Pack Plus Three (Pucking Pregnant Book 1)

27. Devon

“Well, flower, how do you feel about going to your first-ever hockey game today?” I asked as I sauntered into Daisy”s room, my arms full of various hockey jerseys.

She was lying in her nest, reading a book, and upon my entrance, she sat up straighter, discarding the book and smiling at me. It hadn”t failed my notice that, other than the quick trip to the garden the other day, she hadn”t left the property at all. While we all agreed that she needed to rest, she didn”t need to be cooped up, either.

Her new bond mark peeked out of her shirt. Jeremy had been proudly showing his off since he got his, the arrogant bastard. The pair of them had spent the first day as a bonded couple refusing to leave the nest.

Jeremy had been anxious that he had to go to practice and play a home game, followed by an away game the next day, right after they had bonded. He was discussing either bringing Daisy to the away game or sitting it out with his coach. People tended to be sympathetic to the newly bonded. We were all so absorbed in work that we didn”t have a chance to really talk to her. So, I’d decided that getting her out of the house may be helpful in getting her to talk a bit more.

“A real game?” she asked excitedly, slowly sitting up straight.

“Jeremy has a game starting in about two hours, which I think gives us plenty of time to pick out a hockey jersey for you, take you to our box, and fill you up with junk food before the game starts.”

“I have been wanting to watch Jeremy play live,” she admitted.

“Well, then, let”s pick a jersey out. I have several of Jeremy”s old ones here.” I placed the pile of fabric on the bed, pulling individual ones out. They were all for the Chargers because, if she was going to be cheering Jeremy on, she needed to wear his name and his team’s jersey.

“These are amazing. I doubt I”ll fit into them, though,” Daisy whined. “I”m the size of a house!”

“A little secret about hockey jerseys. They are gigantic. When you aren’t pregnant, you are a teeny, tiny little nugget of an omega. So, even in your current state, I think several of these jerseys will fit.” I grabbed one of the larger ones and handed it over to her, holding out a hand to help her climb out of the bed/nest hybrid she had created.

“If you”re sure,” she said, taking the jersey and pulling off her sweatshirt, leaving her in just leggings and a camisole that her cleavage practically spilled out of. I had to stop myself from gawking at the sight.

I was a gentleman, after all.

While she did that, I folded up the extra jerseys, piling them neatly at the end of the bed. Despite the beautiful windows, this room had been cold before she’d moved in. There was a warmth that only a real, living, breathing omega could bring to a space, and she had done so beautifully.

Over the next few years, I desperately hoped that I would be able to fill this room with our family.

“You haven’t left the nest for the last few days. Are you feeling okay?” I asked as she pulled the jersey over her head.

“Yeah, I”m feeling fine. The baby is just using my bladder as a bouncy castle.” She laughed.

Kneeling in front of her, I gently gripped her belly with both my hands and stared at it as I spoke. “Now, young man, that isn’t a nice thing to do to your mama. We like her, we are nice to her, okay?” I tried to keep my voice stern, but Daisy”s laughter made it hard to maintain composure. “We are about to go to a hockey game, so Mama can watch Daddy Jeremy play his game, and you’re going to leave her bladder alone for the entire game, okay?”

Daisy snorted. “I”m not so sure they will listen. And why are you so sure they are a he?” she asked, raising one eyebrow.

“It has to be a boy,” I declared simply.

“Oh yeah, and why is that?”

“A little girl who looks like you would have every single one of us wrapped around her finger, and it would be a nightmare. No one”s going to be able to say no to her.”

“I hate to break it to you, but even if it is a girl, people will have to say no to her.”

“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “Not me.”

Daisy snorted, turning to me, now dressed in a jersey. “We”ll discuss that later. What do you think? It”s not even tight on my bump!” she exclaimed excitedly.

“You look absolutely adorable,” I remarked. She really did. The jersey fell almost to her knees, and Jeremy’s scent lingered on it.

Now that they were bonded, their scents would forever be slightly intermingled. My chest burned with want when I thought about that. I wanted Daisy to bear my mark, not just Jeremy’s. Our dates had been going well. I had kissed her several times, and with any luck, she was falling for me just as hard as I was falling for her.

“Do we need to go right away?” she asked.

“Pretty much, if we want plenty of time to get some food and rest before the crowds trickle in.”

“Okay, let me just go pee, and I”ll be ready in two minutes—I just need to run a brush through my hair,” she declared before waddling off to the bathroom. I swear she was getting curvier and more delectable by the day. My obsession with her behind was rapidly growing.

Once the bathroom door closed, I walked over to her bedside table and grabbed the giant water bottle she had been using lately, intending to refill it before we left.

We couldn”t let her get dehydrated, especially when she was drinking for two.

Filling her water bottle had been the right call. As soon as we got in the car, she admitted to being thirsty and started sipping from the comically large bottle.

“So, who is Jeremy playing today?” she asked between sips.

“I think it’s the Colts tonight. I haven”t actually checked. I know that there”s a game.” I laughed.

“Didn”t he play them last week?” she asked, her brow furrowing.

“Probably.” I shrugged. “They play teams several times throughout the season. It”s bizarre, but fun, especially if there are players who like to beat each other up a lot.”

Daisy snorted delicately. “We do love a bit of violence on occasion, don”t we?”

Our conversation rolled into silence for a moment while she took several deep gulps of her water. We pulled up outside the arena, and Daisy stared wide-eyed at the masses of people milling into the rink.

“It looks like it”s going to be difficult to get in there. Even the parking lot looks jam-packed.”

“Ahh. See, we get special privileges. Being packmates to a player means we get to use the private parking lot,” I told her as I drove around the back of the arena to the smaller lot that the players used.

“No one told me there were perks!” Daisy cried happily.

“Yeah, we get private parking and our own box, so we don”t have to mingle with the riff raff. The only time we have to deal with the public is when we want to go for snacks.”

“Which is a very important part of the game,” Daisy said with total seriousness.

“It is!” I agreed. “How about we get you up to the box and get you settled in, and then I will go and do a quick snack run for us? That way, you can rest with your feet up while the game starts.”

Daisy moaned. “Putting my feet up does sound good. Why are you so nice to me?”

I leaned over the central console and quickly pressed my lips to hers in a chaste kiss, getting a taste of that sweet apple sugar I was quickly becoming addicted to. “Because you”re pretty and funny and I like you,” I said, beaming at her. “Now, come on. Snacks await!”

“I got one order of loaded fries, one triple cheeseburger with extra pickles, an order of nachos, and a chili cheese dog!” I declared as I re-entered the box.

Daisy was sitting in the comfortable armchair I”d left her in, her feet resting in front of her as she watched the players warm up on the ice.

Her face lit up as I showed her all the food I had gathered. “Extra pickles?” she asked excitedly.

“I”ve seen the way you”ve been eating pickles lately. I just assumed they were a craving, so I got extra. I also picked up an order of those fried pickles I told you about.”

“Thank you! Gimme!” she moaned, greedily taking the tray of fried deliciousness off me.

She hadn”t asked for extra, but I”d seen the several jars of pickles she had eaten over the last three days. Pickles were amazing, though, so it could have just been a regular food craving instead of pregnancy craving, because I would have also eaten three jars of pickles in a day if left to my own devices.

“You are a god amongst men,” she said excitedly, making a grabby hand gesture for the burger. Handing it to her without delay, I watched her take an almost inhumanly large bite, moaning in pleasure.

Don’t get a boner over the pregnant omega enjoying food.

“Is it just us here today?” Daisy asked after she had polished off most of the burger.

“Yeah, it’s just the two of us. Why do you ask?”

“Doesn”t Nate usually come to these things?” she asked, biting her lip. I needed to find some sort of motivation to stop her from biting her lip. If she kept going at it this way, there was going to be no bottom lip left, and I happened to be quite attracted to that lip.

“He comes sometimes, but he”s working today. He”s seen hundreds of Jeremy’s games, so it’s no big loss for him.”

“Okay...” Daisy nodded absentmindedly, her eyes going back to the ice.

Scooting closer to her, I grabbed her hand and gently pulled her to look at me. “Talk to me, flower. What’s going through your mind? You seem a bit out of sorts.”

“It”s nothing, really.”

“If it”s nothing, then you can talk about it.”

Daisy started fiddling with her food, moving the fries around on her plate. “What’s Nate’s deal?” she finally asked.

“His deal?”

“He”s made it clear he doesn’t want me around. No one’s really talked about his situation before, and the other day, when I was on my own with him, he seemed... ”

“What happened?” I asked, my chest tightening. Had he been mean to her? If that fucker had made her feel unwelcome, I was going to kick his ass five ways to Sunday.

“I was walking past his office the other day when you had that construction emergency and Jeremy was at practice. I heard something fall and what sounded like a groan, so I investigated. Nate was on the floor, and he looked sick.”

My heart hammered in my chest. We had been skating around the Jilly issue. I know that Jeremy hadn”t told her anything yet, so she was completely in the dark, because Nate wasn”t exactly forthcoming about his situation.

I wanted to share my life with this omega. I could see a real clear future with her. And the last thing I wanted to do was skirt around an issue or lie to her. Jeremy would potentially be pissed at me for telling her without him, but if Nate had another attack, then this was getting serious.

“Nate has severing sickness,” I admitted.

“Jeremy mentioned that a while ago, but I didn”t realize it was this severe. He was on the floor, barely able to see straight. I wanted to mention it sooner, but given everything with the potential custody battle, I became distracted.”

“He tends to hide it from us a lot. I will talk to him soon, see if we can go to the doctors with him for another checkup.”

“I try to stay away from him. I know he doesn”t like having me around. I can”t exactly blame him, given his past. I get the impression that Jilly wasn”t a pack omega?”

I shook my head. “No, she wasn”t. Jilly was a friend of ours growing up, and she and Nate weren’t even that close. He helped her through a heat, and they accidently bonded. They had been bonded for a mere few hours when the car crash happened. Jeremy and I never dated her. That”s why dating is so easy for us. For Nate...I don”t know when he”s going to be ready, or if he is ever going to be ready. Even though he wasn”t emotionally that close with her, the severing sickness really did a number on him.”

“Are you sure he”s okay with what we are doing? Me dating both you and Jeremy? If he”s still fighting the sickness, surely this could be difficult for him?”

I hummed, nodding. Daisy was a compassionate person, almost to a fault. While she was getting attached to both me and Jeremy, I knew for a fact that, if she thought it was hurting Nate, she would walk away and never look back.

“We had a few discussions. Nate doesn”t want to stop us from living our lives, but it is difficult for him.”

“I”m guessing it really didn”t help that Jeremy just moved me into the pack house with no notice.”

“It was certainly a shock for him, but once Jeremy explained the situation, he wasn’t going to say no. Nate is a good guy, and he would never let an omega be on her own in this situation. Believe it or not, before he got sick, he was the biggest softie out of all of us.”

Daisy snorted. “I would have loved to see that.”

“Just give him time.”

“He”s my family now. I”ve got nothing but time to give him.”

Somehow, Jeremy had managed to find the one omega who was relaxed and sweet, kind and considerate for our situation, who didn”t want to rush Nate into something he didn”t want to do, but was also content with him being part of our pack.

I”d half expected us to fracture as a pack one day when Jeremy and I decided we wanted an omega. Even though Nate was being a bit grumpy with Daisy, he wasn’t being a complete monster, like I’d expected. He had handled the panic over the custody papers shockingly well.

I could only hope that, with time, he’d find the kindness Daisy was showing him and truly accept her into our pack.