I was sitting at the table when they came home, first Ty then Freid only a few minutes later.
“Are you okay?” Ty murmured, kissing the top of my head.
“Yes and no,” I said. “I want to talk to you about something.”
“You were right, Freid.” Ty looked like his face was going to explode, he was so happy.
“I knew it. I thought I scented it this morning.” Freid’s smile was just as wide.
“Please explain what you guys are talking about,” I said.
“You’re pregnant, right?” Freid asked.
I dropped my head down and squeezed my eyes tight. “I thought I was, but I took a test, and it says I’m not. And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. My heart broke when that test was negative. Maybe…can we, I don’t know, try a little harder?”
Ty picked me up out of that chair like I weighed nothing and carried me over to the couch, draping my legs over Freid’s lap as I settled into both their arms.
“I don’t think we can try any harder,” Ty said, rubbing his cheek against mine. “It’s not like we keep our hands to ourselves.”
“I think the test was wrong,” Freid said. “We bought another you can try. I scent it. The change is subtle, but you’re pregnant.”
I shook my head back and forth. “I don’t think I could do another test.”
“It was hard. I know that,” he said, kissing my cheek. “But this time will be different. You won’t be watching alone. We’ll be with you.”
I agreed and took the test, this time setting it down like I was supposed to, and both of them held my hands as we waited. It was the longest three minutes ever. But when the timer went off, we all looked at it together. There wasn’t only one line like before. There were two.
“I’m pregnant.” This time, my tears were not of despair. They were tears of joy.
“Yes.” Freid wrapped his arm around both of us. “You’re pregnant. We’re going to be dads.”
We were going to be dads.
Chapter Eighteen
Freid
With our omega and the new life inside him cradled between us, I fell asleep every night in a cloud of bliss. We didn’t always make love, but we did more often than not—as long as Penn was not nauseated or tired or swollen or otherwise impaired by pregnancy. His comfort outshone our desire, or maybe his comfort was our ultimate desire.
His scent had changed with the pregnancy, not better or worse, just different, and stronger, although nobody else ever seemed to notice, so it must have been only his mates who could.
On this particular night, I had been in meetings all day and was exhausted. Nominated for a judgeship, I had been very worried about the implications to our new little family. I loved my work as an attorney, but the hours were insane and unlikely to get better. When I first joined the firm, I thought they’d be awful while I paid my dues as an associate, then, as a junior partner, more dues paying. Now a full partner, I had charge of not only my own cases but juniors and associates under me. Somehow, I was working even more and being a daddy and a mate—I needed to make a change.
So when the judgeship came up, I researched it. Not a big court, it was at the edge of the city and I would not likely get any important cases. According to the retiring judge, he worked forty to forty-five hours a week, managed to use his vacation time, and loved the job.
I wanted it.
But it meant more than just walk in and sit down. It was an appointed position, so at least I wasn’t running an election, but I had to prove myself to the official in charge. Sometimes, Ithought I should just quit the firm and see if I couldn’t hang out my own shingle, but research showed that had its own issues.
Plus, after sitting in the courtroom and observing for a few days, I thought I’d like the work. But getting from point A to point B made my days even longer and my mates had been so patient. The decision was set to be announced the following week, and as my head hit the pillow, I knew I’d done everything I could to make it happen. Ready for a night of peaceful rest, I cuddled my mates and closed my eyes.
Vivid, sharp, clean, and, once again in color, a dream flooded my sleeping mind. Even on this plane, my waking self held enough sway to recognize the importance of the second full-color dream I could remember.
My mates and I were living in my home, although it was very different now, with toys and small furniture and fluffy blankets all over the place. As a single alpha, I’d taken a lot of pride in my neatness, and even having my mates around had made things a little messier, even though none of us were particularly sloppy. But before, I’d used the place for sleeping, changing clothes and showering, and having the occasional weekend-coffee morning on the porch.
Just cooking and eating and having three times as many people coming and going made it more casual. And I didn’t hate that. Every jacket tossed over a chair with one of my mates’ scent on it, every cup in the sink or empty ice cream tub left in the freezer by accident made me smile a little.
However, in my dream, my home was nothing like what three males might leave around. Even adding in the fact that we had a baby coming couldn’t account for the little round table set for five, the dollhouse and train set, and at least fifteen stuffies in my vision. I walked around the room, taking in each item I’d never seen before. Could it be a hint that our omega might behaving twins? Maybe the five chairs were for our little ones and their friends?
