Pack Plus Three (Pucking Pregnant Book 1)

4. Daisy

Ihad never particularly been a fan of spicy foods, but this man was a god amongst men when it came to cooking. Every dish he had made me was better than last. The kimchi stew was no different.

Jeremy had kept refilling my bowl without me even realizing, so by the time I got to the end, I”d probably eaten close to four bowls of the spicy fermented deliciousness.

“I also took the liberty of pre-making some extra rice and stew for you to have over the next day or two,” Jeremy informed me as he took away my dish and replaced it with a plate holding a slice of what I could only describe as the most amazing-looking cake in existence.

It must have had at least ten layers, with rich layers of chocolate and sponge.

“This looks phenomenal.” I moaned before I even took my first bite.

“It”s quite high in sugar. You have been tested for gestational diabetes, haven”t you?”

I shook my head. “My doctor didn”t feel it was necessary yet.” Okay, that was bullshit. The real reason was because I couldn’t afford any extra tests, and I was having to make do with this shitty free clinic. Despite the advanced stage of my pregnancy, I had only had one appointment so far, and not a single ultrasound. Anything else would have cost an arm and a leg. I wanted more appointments, more tests. Hell, I would happily test everything under the sun to make sure the little parasite was safe. Unfortunately, due to my rather abysmal financial situation, I had to make do with good old hope and prayers—and I wasn’t particularly religious.

My pregnancy had been fairly easy, other than the nausea, which I had read was very normal. I wasn”t experiencing any pain, so I didn”t believe there was any reason to be concerned.

That didn”t stop me from worrying.

Jeremy frowned at me as he whipped up a bowl of cream to go on top of the cake slice. “I thought the test for gestational diabetes was standard?”

“I think it is. Unfortunately, I have to use the free clinic, and they don”t do extensive testing there. That”s okay, though. I”m feeling good, other than my inability to keep food down.” I kept my voice light. The last thing I wanted to do was complain at the sweet man who had been feeding me. His smile had warped into a frown the moment I mentioned the free clinic. “Anyway...what have you been up to today?” I asked.

“I had a few meetings, but I did manage to fit in a trip to the hardware store. I”ve been meaning to get new tiles for the second bathroom here and more wood for several carpentry projects.”

“Are you redoing every room in this apartment?”

Jeremy shrugged. “Pretty much.”

“By yourself?”

“My packmate Devon helps from time to time, but yeah, I”m doing most of it.”

“He’s the one you own your business with, isn’t it?” I was pretty sure he had told me before, but my memory wasn’t the best, thanks to the pregnancy.

“He is! All six of his fathers worked in construction, so he was practically born to do it.”

“Six fathers?” I spluttered, staring at Jeremy with wide eyes.

“He”s from one of the bigger packs. He loved it growing up.”

“His mother must have been absolutely exhausted, keeping that many alphas happy!” I grinned. The idea of having six alphas to keep happy seemed nearly impossible to me. That much work would wear me down. Most packs only consisted of two to four alphas, and even those were delicate balancing acts.

“She is absolutely spoiled. I”m pretty sure that woman hasn”t had to lift a finger in the last thirty years. She”s got six daughters and one son. They”re an amazing family.” Jeremy beamed. “Have you ever thought about what size you would want your future pack to be?” he asked, spooning up a thick dollop of cream and adding it to my plate before handing me a fork.

“I haven”t really given it much thought,” I said, unable to meet his eye. I had given it thought. Quite a lot of thought, actually. Only, I highly doubted anyone would truly be interested in me at this point. Considering it was only my third meeting with Jeremy, unloading all my stress and worries on him would not be a good idea.

Even if he did seem really sweet.

And an amazing listener.

We could just have him?a small part of my mind insisted, never mind the fact he had a pack. My stupid pregnancy brain was making me all soft and mushy. All I wanted to do was to crawl into this gigantic alpha’s lap and beg for cuddles. Maybe some head scratches?

I would do downright criminal things for cuddles and head scratches.

“What are you planning to do with all the wood you got? What project did you have in mind?” I asked, trying to divert the subject somewhat.

“I was thinking of making a new TV cabinet or bookcase. This place could do with a lot more furniture,” he said as he took a bite of cake.

“You are seriously talented. I feel like something”s breaking in my apartment every other day.”

“If something goes wrong, you are more than welcome to call me, Daisy. Honestly, I”m happy to help.”

“I know. I just don”t want to be an imposition.”

“I”ll happily do any manual labor you need me to, if you will pay me in butter pecan cookies.”

I smiled at him. There were actually several things wrong with my apartment. My shower door never closed properly. I had cabinets that wouldn”t open. I had a floorboard that I was pretty sure was about to cave in and a window that wasn”t latching properly. Thankfully, we lived on the third floor, so I wasn”t too concerned about the window.

Part of me desperately wanted to take him up on his offer, but another part felt like I had already taken so much from him. He hardly knew me. Who was I to demand so much of his time?

I had been so distracted by our conversation that I hadn’t touched my cake yet. Picking up my fork, I took a small bite and, as the flavor burst across my tongue, I made a downright pornographic noise.

Throughout my lifetime, I’d had a lot of cake. I was a cake connoisseur, you could say. Still, that chocolate cake was hands-down one of the best cakes I had ever eaten. It was simultaneously rich and moist, sweet yet irresistibly dark.

“Holy fuck, where did you get this from?” I asked around my mouth full of cake.

“There”s a bakery not far from the hardware store I went to today. I”ve never actually tried it, but I must say, I am pleasantly surprised.”

“I need to find whoever made this cake and marry them.” I moaned, taking another large bite.

Jeremy laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

What did he mean by that?

“I can”t eat another bite.” I moaned, rubbing my stomach and closing my eyes. Between the cake and the kimchi stew, I was about to burst.

“How”s your stomach feeling?” Jeremy asked.

“Considering the copious amount of sugar I just consumed, I feel really good. You know when you’re just so full, you want to take a nap?”

Jeremy”s eyes crinkled as he laughed. “Didn”t you just take a nap? Then again, I guess growing the little one takes a lot of energy.”

“Thank you so much for cooking. Again. I don”t know why you”re being so lovely, but I appreciate it.”

“You”re welcome. Honestly, I”m happy to cook anytime. It”s nice to cook for someone other than myself. Staying here has been great because I get to work on fixing up the apartment, but I do miss having my packmates around. At least when they’re around, no food goes to waste.”

“And will you be moving back in with your pack once the apartment”s done?” I asked, subtly looking around. It already looked amazing. The living room had been repainted. The kitchen was immaculate and modern. Surely there wasn”t that much more left to do? My chest tightened at the thought that Jeremy wouldn”t be around much longer. Despite my best efforts, I was getting attached to him.

“Yes, but that”s not going to be for a while yet, several months, in fact. There are so many things I want to do here.”

Why was that such a relief to hear? I couldn”t allow myself to get so attached to this alpha that lived next door to me. Even on the off chance that he was attracted to me, I was about to be a single mother, and he had a whole pack full of alphas who probably wouldn”t find me appealing.

Why was I even thinking about alphas? I”ve been so content just to go about my life, be a single mother, and do my best by this parasite.

Then my ridiculously hot neighbor had to make me food.

You know that old saying, that the way to a man”s heart is through his stomach? That doesn”t just apply to men; it also very much applies to pregnant women.

“I think you”re going to have to roll me out of here.” I laughed, lightly rubbing my stomach.

“There”s a sofa only a few feet away. I could always roll you over there if you need a pit stop.” Jeremy chuckled.

“That is tempting. That sofa looks far too comfortable.”

“It really is. You should give it a try,” Jeremy said as he whisked my plate away.

“Maybe next time?”

I should have taken his offer for a pit stop on the couch.

My own lumpy threadbare mattress was nowhere near as comfortable as his couch. I knew that for a fact, and I hadn”t even sat on his couch yet.

Crawling into bed the moment I got home, I hoped that the good food would lull me into a nice and easy sleep.

Four hours later, I was wide awake and staring at my ceiling.

Pregnancy was unusually cruel. The exhaustion tugging at me was intense and all-consuming. All I wanted was several hours of deep, uninterrupted sleep. I felt exhausted because I was pregnant. But because I was pregnant, I also really struggled to fall and stay asleep, as the sweet little parasite I was growing would kick my ribs or give me absolutely horrific back pain.

Neither of those things was conducive to a good night”s sleep.

When counting the cracks in my ceiling became too much, I finally threw my pillow across the room and stomped to the kitchen. If I was going to be awake, I may as well have been doing something useful. I still had enough ingredients to make another batch of butter pecan cookies for Jeremy, so I started pulling everything out and laying them on my kitchen counter.

My kitchen equipment was pretty abysmal, most of it purchased second hand, but thankfully, cookies just required a mixing bowl and a cookie sheet.

Twenty minutes later, the dough was ready. Taking a small scoop, I started to individually scoop out the cookies for baking. Humming happily to myself, I reached out to grab another baking tray when the heavens opened above me, and a torrent of ice-cold water drenched me—and everything around me—making me scream in shock.

Rain.

It was raining.

Inside my apartment?

Squealing, I ran out of the kitchen, looking behind me to see that, sure enough, the entirety of my kitchen ceiling was soaking wet as heavy streams of water flooded from it.

It was like a series of sprinklers had decided my apartment was on fire and every surface needed to be doused with water.

Well, shit.