“Because I’m making one more dream come true. This time, it’s for both of us.”
I gasped and slapped my hands over my mouth after standing. Auburn held up a set of keys and some paperwork. “You didn’t. Mate, you didn’t.”
He smiled. The biggest one I’d ever seen. “I did.” He grabbed my hand, but my legs and knees weren’t currently working right. “What is it? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?”
I nodded, already crying. “You bought us a house?”
“We bought a house but yeah, I did it. It’s in both our names.” When I didn’t respond, his shoulders slumped. “Please tell me you didn’t change your mind about this place.”
Shaking my head, I laughed. “Not for an instant, but I thought it was out of reach.”
“The ice cream shop is doing well and, even after the down payment, we have a lot in savings. Don’t you want to see it again? Now that it’s ours.”
First things first. I rose on tiptoe and gave him the most grateful kiss I knew how to. He grabbed my waist and pulled me tight. “Thank you, mate. I can’t believe you did this.”
“Believe it. You’ve got to pick out all the furniture though. I’m no good at those things, but I did pick out one piece. If you hate it, tell me. No hard feelings.”
“I doubt there will be any hard feelings, Auburn. You bought us a house. A whole house.”
He chuckled and led me inside. Somehow, the house was more beautiful now that it was our home. There was no furniture, but the sunset poured in through the bare windows and gave the place a glow that only nature could create.
“What did you buy?” I asked, not seeing anything.
“Upstairs. It’s only one thing. Don’t get too excited.”
Was he kidding? Look how our lives had changed, and he expected me not to get too excited? Auburn didn’t let me climb the stairs. He carried me up them as if I weighed nothing. Bear shifter genetics were fantastic.
“Here we are. It doesn’t have to be this room but it gets the best sun and…”
“It’s gorgeous. You picked this out?”
Auburn nodded and shrugged. He was unsure if I liked it or not. I knew my mate.
“I love it. The room. The house. The crib. I was looking at this exact one the other day.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I kind of cheated. It was on the browser history and I saw you’d looked at it a few times. But we can always exchange or return…”
“Hey.” I got in front of him and cupped his face with my hands. “It’s perfect. Absolutely. I’m so thankful you did all this. I love you, Auburn. We love you.”
My mate rubbed circles on my belly. “We?”
“Yes. He loves his papa more than anything, just like I do. I couldn’t ask for a more loving mate, Auburn. I feel like I should give you something in return.”
“What?” he said a little forcefully. “You have given me everything, Oakley. A home in you and your heart. You’re carrying our cub. You helped me when I was alone. You are themost important dream come true. You deserve all of this and more.”
We stayed in the house for a few hours and even had dinner delivered there. Auburn and I got giddy eating on the floor again, reminiscing about when we used to eat picnic-style on the floor of the ice cream shop.
This life with my mate was what dreams were made of.
Chapter Twenty-One
Auburn
We moved in and had time to get settled before Oakley was through his second trimester. It was the time he felt best and most energetic, and we had so much fun setting up the nursery. The second-story room next to ours had wide windows that let in lots of light, and I knew the moment we toured the house that it was meant to be a baby’s room. And ordering the crib Oakley had been looking at was a no-brainer. His reaction? Everything.
As soon as we were in the house and unpacked, we made the nursery our priority, building around the crib that was the centerpiece. We painted the walls pale purple with yellow trim and found a rug perfect for playing on the floor, with an adorable unicorn right in the middle. We had thought about buying the rest of the set that matched the crib but decided we were not “set” people. Rather, we sat down every evening after dinner and looked for changing tables and dressers and chairs…whatever we wanted or needed. I even refinished an antique dresser—because we loved it, found it buried in a second-hand store, and pregnant omegas did not need to be refinishing furniture. The paint for the walls was the zero whatever, recommended for omegas and babies.
As we crossed into the third trimester, we had finished the nursery and Oakley was all ready to nest. He branched out into the rest of the house, making sure it was clean and tidy and organized. Every danger handled. Drawers and plugs blocked and locked. Gates on the top and bottom of the stairs. The list Oakley downloaded from the internet made it sound like every home was a hellscape with the single goal of harming our child, but when we went over it, the actual things we needed to do were not nearly so overwhelming. Thank the goddess.
