She doesn’t hesitate. Her fingers curl into my sleeve, grounding and sure. She tilts her face up, eyes warm and steady.
“I love you too, Corbin.”
Something in my chest settles, deep and permanent.
I’m happy.
Winnie
The week went by in a flash. Dandy Stuff was busier than ever, and I hired a second assistant to help pick up the workload. Despite being sad to let go of my little cottage, I spend far more time at Corbin’s than I do at “home”. Everything from The Nest Store was delivered, and I’ve been setting it up little by little every day.
It’s shaping into something I could only dream of. If I mention something I wish I’d bought or something that’s missing, it magically shows up in my pile of things to set up the next day. I can only imagine what the guys are paying in shipping. But they don’t go into the nest. It’s traditional for first-time packs not to see the nest until the first biannual true heat. That’s a tradition I’m grateful for, since I have something special planned for it.
So far, I’ve gone through three heat spikes this week. One with Eli and Rafe on the kitchen counter. One with Zeke and Corbin in the master bedroom. And one with Gage, where we had to pull off to the side of the road and run into the trees. There’s no doubt my heat is barreling toward me at full speed. I just have to make it through Flora’s wedding. I can’t let her down.
I’m sitting in Cali’s living room, Jane cooing in the bassinet beside me. The girls and I have been taking turns coming over to help out. When I arrived for my daily check-in this morning, I found a bleary-eyed omega and her alphas looking on the verge of tears. Janehad decided witching hour would run from one a.m. until six a.m., and she’d hardly stopped crying the entire time. But no one wanted to sleep without making sure she was okay. I washed my hands and shooed them to bed, promising I remembered how to soothe a baby from when my niece was small, and that I’d wake them if she got hungry since Cali was trying to breastfeed.
That was three hours ago, and though Jane got fussy once or twice, she mostly slept. I did some dishes, put one of the dump meals the packs had frozen for them into the crockpot, and tidied up.
The sound of Corbin's SUV crunching over gravel outside tells me the guys were here to pick me up. Perfect timing, since Jane just started sucking on her fist, a sure sign it was time to eat.
I call Cali’s cell and tell her I'm headed out so I won’t have to wake a whole pile of alphas.
“Hey,” Bax’s groggy voice answers.
“Sorry. I’ve got to go, and I think Jane’s hungry anyway.”
There’s a grumble, then footsteps. A very tired-looking Bax comes down and he scoops up Jane.
“Thank you,” he calls after me as I descend their porch stairs
“She’s too cute. I can’t stay away,” I tell him.
Corbin helps me into the car. “It’s nice that you all help so much,” he says, and I shrug.
“Cali would always do it for us. We’re all just family,” I reply as I settle into the front passenger seat. Gage and Zeke are in the captains seats. Rafe and Eli behind them.
“That’s a rare thing, Sweetheart.”
I look back at the house and catch a glimpse of Cali with Bax, Seth, and Connor. “Yeah. A lot of things around here are.”
His hand reaches over to squeeze my thigh as we pull away, heading to the house so we can change and head toward Flora’s wedding.
Winnie
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Flora says, sitting in front of a large, brightly lit vanity in the room the venue provided for getting ready.
Thunder rolls outside.
“We need a formal answer, I’m afraid,” the venue coordinator says.
“Can’t we just wait a little bit longer?” Flora asks again. A flash outside the window and another roll of thunder seem to mock her plea.
“Oh, honey,” our mom says, placing a comforting arm around her. “I just don’t think it’s going to clear. But your sisters and friends will make sure the alternate indoor location looks as beautiful as it can. Okay?”
A single tear tracks down Flora’s face.
Kristen, her maid of honor, lunges for the tissues. “None of that, Flora. You’re going to ruin your makeup.”
