Chapter Seventeen
“They were literally asking to be chased. They had guns there and everything.” Rocky was getting worried. Okay, Mal probably hadn’t wanted him and Liam chasing campers through town, but he felt there were extenuating circumstances.
Those three hikers had been rude until Rocky shifted into his wolf form and Liam followed suit, roaring the way only a lion could do. They soon stopped with their “I can go anywhere and will shoot anyone who says otherwise” nonsense. Shifter towns were created for a reason – for shifters to be shifters without having to be worried about getting shot or hunted, although the guys still claimed they were regular hikers.
Mal smoothed it all over anyway, pointing out to the shaken men they were lucky they were only faced with a wolf and a lion shifter – that there were plenty of other bigger and meaner shifters in town. He suggested that next time they should obey the signs posted on Arrowtown’s borders, and no, they couldn’t have their guns back because they weren’t allowed on shifter property unless they were registered with the sheriff’s office, so the firearms had been confiscated. Mal also sourced new uniforms for Liam and Rocky – and barely said anything about them running through town in their shifted form. Although he did make Liam walk back and get the cruiser which had been left behind.
It has to be something else, right? Mal had been quiet all afternoon. Not even Rocky’s attempts to file some paperwork made him smile. As he pushed open the door to their house, Rocky said, “I can run you a bath tonight if you like…” He sniffed the air as he caught a new scent. “Ooh, chicken wings. Brutus must have been here while we were working. Wasn’t that good of him?”
Hurrying through the kitchen, Rocky’s eyes lit up as he spotted a large metal serving tray on the counter, covered in foil. “Hmm, Brutus, you are my favorite friend. Did you want coffee or a beer?” he asked Mal, who had followed him in more slowly. “Brutus brought us dinner. Isn’t that awesome?”
Mal sat at their small table, nodding but still not saying anything. It was worrying enough for Rocky to drop his hunt for clean coffee mugs and go over to the table, sitting down opposite his mate.
“Mal, you’re worrying me. I wasn’t that badly behaved this afternoon, and it’s not like me and at least a dozen other locals haven’t done something similar before. At least they ran straight for the sheriff’s office. I still don’t know why they do that, but anyway, are you really angry at me? Come on. Tell me. What’s wrong?”
“Rocky, those men had guns. You should’ve called for backup. You and Liam could’ve been badly hurt or even killed.” Mal’s eyes were really sad, and Rocky had a desperate urge to make him feel better.
“They weren’t big guns, and there were only two guns among three people, and Liam was there, and most people, even if they don’t balk at a wolf, will definitely think twice about shooting a lion. And nothing happened. Everything all worked out in the end…”
“Rocky!” The sharpness in Mal’s tone was a total shock. “When things like that happen you call for backup, do you hear me? You call for fucking backup. How the hell are you going to be a decent daddy if you are running off and chasing men with guns just because you’re bored? Answer me.”
Rocky lifted his hands carefully going over every word Mal had just said. “Did you say, ‘decent daddy ’? Are you talking like one of those role-play situations, or do you mean looking after…?” He mimed the height of a child.
Mal put both of his hands out miming the height of more than one child.
His eyes widening, Rocky whispered, “Two of them? How did we… where did we…” He looked around the kitchen but there was no one else there. “When are they coming? Is it tonight? Is that why we have chicken wings? When did we adopt, or are we just looking after them for a while?”
Mal pursed his lips and blew out a long breath, reaching across the table and taking Rocky’s hands. “I asked Brutus to bring us chicken wings for dinner, because while you were taking your life and Liam’s into your hands chasing hikers with guns, I was at Doc’s office. Rocky, I’m pregnant. We’re having twins in roughly two months’ time.”
He heard the words – Rocky was sure he heard the words – but they just weren’t making sense. “But you’re…” He mimed fur growing out of his arms. “You shift into…” This time it was a pointy wolf snout. “You’re a furry…”
“Omega,” Mal said simply.
Rocky looked down at where he could just see Mal’s belly under the table, and then back up at Mal’s face. Even through their bond he sensed that Mal was just waiting, but waiting for what?
Taking back one of his hands, Mal reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper, slapping it on the table in front of him. “Meet twin one and twin two. I’m thinking we can call them Hector and Harriot. What do you think?”
“How can you tell if these blobs are a girl and a boy?” Rocky said, still distracted by the image. He’d been around enough pregnant friends to know what they were…but they still looked like blobs to him.
“You can’t,” Mal said, and his angry tone was back. “Honestly, Rocky, I tell you life-changing news and that’s all you can say? We’re having babies. Our BABIES!”
That single word shot in Rocky’s ears, bounced around his brain and then zinged in a straight line down to his heart. “It’s true? You and me…”
Jumping out of his chair, Rocky knocked it over in his rush to get to his mate’s side. “We’re having babies? Yes. Oh, my gods, you’ve made me so happy.” He tugged a reluctant Mal out of his chair and swung him off his feet, tucking him against his chest.
“Babies.” He was sure his grin could be seen from space as he stroked Mal’s hair. “We’re having little ones that will be just like you and me. I love you so much, I truly do. I can’t believe we’re having babies.”
“You’re actually happy about it?”
Why was Mal sounding so unsure? “Of course I am. Is it unexpected? Yes, but the only reason it took me so long to click to what you were saying was because I never dreamed it was possible, and I thought I was having another hallucination spell or something weird.
“But you’re a wonderfully special omega, and not only do we save a fortune on lube, but now your wonderful body is doing this for us. Carrying our babies. Ooh, you should be sitting down.”
Rocky glanced at the chair he’d just pulled Mal out of. “Not on that one, it’s too hard for you. I’ll put you on the couch.” Striding over to their large couch, he settled Mal on it. “Now you just sit there and I’ll…”
“Rocky, I’m not an invalid. I’m pregnant,” Mal protested as he went to stand up again. “I’m not even showing yet. I can get up and sit at the table with you.”
“You’ve been busy all day.” Rocky was quickly remembering all the things Ra did for Seth, and what Darwin did for Simon and…and… “You sit there, and I’ll get you dinner. Hmm, I offered you coffee or beer,” he wandered into the kitchen. “I don’t know if that is a good idea for you now, but oh, we have some juice in the refrigerator. Or milk. What else? The chicken wings should be fine although you’ll need extra portions…”
Rocky was on a mission to make sure his precious Mal would have the most effortless pregnancy in existence. He would see to it. “So was it yes to the milk?”
He had no idea why Mal was sighing. Must be because he’s tired, Rocky thought as he quickly collected the things Mal needed for a lovely dinner.