“Please, if they were the ones to give birth, parental leave would look very different. It’d be guaranteed, not just a suggestion, and it would last months instead of a few weeks. And it’d be paid!”
Sunny snorted. “I’m just trying to picture how Blaze would behave if he had to give birth.”
“You and I both know he would be thebiggestprincess.” I laughed. “Can you imagine?”
“I don’t think I want to,” she said, giggling. “So talk to me. What do you want to know? What are you worried about? What are you excited about? Tell me everything. Where are you planning to give birth?”
“I haven’t really planned that far ahead. I’ll give birth at the local hospital, and my birth plan involves every pain medication available.”
“Ha! Good, you’re going to want them.”
“Beyond that, I haven’t thought much about the birth,” I admitted. “I’ve been trying not to think too hard, considering the pack is still messed up.”
Sunny sighed. “Not having everything settled is going to make it harder for you. Maybe I need to kick Walker in the ass to get an update.”
“Honestly”—I raised my brows—“I would appreciate that a lot.”
“I’m not above using myadorablebaby to get what I want. I’ll tell him I’m postpartum, I’m stressed, and I want to know my friend is safe and taken care of.” She winked at me, and I loved her all the more.
“Has anyone ever told you you’re amazing?”
“My alphas tell me every day, but that’s because they love me and they’re supposed to. Yours better be telling you the same things.”
“We do,” Wilder yelled from the kitchen. “We tell her every day that she’s beautiful and amazing and precious and special and that we adore her.”
“Did your mother ever tell you it’s rude to eavesdrop?” Sunny rolled her eyes.
“Yes, but I was curious,” Wilder said, appearing in the doorway. His eyes landed on me holding baby Abigail and softened. “Well, that’s a pretty sight.”
I eyed him. “Remember how this sight makes you feel, because in a few months when you’re dealing with a screaming baby at two a.m., you’re not going to feel that way.”
“At two o’-fucking-clock in the morning, I’ll be singing to our baby and smiling through the exhaustion. Just you watch.”
Grinning, I bobbed my head in a nod. “I think you’ve got a bet, sir.”
Chapter 39
Merrick
“Hails, you have a package!” I called in the general direction of the nest. A large cardboard box had just been left on the porch with her name on it, and I could only imagine what was inside.
Picking it up, I grunted at how heavy it was as I carried the oversized thing into the kitchen and placed it on the island. What on earth had she ordered?
Actually, I knew better than to question whatever my pregnant omega was buying. With her nesting instincts going into overdrive, there had been several bizarre packages arriving at the house.
Quick little footsteps sounded down the hallway, letting me know that Hailey was on her way.
“My fabric arrived!” she called out happily as she saw the box. Running over to the counter, she opened a drawer, pulled out a pair of scissors, and ripped the box open with glee.
Mental note—she is damn good with scissors.
“More fabric?” I asked. It was hard to believe there was any fabric she didn’t have, considering how full her sewing room was getting.
She nodded excitedly. “I found a few adorable prints that I wanted to use to make some blankets for the baby. I haven’t actually made them anything yet, I realized, and that just feels wrong.”
As she spoke, she pulled out several bundles of fabric and showed them to me.
One was garden-themed with little vegetables, another had a fruit theme, and there was even one with little bunnies dotted all over it.
