25. Jeremy
It was such an easy solution.
I had decided weeks ago that Daisy was the one for me; I just needed to convince her of that. She”d been hurt before and had a child on the way, so I’d understood that it was going to take her longer to come around. But now the situation had changed.
“You haven”t even thought about it!” Daisy cried, pulling herself out of my arms to glare at me.
Her face was red and blotchy from crying, and my stomach twisted, seeing her like that.
I needed to make it better—I could make it better, by bonding with her. It was a win-win. Our relationship would be cemented, and the baby would officially be mine.
My child.
Pride and excitement filled my chest so tightly, I was set to burst.
“I’ve thought about it loads, Duckie,” I soothed, cupping her face gently, using my thumbs to wipe away the tears. “I want you. We’ve discussed this: I am more than happy to bond with you.”
“You can’t bond with me just because you want to save me!” she growled adorably.
I couldn’t resist. I planted a kiss on her forehead and chuckled lightly. “While saving you is a nice bonus, that’s not why I want to bond with you.”
Devon grinned. “I’m also completely down to bond, but you’ve known Jeremy a lot longer...plus, you’ve actually tried him out,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Daisy blushed and buried her head in my chest.
“What do you think?” she asked, turning to Nate. His eyes widened at her question. “I know you’re not my biggest fan.”
“I, uh, well...” Nate stumbled over his words, clearly not expecting to be called out in such a direct manner.
“This is your pack as well, so you have a say.”
Nate sighed. “I don’t want an omega, Daisy. It’s nothing against you.”
He just couldn’t handle losing another omega.
“And are you honestly okay with members of your pack being bonded if you’re not?”
Wait, was she actually considering it?
“Not fully, but again, that’s my issue to get over. You’re nice enough, and I could see you as family. I don’t want the guys to be miserable just because I’m sick.” He took a deep breath. “If you’re bonded, you’re included on Jeremy’s insurance—when’s the last time you had a doctor’s appointment?”
Daisy winced. “I only had one at the free clinic early on,” she admitted.
“If you’re bonded and officially part of Pack Price, then you get full health benefits, and your child is safe. It would be wrong not to join, frankly.”
Daisy rubbed her hand over her stomach, chewing on her bottom lip.
“I want to do this Daisy, I really do,” I tell her. “Sure, it”s not the right romantic way to declare that you want to be with someone forever, but it”s better than that, because I want to make sure that you and your baby—our baby—is safe.”
Devon placed a cup of camomile tea in front of Daisy, which she took with a small, thankful smile. Taking a small sip, she appeared to be mulling over the proposition.
After she had downed half the tea, she turned to Nate. “Legally speaking, how would we go about this? Is there some sort of prenuptial agreement for bonding? If so, I”ll happily sign.”
“You don”t need to sign anything,” I growled.
“If your packmates feel more comfortable with me signing something, I”ll do it,” she said, brows furrowing.
“I don’t want you to,” I insisted.
“But I want to,” she growled back.
Damn her stubborn independence.
Nate raised his hands to get our attention as we glared at each other. “Before you guys bite each other’s heads off, there’s no point in arguing. Daisy, there’s nothing you can sign. Bonding is forever, so there’s zero point in any documentation.”
“Oh,” Daisy mumbled as I grinned. Devon beamed at me. He knew that if Daisy and I bonded, there was a damn good chance they would end up together.
A small part of me was holding out hope that Nate would come around and see just how amazing Daisy was—I had caught him looking at her occasionally when he thought we couldn’t see him, and there was almost a longing behind his eyes.
“I think that, all things considered, this is the best path forward for you,” Nate admitted, somewhat begrudgingly.
“Okay.” Daisy nodded once again, taking a shaky break before looking to me. “How do we go about this?”
Devon barked out a laugh, and my face was probably a touch pink.
“Well, uh . . .” Words failed me.
“You do the beautiful nasty, and you bite each other,” Devon supplied helpfully.
“I know that!” Daisy hissed, glaring at Devon, who only grinned back at her. “I mean...do we just go do it now...or later? What’s the protocol here?”
I was definitely blushing.
“How about we just see how it goes?” I asked. “If we pressure ourselves, it’ll be forced, and none of us are going to enjoy that.”
“Well, we know she enjoys you.” Devon laughed. “The whole house heard how much she enjoyed y—Ow!”
Devon was cut off by Nate whacking him lightly on the back of the head. “Shut it,” he grumbled.
“As long as it happens in the next few days, you’re legally in the clear. There’s no need to respond to these papers at the moment. Once the bond is in place, I’ll make sure it’s registered, then if Cole decides to take this further, we can easily nip it in the bud, okay?” Nate said softly to Daisy, giving her a reassuring look.
“Okay. So, we’re doing this?”
Devon pulled Daisy out of my arms and into a hug, declaring, “Welcome to the family!”