We pull out of the driveway. I stay quiet for a moment because, to be honest, I’ve been thinking the same thing. Being pregnant makes it hard to keep up with everything lately.
After a while, I say, "Maybe that’s not a bad idea, especially if we’re planning to expand the family even more," I say, giving him a look.
Aiden smiles knowingly. "You know I’d never say no to that. I’ve always wanted a big family."
I rub my chin. "Yeah, then maybe call Jordan. It’s probably time to get someone to help out around the house. We’re growing fast."
"I’ll call him tomorrow," Aiden says with a grin.
Twenty minutes later, we pull up to the fitness center where my yoga classes are held.
When I get out, Aiden suddenly walks around the car and comes up to me. He places his hands on my shoulders, then slides them up along my neck to my face, looking straight into my eyes.
"I love you, you know that?" he says quietly. "You’ve seemed so tired lately. This pregnancy feels different, doesn’t it? Harder."
I sigh. "It’s not even that. I’ve just been having these recurring nightmares lately. This constant sense of unease I can’t shake."
His fingers gently brush my cheeks. "Everything’s going to be all right, because it has to be, okay?" he whispers, then leans in and kisses me softly.
His silvery eyes, framed by long lashes, study me with such intensity that my heart squeezes.
"I want to believe that," I murmur. "Now come on, we’ve got two minutes left."
We walk into the room just as the instructor comes in. It is already filled with several pairs of expecting parents. Since we arrive late, we settle in a corner next to a couple we’ve seen a few times at earlier classes, though they always keep to themselves.
The alpha looks close to sixty, his hair almost completely gray, while his omega partner seems around forty, with a sharp, tense expression. His dark blond hair is cut very short, giving him an almost minimalistic, austere look, and he always wears black. He is probably in his ninth month too, but he seems to be handling the pregnancy much worse than I am. His eyes are shadowed, his skin pale, and his hands and feet slightly swollen.
I give him a polite smile, and he nods stiffly in return.
The next forty-five minutes are devoted to exercises I genuinely enjoy. I like staying active throughout my pregnancies. I have plenty of discipline and never have trouble working out at home, and I try to swim in our pool whenever I can. But these outings with Aiden are my break, my respite. I love when his attention is focused only on me, when his hands move carefully over my body, when his eyes linger on me with tenderness. Aiden is my True Mate, and we need each other to live. I cherish those moments and don’t want to give them up.
After class, we head straight to the parking lot because a light drizzle has started. We are among the first to leave; most couples usually take longer in the locker room.
When Aiden tries to start the car, the engine sputters, coughs a few times, then dies.
He mutters something under his breath and tries again, but it stalls once more.
"We really need to replace this old piece of junk," he says.
Just then, the same couple we sat beside in class walks by. The older alpha and the serious-looking omega in black. I glance their way. In previous classes, they were quietly chatting with each other, but now there is something different between them, some kind of strained silence.
Aiden tries to start the car twice more. Nothing.
"I guess we’ll have to call roadside assistance," I say calmly, "or maybe an Uber."
Then I flinch slightly because the omega in black suddenly taps on my window.
"Car trouble?" he asks.
I roll the window down and smile weakly. "Looks like it. This car’s on its last legs."
"If you need a ride, we can help you, I think we live near you," he says.
I am surprised by the offer, considering how stern he looks. Maybe appearances really are deceiving. Aiden, however, seems less than thrilled.
"If we call roadside assistance, it’ll take forever," I murmur. "And I promised River we’d be home soon so I could help him practice…"
Aiden hesitates, then sighs. "All right. We’ll leave the car here. I’ll come back tomorrow and deal with it."
