“What if I throw up again?”
“If you do, I’ll clean it all up.” He assisted me, speaking encouragingly with each step. “You’re doing great. Keep going. You’ve got this. Here we are.” Easing me down onto the mattress, he bent to study my face. “Better?”
“I think so. Thank you.” Still a little dizzy, I at least wasn’t throwing up at the moment.
“I’m going to get you some water.” He left and returned thirty seconds later. “Take this glass and sip very slowly. Okay?”
Nodding, I took a teensy sip then a bigger one. “Yeah. I’m fine. But why are you home? Did you forget something?”
“No, but you got a message that somehow came through on my email by mistake, and I wanted to get it to you.”
In a burst of adorable enthusiasm, we’d set up a shared email when I first moved in. After a couple of weeks, we’d figured out that was a mistake and stopped using it. I hadn’t even given it out to many people, though, and hadn’t checked it in weeks.
“I’m so sorry to make you come home for that. It can’t have been important enough to cut into your day… Wait, why would you come home for an email?” He could have called or texted me to check it or just waited until the end of the day.
“Here.” He held his phone up in front of my face. “See if you think I wasted my time.”
I read it aloud. “We are pleased to offer you the position of… This is the state parks. The job I applied for three months ago. When did this come in?”
“Had to be today. When we stopped using the email, I had it forwarded to my regular email that I check every day.”
“I forgot I used that one with them. I haven’t checked that email in at least two months. I would have missed it.” Leaping up, I flung my arms around my alpha’s neck in gratitude then groaned, clapped a hand over my mouth, and fled.
With an empty stomach, I didn’t actually throw up that time, but I did a great round of dry heaves. If stress was causing it, it should ease now that I had a job offer.
But when I managed to stand up again, it was to find my alpha standing there holding a box. “I also brought you this. You haven’t been feeling the best and you looked positively green the other morning.”
“A pregnancy test? I can’t be pregnant. I’m about to start a new job.”
His look held all his doubts for my sanity. “Omega, I don’t think one thing negates the other. From what you told me, fromjob offer to job start will take several weeks, and you should be past the nauseated stage, if you are pregnant.”
“But what about after the baby comes?”
“How about if we find out if one is coming, then we’ll make the best plan for us as a family.” Calm, always calm.
“All right.” I took the box then stopped him as he went to leave the bathroom. “Alpha, do you want me to be pregnant?”
“I won’t lie and say I hate the idea of our family growing, but how do you feel about it?”
“I want it to be true.”
He hugged me and pressed a kiss on my forehead. “Me too.”
Those minutes felt like hours before we knew for sure. I was pregnant and we’d figure out all the rest later.
My alpha was one smart panther.
Chapter Nineteen
Remi
“Good thing you get off early on Wednesdays,” I said, seeing my omega come in right after two in his uniform. That uniform did things to me. Things that made me never want to leave the house again.
“Our Wednesdays will be filled with appointments now.” He changed into jeans and a T-shirt. This was his first appointment with the healer. There was one near, thank goodness, and they came with excellent references. Even Noel had heard of her.
“That’s okay. It’s part of the process.”
“You’re right. I’m just having a low-energy day and all I want to do is crawl into that bed and sleep for the rest of the day.”
