Ethan grins, and God, he’s beautiful.
“I was born to make their lives exceedingly difficult.”
“Perfect,” I say, grabbing his hand and dragging him to the basement.
Ethan is sweating and panting, considering he won’t let me help with much as he puts the mattress on the floor.
I’m not allowed to even use the ladder to string up the lights. He does let me make the bed and cover it with every single pillow in our house—which is an exceedingly large amount. Maybe I have a pillow problem, but right now it seems to be working to our benefit.
“Sweetheart, what’s the plan here?” he says, wiping sweat off of his brow.
It’s cool in the basement, and fortunately, the walls are mostly finished. The floor is still concrete, but I had Ethan steal rugs from the living room and the bathroom to make it more cozy in here.
Ethan hasn’t questioned anything from me until this moment. I suppose I did have him move a lot of shit. I shrug my shoulders, and Ethan comes into my space, grabbing my hips.
“What is it?”
“Your bonding should be special,” I say, trying not to cry.
The crying is out of fucking control.
“I don’t need anything special. I just want to be connected to all of you.”
“This is what I would have wanted for my first bonding… well, kinda,” I say. It is definitely a hodgepodge nest, but it is cozy and sweet.
Ethan searches my face. My connection with Max and Bram may be a basic instinctual need—one rooted in feral desire. But Ethan? Ethan’s my best friend and knows me better than my Alphas do. Even without a directly linked bond, Ethan knows what’s going on with me.
“It’s perfect,” he says, not judging me or questioning me.
I get to control this; I get to enjoy this. I may not have had my dream bonding with Max, but I can ensure that he and Ethan do.
Maybe it’s also a need to do something sweet for my Alphas too.
I do think I have some serious spankings in my future, and maybe a lifetime of dealing with “remember when you hid your pregnancy from us” lectures. But this, creating a soft, sweet space for Ethan and Max, I can control that.
“You know I want you here, right?” he says, kissing my face and holding me close.
“I know. I want to be here when it snaps into place.”
“I never in a million years thought I’d have this,” he says, his hand rubbing over my stomach.
We haven’t talked much about how we feel about the pregnancy, just the anxiety of hiding the secret.
“You’re going to be a great dad,” I tell him, and I mean it.
His hand snakes over my belly, and he looks down at where his hand is like he can see our future child.
“You really think so?”
“I wouldn’t have chosen you otherwise. You’re soft, gentle, and kind, Ethan. You love me in a way that I dreamed of, and I know you’ll do the same for our baby.”
He rests his head against the top of mine and just holds me. I feel guilty that I’ve been so wrapped up in being pregnant and when I would tell the Alphas that I didn’t consider some of Ethan’s inner turmoil.
“Dave was the best dad I could have asked for. I’ll do everything I can to be half of the father he was to me.”
“Is that why you never cared about the biology?” I ask.
“I mean, the chances of me, the Beta, being the father are slim to none anyway. It doesn’t matter who the baby gets theirDNA from. This is my kid too, and I’ll love them so fucking hard.”
