“Ha, I thought so when you had the orange juice.” Sally appeared out of seemingly nowhere. “I only like chocolate milk when I’m pregnant, but I didn’t want to add that part. Didn’t want to jinx you.”
“Hurry up, go home,” Sampson said. “And maybe take a picture of your mate’s face when he finds out you’re pregnant. Let us live vicariously through you.”
“I’m taking this home, and I’ll do as you said, and I’m going to enjoy my day off. But don’t get your hopes up.”
I tried to figure out if there were any telltale signs of being pregnant that couldn’t be explained away by other things, such as working too hard. I came up with none. I pulled back into our driveway only a few hours into the day. My mate was staying home today, working on some repairs around the house. When I walked inside, he was half under the kitchen sink.
“Honey, I’m home.”
“What, honey?”
“Well, yeah, because you’re under the sink, like the old sitcom, but they always… never mind.”
“Why are you back already? Are you not feeling well?” He stood up and put his wrench on the counter.
“I’m back because my boss has decided I need to take…” I held up the box, “one of these. And Sally said when we look at it, she wants a picture. Oh, and then I’m allowed to have the day off, either way.”
“You’re pregnant?” His eyes went wide.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I didn’t think so, but Sampson and Sally have me questioning that.”
“Hurry up, go find out.”
I went in and took the test, and then called my mate in. He stood behind me, his arms wrapped around me, his chin on my shoulder, as we watched the test. It felt like forever waiting for it to flash “Pregnant” or “Not Pregnant,” but I was glad we had that kind of test because there was no misreading words.
“What do you think, Zack? Is it okay if I am?”
“No, mate, it’s better than okay.” He kissed my cheek just as the test flickered: PREGNANT.
I turned in his arms and hugged him tight. “We’re going to be dads.”
“Yes, mate, we’re going to be dads.”
Tears were flowing down my eyes as I stood there with my mate, the father of my child, a joy filling me that I never knew possible.
“Look up here.” I turned my head, and there was the click of the camera on his phone, which for some reason he had set ridiculously loud.
“For Sally?” She wasn’t exactly a big friend of ours, but I did work with her. Still, it was odd that my mate took time out of this moment to take a photograph for her.
“She can have a copy, but it’s for me,” he said, showing me a second photo. “I want to remember this moment until my last days. Because up until now, this is the happiest I’ve ever been.”
“Same for me. So very same.”
15
ZACK
“Is that everything?” Ford glanced around the cabin.
“Nope.” I scooped him up and carried him out to the truck. “Now it is.”
My mate pecked my cheek. “Any regrets?”
I shook my head. “No, because this isn’t an end but an exciting beginning.”
We weren’t leaving our cabin for good, and we weren’t renting it out because we’d be going back and forth between here and a cabin on den land.
With the den expanding their business ventures, Asher needed Betas, ones he could trust. His traumatic childhood and eventual return to the den had made him cautious about decision-making. And when he broached the idea of me being a Beta, I was wary because even though Ford had been welcomed by the den members, he’d been looking for a flight.
