Pregnant With Four Alphas' Babies: A Reverse Harem Romance Chapter 208: Maybe I Can Trust Her

*Rose*

The sounds of fighting from outside of the castle are unnerving. Even though the bulk of the fighting seems to be going on on the other side of where I am located with the babies, it makes me so nervous. I want to keep looking out the window.

“It’ll be all right,” Retta says, smiling at me as she lays Trisha back in her bassinet. “All of the babies are asleep with full bellies. You should rest, too.”

I think she’s probably right, but I can’t sleep with all of that going on. “Maybe now would be a good time for me to use the breast pump?” I ask her. “I think it would be great for me to have some extra milk put aside, just in case my body decides to stop producing so much.” As it was, I felt like a cow with its utters dragging the ground. My body definitely understood I had a lot of pups to feed.

“Sure, you could do that. Do you know how to use it?” she asks me.

I shake my head. “Actually, no. I have no idea. I figured I could just read the manual.”

“Yeah, that’s one way,” she agrees with a nod. “Or I can help you.”

“You know how to use a breast pump?” I know Retta doesn’t have any kids. In fact, I’m pretty sure she hasn’t found her mate. She used to date this popular boy in high school, Lance, but he ended up getting some other girl pregnant.

“Of course I know how to use a breast pump,” she says with a little giggle. “I’m a midwife as well as a nanny.” Her smile is comforting to me for some reason. I’m surprised by it. Normally, when Retta smiled at me back in high school, it would make my stomach turn over. Like I just knew she was ready to make fun of me.

She usually did….

“Okay,” I say. “If you know how, I’m happy to learn from you.”

“Let me go wash it. Even though it’s brand new, you don’t want any left-over residue from the factory getting into your milk.”

That seems like a wise idea to me, so I let her go, resting my head back on the pillow as I pretend that the howls and snarls in the distance are nothing to be concerned about.

They do seem to be fading away, actually, and while I’m tempted to check in with one of the Alphas to see how the battle is going, the last thing I want is to be a distraction.

A few minutes later, Retta is back with the pump. She sits down next to me on the bed and says, “Let me show you how to put all of the pieces together.”

It doesn’t seem that complicated to me, and in a few minutes, everything is set up. I might’ve been embarrassed to whip my boobs out in front of another woman before I had the babies, but now, I feel like I am always on display for everyone anyway. So who cares if she sees my boobs?

I almost laugh, thinking of how awkward I had felt that first day when Shelby came into the bathroom with me.

But thinking of Shelby makes me sad….

“Are you all right?” Retta asks. “You can control the speed and suction here, with these buttons, if it hurts.”

“No, it’s not that.” The machine was fine. My nipples were sore from all of those little chompers latching onto them, but the machine was soothing in a strange way. “I was just thinking about a friend of mine.”

“Oh.” She grows quiet, and as she gets up to straighten a few things over by the diaper changing station we have set up on one side of the room, she says, “I am sorry I was never a friend to you. Before. In high school.”

“Yeah, you were always one of the popular kids.” I am holding the cups on, but it’s making me a little cold, so I pull a blanket up over myself as she continues.

“I was, but it didn’t lead to the life I thought it would.” I hear notes of sadness in her voice.

“What do you mean?” I ask her.

“I mean… dating Lance, trying to be so cool all of the time, it only led me to a dark place. When he left me for Irene… I thought I wanted to die. It really changed me, Rose. For the better. I realized then I could do a lot to help other people. So… I decided to make some changes, to start doing some good in this world.

I can’t help but smile at her. Perhaps I had been wrong to judge her so quickly. “Well, you’ve definitely been helping me,” I tell her.

Her smile is full of light and gratitude. “Thank you. When your parents asked me to come here and take care of you, I was surprised. But I was honored to be chosen.”

I smile back at her. “I’m glad now that they chose you.”

She nods and then asks, “By the way, have you spoken to them… recently?”

“No. They might’ve wanted you to come and look after us, but they haven’t wanted to do so themselves.” Saying so makes my heart heavy.

She gives me a half-smile of sympathy. “I’m sorry to hear that. I know your relationship with them was always complicated, but we could all tell how much they loved you.”

My eyebrows furrow before I can even ask the question. “You could?”

Retta’s eyes widen. “Uh, well… yeah. Of course. I mean… you’re the only daughter of the Alpha and the Luna. Of course, they must’ve loved you–love you–a lot, right?”

“I never felt that way,” I admit, wondering what it might’ve been about our relationship that made her think that.

“Well, I just mean that… as their daughter, you had certain privileges, you know? Servants… no after-school job, that kind of thing.”

“Uhm, I had no servants. We only had a few, and those were only for my parents. And I had to work two jobs after school and on weekends to make up for my parents’ irresponsible spending of pack money.” I think back to the sewage treatment factory, and a shudder goes down my spine.

Retta is staring at me dumbfounded. “Really? None of us had any idea.”

“Well… maybe you should’ve asked,” I say with a shrug.

Slowly, she begins to nod. “Yeah. I should have. But I was just a dumb kid.” She walks over to me and squeezes my hand. “I’m realizing I didn’t know you at all, Rose. And I’m so sorry for that. It was me that was missing out.”

I’m not sure what to think about Retta, whether we can ever be friends or not, but she is making me think I can trust her. And that’s good because I have no idea where Kelly is, and I think Shelby is fighting in the battle that rages on outside.

Retta might be the only friend I have for a while, so I need to be able to trust her.