16. Niam
16
NIAM
I’d officially quit my job, and Todd and I were on our way to pick up all my belongings.
I still didn’t know what I was going to do full-time, but with my background, it wouldn’t be too difficult to find a remote job. I was waiting until everything was finally straightened out with the accounting fiasco at the family business before even looking for something else.
When I came out to Oak Grove and suspected it would be more permanent than a quick trip to help my father, I’d thought I’d be sad to give up everything I’d worked so hard for.
That hadn’t been the case, not even close.
As we drove to my old apartment, it felt more like Christmas morning than a regretful affair. In fact, regret wasn’t even in the same county as we were. I was about to start my new life with my sexy mate in the home we’d been working so hard to fix up. We were going to turn it into the home we wanted to raise a family in. A home to grow old in.
With our family.
For so long, I thought that would never be part of my life, and I’d been fine with it. At least, I pretended to be. But ever since we decided to officially get married and finally mate, the talk of babies began.
And I was excited for that. But also worried.
There was always the chance it might not be in the cards for us. My brother was known for being not too picky in bed and being less than careful, and so far, he was childless. Did that mean he had fertility issues or had he just been lucky? And if he did have fertility issues, would that mean I did as well?
We hadn’t been particularly careful. As in, not at all. And so far, there was no baby growing in my middle. But then again, we’d only been together a few months now, so it wasn’t outside the realm of normal. I was just impatient. Just as impatient as I was about Todd marking me.
When my father suggested a formal wedding instead of us hitting up the courthouse, that only added to my waiting time. And while I loved the idea of getting married surrounded by people I cared about, the yearning to wear his mark was intense. So intense, I found myself thinking about it pretty much non-stop.
And moving out of the city meant we were one step closer to that future in my mind.
“It was good luck that your lease is up now.” My landlord had seemed a little too happy when I called and said I was planning to move.
My place was rent-controlled, and as long as he did renovations after I moved out, he could fetch twice the rent. I knew that but still thought he would at least pretend to be disappointed by it. Not that it mattered to me. Not really. Although, not having to buy out the rest of a lease was pretty sweet.
Todd’s hand settled on my knee and gave me a shake. “Hey, where are you?”
“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about my landlord and moving. And how well the house is coming along. And how everything is falling into place.” I looked out the window to see how long I’d been spacing out. We were a lot closer to the city than we’d been the last time I looked. “I wasn’t trying to be bad company.”
“You weren’t. I needed to concentrate while we were going through the construction anyway.”
Construction? I really had been in my own head. It was difficult not to be with all the changes happening in my life.
Everything except for our final decision from the IRS was done on the business side of things. Our meeting had gone well—at least, that was my perception of it. I wouldn’t be able to truly breathe until I knew for sure that everything was done, sealed, and my father wasn’t going to be held liable for the crap my brother did.
“How about I turn the music on, and we can play car karaoke?” I think he thought I was kidding when he agreed. I wasn’t, and the next hour of our ride was filled with some very off-tune, not quite accurate lyrics.
Until we were finally there. “It’s the next block up.”
I’d been surprised when Todd offered to drive. City driving sucked on a good day, and we had a box truck, making it doubly so. But he didn’t seem to mind any of it—which was good, because if I’d been driving, I’d probably be gripping the steering wheel so hard it would crack in half.
Todd pulled into the alley where the loading area was for my building, and we went inside. It was weird walking inside the building that had once been my #lifegoals. It was as if I was visiting a past time—one from eons ago, a whole other lifetime. And I suppose, in a way, I was.
“This is it.” I pushed open the door to my apartment, and we stepped inside.
The air was stale, but that was to be expected since no one had been here for months. I didn’t have a lot of things to move out because the apartment had come furnished, and I wasn’t a stuff kind of guy. It still took most of the day to get the kitchen and books packed up, along with my clothing.
Todd stood at the window, taking in the skyline. “This really is a pretty view.”
“It’s a different kind of beautiful. I prefer the one we have at home.” I came up behind him and took his hand in mine.
“Are you sure about this, love? Are you sure you want to make Oak Grove your home again after all you did to leave it behind you?”
“Oh, silly bear, Oak Grove isn’t my home.” I stepped between him and the window and reached up to place my hand over his heart. “You are. You’re my home, alpha.”
I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. Todd’s arms came around me and pulled me close. We stood there for several minutes, just holding each other until the alarm on my phone went off. Rude.
It was getting late, and we really needed to leave. I hadn’t exactly given myself a lot of time between move-out day and the last day of the lease. And my landlord was the type of jerk who’d find a way to snatch my security deposit. I didn’t want to give him any excuses.
“You ready to get out of here?” Todd asked.
“More than.” After double-checking everything was swept clean and empty, I locked the door for the final time then dropped my key in the office slot on our way out.
It was a goodbye to one chapter of my life. It had been a great chapter, but nowhere near as wonderful as the one I was currently in.
We drove part of the way home before stopping at a little motor inn along the way. It was the kind from old pictures, where each unit was like a tiny cabin. It was dated as could be, but it was shifter-owned, according to my mate.
Todd quietly explained that the owners were a hedgehog couple. I didn’t ask him how he knew, but I figured there was maybe some sort of shifter directory of businesses that he referred to when traveling.
As we walked into the office, which was also their home, we were immediately welcomed like long-lost friends. The couple was absolutely adorable, and something told me I’d have known they were hedgehogs even if I hadn’t been informed. There was just something about the way they wriggled their noses as they spoke that gave it away. Not that I would tell them that.
“Are you two here celebrating something special?” Mrs. Hedgehog turned the clipboard over for us to fill in our data. I didn’t catch her name, so that’s what I called her in my head. I looked around and realized they didn’t have a computer system here.
“Oh, no, I’m just moving from the city to be with my mate, and we need a place to stay for the night.”
She gave a knowing nod. “Ah, that explains it.”
“Explains what?” I hadn’t meant to ask it out loud, but now that it was there, I wanted an answer.
“Why you’re carrying his cub even though you’re not mated yet.”
I blinked as my breath caught in my throat. “Cub?”
“Martha.” Her husband gave her a look that said, What are you doing?
“Harold, it’s not like he doesn’t know he’s pregnant. Bears have a great sense of smell.”
Wait, what was that? I looked between Todd and the woman. “Does that mean what I think it means? You think I’m pregnant?”
She nodded and raised an eyebrow to Todd.
Todd’s hand settled on my belly and he hummed quietly. “That does explain the sweetness.”
Another nod.
Before I could process all that was happening, Todd pulled me into his arms and was twirling me around. Just before I felt too dizzy, he set me on the ground and kissed me. “We’re having a cub.”
“A cub?” Their conversation was finally starting to sink in. I was pregnant.
“That means you better mark him soon,” the older woman said to Todd. She even wagged her finger to complete the motherly scolding.
“That’s what I said!” I snuggled in closer to my alpha. “Thank you for agreeing.”
“Nope. Not yet. At the wedding.” Ugh, my mate was a stubborn one. “It’s only one week away. We can wait.”
I wasn’t exactly sure that the wait wouldn’t kill me, but I was trying to be strong. It just wasn’t easy.
“Oh, look at you two, being respectful of each other’s cultures.” She cooed like she was looking at a litter of puppies. “Back in my day, it was all arranged matings. Luckily, I got this guy. He’s not too shabby.”
“Hey!” Harold looked up like he was about to say something but then shrugged. “Yeah, that’s accurate. I’m the one who lucked out in this case.”
And suddenly, it felt like we were interrupting them in a private moment.
My mate grabbed the key off the counter and told her he’d finish the paperwork in the morning. Then he dragged me straight to our cabin. “We have some things we need to talk about.” Todd pushed the door closed behind us.
Words were the last thing I was thinking about. “Talking can wait. I need you. Now.”
There was no way he could argue with that.