It was really coming together. It was warm, and cozy, and… plaid. It was a pleasant fiction that they were creating, him and Devon, because everybody in town knew that they were having a boy.
Everybody, including him, but everybody also knew that Laird wasn’t supposed to know, and so they were all pretending not to know that they were having a boy whowas going to be named Cameron. It was actually kind of cute.
Laird did love a good inside joke.
He glanced at Nick, who was just seeming worn out. “You got your go-bag? You want to spend the night?”
“Oh, my God, I would love that. Your place is so nice.”
He was going to have to make sure Devon understood that there was always going to be the need for a guest room in their house even if they had fourteen children, which somehow he doubted because he really couldn’t see his very staid, stable knitting omega with fourteen children.
Two at some point in the near future, one now and one in like five years? That he could see with Devon.
Fourteen? No.
Guest rooms? Yes.
“Well, you’re welcome. Come on.”
They headed over, taking his truck because hell, he could drop Nick over to get his Jeep anytime.
Knowing Nick he might just stay at the house on both their days off. The man was actually incredibly good at building blanket forts, and the cats were beginning to like him.
Devon said that was kind of a miracle. They still didn’t like Raven.
He got them moving, and he glanced at Nick a few times, his buddy super quiet.
If there was an issue, maybe he ought to address it before they got to the house.
“You okay, man? Is it just the day?”
“Partly. Partly I think I’m starting to look at my choices. I’m not getting any younger.”
Ah, damn. That’s where Laird was a year ago. He probably wasn’t helping with the existential crisis either…
“Yeah, it’s something, huh? You kind of go, do I want to be an EMT the rest of my life?”
Nick nodded. “I mean, it’s a good life, a good job, and we’re doing good things, but man, every day it’s a little harder.”
He glanced over. “Well, what do you want to do?”
Nick snorted. “Fuck if I know. I mean, up until a few years ago, I just assumed this was going to be my life forever. I blame this on you. I was fine until you decided to get all married and stuff.”
“Yeah, that’s what I get for getting the accoucheur pregnant, huh?”
Nick nodded, chuckling softly. “Yep. You should have just kept it in your pants because now look at you. You’ve got cats, buddy.”
He started laughing, so did Nick, the cab filling up with the sound.
He pulled into his driveway and parked, then Nick kind of grinned at him, turning to face him. “I don’t know, maybe I should get a roommate. If I got a roommate, I could live on what I have saved for a while until I figured it out.”
“Sure, or you could invest in something. There’s all sorts of businesses. You’ve got tons of options.”
“What, am I going to invest in a bar?”
“Well, we’ve got one of those, but I mean, why not? What if Jeb wants a partner?”
“Nah, surely not. I mean, that would be awfully fun, wouldn’t it? To be part of a brew pub? I could learn a new skill.”
