“That’s good to hear.” Mica looked over at Clay. “Silver is waiting for you in his office. If you want, I can show Duncan to yours and make sure he knows where the break room and bathroom are.”
“Would you? He needs to eat something in about thirty minutes, and who knows how long Silver is going to want to talk to me.”
Clay leaned down and kissed me quickly. “I’ll not be far if you need me. Just reach out through our bond.”
“Okay.” I smiled as I watched him walk down to the end of the hallway and go left.
“The place isn’t overly large, but it can be a bit confusing at first,” Mica said.
“I’m usually pretty good with remembering where things are. You mentioned a break room?” I held up my right hand and showed him the bag I’d been carrying. “I need to put my fruit in the fridge. And my electrolyte drinks.”
“Mark them,” Mica said. “If you don’t, those will go missing in a hurry.”
I sighed. “Clay warned me. He even said to make sure I put them in a cooler to keep in his office. Will the fruit get swiped too?”
“Possibly. You need to label them. Also, make a comment about a pregnant man or something.”
I shook my head. “I’ll be back. We have a cooler in the truck with an ice pack. Clay said I would need it, and I really should have listened to him.”
Mica laughed. “Did he seriously bring a cooler?”
I nodded. “And there are two ice packs in it. One on the bottom and one for on top of everything. Nobody ever botheredthings at the restaurant. I can’t believe they would swipe someone’s stuff here.”
Mica wrapped his arm around my shoulders and started walking back down the hallway toward the door. We hadn’t made it far inside, so it was a short walk. “My brothers and I wouldn’t take anything, but we aren’t the only people who work here. There is a camera in the break room though, and everyone knows it. The problem is, we can’t always tell who swipes what. Even with the cameras. They know they’re there, and they know how to avoid them.”
“Wow. I wouldn’t think it would be an issue here, of all places.” Mica opened the door for me, and I stepped back out into the morning heat.
“It comes in waves. I think I have an idea who it is, but without actual proof, I can’t do much.”
“Have you seen those reels with someone’s camera or phone inside the fridge, and they see it and close the door and then come back and hold the cat up and have the cat swiping the cheesecake?”
Mica froze. “No. Where did you see that? And why did you mention cheesecake?”
“Sorry. I get it though. I’d love some cheesecake. I just don’t think my stomach can handle it right now.” Cheesecake was delicious. But dairy still didn’t exactly sit well in my stomach. I would love nothing more than to be able to eat cheesecake, cheese, ice cream, yogurt, all the things. But they sat heavy, and there was nothing fun about throwing up curdled dairy anything.
I opened the truck, and when I went to climb in to grab the cooler from the back seat, Mica beat me to it. He held it in one arm and opened the lid. “Here you go,” Mica said. I dropped my shopping bag of goodies into the cooler, and after moving the ice pack from the side to the top of the things, Mica closed it.
“I can’t imagine getting sick just from scents of things or because they sit heavier in your stomach. I’m sorry you have to go through that.”
I shrugged. “It’s all right. We’re going to get an amazing little girl out of it by the end of the year.” I froze. “I didn’t say that.”
“You’re having a girl? Really?”
I shook my head. “No. I didn’t say that,” I repeated.
Mica’s eyebrows rose. “Are you not sharing?”
I frantically shook my head. “I wasn’t supposed to mention that. Please don’t say anything to Clay.”
“He’ll know anyway, but I won’t say anything to anyone else. Promise.”
I closed my eyes. Clay was going to be upset with me. We weren’t going to share what we were having until our baby shower next month. “We were going to announce it at the baby shower, so please just keep it quiet until then?”
Mica placed his hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle pat. “I will. I’ll also talk it over with Clay for you if you want. I know you didn’t intend to share the news, but I’m happy for you and my brother. I know he’s going to love having a little one, but a little girl, yeah, I can see him loving that.”
“Yeah? I always thought alphas all wanted alpha sons.” I sighed. I’d often wondered if my parents had seen the omega line on my stomach, and that was the reason why they gave me up. I would never know though.
“There are some that do, I’m sure. But not Clay. And not Silver. Or me, for that matter. I couldn’t say for certain about Flint, and Slate doesn’t want kids. At least not yet.” Mica held the door open for me, and we reentered the building. “Even I will admit that it seems as if our days of single life are numbered. I’ll be happy when I find a mate. I’m not actively looking, but if it happens, I’ve accepted that there is nothing I can do about that. I’ll do everything I can to make her happy and hope for the best.”
