Kids from One Alpha

Chapter 26: Preparations

The twins‘ birthday was fast approaching, and Serena had begun making preparations for their party.

She wanted to invite people that they were comfortable with and that they liked, but they hadn‘t given h

er any names of other kids

that they‘d want to invite from daycare. She wanted them to have a fun, pack–

oriented birthday, for the first time in their lives.

“Gramma and grandpa can come,” she told them while Dana was making them breakfast.

“I want Uncle Santino to come too.” Olivia demanded. “Yes, of course, he will be

here,” Serena said. Obviously, her own twin would be there! She wouldn‘t deny him the

chance to be there for a big moment in his niece and nephew‘s lives.

Serena hadn‘t made a lot of friends in the pack yet. She knew Adriana would come to the party, but that

meant a lot of adults, and it was supposed to be the kids‘ day. She knew that Santino would play with t

hem and be the fun uncle to keep them entertained, but she wanted more than just family there. She‘d

met some nurses at the hospital, but no one that knew the kids. While they ate their breakfast, Serena

was busy setting up streamers and balloons, lost in her own world in regards to the party. She had alre

ady planned most of it, it was just getting the guests that would make a difference

to the kids. There was a knock on her front door and then it opened, Charlotte, Thomas, and Santino c

oming in with arms full of presents and more decorations. “Hey, come on in,” Serena beckoned. “Gram

my!” Olivia shouted, standing on her chair. “Olivia, sit down and finish your breakfast,” Serena said firml

y. “You can say ‘hello‘ when you‘re done eating.” “I am done eating,” Olivia insisted. “Me too,” Oliver sai

d, sliding out of his chair. Serena rolled her eyes as the kids left half–

empty dishes on the table to run over and say hello to their grandparents and uncle. Dana laughed to h

erself before she got to work cleaning up. “I‘ll give you a hug in a minute, let me get this cake into the re

frigerator,” Charlotte said, stepping around the kids and going into the kitchen. “I thought I told you I wa

s going to take care of everything,” Serena said, giving her father a side hug, and accepting a kiss on th

e cheek from her brother as he handed her some more party decorations. “To be

honest, sis, we didn‘t have full confidence in your ability to throw a real pack party,“ Santino told her. Se

rena sighed; shaking her head. She looked at her mother,

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who shrugged innocently. She knew exactly where that thought had originated! “Just be grateful.” Charl

otte said, hugging her daughter. “I am,”

Serena said, opening more packages of decorations. Santino helped her hang them.

“So, when does this party get started?” he asked. “This afternoon,” Serena explained, pinning up a dec

orative poster above the

giftable, that was suddenly piled high since the arrival of her parents. “Who else is coming, a bunch of p

ack kids?” he asked. Serena shrugged. “The kids haven‘t asked me to invite anyone from daycare,” sh

e explained. “My boss and friend Adriana will be here.” “Wow, that‘s a small crowd,” Santino said. Sere

na sighed, listening to Olivia laugh at something her parents did.

“We are still new here,” Serena reminded her brother.

“Well, I‘ve got some classic party games to keep those little monsters occupied all day,” he said.

“Good,” Serena said. She finished with the decorations and then went to the kitchen. Dana was workin

g on the party snacks. The whole house had been transformed into a five–year–

old‘s dream house! Santino had started getting the games out, and

already, Olivia and Oliver were begging him to show them the rules. Charlotte joined Serena in the kitc

hen. “You seem like you‘re settled,” she commented. Serena shrugged. “There have been some…

setbacks,” she admitted. “What happened?” Charlotte asked. Serena sighed. She didn‘t want to talk ab

out her altercation with Holly, but she hadn‘t felt like she had had the chance to really get it off her chest

. “Some of the pack females have been less than welcoming,” she said, her arm stinging at the reminde

r of falling down the stairs. It wasn‘t bruised anymore, but it had hurt enough to make her arm twinge at

the memory. “That‘s to be expected,” Charlotte said. “You‘re a young, single female who comes from a

good bloodline. Besides, you are

absolutely beautiful.” Serena rolled her eyes. “I just want to get by here,” she said. “Make some friends,

have a life for my kids.” “You really

have been out of the pack too long,” her mother teased. “I‘m not surprised that the females are hazing

you a bit.” “It isn‘t so much ‘females‘ as it is ‘female,” Serena said, poking at some of the snacks on a

platter Dana set on the table. Who is this little wretch?” Charlotte asked.

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“The Alpha‘s girlfriend,” Serena said. Charlotte sighed and shook

her head, sne chuckled and placed her hand over Serena‘s. “She sounds like she feels threatened by y

ou,” her mother said. Serena nodded. “I know, but I haven‘t done anything to make her feel that way” S

erena argued. “Mommy, can we invite Uncle Logan to the party?” Olivia asked, running into the kitchen.

Serena scoffed at her child‘s adopted

name for the Alpha. She hadn‘t encouraged it, but they had just started calling him that on their own! C

harlotte giggled and looked sideways at her daughter. “No, you haven‘t done anything to give her a rea

son

to feel threatened,” she said sarcastically. Serena motioned her mother out of the kitchen, and Charlott

e took Olivia‘s hand, taking her back to where Santino was showing Oliver how to play twister.

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Serena hadn‘t wanted to invite Logan, so she hadn‘t brought it up. Now that they had asked, she figured

to him. Part of her hoped he wouldn‘t come. Another part of her hoped that inviting him wouldn‘t mean in

didn‘t know how connected the two of them were. But it was the twins‘ birthday, and she couldn‘t deny a

isn‘t that far,” Dana said. “I‘ll tell the kids you‘re getting them a special present.” She

winked at Serena. “What if he declines?” she asked. “I don‘t want

the kids to get their hopes up.” Dana chuckled and shook her head, picking up the platter

and heading out of the kitchen. “He won‘t decline,” she said. Serena sighed, following her back into the

to work together to win a game against him.

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“I‘m going to run out, kiddos,” she said. “Where are you going?” Olivia asked. Oliver looked up from the

game. He had a look in his eyes, something was bothering him.

“Oliver, is something wrong?” Serena asked. He shook his head.

“Don‘t go away long,” he said. Serena nodded.

“I won‘t be gone long,” she assured, running

her fingers through his hair. “Don‘t open presents or eat cake without me.” “Then hurry!” Olivia told her fi

nodded. “Alright, I‘ll be back,” she told everyone else. Heading towards the

Alpha‘s house, Serena wrestled with her kids’ desire to see Logan. He had been

around them enough, and had fun with them, of course, they looked to him

as a friend or even a family member. She hadn‘t been back to Logan‘s house

since Holly had pulled that joke on her. As she climbed the steps of the front porch, she

chewed her lower lip nervously. She hesitated in reaching for the door to knock, pausing with

her fist raised. Sucking in a deep breath, Serena knocked on the door, thinking of all the things she wou

there for the kids and nothing more!