Page 21 of Bone Collector’s Mate

Chapter Sixteen

Rook

I was going to have to find a job soon, but there were details to be worked out. Like, what job was available and how I could arrange child care. Orly loved having Benji over, but she had her business to run, and Noir was great with him, but we were still working out details of our relationship and living situation.

One thing had changed. Benji wanted to know why Noir had to keep going to his house every night and wanted to know why he didn’t sleep over. Which was a hella good question. Noir was my mate and we were official in shifter terms. There was no reason why he couldn’t stay over. But it didn’t resolve my job need or where we should live if we were going to live together. My house was a rental, but it was where all of Benji’s stuff was, so for now, if we spent the night together, we did it here.

Many mornings, I got up to find Noir and Benji in the kitchen making breakfast, but over the past few weeks, I’d been sleeping later and waking up tired. A little achy. But the sight of the two of them always cheered me up.

I wasn’t quite ready to give up my little house and move into the one my mate owned. Not yet. Soon. Probably. I loved us all being together, and it wasn’t Noir I didn’t trust but my own decision-making. And the possibility of letting either one of them down.

Once I resolved the things that were up in the air, I’d feel better. And step one was getting out there and seeing what jobs might be available. Maybe something remote would be a good choice. Did other parents with young children in the home work remotely while caring for them at the same time?

I didn’t know.

I should have gone to school to be a preschool teacher. Then I’d just pack him up and go. But would they pay me more than the cost of the school? Did teachers get free tuition?

More stressed than before, I inhaled the scent of breakfast cooking. Sausage patties. Benji’s favorite. They smelled so… Clapping a hand over my mouth, I rolled out of bed, landing on my knees, and pushed to my feet. Standing was worse, my head spinning as fast as my stomach roiled, and I dropped to the floor again and crawled for the bathroom. Trying to be quiet because I didn’t want to scare Benji. This was so much worse than the tiredness. Maybe it wasn’t all in my head and something that could be cured by positive thinking or actions.

Shifters were notoriously healthy, but even we died eventually. What if there was something terribly wrong with me that would take me away from Benji? Creeping from the hardwood floor into the cold tile, I reached the toilet and was violently ill.

A moment later, Noir was at my side, the bathroom door clicking closed behind him. “Rook, what’s wrong?”

I looked up, eyes blurry with tears from the strain of being so sick. “You have to ask?”

“I know you’ve vomited, but I wondered if you knew why.”

“No.”

“Any other symptoms?” He rested a hand on my forehead. “You don’t have a fever.”

“That’s comforting.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I just feel so incredibly awful. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“It’s okay. Do you think you can stand up?”

“It didn’t go well when I tried before. I got really dizzy.”

“Let me help you.” He took my arm and gently eased me up. “Doing okay?”

“Yes, I think so. It seems to be passing.” But not the fear. “I’ve never felt like this.”

“Come sit down and I’ll get you water. Or tea?”

“Water, I think.” I let him guide me to the bed. “I’ll just sit here if that’s okay.”

“It’s fine, mate. Let me get Benji some food, and I’ll bring you the water.” He left, closing the bedroom door behind him, which cut off at least some of the food smells. But my stint in the bathroom seemed to have taken the edge off the nausea and dizziness, anyway.

When Noir returned with water, I sipped it slowly then grimaced. “Is it weird that I’m hungry. Like, not a little hungry but Benji hangry?”

“Yes, but everything around here is at least a little unusual. You’ve never been sick to your stomach before? At least not this bad?”

“No. Never.”

“Not even when you were pregnant with Benji?”

I thought back to those early weeks when things were in such chaos with Adam so angry and blaming me for ruining his life and tying him down. “There was a lot going on, and I was crying most of the time. Not because I didn’t want the baby,” I hurried to explain. “My ex…”

“I understand. No chaos now, is there?”