Smiling softly, Calvin picked Ray up and cuddled him to his chest. The baby could barely hold his head up yet.
I imagined cuddling him myself, and… Nope. Not going there. Calvin loved me, but he might reconsider if I dropped his kid on his head.
“So you’re quite okay with the surprise bundle here, huh?”
Calvin’s eyebrows drew together. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. It’s not like you planned to get knocked up by a guy you just met.”
My friend let out a laugh. “No. But it’s like that with bear shifters. I told you.”
“Oliver Klondike. The guy from the town hall. He’s preggo, right?”
“Yes. He’s bonded to Frey, our mayor.”
“And he got knocked up on the spot too, right?”
“I guess. But he and Frey knew each other from before. Oliver had a crush on him growing up, but then he went away to college. When he came back, the bond between them became obvious.”
“I still think it’s crazy. You sniff a bear shifter, and your insides go gaga, and you just can’t control it?”
Blushing, Calvin gave a shy smile. “It’s really powerful. The heat is intense, but on top of that, there’s this yearning. I can barely describe it.”
I smirked. “Try.”
Calvin rolled his eyes. “It was all I could think about during the heat, okay? Having a big belly, feeling full. I fantasized about lactating, but in a really sexual way. It was freaky. I literally felt my womb like an empty space in the middle of me, aching. The desire overtook everything else. And since Barclay felt the same…” He shrugged, his cheeks reddening further. “We went with what felt right. The breeding was such a relief.”
Huh. It sounded hot. But the slobbering consequence squirming in Calvin’s arms put a damper on the fantasy. “It’s like that for all bear-shifter mates?”
“I guess. There are contraceptives that work, and many couples opt for them during their later heats. But from what I’ve heard, most omegas have a kid from the first one.”
“Most? Not all of them?”
Calvin shrugged. “You’d have to ask Hunter about this kind of stuff.”
The baby shifted again, ogling me with his mouth open. He was cute; I had to give Calvin that. I patted his head, and he laid it on Calvin’s chest, giving me a toothless smile.
“And you and Barclay are having sex again, or is that part of your life over now?” I asked.
“Laurel!” Calvin spluttered. “Of course it’s not over. My sex life is just fine, thank you for your concern.”
“I just wonder, you know, with tiny cockblocker here, how do you do it?”
Calvin ran his hand up and down Ray’s back. “My son sleeps fourteen hours a day. With breaks, but it adds up.”
“Aren’t you exhausted all the time?”
“I’m tired but not all the time. Besides, I like sleepy sex.” He squinted at me. “What’s gotten into you?”
I shrugged. I always assumed babies meant an omega’s life was over, but Calvin seemed fine.
“Sorry, man. I didn’t mean for it to sound like a jab.”
“It didn’t. Are you okay?”
Those guileless eyes of his.Ugh. They seemed to poke at my brain cells, luring out shit I would never tell anyone else.
“Am I difficult?” I blurted.
