“Mate, you’re pregnant. We’re having a baby. My beast let me know.”
“Pregnant? The bear told you I was pregnant? How would he know?” I rested my hands on my lower abdomen. Could I be pregnant? I mean, obviously, yes, because we sure were doing the things that got you pregnant, but I wasn’t having any symptoms.
“My bear could scent your pregnancy,” he explained. “I can head to the store and get a human test if you want to be sure, but I trust him in this.”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t need a second opinion. I trust your beast, but I do need your help.”
“Name it, my love.”
“I need out of these clothes and under the covers of our bed in the next thirty seconds.”
He instantly went about undressing me. “Why under the covers?”
“Because you have to be cold. You were outside naked, where our nosy neighbors could see you.” As much as I wanted that not to bother me, it still did. “I only want me to see you.”
In shifter circles, nakedness didn’t mean the same as it did for humans. Still, I wanted to keep my mate all to myself. I was greedy like that.
“Are you planning to join me under these covers?”
“Of course, alpha. I want to be snuggled in your arms, and then when you’re good and warm, maybe we could repeat the activity we did this morning.” We’d spend the better part of our morning exploring each other’s bodies. Best way to start a day… ever.
“What do you mean?” he teased, knowing exactly what I was doing.
“I think you know what I mean. Doing the thing that made it possible for us to be dads,” I whispered.
“We’re gonna be dads.”
I stripped and we climbed into bed, where he pulled up the blanket so we were both completely covered up to our necks, and I snuggled in as close as I could.
“Merry Christmas Eve, King. I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend it than in your arms.”
“Being in yours is my favorite place to be, omega mine.” He kissed the top of my head. “My absolute favorite.”
14
KINGSTON
This was our first Christmas morning since finding each other again and in our new home. Money had a way of making things happen at record speed, including this move. I couldn’t regret a cent of the money I threw at this to give us the Christmas miracle of being in our new home for the holidays.
I walked from the kitchen into the bedroom, and the footsteps bounced off the wooden floor onto the walls and echoed. I’d put a large mat on the living room floor, but there wasn’t much in the way of furniture or fittings to dull the sounds.
We’d moved into our new house days ago after weeks of delays. I’d brought over a few pieces from my old place, so we had a sofa, a bed, and kitchen equipment, but neither of us wanted our new home to have the feel of my former one. This was ours, not mine, and it had to be stamped with our personalities.
Father disapproved that it wasn’t a mansion big enough to sleep twenty people. Rather, it was three bedrooms with a study and plenty big enough for us. We had a walk-in closet because Father had contacted the architect and altered the plans without us knowing. Even Merrick agreed it was practical and a necessaryluxury, and we’d opened a bottle of champagne in there and toasted on our first night.
“King, can you help me with this?”
We’d only chosen a Christmas tree yesterday, and it was a little bedraggled being one of the last on the lot, and Merrick was trying to string tinsel over its branches. My mate was wearing identical Christmas pajamas to me, and I stood in the doorway as the winter light streamed in the windows.
“I haven’t said good morning to the baby yet.” The news was less than twenty-four hours old, and I’d sat up late, reading about birth plans—I did love a good plan—and cupboard safety catches.
He giggled. “The baby is the size of a sesame seed.”
“Doesn’t matter. I want to greet our little one every morning and say good night in the evenings.” We were going to have a cub; even if the baby was human, they’d be our cub, though my bear hoped he’d have a shifter friend in the house.
You won’t meet any bears for years.
But I might sense them, perhaps give them a nudge and have them arrive early.
