Chapter 21
Dante
Istared down at the little guy in my arms as he guzzled—yes, guzzled—his bottle.
He was absolutely perfect. But so was his daddy, so of course, the son that Banner had given me was perfect as well.
He had quite the appetite, and it seemed as if he had put himself on a schedule, and he made sure he ate every three hours.
That didn’t leave much time for sleep, so Banner and I were living on naps. Thankfully, we didn’t have to worry about cooking, cleaning, or laundry. But finding time for a relaxing shower had become a challenge.
“That’s all right, little guy. Your daddy and I will eventually get to shower together again.
For now, your daddy can take as long of a shower as he wants.
” I smiled at Blaze as he continued to stare up at me while he took his bottle.
He was three days old now, and Banner and I were absolutely in love.
Not that we weren’t immediately. We were.
But Blaze was such a good baby. He fussed when he wanted fed or needed to be changed, and he didn’t complain when either one of us wanted to hold him.
Which was often. We couldn’t get enough of our little guy.
He finished his bottle, and I had just placed him up on my shoulder to burp him when I heard the shower turn off in the bathroom. Blaze let out a good burp, and then I changed my gentle pats to rubs. I was cuddling our son when Banner stepped out of the bathroom, completely naked.
I couldn’t help but appreciate the view.
He was my mate, and I would always be incredibly attracted to him, but I also knew he had just given birth three days ago, and it was going to be some time before intimacy was even a thought.
That was fine. I would wait forever for my mate to be ready to be with me in such a way again.
Banner seemed to notice me because he smiled at me. Either that or he was smiling at Blaze.
“You look so good with a baby in your arms.”
“So do you,” I told him.
“But I’m not holding the baby.”
“No, but you still look good. And you look wonderful when you hold him.”
Banner looked down at his stomach. It was almost as flat as it had been before he started showing, but there had been something incredibly sexy about him being pregnant with our child.
“Do you really think so? What if I always have this little bit of roundness?”
I rolled my eyes. “I will always be attracted to you, Banner. Pregnant, not pregnant, slender, rounded, heavily pregnant. Always. Are you honestly worried?”
Banner pulled on a pair of flannel sleep pants before he came over and sat beside me. “Maybe a little. You haven’t…you know. And it’s been three days.”
I blinked at my mate. “What do you mean? I haven’t what?” Please tell me he wasn’t implying what I think he was.
“You haven’t tried to…you know. We’ve not done it again yet.”
“By it, you mean sex. Is that what you mean?”
Banner nodded. I took a deep breath and blew it out.
“Baby, would you put Blaze in his bassinet for me?” Banner took the baby, and after carefully placing him in the little bassinet, he came back to the bed and sat back down.
“Come here,” I said as I opened my arms for my mate.
When he scrambled to me, I pulled him close and buried my face in his hair.
It was freshly washed, and although hints of his shampoo were there, my mate’s scent was much more prominent.
“Did I do something wrong?” Banner asked.
I took another deep breath before I kissed the top of his head and then loosened my grip on him.
I tugged Banner until he was settled in my arms with his head on my shoulder where Blaze had been.
“No. You did nothing wrong. And I very much find you sexy and want to be with you in that way,” I told him.
“But you just had a baby three days ago, and you haven’t even been cleared to have sex yet.
Are you saying you’re interested in sex?
That you want to be intimate already?” I tried not to scoff, but we were both running on fumes.
“You and I barely have time to shower, baby.”
Banner looked up at me, his face completely serious. “But you still desire me and would?”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I won’t because you haven’t been cleared.
But if the doctor said it was perfectly safe, then yes.
But we should be enjoying our time with our new baby, not worrying about such things as when we’ll have sex again.
” I tugged on Banner, and he moved over me and winced a bit.
I saw it and gave him a look. “See, that right there. You are still healing.”
“I’m healed. It just…I don’t know, something tugged a bit in my stomach.”
I nodded. “Because your omega line is still a bit pink.”
“It should be silver again.”
I shrugged before I reached up and ran my fingers through Banner’s hair.
“Possibly, but it’s not. Even with our advanced healing, sometimes things take longer.
You’ve seen the scar on my stomach.” It had been something that I hadn’t wanted my beautiful mate to see, but he’d spent so many times kissing it and telling me how wonderful I was that I barely noticed it any longer.
“I have these.” Banner held up his wrists.
I nodded before I leaned in and kissed his wrists. “Just like those. They didn’t heal in a few days. Mine was bright red for weeks.”
“Dante, they had to put your insides back inside you.”
I nodded. “Yes, and our son came from inside you.” I slid my hand around Banner’s neck and pulled him close.
I gave him a quick kiss before I leaned my forehead against his.
“It will happen. I promise you, it will. Just because I’m not all over you doesn’t mean I don’t desire you.
I absolutely do. I love you and the life we are building together.
All right?” Banner nodded, moving my head with his.
He pulled back, and when he looked at me, I stared back.
“I swear, Banner. It will. But it doesn’t have to happen three days after you give birth. ”
Banner took a deep breath and let it out. “All right. I just…we were so active before, you know.”
“I do. Because I desire you. Always. But now you need to heal, and I respect that. Because I love you. And you’re tired.
And I understand that. Your life right now revolves around our son.
He is completely dependent on us, and we have to take care of him.
” I shrugged. “It’s no different for any other couple.
When we start feeling as if we aren’t zombies, I bet it will happen then. Why? Because we love one another.”
Banner smiled before he leaned forward and cuddled. I wrapped my arms around him, holding my mate close. I thought about it a moment and wondered. Was it possible that he didn’t feel as loved because I was splitting my time between him and Blaze?
“Do you want more kids?” Banner asked.
I smiled. “Only if you do. I love our son; I’m happy with our son. But if you want to try for that baby girl next year, I’m more than willing.”
Banner’s head lifted, and he gave me a huge smile, then snuggled back with me. “I probably will. But I’m sure I’ll end up with all hellhound babies.”
“You never know. Maybe Blaze will be our only hellhound baby. Maybe we’ll have five more kids, and they’ll all be grizzly bears just like you.”
Banner’s whole body popped up now. “Five?” he asked with wide eyes. “You want six kids?”
I chuckled. “I want as many kids as you do. If you want two, I’m good with that. More? Still good. I’m going to be here with you every step of the way to take care of them.”
“But six?”
I shook my head. “It was just a random number, baby. Again, I’m good with Blaze.
I’m happy to have a second and see how things go.
Maybe we’ll have three? Or four? I don’t know.
Neither do you.” I pulled Banner back to me.
“Blaze is all of three days old. You should not be worrying about sex or more babies yet. You should be snuggling with me since we’re both awake and he’s asleep.
You should be enjoying our little guy and getting to know him.
” I kissed Banner’s hair and started running my hand up and down his back.
Banner sighed heavily. “If you keep doing that, I’m going to fall asleep.”
That caused me to smile. “That’s all right. You can go to sleep. You had your shower, our son is fed and changed, and he should be good for a few hours. Maybe we should take a nap,” I said quietly as I felt Banner start to doze off through our bond.
“A nap would be good,” he said, his voice starting to sound drowsy. I knew the long, hot shower had felt good. I’d heard him moan when he got in. And I’d felt how much it had relaxed him through our bond. “But it’s morning. We should be up and doing things.”
I smiled and continued to rub up and down my mate’s back.
“It is, but we also have a newborn that had us up at midnight and then three and now sixish. It’s almost seven, and sure, if we didn’t have the baby, we might be up and doing things,” I said quietly.
“But nobody expects parents of newborns to be up and dressed and ready to host visitors at seven in the morning. If they do, they’ve never taken care of a newborn. ”
Banner sighed, and I felt him drop off into a light sleep.
I held him, my eyes closed, and enjoyed the weight of my mate on me.
I knew that it wouldn’t take long for his legs to fall asleep in this position though, and despite the joy I had with him in my arms, I moved us to where he was lying on the bed.
He woke and looked at me with panic in his eyes until I leaned down and kissed him.