21. Kelly
Chapter 21
I t’s frustrating that even though I get a week off college for break, I still need to go into work this morning. And it got cold again! Teddy and Sam are gonna be busy. They need to file the pack paperwork, and I’ll go down to the courthouse after work and sign off on it. Then Sam says he needs to work on the nest. I might ask if he wants me to see if Xan can help. I know he loves building stuff, and if time's an issue, I’m sure he’d do it. Unless he takes a bunch of time off for their honeymoon. I hadn’t really thought about that.
But he and Gabe work for beer and pizza. Maybe with three guys working on it Teddy’ll be able to stop stressing. He says he’s not, but he’s been tense since we got home yesterday. Then Sam immediately went to work on fixing it up, so it’s pretty obvious what’s going on. I need to call my OB-GYN and see about getting some new birth control this week. Especially since it usually takes a couple of weeks to be fully effective—at least the pills did. I’ll need to ask.
While Teddy and I were good with using some of the ridiculous amount of condoms I bought, I want to make sure we don’t have any accidents. Plus, I really want to feel him completely, both of them.
Not even sure where that came from.
Never been with a guy without one.
It just feels weird having something between us...and that doesn’t make sense either.
I get dressed in my work jeans and a T-shirt. Gabe and Xan don’t really care what I wear, but Mom taught me that I need to be at least a little professional for work. So I usually just wear a black button up with my jeans. Originally, I wanted to go with white, but after a couple days at the shop it dawned on me that white shirts in an auto shop were a terrible decision. Regardless, it’s my off week from school, and I didn’t pack my work clothes when I was grabbing stuff from my parents’ house, so this will do for today.
I finish moving my few clothes into the unfinished bedroom downstairs. I sleep with Teddy and Sam in the master bedroom upstairs, and I’m sure that we wouldn’t have a problem fitting all our clothes in his huge closet, but I just need a space of my own. Like the nest, my room still has plastic on the walls, and exposed insulation, but I just need a spot that can be mine for now, even if it’s just a place to store my duffel bag. Plus, I like being downstairs for a change. I mostly get the downstairs bathroom all to myself since “my” bathroom is as unfinished as “my” bedroom. Bonus, no Tuck here to use up all the hot water.
Score!
The smell of bacon hits me as I leave the bedroom. Sam's an amazing cook—I can’t believe he never bothered doing it for himself. I love my mom and her cooking, but Sam’s food is a whole new adventure and I’ve never heard of a lot of it. But I love bacon, and no real surprises with that. I head into the kitchen and Teddy’s already at the table cutting into an omelet… weird looking omelet . There's a big platter of bacon on the table, and a bowl full of cut up fruit chunks. Also, a carton of orange juice, the full pot of coffee on a trivet, and a jar of salsa.
Do these people have something against a simple breakfast?
A moment later Sam pops out of the archway from the kitchen carrying a plate with another omelet that he sets in front of the chair across from Teddy. “Behold, my take on a loaded Denver Omelet with diced ham, four kinds of cheese, bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Let me know if you prefer something else in it.” He’s looking at me hopefully and I try not to cringe at this abomination that sounds like eggs and salad toppings.
Sitting down at the table, I watch him bustle back to the kitchen—probably to finish his own “omelet”—and use the serving spoon to grab some orange and yellow chunks out of the sliced fruit. I don’t recognize many of these. I know bananas—those aren’t here. I know apples, oranges, and I even remember eating pear slices at school. I think I smell a pear. Maybe those are the white chunks I snagged. But fruit should be fairly safe from surprises. Totally on board with the idea of bacon, I add a few slices of that to my plate too.
Eyeing the “omelet” suspiciously, I won’t lie, it smells good. But up until a few days ago, I didn’t even think about there being four different kinds of cheese. And while everything he’s made so far has been wonderful, for some reason the idea of him ruining a perfectly good, simple breakfast food has me taken aback. Still, I trust him, so I should try it at least. Preferably before he comes back so I don’t make a fool of myself if I hate it. Law of averages, right? Not everything he makes is gonna be good.
I cut the corner off and stab it with my fork. Unfortunately, I’m too slow as he comes back into the room just as I’m about to take the plunge. He has a big smirk on his face as he sits at the spot between Teddy and I. “Oh, good. I was hoping I’d get back in time for you to taste it. Sugar, you need more vegetables in your diet. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that the only ones you seem interested in are the steak fries and that horrible canned tomato soup. I don’t even know if that has a full serving of ’em in one bowl.” He watches me as I nibble on the corner, not getting anything but egg flavor. I give up and pop it in my mouth.
Holy guacamole!
I haven’t tried guacamole either, but now I kind of want to.
There are so many flavors. I thought it was gonna clash really bad, or at least be too many vegetables. But everything's so well balanced. I never had an omelet before that wasn’t just egg, cheese, salt, and pepper. My parents didn’t eat out much. We’d sometimes order a pizza or grab burgers at the diner, but I never thought anything about breakfast would be this different. Even omelets were a rare occurrence. Most mornings we just grabbed cold cereal, but sometimes on the weekends Mom would make a big breakfast of biscuits and gravy, or scrambled eggs and sausage. Heck, a few times she even made muffins, and those were great.
Teddy and Sam both watch me as I nearly inhale the rest of my omelet and the bacon I put on my plate. I can’t eat all the fruit I picked out—the omelet was bigger than I expected—and I’m not even sorry about that. I lean back in my chair, wondering if I need to unbutton my jeans when the grandfather clock in Sam’s living room strikes seven.
I have to leave in fifteen minutes, or I’m gonna be late to the shop. We don’t open till eight, but I like to get there at seven thirty so that I can take care of any paperwork the guys left me from the day before. Plus, it’s Monday, so I need to go over the weekly schedule and check out the inventory to see if I’ll need to ask Gabe to order anything. He never even notices we’re getting low on office supplies until the printer runs out of ink or throws up an out of paper error after they empty the last ream.
I stand up and take my plate to the kitchen, giving it a quick rinse and putting it in the dishwasher along with my silverware. I pack up the various cheeses and veggies on the counter and put them back in their respective spots in the fridge. Sam and Teddy wander into the kitchen with their used plates and the coffeepot.
“Shoot, I forgot to grab a coffee. I don’t think that’s happened before,” I muse to myself before rushing through the dining area and into the bathroom to brush my teeth and pull my hair up into a ponytail. I run back to my room to grab my socks and head towards the door, grabbing my keys and sliding my shoes on as I reach for the doorknob.
Before I can get outside, Teddy speed-walks out to me, carrying a to-go mug. “Two milk, three sugar, yes?” He hands me the mug and gives me a quick hug before turning around and walking towards the stairs.
Sam steps up next. “Be safe, Sugar. We’ll get that paperwork filed this morning and then be home all day if you need us, ok?” He gives me a quick kiss on the forehead before adding, “Watch out for Jake, he’s crazy this morning.” He chuckles softly, opening the front door for me, where Jake's laying on his back in front of the screen door, his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging.
I hear a muttered, “Oh lord,” before Sam walks off, and then the sound of the backdoor and a loud whistle. Jake flops over and then nearly trips on his own legs scrambling around the side of the house to get to the back door. I would have been happy to let him in the front, but I couldn’t open the screen without hitting him with it. Big goofball.
He barrels into the room now, already licking the air before he even gets to me. “I’ll see you after work too, slobber muffin.” I barely manage to escape his wildly swinging tail without getting knocked over again, but at last I am out the door and into the car. I see Jake’s face pressed against the screen as I pull away and try to remind myself to pick him up a chewy treat when I go by the store later.
It’s chilly on the way to work, overnights and mornings are still pretty cold, and my car takes forever to warm up enough for the heater to work. The drive is over quickly since my mind's preoccupied with everything that happened this weekend, and my stupid heater's just barely started putting out warm air.
I need to set an alarm to call my parents later to check in, so they don’t worry. And I make a note of that next to the note in my phone to call my OB’s office. Xan’s already in when I pull up, which is strange—I didn’t expect to see him so soon with the ceremony only two days ago. He has bay number one opened up, and Candice’s old mustang pulled in and on lifts. I’m bundled up in a jean jacket I had in the car, and my teeth are nearly chattering when I get out. My breath comes out in steamy puffs as I stop to make sure everything’s ok. He seems fine in just his usual coveralls. I’ll need to ask Sam if alphas just run hotter than betas.
As I get closer, Xan answers before I have a chance to ask if anything’s wrong. “Mornin’ Kelly! Just getting Candice’s car in for a quick checkup and old-school safety inspection this morning before anybody gets here. Jacks picked up car seats last week and is really excited to get them installed. I want to make sure everything's on the up-and-up before we start down that road. Plus I need to make sure all the rear seatbelts are secure.” His eyes scan over me, taking in my light coat and tense shoulders. “Heater not workin’?”
I smile through my now chattering teeth. “It’s great once it heats up, but it takes from Sam’s all the way here to get that way.”
He stares at me for a few extra seconds before his eyes flip over to my little car, then he holds his hand out. “Gimme the keys, I’ll check the thermostat and give everything a once over after I finish with this one. There’re only a few appointments this morning so it should be fine for me to stay in this bay till I finish up.” I’d like to tell him not to worry about it or how much I appreciate the help. But I know he and Gabe would just shrug it off. I’ve been with them for a few years now, and they said it’s too weird charging family. I appreciate it, since I need to go to the store today to get a few more groceries, as well as whatever copay I need to have for getting new birth control.
Pulling the keys back out of my pocket, I toss them to him—he manages to catch my poor throw in the air and smirks at me. “Now, get inside and get warmed up…and can you start the coffeemaker, please? That thing hates me.” Smiling to myself, I head inside to get the day started. I have no idea what kind of vendetta the coffee maker has with Xan, he’s usually great with all sorts of electronics, but he can’t seem to turn this antique on without red lights flashing an error code.
Regardless, I get a fresh pot started, then send a quick text off to Sam telling him about the car, asking if he needs me to pick anything up for dinner when I stop to grab groceries after work. The store's only a block and half down the road from the shop. Then I put my phone and bag in the locked cabinet in the breakroom and pull up the schedule to get work orders ready for the day.