Chapter Sixteen
Abel
I was getting tired of donuts. Something I never thought I’d say. My mate, loving person that he was, always made sure I had a fresh one every morning. Unfortunately, I’d gone from craving donuts to egg rolls, and I didn’t know how to tell him that.
This baby had their own ideas about what they wanted and when, and it wasn’t just that I didn’t crave the donuts anymore. They made me queasy. I’d taken to hiding them in the wastebasket and feeling very guilty about the whole thing.
After working up my courage to tell him at least five times, I began to feel foolish. How hard could it be to let my mate, who only wanted to give me what I wanted, know what I actually did want?
Unfortunately, it was difficult for me to get an egg roll because the local town did not have a Chinese restaurant, and a quick internet check showed that the closest one was over an hour away. Which was not even reasonable to request from my mate. Not just for an appetizer. How silly.
But then, one day, he came into the bedroom very excited.
“Mate, we have to go to Wesleyville. They have the best baby store there, and look.” He sat on the bed next to me and showed me the set we’d been admiring online, but the price listed was 20 percent less.
Want to go today? We can go out to lunch, too. Make a day of it.”
“I love that set. That was the highest rated crib for comfort and safety.”
We were in the car and on the way so fast, I caught Denali giving me strange looks more than once.
But I was so excited to be going to that little town because not only did they have discount baby furniture—which was, of course, the most important thing, but also the Chinese restaurant I’d been reading about.
The store was awesome, and they actually had what we wanted in stock and could deliver it to us the following week.
I amazed myself at sticking to the exact items we’d wanted and not going off plan because the place had so much nursery furniture, all at good prices, and much of it was really nicely made.
I could see any of it in the room my mate and I were preparing for our baby.
But we’d done so much research on the one set and so…
it was ours. I patted my belly. “Like it, little one?”
“What did they say?” Denali answered, placing his hand over mine. “Do they like it?”
“If a strong kick means they like it, then yes!”
Done with shopping, we moved out onto the sidewalk. “Where would you like to eat?” he asked. “Italian? Mexican? Diner? For a small town, they seem to have a lot of options.”
“Chinese.” I smiled at him. “If that’s okay?”
“Of course, if there is one.” He looked up and down the street. “I’m not sure—”
“It’s right this way. I spotted it when we got here.” And I was going to buy a dozen egg rolls to take home. Maybe two dozen.
After we finished and I picked up my to-go bag, Denali took it from me. “Looks like a new craving, eh, mate? Should I stop the donuts?”
And then suddenly I desperately wanted a donut. “No, in fact I would like one now.”
“Then let’s stop at the donut shop by the highway.” As I started off, he grabbed my hand and gently tugged me to face him. “Omega, always tell me what you need, okay?”
How lucky was I to have such a great, insightful alpha. “Thank you. I just figured this was too far.”
“I’ll always take care of you, even if I have to drive six hours or make egg rolls from scratch.”
My jaw dropped. “You can do that?”
“I can learn.”
Much PDA ensued.