“No,” I corrected. “You can go take a quick shower, then you’re going to eat. Then we can go.”
He sighed. “Why are you like this?”
“What? Caring? Wanting to make sure that you’re healthy for our baby? Wanting to spoil you?”
“Yeah. Like that.” He stuck out his tongue. I loved this playful side of my mate.
He went to take a shower, and, as he turned into the bathroom, I caught a glimpse of his little belly bump. Gods, that man got sexier every day.
I made him an egg sandwich, one of the few things he was eating the past couple of days. He didn’t have the nauseousness a lot of omegas had while pregnant, but his taste buds were definitely different. There were times when all he wanted to eat was French fries all day long, or bananas, or cereal. Lately, it hadbeen egg sandwiches. At first, I worried that he wasn’t getting the right nutrition, but he reminded me that babies crave what they need. I wasn’t really sure how much I bought that, but I trusted him, trusted that he’d do everything he could to give our little one what they needed to grow big and strong.
We arrived in town just as everyone was showing up. I loved this part of small-town life, even if for many years I just saw it from the sidelines, sitting in a tree in crow form. The way they came together to celebrate every little event had this place feeling more like a family than a typical community.
We’d practiced setting up Joshua’s table a few times at home and had it down pat. It only took a few minutes to have him all ready to go, with a box of extra pieces underneath in case he sold well. And he did. Really well.
I stood back and let him do his thing, making sure he had enough water and food. The event, filled with all of his favorite foods, reminded me of Home Days when he had some of everything. It was the first time since the first week of his pregnancy that I’d seen him eat a variety, and I loved it.
“I’ll take this one here,” Orly said, holding a necklace in her hand and running her finger across the silver. “This reminds me of one of the pitchers my grandmother had in her miniature collection.”
“I’m so glad it’s found a home.” My mate waved off the older woman’s money.
Orly insisted on paying, reminding my mate that he paid for his room and it was only fair he get paid for his goods.
It wasn’t the first time my mate had tried to give somebody his jewelry. As far as a long-term business plan went, he probably should stick to events outside of our town, where he didn’t feel the connection to the people and the longing to give them the joy they felt when connecting to one of his pieces for the first time.
That was a conversation for another day, and it wasn’t as if we needed the money. I could take care of him. I wanted to take care of him.
I always understood that every piece told a story, and, as people came up to the table, one by one, I heard so many of them. My mate was amazing, and, somehow, he was mine. He ran out of most of his inventory long before the day ended, but we sat there till the last, chatting with people, eating delicious food, and enjoying a feeling of belonging. My mate was becoming an integral part of this community without even realizing it.
When it was finally time to go home, I packed the truck up as my mate took his seat, exhaustion setting in. He fell asleep in the passenger seat and I drove us home, where I carried him straight to bed.
“Sleep well, mate.” I kissed his forehead. “I love you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Joshua
I don’t know what I thought a pregnancy would be like, but then I also had never imagined mating a shifter. With only a vague idea that shifters might exist, I certainly wouldn’t have expected one to come into my life. But he had, and he’d explained that he believed Fate had taken charge and destined us for one another. I grew up like most of my kind just hoping to run in to the right person. Someone I could make a life with. At a stretch, a soul mate maybe—but who really believed in those?
Now, here I sat, in my reasonably fixed-up home waiting for my mate to come in from the orchard to head to our healer appointment. Normally, a pregnant human omega would go to a doctor, but Corvus convinced me that this healer had experience in dealing with mixed matings. He was in the next town over, where they conveniently had a baby furniture store and a Mexican restaurant. Two things I was very interested in visiting at this stage of my pregnancy. Having burned out on eggs, I’d become interested in spicy foods of all kinds, and particularly Mexican.
“Ready, mate?” Corvus came in and took off the tool belt he liked to use when out in the orchard. It held all sorts of small things he found useful.
“I am, but you’re not.” I tsked. “You look like you rolled in dust.”
“Oh.” He patted at his sleeve. “That comes right off.”
“And you want the healer to think we are the kind of people who don’t even clean up for our appointment?” I was teasing, of course. My mate looked incredible with or without dust.
“I’d better go take a quick shower,” he said. “For the healer’s benefit.”
We were on the road very shortly thereafter, my mate being one of the fastest showerers in the world, and urged on by my growling stomach. First stop, the restaurant because I was starving. Of course, that meant we didn’t have a ton of time to eat, but I managed to put away a taco/enchilada combo plate, a mountain of chips and salsa, and even followed it up with a fried ice cream dessert.
“Oh, that was so good.” I sat back and dabbed at my lips with a napkin. “How long before the doc appointment?”
“Ten minutes.” Corvus picked up the electronic bill and slipped his debit card into the machine. “So we’d better get going.”
“Oh no, we’ll be late, and what if they won’t see us today? We’d have to pay for a missed visit.”
