“Oh, you’re awake. That’s great,” she said cheerfully. “I’m hungry.”
She yelped when I pinched her ass and retaliated but I ended the fun before it could get carried away.
“You’re still healing,” I stated. “No wrestling for at least another week.”
“Then you should make me something to eat,” she retorted. “Since I am still trying to regain my strength.”
“I think you’re just milking it now,” I replied, but I still got to my feet. Chloe did need to eat more often to fuel her body’s efforts at putting her to rights. “What do you want?”
“Pancakes?” she asked innocently, her eyes moving toward the kitchen table.
I groaned, turning my back to her. “No, no pancakes. You’ll get ideas. I’ll make pasta.”
She sighed, but when I turned toward her she was smiling.
As I went about putting together the meal, she watched me, reclining on the pillows on the bed. “I could get used to this,” she said.
I shot her a look. “You act like I haven’t cooked for you before. As I recall, we took turns making meals while we were here.”
“Yeah, but now that we’re mated I figured you’d turn into a slob that forgets how a stove works.”
I tossed a bit of Parmesan cheese at her, but she snagged it out of the air and put it in her mouth.
“We never talked about where you want to live,” I mentioned casually. “Now that Darrell is no longer in charge, would you want to move back here?”
She chewed, staring at me with a thoughtful expression on her face. “No, I don’t think so. I love it here and the wolves I grew up with, but it’s not home anymore.”
“What about North Carolina? You would be closer to your grandmother.”
Her eyes met mine. “Wherever you are, that’s where my home is. Home is in the heart and soul, not a place on a map.” She paused. “Actually, I think I’d like to stay in Dallas at the pack compound. Our pups would enjoy playing with Ricki and Calder’s little ones.”
When I dropped the spoon I was using to stir the pasta sauce, she laughed.
“Pups?” My voice was high and tight.
“I’m going into heat in a few days. Unless you pick up some condoms in town, there will likely be a pup around Christmastime.”
Shifter pregnancies were shorter than human ones. If we created a pup soon, I might have a son or daughter by Christmas. My chest compressed as I imagined Chloe with a pregnant belly, then holding a tiny bundle to her heart. “What do you want?” I asked.
She got up from the bed and crossed to me, placing a hand on my chest. The knot inside it loosened immediately. “I would love to have a child with you, Ian, but I’m more than willing to wait.”
I stared down at her, imagining her eyes staring up at me out of a child’s face. “I want children with you. Tomorrow or ten years from now.”
“That’s a beautiful thing to say, Ian, but it doesn’t tell me what you want to do when I go into heat.” She cocked an eyebrow at me, waiting.
“No condoms,” I murmured.
A smile spread across her face, so full of joy and hope that it took my breath away. “You’ll be a fantastic dad,” she replied.
“I just hope we don’t have triplets like Ricki and Calder.”
Her smile faded and her eyes widened. “Oh my God, do multiples run in your family?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “No. All my ancestors had one pup at a time.”
“Maybe we should wait a bit before having pups. Ten, maybe fifteen years,” she hedged.
I couldn’t stop the roar of laughter that escaped me and I looped my arm around her waist. “No way. Now that you brought it up, that’s exactly what I want.”
