“No, but the cabin was so dirty. We can’t bring a newborn into such a filthy space.”
I’d cleaned a few days ago, and it was just the two of us, so the cabin didn’t need much upkeep.
“I can do that after work, darling. You should put up your feet.”
“I’m fine, and I’m the only one that knows how to do it properly.”
Larkin must have visited because there were two pump bottles of shower gel on the kitchen counter.
Roland said he wasn’t hungry, but I decided to get food for both of us. If he didn’t want it, I’d have it for dinner.
“Where are you going?” He rubbed his back as his big beautiful pregnant belly protruded in front.
“The dining hall.”
He flapped his hand. “I don’t have time to eat, and Otto’s coming over later, so can you get cake from the dining hall?”
When I returned, my mate had replaced the furniture, made the bed, and the crib bedding was on the mattress.
“The place looks amazing. Thanks for all your hard work.”
“I might have done too much.” He made a face, and I helped him onto the bed. He picked at the food I’d brought, and wewere discussing names for the baby when Otto arrived. He had sandwiches and more muffins.
I left them to it but not before pointing out the cake. I hoped that sharing stories with another omega who’d been pregnant would improve my mate’s mood. And Otto had faced danger from his twin brother when he arrived at Stoney River. He’d fought his twin in the river creek and killed him. Perhaps he and my mate could share their experiences and bond. Roland hadn’t made as many friends as I had, and that might be because while everyone was wowed by a unicorn, they were also wary of getting close to him.
As I wandered to the library, people greeted me, and a group of kids asked about story time. I had become part of the Stoney River pack, but with Roland’s history, I worried that he didn’t feel the same. But having a baby on pack land might cement his feelings. Our little one would be part of the Stoney River pack from the moment they took their first breath.
23
ROLAND
Lying to my mate for this long had been tearing me apart. I struggled with eating, sleeping, and keeping my happy face slapped on. I had years of practice pretending that everything was okay with my herd, and even with that, I couldn’t handle this. Knowing that at any moment, the other shoe could fall and those poachers would be back for me had it impossible to function some days.
I wasn’t under the delusion that they had let me go for their own sake without having someone keeping an eye on me. They couldn’t be that foolish. They were just better at it than before. My biggest fear was that they were waiting for our baby unicorn to be born.
Something had to give. I wish I knew what that something was.
I went to the refrigerator and grabbed the jug of milk. I’d been trying to keep up with my diet, the one the midwife created for me. Unfortunately, it included milk three times a day, something the human part of me did not love. They said it was necessary for shifters to have the extra dairy, and I wasn’t going to fight that simply because I thought it was gross.
“I could’ve gotten that for you,” Bryden said, taking the jug from my hand. “You’re supposed to be resting.”
“That’s not what I was told. I was told not to overdo it, and that had to do with work, not pouring a glass of milk.”
My mate had wanted me to quit my job after that appointment. I promised him I’d leave when the job became too much. If anything, the job was good for me because it gave me a distraction. When I was counting inventory, the only thing in my head were numbers.
Poor Bryden. He was dealing with a lot during this pregnancy thanks to me. Twice he dragged me to the midwife thinking that something was physically wrong with me because I was, in his words, “distracted, anxious, and hyper-aware.” I had to double down on my pretending after that, but my midwife told him a lot of that was normal with pregnancy. I didn’t think that was true, but I appreciated having some plausible deniability.
“Here.” He gave me a cup, and I drank it down all at once, because once I put that cup down on the counter, I wasn’t going back for it. I knew that about myself.
He pressed his hand against my cheek. “Seriously, are you okay, mate?”
“Yeah, the baby’s fine.” Answering the wrong question allowed me to answer truthfully. My life was filled with enough lies. “They are the size of a toddler, though.”
Not really, but I felt huge, and my due date was soon if I followed a similar gestation to horse shifters. There was so much we didn’t know in regards to unicorn births.
I stepped closer, hugging him, when our little one decided it was time to kick him.
“I think our little one’s jealous of me getting hugs from their daddy.” Bryden put his hand on my belly and squatted down, talking to our little one. “Hey, you don’t need to kick me to remind me that you’re here. I think about you all the time.”
