“We could put your stuff in here. Luci got your stuff from the hotel,” Bel reminded him.
“I don’t have much,” Atlas replied with a shrug. “And I liked your collections.”
Bel had too. And the room was so empty and sad now. No pretties to look at anymore.
“How about this?” Atlas asked. “We bring half of the stuff back in here. Leave that room for more collecting. That way we can have two rooms and your office full of all the stuff that we love.”
Bel nodded. “But we’ll make sure none of it can fall on the baby.”
“Bel, we have magic at our disposal. We can put up barriers around the furniture and anything else to make sure the baby stays safe.”
He stared at his mate. How had Bel forgotten that? Now he just felt stupid. He blinked back tears. Bel was a fucking demon prince. He’d been using magic for his entire life. Atlas barely knew anything about magic, but he was much smarter. What was happening to his brain?
“No,” Atlas said sternly. “Don’t you be thinking whatever it is that you are. You just wanted to keep our child safe. That is a very good thing.”
Bel sniffed. “I’ve been using magic forever. I know that I can put up barriers.”
“But you haven’t been a parent before,” Atlas said. “I think it’s okay if I need to remind you every now and then that everything will be okay.”
Yeah, Atlas had been so supportive, loving, and just fantastic since they found out about the baby. Longer. No matter whatAtlas was faced with, he just rolled with it. A truly remarkable trait.
“Do you really like the color of the nursery?” Bel asked.
“Let’s go look,” Atlas suggested. He urged Bel forward until they entered a room as big as theirs.
Bel had magicked up the extra room because he hadn’t been sure how much space he’d needed for his collections. It turned out to be easier to make his collection room bigger to accommodate everything.
That had left him with an empty room.
Twenty-one days. That was how far along that Bel was now. Twenty-one days of carrying a little being inside him. The baby that would need a room. Or so Atlas insisted even when Bel had suggested keeping the baby in the room with them.
Atlas had outright refused since he claimed he would not be fucking Bel in front of their child. And Atlas wasn’t giving up loving on his mate.
So maybe Atlas had been right about that too.
“How about some soft track lighting at the very top of the ceiling instead of an overhead light?” Atlas asked while waving his hand.
Bel smiled, simply loving the addition. It was softer. Calmer. “I like that.”
Atlas leaned against him and Bel wrapped his arm around his mate’s shoulder. “Me too. And the color is beautiful.”
“I didn’t want to go with traditional colors,” Bel confessed. “I want our baby to grow up without typical gender roles. Demonscan struggle with change but Adam has done a lot to combat that. Still, a lot of demons see less powerful or females as weaker than them. Which is dumb because some of the fiercest demons I work with are female.”
Atlas turned and kissed Bel’s chest. “I agree. And I love that. As over the top as Adam is, there’s no one better to speak up for the demons. Mal really did find his perfect match.”
“That’s what the fates do,” Bel said. And wasn’t he blessed?
“Then we’ll thank the fates,” Atlas said.
“I made it!” Asmos declared loudly as he popped in next to them.
Atlas jumped but Bel had felt Asmos approaching and had lowered the barrier around their house. He probably should have warned his mate but sometimes it was fun being a little naughty.
“Fuck, man!” Atlas grouched. “Warn a guy.”
“You let me in!” Asmos replied. He shoved the bag overflowing with popcorn at Atlas’s chest. “Extra, extra, extra butter. I made sure. And I got seven different seasoning packets.”
Bel grabbed the bag from his mate and quickly shoved a handful of butter-coated popcorn into his mouth with a groan. It was awful and so damn good. He greedily shoved more inside before he even finished chewing.
