“Of course.” I smiled at Silver before I got out of his truck, then went to the driver’s side of the SUV and climbed in. Duncan had it running, and the AC was blasting. I leaned in for a kiss, but he turned his head away.
“I’ve puked three times. You do not want to kiss me. Trust me.”
I smiled but sat back up. “I always want to kiss you,” I told him. “I love you, no matter what. Even when you’ve been puking.”
Duncan’s eyes rounded. “You love me?”
I smiled at my mate as I reached over and placed a hand on his cheek. “Of course I love you. You’re an amazing person. I could easily fall in love with you, even if you weren’t my mate. But you are, and you are such an incredible person. I’m sorry I haven’t told you those words yet. I’ll make sure you hear them often from now on.”
Duncan reached up and placed his hand on mine and tried to smile. “I’m crazy about you, and I think it’s love, but I don’t know what love is. Sorry. I’ve never experienced it before. Anywhere.”
I smiled and rubbed my thumb across his cheek. “It’s all right. You’ll know when you do. And that’s perfectly fine.” I brought Duncan’s hand over to me and kissed the back of it. “Shall we get you home? Silver is going to bring a pregnancy test by later when he drops off my truck.”
Duncan looked like he was about to burst into tears. “He doesn’t have to. I already peed on two here. The vet said they’re the same that I would get at the pharmacy.” Duncan reached into the bag and pulled out a stick. Right there, bright as possible, were two pink lines. I stared at it for a moment and then looked up at my mate. He was pregnant. “Ready to be a daddy?”
I reached over and pulled him close. “With you? Absolutely.”
Chapter Sixteen
Duncan
I knew Clay wanted kids. It was something we had discussed, and I was happy he did because I was most certainly pregnant. The scent of the aquarium was apparently only the beginning of my sensitive stomach. If I moved, I was nauseous. If I ate anything—nauseous. Stood up—nauseous. It didn’t seem to matter what I did. Everything made me miserably sick.
My manager at the restaurant had been happy to give me extended time off work, but I had decided to take the rest of my vacation days and leave the position. It wasn’t that I didn’t like working at the zoo. I did. It was a safe place, and the coworkers, for the most part, were great. But I felt bad about them holding the position open for me.
And I would have felt different about missing the last few weeks of work if not for the fact that every time I did anything, I was reaching for a trash can.
“Okay, sweetie,” Clay said as he came into our room where I was lying as still as possible with a damp cloth across my eyes.The ceiling fan was blowing a gentle breeze down on me, and I went through waves of it being perfect to feeling utterly wrecked.
“I would talk, but I think it would make me sick.”
“I know. And I hate to do it, but I’m going to have to move you,” Clay said.
“I don’t want to.”
“I understand. I need you to take a tiny sip of this.”
I felt the straw on my lips and opened enough that he could get it into my mouth, and I could get a drink. The cool water felt amazing on my tongue and throat, but I wanted to cry when it hit my stomach and that familiar pain hit.
“Now, open,” Clay said.
I did without a thought and then closed my mouth. I felt a tiny something on my tongue, and it immediately started to dissolve.“What’s that?”
“It’s an anti-nausea pill. I called in to the clinic and explained the situation. The doctor called in a prescription for you for these. I’m to give you two, wait a bit for them to kick in, and then get you to the hospital for a checkup.”
“But I don’t want to go to the hospital. I’ll get sick along the way.”
“That’s what the pills are for.” I felt the straw against my lips again. “One more tiny sip,” Clay said.
I obliged and then tried to take a deep, calming breath through my nose.“What if I get sick on the way?”
“Then you do,” Clay said. I felt his fingers in my hair. “You need to get checked out. You came home from work three weeks ago, and you’ve been sick on and off since. The doctor is worried you’re dehydrated, which will make the nausea even worse.”
Wonderful. The last thing I really wanted was to go spend time at the hospital.“I don’t have a choice here, do I?”
Clay’s fingers continued to run through my hair. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m really concerned for you. So is the doctor.”
“I don’t have a doctor, Clay.”
