“It’s only half-formed, so no laughing.”
He once again swore he wouldn’t laugh at any idea I had.
“When I first came here,” I began, “I had just learned about shifters. For a tiny sliver of time, I thought maybe we were in the land of fae. It was too quiet, too perfect, you see. Where else could I be?” I took a sip of my tea.
“What if we turned this room into the land of fae? Not for real,” I added quickly, not wanting to find out if it was real or not and if we could portal or whatever it is the fae do. I’d read a lot of fae books in my time, and the lore was all different, but one thing wasn’t—you didn’t mess with them. “Murals and maybe a little mushroom footstool, and stuffies…that kind of thing.”
“I think that’s a brilliant idea.” He took his phone out and tapped away as I took another long sip. Before I finished my tea, all three of my mates were there, telling me it was time for a road trip.
“A road trip? Like, we’re going to town?” Did they not see I was ready to pop?
“Yep.” Cash took my mug from me. “Pack an overnight bag.”
I learned a long time ago not to question them when they had fanciful ideas like this. They always led to a good time, and today was no exception.
We drove a few hours away to a small town famous for one roadside attraction: someone had turned their backyard into a gnome village and rented them out to people for overnights or weddings, etc. They had built little cabins shaped like mushrooms, wind chimes set in just the right spots where guests couldn’t be quite sure if it was the wind or the fae, and little concrete trolls amidst the cabins. They even built a fairy ring with a fire pit in the middle for those who dared. It was absolutely adorable.
We went inside our rental to drop our things off and away we went. The cabin was part one of our adventure; part two was heading into their downtown, where all of the shops embraced the theme of the little gnome village. There, we were going to get everything we needed for the nursery…we hoped.
Apparently, the eclectic person who built the gnome village had inadvertently managed to save the town by bringing in tourists. We were able to get everything we needed for thenursery and more on our shopping trip. All of it was being shipped directly to us.
Afterward, we ate at a restaurant that had two menus: one for humans, one for fae. But we were not allowed to order from the fae one because we weren’t fae. Little did they know, three of us weren’t human, either.
Based on the menu, if you ate fae food, you’d become addicted to it and have to face their mercy to get more and more. Not that I’d been tempted by any of the offerings despite the adorable names they gave the dishes. Not a single one of the concoctions they had on that side sounded good, which was probably the point. Putting something there no one would order in the first place made it easy to keep up the lore.
I had the best day, on what was probably our last overnight before the baby came.
“Thank you,” I said as six arms wrapped around me in a group hug. I was surprised they could still reach, despite my belly putting a lot of distance between me and the person in front of me, but we managed.
“No, thank you, omega ours, for coming into our lives.” Cash kissed the top of my head. “And making our pack a family.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Isabella
I’d taken to journaling again. After I got everything that I wanted out of my old house, which wasn’t much, I rediscovered my love of journals. My old ones weren’t the easiest to read. Seeing how naive I had been early on was painful, but they reminded me of just how far I’d come.
I started a new one when I found out I was pregnant. In this one, instead of the old words,If I am a good omega, follow the rules and don’t make waves, I’ll lead a happy, fulfilling life, I wrote on the top,I’m the omega I was meant to be, and I have a happy and fulfilling life.
Today’s entry was different than the ones I’d made recently. Most of them had been about getting ready for the baby or spending time with my bears, something I’d been increasingly wanting to do. I loved my mates. I loved talking to them, hanging out with them, going places with them. But for the past week or so, I wanted to be around their bears, and because they were the best mates ever, they indulged me.
Today’s entry was a sketch of York’s bear lying in the sun. It was the image that stayed in my head long after I joined him in the grass, leaning in to his body and taking a small nap before he had to head to a consult.
I’d asked the midwife if there was a reason why I’d been so needy and focused on bonding with my mates’ beasts. She told me it really had less to do with me and more to do with our baby wanting to be around other bears. My longing to be with them in their fur was a sign I had a cub growing inside me.
My mates swore they didn’t care if our baby was a shifter or human, and I believed them. I wished I could say the same, but I wanted our child to be like their dads, to have the strengthof their beasts, to never be alone, always having their bear with them. Of course, I’d love our child no matter who they were, but that didn’t stop me from wanting the best for them.
I closed the journal I was looking at, put it on the side of the bed where it lived, and waddled out to the backyard. I was restless, so very restless this afternoon. A few times, I tried to sit and work on a project or head into the kitchen to make a batch of cookies or prep the veggies for dinner, but I couldn’t sit or stand still long enough for any of that. I had to keep moving.
“Hey,” Lyon said, jogging up to my side. “Where are you heading?”
“I don’t know. For a walk, I guess.” I grabbed his hand. “Come with me.”
“Of course.”
The other two were on job sites. They’d been taking turns staying home with me. I swore I didn’t need them to. I would be fine alone. It wasn’t as if there was still someone out to get me.
If anything, I was protected now. Mark was still a piece of shit, but seeing his people and his mistress come back in that shape had made him unwilling to take a chance at pissing us off or letting others in his circles do so. That worked for me.
