62. A whole lot of changes…for the good…probably
62
A WHOLE LOT OF CHANGES…FOR THE GOOD…PROBABLY
Ryder
“This was a great idea,” Ivor said, his mouth full of burger.
We decided to celebrate our mating with a fancy dinner out. Baby had other plans, demanding a greasy cheeseburger and cheese fries with a side of fried cheese curds. Basically, our babe was all about the cheese—you know, the smartest baby ever.
“I agree.” I grabbed one of the cheese fries and dipped it in the sauce for some extra cheesy goodness. “This is way better than someplace where we need a tie.”
“Agreed, but I didn’t mean that. I meant mating you.” He picked up his napkin and leaned across the table, dabbing my lips with it.
“Thanks.” It was such a sweet gesture.
“I need to tell you something and maybe eat lots of cheese fries so your mouth is full and you can’t respond until I’m done?” Had he not just told me he was glad we were mated, I’d have been unable to agree to his request, my nerves would’ve run too high.
“Okay.” I took a bite of fry.
“When Trey came to Sunshine Manor to look at the apartment, I was jealous. Not like a little jealous either. My eyes were full on green death rays.”
It was all I could do not to respond. Had I seen his jealousy? Yeah, but I attributed it to Kellan overflow. Did I like it? Heck no, but also he was my mate and I sort of thought that was going to help self adjust the whole thing over time.
“And… please don’t think poorly of me. I know I should probably be able to ju st brush it aside, but I can’t. I booked an appointment with a counselor,” he said, the last word spoken so low I could barely hear him.
I reached across the table and took his hand. “I’m so proud of you, mate. Thank you for asking for help when you needed it and thank you for trusting me with the information.” I watched as relief filled his face. “That’s a brave thing you did on both accounts.”
“I want to be the omega you deserve, Ryder. I love you.”
“And I love you with all that I have.” I took my hand away and pointed to his burger. “Feed our baby. I have a surprise for you after dinner.”
He picked up the burger. “Will you tell me now?”
“Nope. But I will tell you Trey thought it was going to be too weird living in the same building as his boss.”
“Does it make me a shitty person for being pleased at that?”
“Nope. It makes you human—ish.” We were in a place with humans, so I had to be as not in your face with the whole shifter thing. “Now eat. We have places to go.”
One place, exactly and it was next door. I saw it on our way in and I had to go check it out. It was a baby boutique and from the looks of their window display it was absolutely adorable.
We finished eating and paid our check.
“It’s close. Let’s walk.” I took his hand in mine.
“Is it ice cream? Please say it’s ice cream.”
“We can do that next.” I stopped in front of the door. “We’re here.”
“A baby store?” I nodded. “Is it too soon? Like isn’t there an old wives tale about buying baby things too soon?”
“Nope. Only one about giving away baby things. Rumor has it that giving away a crib means you're about to get pregnant again.” Or so the sitcoms always seemed to indicate.
“Then let’s go in.”
There was so much to see from onesies to slippers to toys. In the end, we got a sleeper set and two stuffed animals, a stag and a wolf.
“Your little one is going to love these.” The clerk said as we set the stuffies on the counter. “They’re organic, hypoallergenic, and part of the proceeds help with environmental causes making them the most well-loved toy in many nurseries.” They went on and on and I had to school my face.
Our baby might be the best, brightest, and most beautiful on the planet, but there was no way they would love a toy for any of those reasons. Soft? Big eyes? Bright colors? All yes. Organic… not so much.
Mica h
I opened the email from the lawyer. I’d known it was coming all day. They had prepared both Daire and I to expect it, but it didn’t feel real until I downloaded the attachment and printed it out.
Someone wanted to buy our business.
When the lawyer first contacted us, I told him to buzz off. It was our job… our livelihood. Why would we want to get rid of it?
Then he told me it was life-changing money.
I didn’t believe him. Daire didn’t believe him. I didn’t even think Patch believed him.
Now, with the official offer in front of us, I finally believed him.
“Ummm Daire. It’s here.” I stammered unsure what to make of all those zeros. “Meeting time.”
I handed him the papers and his jaw dropped.
“We need Archer here to discuss this, and we probably should have our lawyer look at it to make sure it’s okay before we get too excited,” he noted.
I agreed and sent it off to our lawyer who had already known this was a possibility. He said he’d get back to us ASAP and given the speed in which he took care of our incorporation, I had every reason to believe it would be really soon.
We got the official offer.
My phone rang instantly and I answered it.
“Already! Is it bad… like embarrassingly bad?” Archer asked. When I first told him about it, he questioned me about what I wanted to do… what my dream was and when I didn’t immediately tell him it was to run this business, he told me that was my answer. Of course it wasn’t just me. Daire was a part of it.
“Not at all. Do you think maybe we could ask Martin to watch Elune and we could all have dinner together and discuss it. The lawyer has it now to make sure it’s not sketch.”
“Good idea,” Archer responded. “I’ll call him and get back to you. I love you.”
“As I love you.” I hung up and put the phone in my pocket. It was going to be a day of waiting for the lawyer.
Martin said he was happy to watch our sweet girl. Toby adored her and it would be good for Patch too. He and Toby were best buds.
We opted to get take out sushi and meet at Daire’s where we could talk freely.
“I have the printouts of the offer and what Hank said.” Hank was our lawyer. I passed them to everyone. It felt too formal for us. We were family. But also this was a huge deal and not a decision to be taken lightly.
“You said it was good but… Micah this looks too high.” My mate’s eyes remained glued to the page.
“I thought so too.” Daire said, a piece of sushi halfway to his mouth. “But I guess they have plans to turn it into a franchise and Hank says we could probably ask for more and have them agree.” He popped the sushi into his mouth.
“But if you sell it, you don’t have anything left but money.” Archer pinched the bridge of his nose. “You worked so hard for this… both of you.”
“I’ve started over before.” I didn’t really like to talk about how shit went south with my ex, but the truth was, starting over concerned me not at all. I was more worried about Daire. He never had anything like this before. It was always his parents’ money. This company we’d built was his passion. Was a fat wallet worth that?
“I have been getting over the top hits on my videos. They’re making me more than my take-home pay at this point.” He pulled up something on his phone and turned it to us. “That’s what I’m making.”
“That’s a lot of money for one month,” Archer said.
“That’s today.” He took the phone back. “Plant content seems to be hot right now. I’m fine selling. It means I can be out from under my parents’ control completely.”
I hadn’t thought about it from that perspective.
“And you, Micah. What do you think?” Daire asked.
“I think I’d love to be home with our family and figuring out what I really want to be when I grow up.” I stuck out my tongue playfully. “But I don’t want to do anything that will make my mate nervous that I can't provide.”
“Sounds like you two want to take the offer.” Archer grabbed a piece of sushi with his chopsticks. “And Daire, maybe ask Hank to make sure you have the rights to your name and such if you sell. Those video views are no joke.”
My mate was all in. Of course he was. I couldn’t ask for a more supportive mate.
“So, we are doing this?” I asked.
“We are doing this,” they both said in unison.
Please let it not be a mistake.