“I try. Anyway, this is all a part of hygge. I’m making life warm and happy.”
“Well, thank you for that, baby. I love that about you.”
Devon glanced up and caught his gaze, his cheeks going pink. Devon still seemed so excited every time he said it, but he meant it, and he was gonna say it as much as he could. He learned that from his dad, who never let anybody leave the house or get off the phone without telling them he loved them.
“Thank you.” Devon leaned into him. “It makes me happy, and I feel like I’m doing something good for you too.”
“You are.” He kissed the top of Devon’s head. “And you’re doing good things for Nick, Raven, and Ben too. I know it’s going to make our kid feel secure and safe. I grew up in a good house, and I always felt like I had somebody to go to if I needed help, and I want that for our son.”
Raven was making an “aww” face at him, and even Ben and Nick glanced over. Nick gave him a thumbs-up. He wasn’t much for speeches, but every once in a while, the words came out in the right order.
“So does anybody have any room for dessert?”
Everybody groaned, Raven putting a hand on his belly. “I think we’re going to have to take ours to go. Is that okay?”
“That’s perfectly okay. It’s better than what Nick will do, which is eat it at two o’clock in the morning, standing at the kitchen counter in his underwear.”
“Hey, now,” Nick said from over next to Ben. “I’m just appreciating your cooking when I do that. It’s my way of thanking you.”
“Oh, I’ll have to remember that next time, and I’ll thank you by coming down in my underwear with my big old belly hanging out.” Devon winked at Nick, and they all had a good chuckle about that. But he knew Nick wouldn’t care. His friend had seen way weirder stuff and this was their house. Nick wasn’t gonna say anything about Devon wearing whatever he wanted or didn’t want.
God, he was a lucky bastard and his life was amazing.
And as soon as their friends left, he was going to show Devon how much he appreciated hygge.
Chapter
Twenty
“Chase, we’re going to have to have a discussion about this. You need to slow down.” He looked his client straight in the eyes. “I’m serious. Give your body a break. You don’t need to have a football team.”
“I don’t want a football team, I just like being pregnant. I like my family, and I like having babies.
“Stop it, and give yourself a little break. Six babies in nine years might be enough for right now. Give yourself a year, maybe two, to deal with all the babies.”
“And I thought I was your best client!” Chase winked at him, but seemed relieved that one, he wasn’t pregnant again, and two, Devon could write him a prescription for birth control.
Raven was waiting in the break room when Devon was done. “How did it go?”
“Better than I’d feared. He needs a bit to breathe.” And Devon needed bacon.
Crispy, salty, nummy bacon.
“He does. He’s a good father, but damn.”
“Exactly. And Jack, somebody needs to talk to him too. Maybe you could get Ben…”
“Oh no. No no no. Ben doesn’t interfere with Jack’s business. They’re friendly, but not besties, you know?” Raven chuckled, pushing his hair back off his face. “They probably see each other once or twice a month at the alpha breakfasts.”
“Well, maybe I’ll talk to Saul and see if Mark will do it. I know he and Jack went to school together and stuff. I know I’m interfering, but I just think Chase needs to take a break.” Devon wandered around the break room, opening the refrigerator and looking in the freezer, trying to see if there was anything that would substitute for bacon or if there wasn’t one of those little breakfast bowls that he could microwave or something.
“What are you looking for?” Raven asked, his eyes twinkling as he watched Devon’s progress around the room.
“Bacon. I need bacon. And I can’t leave because I have another appointment in twenty minutes.”
“But that’s what the delivery services for. Do you like a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel from Alicia’s?”
“We have a delivery service now?” Secret Springs was kind of small and had not ever really caught on with the DoorDash or Grubhub sort of crowd. But if someone had started a local service, he would totally use the hell out of them.
