came back with the large pressure canner. Ms. Emma was sitting on the couch playing with the pups. Xael went up to the loft to grab a pad of paper and something to write with. Coming down the stairs, something outside caught her eyes.

'Grams, look out on the deck'

Xael didn't want to talk because she didn't want to scare them away. It was a huge buck and 2 does with fawns that had just lost their spots.

"Awww."

"I need to put up signs on the trees, no hunting!"

"No you don't, there's no hunting anyway in this area. Well that's not entirely true! You need a special permit to hunt and it's only one buck a year."

"I see. Is that how unc is able to hunt?"

"Yes, there's only about 6 with permits. Otherwise the deer population will get outta hand."

"Do you sit anything out for the deer in the winter?"

"Yes, I set some feeder blocks out for them and I put corn down also. You can get that at Milton's hardware store in town."

"Okay." Xael sat down at her Grandma's feet and got started on a list for the weekend shopping trip. She split it in two parts, one for them and one for the pups and other things.

"What are you making in the pressure canner?"

"Bone broth, you want some?"

"Ah! We can make some later, add a 10 pound bag of onions, I want to make some onion stock for the winter also."

"You think I should have the butcher save up bones for us?"

"No, it's best to get them that day. Wednesday and Saturdays are the bone days at the butcher."

"Ooo, good to know!"

"Put two dozen eggs down. I want to make some pickled eggs."

"Uggggh!"

"Hey that's good eatin youngin'!"

"You say so. Sounds like nothing but a case of some serious farts!"

"Ha ha hahaaa! Okay you little wiseacre. Add coffee, another 50lb bag of flour and rice, yeast, we better can up some more butter also. I'm not sure how much hog fat we'll be able to get. Now's the time for all that so it may be hard to get."

"Oh we'll probably have to do the shopping with just us, I think chief Houser is moving to town on Saturday. Ah! Me and Adam need to figure out what to do with the pups while we're at work?"

"Ah, yes you do."

"I'll see about getting a large crate for them, they can share it."

"With all this, we might have to borrow Wes's truck."

"I'll ask when they guys get back."

Someone was knocking at the door and the pups were at attention as they stood in front of Grams.

"Stay. That's Chris and Eli!" Xael opened the door but turned before they guys could get a look at her. "Come in but stay by the door."

"Uhh...okay?"

Xael needed to introduce the pups to her brothers. "Grams, will you carry Tank and I'll take little Dozer?"

"Of course!"

Walking around the corner of the fireplace the Alphas came into view. Both of the pups growled.

"What the hell are those!"

"They're puppies dorkus!"

"No, no they're not, what they are are wolf cubs!"

"How the hell you get wolf c- what the fuck is up with your eyes?!"

"Boys." Ms. Emma didn't like profanity; unless it was coming from her.

"Sorry Grams. Sis?"

Xael looked at her Grams then back at the guys with a confused look on her face. "Didn't you talk to Adam?"

"Yeah, on the phone!"

"You boys better have a seat." Ms. Emma was headed back to sit in front of the fire.

Things were about to get interesting.