“And we do it together.”
“Well, yes, obviously, because we’re a mated pair.” He flagged the waiter with his free hand. “Now can we order? I'm starving, and emotional conversations make me hungry.”
When I got home, I allowed myself to imagine what our lives would look like when we weren’t sneaking around. There’d be no more meeting up in a restaurant miles from home just so we wouldn’t get caught. And I wouldn’t have to pretend the omega who turned my world upside down and inside out was just another firefighter from a rival station.
TWELVE
PERCY
The diesel fumes were making me feel sick.
I'd been breathing in engine exhaust since my first day at the station, but recently, my stomach heaved whenever someone started the rig. I’d taken to standing near the bay door and breathing in the fresh air.
“Are you coming down with something?” Briggs was beside me as I pressed a hand to my mouth during the morning equipment check.
“Nah, it’s just something I ate.” I’d used that excuse three times this week, so it was pushing the limits of what they’d believe.
But food and I were now having marital problems. Coffee, which I’d adored since I was in my teens, tasted like swamp water. My dragon shot back how would I know, as I’d never drunk it. Toast was fine, but only if it was lightly toasted and still calling itself bread. And the smell of Tom’s chili that he made weekly had me running for the bathroom.
My dragon was no help. He'd been calm recently, and that was out of character. He did loud, opinionated, dramatic, and sometimes hysterical. But now, this being inside me wasn’tletting anything bother him, and not once did he criticize my clothes.
I had to find out what was going on, so I prodded him when the nausea was getting me down.
He just shrugged as to why he wasn’t bugging me, and I let it go.
The ladder climb had been days ago, and since then I’d been throwing up and fallen asleep on the sofa at the station during a movie. That was something, and I cried at a dog food commercial.
Hallie pretended she hadn't noticed, but I had to explain.
“I’ve got allergies.”
“To a golden retriever eating kibble?”
I had to think quickly. “Ummm, yeah, to kibble. It's a thing.” It was a ridiculous answer.
The next day, I woke up before my alarm and lay in bed while my brain pieced together my symptoms. There was nausea and exhaustion, as well as every smell within ten miles that had me gagging. And my dragon was quiet, which was so unlike him.
Oh gods.I sat up fast, and as blood rushed from my head, I gripped the edge of the mattress. My dragon was paying attention and kind of humming, if a dragon could do that. But the sound reminded me of alullaby.
“No.”
My dragon didn't confirm or deny it. He was probably enjoying my reactions. I dragged on sweats and drove to a pharmacy two towns over because I couldn’t buy a test in Trenton. Hallie’s uncle was the cashier.
I bought two tests and a candy bar because I was panicking and sugar helped. The cashier gave me a look, and I grabbed another candy bar, trying to appear as if this was an everyday occurrence.There was nothing to see, just an omega buying two pregnancy tests and two candy bars at 8 a.m.
I sat in the truck and ate one bar and tried to think logically. Larkin and I had sex, so pregnancy was possible. But we'd mated less than two weeks ago, and while I understood biology, I hadn't considered it would happen this fast. Maybe I should have paid attention in sex education classes in high school, because inserting Part A into Part B could result in pregnancy.
You knew.
Of course, because even though the baby is tiny right now, I’ve had to create space for them.
Are you nesting?
He shrugged.I don’t know what you call it.
I took both tests, even though my beast had confirmed I was pregnant.I set them on the bathroom counter and paced for three minutes. They were both positive. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, I pressed my hands over my face. Joy, fear, and disbelief mingled.
You’re carrying a hatchling inside you.
