MOONLIGHT: ORIGINAL EDITION

A brand-new day, he arrived, with the sunlight blazing through the curtains on the windows in their bedroom. No one was stirring, not even a mouse. Two hours later, the first stirrings arose. It was Luca as he woke up a bit more after opening his eyes. He turned his head towards Rosa and saw that she was still sleeping peacefully on her side, her long chestnut brown hair sweeping across her pillow. Luca then gets out of bed and gets ready for the day. As he gets up, he turns around and looks at his mate. Luca could not understand what happened last night; they had completed the ultimate step of the mating process, and she was the one who had started it. Talk about surprises, he thought to himself. Luca lets Rosa sleep more and goes showering and dressing. He then gets their breakfast and brings it back to their room. It would exhaust Rosa from their all-night lovemaking sessions. Luca went to make their breakfast.

Thirty minutes later, he returned to their room carrying a tray filled with two plates of food, glasses of orange juice and cups of hot coffee. After Luca left the kitchen and heard movement in the bedroom, Rosa must be awake at the right time, and he thought to himself as he headed towards the bedroom and saw that she was awake and waiting for him to return.

Luca places the tray onto the bed and serves her breakfast before getting his food and rejoining Rosa. Then Luca asks her, "How are you feeling?" Rosa replied, "Good, but a little sore,″ she answered. Luca replies, "Maybe having a soak in a hot bath will help you," he suggests to her. Rosa nods her head. "I was planning to after finishing my food, which l forgot to thank you for," she tells him. Luca shakes his head. "No worries," he replied to her as they continued having breakfast before getting ready and starting their day. The nights were theirs to spend together in whatever way they wished.

Before long, the days turned into weeks, and another month had passed. Rosa headed towards the dining room for breakfast after showering and getting ready to start her day as usual when a scent suddenly hit her and made her feel nauseous. She quickly raced to the bathroom in her room, barely making it back before throwing up in the toilet. The feeling of sickness continued for a couple of minutes before the nausea stopped. Rosa linked with Arianna and explained what had happened. The doctor said to come straight over going by her symptoms; she already knew what was wrong with Luna. She was pretty sure that she was pregnant, and only a pregnancy test and an ultrasound scan would confirm her suspicions.

Rosa arrived at the hospital ten minutes later, and the test and an ultrasound later confirmed that she was indeed expecting their first child. Rosa was happy and scared at the same time. Wait until Luca and the pack discover. They will be ecstatic about the news. Did she think to herself how to tell her mate about the pregnancy? When an idea came into her head, she asked Arianna if she had an envelope to put the ultrasound picture inside. Arianna looks at her and smiles before looking for what Rosa has asked. She returned with a white envelope, placing the image inside it. She thanked Arianna for her help after the doctor gave her prenatal vitamins and informed her of what not to eat and what was good for her and the baby's health. Arianna also told her about taking ginger tea and crackers to help with nausea.

Rosa then left the hospital and went to put her plan into action. Luckily, lunch was in two hours, and she would inform her mate. This presentation would be an exceptional gift to one mate from the other. Even though she knew it should be between her and Luca, she could not wait to see everyone's reaction to the news, especially Luca's.

It was time for lunch two hours later, and Rosa was ready to implement her plan. She wrapped the envelope with a red ribbon and tucked Luca's name tag under the rope to hold it. Rosa then went to the dining room and took her place next to Luca, sitting on his right-hand side. Luca and the others entered the room and sat in their seats.

Fifteen minutes later, after everyone had arrived, they sat down at the table; everyone helped themselves after Luca, Rosa, Gabriel, Stefano, and Constantino served themselves before the rest of the members got theirs. Conversations started around the table as they ate, and Rosa listened. They were still wondering when she and Luca were going to have kids. Sooner than you think, Rosa, she thought to herself. When the main course was over, the staff took the dishes to the kitchen, and others brought the desserts, tea and coffee.

At that moment, Rosa then stood up and cleared her throat. Everyone, including Luca, stopped what they were doing and waited for her to speak. She then said to everyone, "As everyone knows, your Alpha and l completed the mating process a month ago," she explained that she heard snickers that caused her to go bright red with embarrassment. Luca growled at the comments. Rosa only had to place her hand on his shoulders to calm him down. She continued, "I also know how much you would like to know when and if we have kids," pausing for a moment before continuing, taking a deep breath before she spoke, "I am letting you know that will be between myself and my mate," she said with the authority of a Luna. Rosa then decided to bite the bullet. Sighing, she took the red ribboned envelope out of her pocket and placed it on the table before her mate.

Luca looks at the envelope, then up to Rosa before asking, "What is this?" Rosa replied to him, saying, "Open it, and you and everyone will find out simultaneously," she said cryptically to him. He does, untying the red ribbon before taking the lid off. As he is doing this, everyone else is watching their interaction with confused looks on all their faces. Luca opened the envelope after taking off the red ribbon and peeking inside. His eyes widened at what he found as he looked up at her before asking her, "Is this what l think it is?" Rosa answered with a massive smile as she said, "Yes, it is," he took the image out of the envelope, looking at it very carefully. Luca then looked around the table and saw that everyone was watching them. With Rosa's permission, he announces, "We're going to be parents; we are expecting a baby," smiling as he informs them of the news. Everybody at the table cheered, clapped, and congratulated the Alpha pair.

Luca asks her, "When did you find out?" Rosa replied, "This morning, l was coming down for breakfast when l smelt something bad that made me sick. I went to see Arianna at the hospital after l explained what had happened, and she told me to complete a pregnancy test, which was positive, then had the ultrasound scan to confirm it even more," she told him. Luca was ecstatic at the news. He is going to be a dad. Suddenly, he jumped up out of his seat and reached for Rosa before giving her one big, long kiss, hugging her, and thanking her for the most generous gift that she could have given him other than herself. She smiled at him. Luca then asked permission to inform the pack of their excellent news. Rosa agreed, and then Luca announced the link was telling them that he and Luna were expecting their first child and that the baby would arrive in five months. The pack went wild at hearing the excellent news and could not wait until the newest member of the group came.

Dinner was over within twenty minutes. Luca dismissed them, letting them attend to their duties before they retired for the night, but not before the others congratulated the Alpha pair on their joyful news. Both thanked everyone for their kind words. Everyone then left the room.

The Alpha and Luna looked at each other with love and huge smiles. They both then headed up to their room so Rosa could rest. As they entered the room, Luca told her to lie on the bed to sleep while he showered before joining her. He then kisses her, and before long, one thing leads to another, and they are both coming down from the high of making love. Luca then takes her into his arms and covers their naked bodies under the covers. Rosa sighs in the comfort of being in his arms after discovering the news of his impending fatherhood. Luca caresses her arms as he asks her, "How are you feeling?" Rosa replies, looking at him in contentment. "Wonderful," she said to him before asking him the same question. Luca answers her back. "I'm feeling excited while being nervous simultaneously; l mean, we will be parents in five months; there is a lot to organise," he said to her. Rosa agreed with him.

Luca then turns to his bedside table, pulls out the top drawer, and reaches inside before pulling out a small black box and turning back to her. He looks at Rosa before saying, "I bought this two weeks ago after we completed the mating bond. I have been waiting for the right time to give it to you, so l guess now would be the right time. No, it's the perfect time to ask you," as he gently places the small black box into her hands. Rosa looked at the box curiously, and then she opened the box and gasped in amazement at the sight of the most breathtaking ring she had ever seen. Inside the box was a beautiful rose gold squared round-edged halo diamond engagement ring with more diamonds going down each side of the ring and matching wedding bands for them both. Luca's wedding band was a bit wider than hers because of all the diamonds embedded in the band. Rosa quickly looked up at him with a surprised look, "Oh my Goddess, Luca! It's beautiful," she exclaimed.

Luca went down on one knee in front of her, asked the most crucial question of their lives, and asked, "Will you, Rosa Romanetti, do me the honour of becoming my wife, the future mother to our children, but my partner for life?" Rosa just stared at Luca before she squealed and jumped into his arms, saying, "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, l will marry you", she said to him, trying not to cry. They spent the next few hours talking about their upcoming wedding and would hold the ceremony where they had the Luna ceremony. Rosa and Luca also decided to have their reception in the backyard. They were killing two birds with one stone, as the saying goes.

Rosa then asked him who he was thinking of standing up next to him at the altar. Luca replied to her, "Definitely Stefano and my brother, Constantino and Cristian," he said. Asking her the same question, she answered, "Arianna, for sure; l was thinking of asking Emma and Gianna too; they both have been there for Gianna and me since l have known her the longest," she replied to him. Luca agreed with her choices. They then settled under the covers in Luca's arms, embracing her as they both fell asleep, but not before Rosa took one more look at her beautiful ring before closing her eyes and going to sleep.