Chapter Sixteen
Aspen
I was ginormous. No, scratch that. I was what ginormous wanted to be when they grew up.
It seemed like only yesterday, I was able to wear my jeans with a little rubber band trick around the waist, and now, I was barely able to get paternity pants on. The entire pregnancy had gone by so quickly.
Part of it was we’d been really busy. I started my new job, which was great.
My boss was flexible. It was remote. I didn’t actually need to work that many hours to get what I needed done, and they didn’t care, as long as I showed up to all my meetings and everything was completed on time. I’d really lucked out with it.
And, during that time, Ragnar managed to get the lodge almost ready to go. I helped when I could, and local friends of his who came by and helped, including people he’d known from childhood and reconnected with.
It was kind of a really cool town. It didn’t take much to get to a big-box store if I wanted to, but I preferred going into the general store and having the guy behind the deli counter knowing exactly how I like my turkey sliced.
Or stopping by the coffee shop and having them automatically making my hot chocolate halfway between adult temperature and kid-friendly so that I could drink it right away without me having to explain it.
And, oddly enough, I loved that the mechanic knew me.
I didn’t have the worries I had going to a random shop, when the mechanics saw an omega and thought they were easy pickings for some expensive work that didn’t really need doing.
And, better than that, the owner wouldn’t let me skip anything that he wouldn’t let his own omega skip but also didn’t push me to do things he knew could wait.
Yeah, small towns had their benefits.
“Hey, Frosty, you want to go sit on the porch?”
Whack, whack, whack. His tail slammed into my leg.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
I grabbed a bottle of iced tea from the fridge. We’d taken to making it and pre-filling reusable bottles so that I could just snag it and go. Coffee was not a thing this pregnancy, and the iced tea hit the spot perfectly.
“Where do you think Daddy is?”
Frosty responded the way he usually did, with a lick.
“Yeah? I think so too.”
We went out to the porch, Frosty dashing off it and running in circles, his favorite pastime. I took a long sip of iced tea. It was already summer, and while this wasn’t the hottest part of the country, no one accused the place of being cool. I sat in the rocker and slowly moved back and forth.
Ragnar had left early that morning. He’d told me where he was going but wasn’t even halfway out the door before I’d forgotten. Pregnancy brain was real.
I could’ve easily texted him and asked him. I wasn’t too embarrassed to let him know that I didn’t remember things. He was my mate. He knew everything about me.
The only time I got embarrassed was when he whipped out his silver tongue and started complimenting me or bringing up the things that had me thinking about naughty time, which wasn’t naughty at all but because we teased about the “naughty list” one time, it kind of stuck.
Frosty jumped back on the steps and curled up at my feet.
“You’re brave. This is a rocking chair, so maybe it’s not brave. Maybe it’s foolish.”
Frosty licked my ankle.
“Okay, then, foolish it is.”
I reached down to rub his head then closed my eyes and slowly rocked back and forth, enjoying the little breeze passing through.
My mate’s truck pulled in not too long after that.
“Hey, I missed you.” I pushed myself up and waddled down to see him.
“I missed you, too, love.”
His lips brushed mine in a kiss that was far too quick.
“Sorry I took longer than I said this morning.”
“Don’t worry about that. I forgot what you said when you were partway out the door. I wasn’t sure if you were coming home after dinnertime or where you even went.”
“I went to pick up the crib. It came in.”
“You went to pick up the crib? How did that fall out of my brain?”
“Hormones.” He half shrugged then kissed me again, this time letting it deepen. Best mate ever. “Can you hold the door open for me while I carry this inside?”
I followed him to the back of the truck. “Or I could help you with this. There’s no way you can carry it on your own.”
He gave me a look.
“Fine. I suppose there’s a way, but it’s not the best. I’ll help you.”
“Nope. Absolutely not. You’re pregnant—very pregnant.”
“Call somebody to come help you?” The box was huge and had warnings on it about needing two people to carry it. Of course I was going to worry about him attempting a Superman and doing it on his own.
“How about this… I’ll bring it in a few pieces at a time.”
We agreed on the compromise, and I went and held the door as he brought them into our bedroom.
After much discussion, we planned to put the crib in there, at least for the first couple of months. It would be easier to get to him, and if we were able to open up for Christmas, which was the plan now, there’d be less chance of people in other rooms waking our little one up.
It wasn’t a long-term solution, but it felt like the right decision for now.
“You’re at least gonna let me help put it together, right?” I stood over the pile of pieces.
“If by help me, you mean you read me the directions.” Stubborn mate. “Then absolutely you can help.”
“I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”
“I’m sorry, what was that again? All I heard was, ‘I’m pregnant.’”
I growled.
“You’re not even a shifter. Why are you doing that?”
That only caused me to growl again. “Don’t pick on the pregnant omega.”
“I wasn’t picking. I was protecting.” He put his hands on my belly and brought his lips close. “Your daddy is not a good listener. He’s stubborn, just like me, which means we’re in for a wild ride, aren’t we?”
The baby kicked, just like he did every single time Ragnar talked so close to him.
“I’m going to take that as agreement.” He kissed my belly and then handed me the instruction manual. “You can help by telling me which pieces go together.”
I’d once heard somebody say that you could tell if a relationship would last by giving them a piece of IKEA furniture to put together.
This wasn’t IKEA, which probably made it a better test because the instructions were horrific, but we managed to get it together with neither one of us getting upset and only having to take apart one piece and put it back together the correct way. I called that a win.
“Can’t believe we’re going to be a family of three soon.” I took his hand and intertwined our fingers.
“I’m a little scared I won’t be a good father,” he confessed.
“It’s okay to have whatever feelings you’re having. We can’t control those.”
I pulled our hands up and kissed the back of his.
“But if you think because your father was the father he was that you would be anything like that…don’t. If anything, it’s strengthened your resolve to be the best father our children could ever have.”
“You always know the right thing to say.” He smiled. “Thank you, omega mine. I love you.”
“As I love you.”
Frosty jumped up on Ragnar’s legs, begging for attention. Jealous doggy.
“We love you too, Frosty. We love you too.”