Two Wrong Turns (Love Sync Mates Season Two #9)

Chapter 11

Barrett

As a kid, I remembered seeing a woman in the grocery store who kept rubbing her stomach. We passed by her a million times in the one trip. I know because I was fascinated by her.

When I’d asked my mom if she had a tummy ache and needed medicine like I sometimes did, my mother had giggled and said, “Sweetie, I doubt it’s that. She could be pregnant though. Some women like to rub their bellies to remind themselves.”

Younger me had found the idea ludicrous. Why would you rub your belly to remind yourself you were pregnant? I declared women to be confusing creatures, and I thought nothing more of it.

Not until I was rubbing my own stomach five days after the first time I’d been knotted by my magical bear shifter mate.

Ok, so I might have been a hypocrite. There was something to be said about this whole stomach rubbing business.

It gave me a sense of peace. Like singing your favorite song or eating your favorite snack could. Not nostalgic, necessarily. More like a comfort.

Plus, I wondered how long it would take us to actually conceive. Was I already carrying our baby? And if I was, how long until I could confirm it?

The simple contact on my belly was one I repeated endlessly. It was the first full day Nolan had to go back to work. Admittedly, I was a bit lost without him around. Yet another reason the movement soothed me.

My mate had filled our days with laughter and activity. We’d walked around the woods together, him pointing out things I should know like what berries I could eat and what was poisonous. I had no desire to traipse through the forest without him, but I still indulged in his need to protect me.

We also cooked together, using his kitchen like we’d been together for years instead of days. Our teamwork was intrinsic. Sometimes, I thought it was the bond, since I could hear him running through the recipe in his head, which gave me the chance to hand over what was needed.

But he’d told me it was more than that. The ease at which we worked together wasn’t just because we were mates.

“You and I would have worked together even without Fate, I believe,” he’d whispered to me one night.

While I liked the idea of it, I couldn’t begrudge Fate for stepping in. This was the happiest I’d ever been in my life. Not even when I had a full gallery and dozens of bids on my artwork did I feel as fulfilled as I do with my mate simply holding me in one of the chairs on our back porch.

Yes, I said ours.

Because as much as I felt like this place would be temporary at first, it isn’t. Nolan is my home. And this is where he feels safest. I wouldn’t dare ask him to leave.

There is plenty of inspiration here for me to work with. My job isn’t beholden to a specific location anyway.

Tonight I’d planned to make a special meal for my mate to show him how proud I was of him for going back to work. It was going to be a hearty meatloaf with mashed potatoes, green beans cooked in bacon fat, and for dessert, a pecan pie.

Maybe it was overkill, but I had this urge to cook and take care of him. I suspected it might have been linked to some kind of nesting my body wanted to do. I’d read more of those fan fictions in the downtime we had over the last few days. Several described nesting as an action leading up to a heat. Mine might have been over, but since it came on so fast, I thought maybe this was a post-heat nesting fit.

Either way, I’d spent all day cleaning things around the house and arranging them just how I wanted. I even pulled in a few things from my car to add my own touch and scent to the house.

That was another new thing. I could smell damn near everything for like a half a mile radius. I didn’t understand some of the scents. Nolan said they were most likely emotions. It would take me time to figure it out.

Other times, I could tell there was an animal nearby simply because I’d get a whiff of it while painting on the back porch. It was rather distracting, though also a bit exhilarating.

I wondered what else would come along too. My mate assured me I wouldn’t turn into a bear. Fate had merely decided I should get some of the benefits of shifter abilities while remaining as human as I could.

Working with my headphones on, I didn’t hear my mate arriving. But I smelled him. And oh, did he smell good.

Turning from where I was working at the counter, I found him leaning in the doorway. His outfit was the same work uniform he’d worn when we first met, meaning it wasn’t really even a uniform. Still, I felt that spark of need that always came when I took him in.

His pose was relaxed.

His scent wasn’t.

“See something you like, mate?” I said as I cocked my hip to the side.

“Always. Every inch is delectable.”

I shook my head at him. “Enough sweet talk from you. I’ve got a very delicious meal planned for us. You can save that type of hunger until after your stomach is fed.”

He didn’t reply to my comment. Instead, he stalked over, halting the turn I was doing to go back to mashing the potatoes. When he was close enough, he tugged me forward. I felt the hard length of his cock against my hip and whined.

Fuck.

These days, it didn’t take much to have me undone. Ever since that first knot I’ve craved him in a way I can’t explain. I’ve never wanted someone as much as I want him. He takes up more of my mental space than anyone should.

Then again, he was my mate. And Fate had deemed us the perfect pair.

It would be dumb to try and fight what we had. Not that I really wanted to.

Being here with him, building a life together — it was magnificent. Like I’d finally figured out why nowhere else really worked for me. Why the city never really felt like home.

“What if we put dinner in the warmer and take a little side quest to the bedroom? Then I can be fed in both the ways I like,” he said as he nipped along my neck.

I sank into his touch. For how eager we both were, it made no sense to delay what was coming. Besides, it’s better to be knotted on an empty stomach. Found that out the hard way yesterday. Worst stomachache of my life. I even threw up after, which I felt horrible about. I had to explain to him it wasn’t because I was disgusted or anything. My mate assured me he understood and that he wasn’t mad at all.

Nolan peppered kisses down my neck until he reached my collar. Then he tugged at it as if he was going to continue the path. Instead, he froze.

“Mate,” he growled.

I laughed. “Yes, baby. I’m your mate. We’ve established this.”

He pulled back, shaking his head. “No, not that.”

When our eyes met, his were filled with tears. He was upset about something. Or maybe it was happiness he felt. His smile screamed happiness.

“You’re pregnant.”

The words were said whisper soft, as if he were afraid that uttering them too loudly would cause a disruption in Fate’s plans. I knew better than to think so. I mean, the dang high being tampered with my perfectly reliable GPS to get me to this tiny town. She wasn’t going to let a pregnancy announcement deter her. Her? Him? Them? I didn’t know.

“How can you tell? Do you hear the heartbeat or something?” I’d wondered about that. Since we already knew I was in ideal shape to get pregnant, I figured we’d do what other pregnant people did.

Worry about it.

Eventually get a test.

Then demand to see a doctor right away to monitor things.

But instead, I got an announcement far sooner than I thought. And while we were gearing up for some fun sexy times. It wasn’t a mood killer. More like a big-time distraction.

“I can smell the change on you. Your scent is lighter. I thought it was because you were happy, but the closer I got, the more I could pick up the subtle notes of our cub.”

“Our cub,” I choke out.

For some reason, it didn’t sink in that I was getting a baby bear shifter until that moment. Holy shit! I was going to be a dad to a baby bear.

My scent must have flared with panic because the next thing I knew, I was lifted from the ground and surrounded by my mate’s scent. The palm of his hand pressed my head to his chest, while the other held me up. He took us over to the couch, where he sat with me in his lap.

“It’s ok, baby. Everything is wonderful. This is good news. What has you upset? Do you… do you not want a cub?”

He was hesitant to ask. There was a definite strain in his tone.

I pulled back to look him in the eye. While I knew he could smell the truth of my words, I needed him to see my earnest gaze as well.

“This is one of the happiest days of my life. I want you and this baby more than anything. I’m losing my cool a bit though realizing we’re going to have a baby shifter. Like, I don’t even know what to do about parenting a baby bear. Will he shift as a toddler? Is he going to be stronger than me from the start? How do I even discipline him? He won’t take me seriously.”

My wail of despair came out as a cough and hiccup combo. Which, of course, only sent me reeling further into my frustration.

“Shhhhh. It’s ok, mate. There’s no reason to fret. You have me here with you. And a town full of shifters. We all work together to raise the young ones. Like one big family. They will be overjoyed to hear our news of an upcoming cub.”

The pride in his voice eased some of my worry. That and the confident way he spoke of people being happy for us.

“You really think so? You don’t think I’ll fail at this?”

“Of course you won’t fail. I’m going to be there with you the whole time. Our cub is going to be loved more than you can imagine. And discipline is something that will build with time. They will learn to respect and love you, just like all shifter youth do. We value families here. There is a sacred order to things. Our child will be raised with that knowledge.”

“So no angsty teen phase is headed my way?” I joked.

He laughed, shaking his head. “Oh, no. You’re still going to get an angsty teen. They’re just more respectful about their frustrations. At their worst, a shifter teen will decide to live as their animal for a few hours to cool off.”

My eyes widened. “I have so much to learn. I don’t think the fan fics covered everything.”

“I doubt they did, mate. But I’ll be around to fill in the blanks. You don't need to worry. We’ve got five months to prepare you.”

“Five months?! That’s really fast.”

He shrugged. “Yes, but shifters are different. Bears used to gestate around seven months, but that changed somewhere along the way. We believe it’s because of population issues. Less time to make babies means more babies can be made. At least that’s how my parents described it to me.”

I dramatically fell back onto the couch, which only left my lower body spread out across Nolan. “Five months,” I murmured.

In five months, I’d be a parent. I’d be responsible for another life.

“I think we need to go over a few things. Let me get a notebook. I want to write this all down.”

Nolan’s laughter followed me down the hall. I smiled, knowing he was amused by my eagerness to get it all down. I hoped that excitement continued as we began to prepare for this baby. I had a feeling it was going to be the longest five months of our lives.