Chapter Nineteen
Liam
“Uncle Liam.” My four little nephews came running to greet us as we walked up the driveway. Their voices chorusing as they approached. “Come play with us. Daddy and Mommy are too busy.”
“Alright, but let me check in with your mom and dad first and say hi to your sister, okay?” I ruffled each boy’s hair. “Give me five minutes.”
“Okay, but Hailey doesn’t need a hi.” My youngest nephew frowned up at me. “She’s a baby.”
“She may be a baby, you guys.” Spencer knelt to their level. “But she still deserves a hello from her uncle.”
“Fine. Meet us in the yard, Uncle Liam. Uncle Spencer, stay with Mommy so we don’t hurt your baby.” Little Henry beamed up at Spencer, his blond locks almost covering his wide emerald eyes.
“He’ll stay inside while we shift. Thanks for thinking of your future baby cousin.” I led Spencer into the house and laughed. “You heard them, babe. You stay inside while I go have fun.”
“Trust me.” Spencer rubbed his slowly growing belly. “Staying inside and sitting down sounds like the best idea right now.”
“You okay?” I stopped and turned to face him. “Do we need to go get checked out?”
“No.” Spencer patted my cheek. “I am just pregnant and tired.”
“You’re sure.” I placed my palm on his belly and kissed his nose. “I can get us to the clinic in ten minutes if you need to get there.”
“Liam.” Nicola came out of the kitchen holding baby Hailey. “You act like you haven’t been around me while I was pregnant five times. He’s okay. The baby’s okay. Trust me, if there was even a small hint that something was wrong, Spencer would know, your bear would scent it, and you would already be at the clinic.”
“See. Your sister knows.” Spencer leaned in and kissed me on the lips. “Now go play with your nephews so your sister and I can vent about our overprotective mates.”
“I guess I’ll go out there too.” My brother-in-law bent and kissed his wife and daughter. “I can’t get in the way of a good venting session. Do you need me to take Hailey with me?”
“Nah. I can hold her.” Spencer held out his hands in a gimme gesture. “I need practice for my own cuddle bug coming in a couple months.”
“If you’re sure.” Ethan slipped past us and headed to the door. “Come on, Liam, before Billy and Tommy team up against Johnny and Henry.”
I walked out the door and into the chaos that was my nephews.
Spencer
“Are you okay?” Nicola waited until the alphas were out in the yard before hugging me and leading me over to the chair in the kitchen. “Do you want some water or tea?”
“I’m good. Just a little sore and tired. I can feel my skin stretching and it’s just uncomfortable. I am having issues sleeping through the night. I can’t get comfortable, or at least not stay comfortable enough to stay asleep.”
“I have an extra pillow I’m going to give you. It will help with sleeping. Just put it around you and snuggle in. That stretching feeling is horrible. It’s just a constant feeling and our mates will never understand how annoying it is yet amazing, because we know it’s because the baby’s growing.”
“Exactly.” I held Hailey in my arms and cooed down at her. “If you don’t mind, ice water sounds really good right now.”
“For sure. I’m going to give you some of my tea too. It’s okay to use while pregnant, but my witchy midwife said the blend helps with sleep and calming. It helps me and if you want to take some, I have more than enough left.”
“Thank you. That sounds amazing.” I watched as Hailey’s eyes fell shut. “Do you want me to keep holding her while she sleeps or put her down in her crib?”
“Actually, we have a mobile bassinet right there.” Nicola gestured to a little cot I hadn’t noticed previously next to the table. “She can nap in there while we finish up dinner and chat.”
Getting up, I placed Hailey down and made sure she didn’t stir. “Where is Isaac? I didn’t see him outside.”
“Oh, yeah.” Nicola shook her head. “I sent him to the store for dessert. I forgot to whip something up and the kids wanted brownies.”
“Oh brownies.” I closed my eyes at the thought. “I love your cooking but I’m kind of glad you forgot today. Brownies sound amazing.”
“Don’t they?” Nicola checked the pots and lowered the setting of the stove, joining me at the table with two glasses of water and two cups of hot tea. “Now tell me all about how annoying my brother has been this week.”
“Oh goddess.” I rolled my eyes. “You won’t even believe it. He wouldn’t let me put away groceries yesterday. He said anything heavier than a soup can was too heavy and that I need to just sit down and let him do it.”
“So, what did you do?” Nicola stirred two lumps of sugar into her ginger-honey tea.
“I sat down and let him do it.” I threw my hands up in surrender. “I mean, no one really wants to have to put the groceries away, so if he’s gonna give me an out, I’m taking it. But he really is afraid of everything hurting me and the baby.”
“Ethan won’t even get frisky when I’m pregnant. He thinks he’ll poke the baby.” Nicola rolled her green eyes.
“You’re kidding.” I flinched at the thought of not getting to come my whole pregnancy. I had never been hornier in my life and didn’t think I’d cope well if my mate refused me.
“I wish.” Nicola grabbed a cookie off the plate in the middle of the table. “The doctor even laughed at him and told him there was no way. But he just won’t get over his fears.”
“They are too silly.” I took a sip of my tea. “Oh, this is yummy.”
“Isn’t it?” Nicola drank her tea, too. “I have a cup every night during pregnancy and just after. I’ll give you the information so you can stock up. Or I’ll drop it in Liam’s phone, and by tomorrow you will have a dozen tins of it in your pantry.”
“I don’t doubt that.”