Chapter Twenty
Bowen
With a shorter-than-most pregnancy, two busy jobs, and everything else in our lives, it seemed like one day blended into another, and before long, we were in the middle of the sixth month and I was bigger than a house. Possibly two houses. The healer said our daughter weighed about five pounds at this point, and all the rest of this was me?
I was up and getting dressed for work when my alpha asked, “Omega, where are you going?”
“To the park,” I replied, wondering if I could get a bigger uniform shirt. “Why?”
“Oh, I thought you were off this weekend.” He tugged on his robe and drifted toward the kitchen. “That’s why I’m here and not at the nursery. Did you get called in?”
“Stupid pregnancy brain,” I grumbled, counting the days of the week on my fingers. “No, not going to work.”
“Good, then we can have a fun day together, just the two of us.”
“All right.” I yanked off the shirt I’d been trying to button. “What should I wear?”
“Doesn’t matter, since it’s coming off anyway as soon as we get there.”
“Alpha! We can just stay here if you just want to have sex.”
“That’s right, and I have half a mind to keep you in bed all day just doing that, but the other half of my mind still wants to do what I had planned already.”
He could be so maddening sometimes. But in the very best way. “I want to go! Wherever it is. A nudist colony?”
“You want to go to a nudist colony?” He chuckled. “I don’t know where to even find one. Just get dressed comfortably, and let’s go.”
All aquiver, I didn’t care anymore about my size, just wanting to know where we were going and why we’d be naked. At this stage of pregnancy, I had two kinds of clothes. Uniforms and casual, so, lucky it was a casual date.
Remi had always had a gift for surprising me with something fun and exciting, especially since pregnancy sometimes threw me off or made me worry about things too much. And as I climbed into the car and we cruised down the road, I knew my alpha was not going to give me any more information until he was ready, so I leaned back and enjoyed the ride.
About an hour later, we were cruising through the local mountains. As a ranger in the state park, I had spent a lot of time in that part of the area, but this was new to me. We reached the top of a pass and there below us sparkled a beautiful mountain lake. The water was so clear that as we descended toward it, I could see the bottom and the dark outlines of fish swimming around.
“We’re going swimming!” I crowed, so excited. “I haven’t been all summer.”
Leaving the four-lane, we drove down a gravel road, finally winding up in a secluded cove. Our destination. My alpha was the best. He parked and got out, moving around to the rear of the car to withdraw a cooler and a blanket.
“This is a picnic.” It should not have been such a revelation, but everything about the setting inspired such joy. I stripped off my clothes as fast as I could, waddling down the sandy beach toward the lake. Warm sunshine on my skin, cool wavelets around my feet, then, as I waded in. When I got waist-deep, I lifted my legs and floated, the water supporting my belly andtaking pressure off joints and muscles I hadn’t even known were there.
So. Good.
My alpha got our little day camp set up and then followed me in, bringing a pool noodle that made me even better supported. Also one for himself, and we hung there, talking, enjoying one another’s company and the beautiful day until we were hungry.
Then we returned to shore to devour the feast he’d prepared last night while I was sleeping. My alpha did not miss a single chance to surprise and delight me. And sometimes, I wondered how I was worthy of him.
“Omega, are you crying? Don’t you like the apple hand pies?” He brushed at a tear that I hadn’t even known was on my cheek. “Did my secret date not make you happy?”
“That’s not it at all.” I sniffled. “I just love you so much I can’t stand it. How are you so perfect?”
“Oh, mate. I have to come as close to perfect as I can reach for to be anywhere near you. You’re so incredible, and I love you more.”
After lounging in the sun for a while, we took the opportunity to shift. The healer didn’t want me doing it anymore after this week, and what better place than the lakeshore and surrounding mountain slopes. My wolf and Remi’s cat ran side by side, bumping shoulders and racing from time to time. Then we returned to the blanket and curled up together for a nap. We made love after shifting back, officially making this a day we did all my favorite things. With my favorite person.
To top it all off, as we drove home, I got an email from my former department. After a number of complaints, an investigation had been launched and, as a result, the lead ranger had been fired and those of his pet rangers who were notperforming had been let go. Not laid off. Fired as well. I was invited to return, but I had to tell them I’d moved on.
And up. I loved my new job and my mate, and we had a child on the way. But I didn’t tell them any of that. If they’d paid more attention, it wouldn’t have happened. And if it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been free to come here and make a new life.
Satisfaction in the resolution, absolutely.
