Alarmed, I pushed into the club, Hudson on my heels. I could think of no reason that the staff would not be cooking. There was no reason I could come up with that they would have all left at the same time. It was obvious that there was cooking going on, everything in process, but not one single person there to do anything.
If they’d abandoned their posts, I’d fire every one of them.
And the club…was dark. Not a light to be seen. What the heck?
Hudson bumped into my back. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, but stay close.”
Suddenly, a spotlight shone in my eyes and cheers and applause broke out. Then the whole place was lit up to reveal the bar decorated in pastels, a huge pile of presents, and a multitiered cake.
“What is it?” Hudson gasped from behind me.
“I think…it looks like a baby shower.” I pulled him up next to me. “And they’ve shut down the whole club for it.”
Before we could recover, we were surrounded by new friends and old. Before I came here, I’d spent as much time as I had free at Cuffed, and one of the reasons I’d been willing to buy in was my friendships with many of the other owners. It never occurred to me that they were all coming here for this reason, but it touched me deeply. Of course, there would be meetings, but it would have been cheaper and easier to have Gatlin and I travel to Cuffed. This was all about us. Hudson and I moved through the crowd, and I got to introduce him to all my old friends and their omegas.
The club was opening late, which was why all the prep work was done in the kitchen so my staff could join the celebration. There was a huge bowl of punch, plates of tiny sandwiches and pastries, and, of course the cake and presents, and I just sat back and watched my omega glow. I’d never forget the evening when friends honored my omega and made him so happy.
Chapter Twenty
Hudson
I leaned against the hood of the car, eating a double cheeseburger and fries while Evander shifted in the woods. I watched him dart in and out of the shadows, never far from my sight.
He hadn’t wanted to shift at all, but I knew he needed to. Through our bond, I could feel how antsy his wolf was. How he craved a shift and running as a way to work through the hectic schedule and our family expanding.
If I could’ve shifted with him, I would have. The healer said to stop when my wolf told me to, and he hadn’t shown interest in shifting for over a month.
As soon as Evander’s fun was done, we had another appointment with him. A last one before the birth.
Today, we would see our baby on ultrasound.
Burger finished, I watched my alpha shift before walking over to me. He amazed me every day. He was a chef, an owner of a successful club, and he treated me the way all omegas deserved to be treated and more.
Plus, he was damned fine.
“Keep staring like that, and we won’t get to the appointment,” he said, smirking. He knew he looked good. I placed my palms over my eyes, making him chuckle. “Never mind. I love your eyes on me.”
“Are you excited?” I asked.
“I’m nervous.” He chuckled, rubbing his hands along my belly. “That’s silly, right? You’re the one doing all the work, and I’m nervous.”
I put my hands over his. “You’re right. I am doing most of the work.” We laughed. “But we’re going to see them and thistime, they are not just a seedpod-looking baby, they’re almost fully ready to emerge. Are we going to find out the sex?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “I would like to but the decision is yours.”
“I want to. I’m kind of tired of buying all the beige and yellow things.”
We drove to the healer and I put on the gown, opened toward the front. The ultrasound tech squirted the cold blue stuff onto my belly and began the scan. My tummy fluttered with nerves.
She pointed out all the things. Their arms and legs on the screen. She took all kinds of measurements and finally turned to us, smiling. “Big question, daddies. Do you want to know the sex of your baby?”
I looked at Evander. He wouldn’t care if I changed my mind at the last second but I hadn’t. I wanted to know. “Yes. We would like to know.”
The woman smiled. “Good choice. I found out with all of my children as well. Life throws enough surprises at us without adding any.”
She moved the wand around my belly, clicked some button, and then zoomed in. “There. Between the legs. There’s no pee-pee…” She laughed. “That means a girl. She’s strong and healthy. Excellent heartbeat. Everything is going well. All that’s left is giving birth. And the way she’s positioned in your womb, it looks like it could be any day now.”
