Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
Devon sat cuddled up on the couch knitting a pair of socks and kind of wishing the weather would make up its mind. They were having a tiny warm stretch, and he didn’t want to be hot.
Not that he was going to be that far along in his pregnancy that it would be gross, but still, it made his clients unhappy, for sure.
Laird was outside, happily charcoaling some sort of meat on the grill with Nick, who was still such a love and an amazing cook. Ben was out there with them too, and every so often he would just take a sip of his beer and grunt or say, “Hmm,” as if that made some sort of difference.
Raven was working on some kind of bookbinding project at the kitchen table.
He loved how they could sit and do crafts together, not really having to talk more than just a few words every couple of minutes.
He peered over his needles at Raven, who was doing some sort of stitch binding. “How’s it going?”
“Good. I have to tell you that it’s so much easier when there’s no little ones around.”
While Devon adored Willow and Aspen, it was apparently one of their aunt’s or maybe the grandparents’ day to have the kids, which was fine because Nick was still a little worried about being around little ones and not knocking them down or something.
Laird, they adored. All the little kids seemed to love Laird, which he thought boded well for their child.
He started turning his heel, humming softly. God, he was happy.
“You sound good, Dev. I’m happy for you,” Raven told him.
“It’s oddly pleasant, living with him.” They weren’t in each other’s pockets, really. They both worked a lot. But Laird was there at night when he slept, at least most of the time. Was there to have breakfast or supper or just to laze around and watch a movie.
They had a rhythm going—and he hoped Laird was as happy as he was.
“Laird seems really good too.” Raven glanced toward the kitchen doors. “Seriously.”
“I think so. I hope so. I want him to be. He’s way more open now that he’s moved in with me too.
Way less guarded. So I think this has been a good thing all around.
” Laird was a man who played things close to his chest, but Devon thought he was smiling more and talking about his feelings, some of which were huge and he was going to keep that going if he could.
“Hey, that’s great.” Raven grinned. “Sometimes the big manly alphas can be a little bit out of touch with their feelings.” He looked at the doors again, waggling his eyebrows when he looked back at Devon.
“Ben can be less than aware of his feelings sometimes. He’s gotten way better at it, but he still wants to communicate primarily physically. ”
“Well, he does own a gym. He does everything with his body.” Devon felt his cheeks flush a little bit, because maybe he shouldn’t be talking to his best friend about his best friend’s sex life, but he knew they had a varied and interesting one.
Devon was a little bit shocked at how good his sex life was with Laird. In fact, he’d never felt like it was a particularly important thing to him to have smoking hot, hammer and tongs sex. He’d always thought of himself as a gentle, snuggly kind of guy. But Laird brought that side of him out.
The door opened to the back and Nick came in carrying a platter of yummy-smelling stuff.
He thought they were making some barbecue chicken, some hot dogs, and some hamburgers.
He was really in the place when he wanted that barbecue chicken.
It made his mouth water just having it in the house.
Raven had brought coleslaw and cornbread, and he had made potato salad and beans.
The beans had given him a little bit of trouble with nausea, but he had just soldiered on and ignored it.
He did know all the remedies, after all. “That smells amazing,” he told Nick. He was really trying to get to know his lover’s work partner.
“Yeah, that sauce Ben made up is really good.” Nick slid the platter on the counter. “Do I need to cover this up so the cats don’t get in it?”
“There’s a platter cover hanging on the wall just to the right of the refrigerator.
” He had to admit he wanted his cats to be better behaved and to get off the counter and out of the food, but they weren’t going to do it.
They were the Three Musketeers, after all, and no adventure was too big for them.
He blinked suddenly, tears welling up in his eyes.
He knew Raven was staring at him, but he couldn’t help it.
They were good tears because suddenly everything was like he’d always envisioned it for himself—he had someone living with him who loved him, he was having friends over, and he could sit and knit all the while it was going on, which soothed him a little bit when he got nervous.
“Do you need me to go get Laird?” Raven asked softly as Nick trundled back out the door with a wave.
He tilted his head, wiping his eyes. “I’m fine. I was just having a moment of happy, actually. I never thought I would get all of this. You know?”
Raven just nodded, his hair swinging, his smile a little wry. “I know exactly what you mean, actually. I never thought I could find anyone local who would give me what I needed and who would be happy to just be with me. But Ben is wonderful that way.”
“And I’ve been so happy for you.” Devon shrugged, a tiny move of his shoulders. “I guess I was a little jealous too, though. I always felt so alone when I left the birth center and came home and just sat here taking up space.”
“You’ve never just been taking up space.” Raven made air quotes, letting go of his handwork to do it. “You’re amazing, and I know it feels terrible sometimes when you’re lonely. But you’ve always contributed to life in this town, always.”
“I try. I guess. I want to be a part of everything.” He wanted to be the good part. “Some days are harder than others.”
Raven chuckled at him. “Tell me about it. Especially on the days we have three omegas giving birth at a time, one of us is pregnant, and the other one is exhausted. Still, it’s kind of exciting. All of this new life.”
“It is. It’s exciting to be here right now. Do you realize our kids will all be in high school together?”
“I know. I know!” Raven stared and shook his head. “Every so often I think about it and it just makes me a little dizzy.”
“Me too. I haven’t even felt the baby move yet.” He knew it was coming. He knew exactly what was supposed to be coming the whole way, but it was still exciting. He still felt like a first-time omega. He was just a little less scared than the one who didn’t know anything yet.
“I can’t wait until you do.” Raven beamed at him. “Is Laird excited about that, too?”
Devon rolled his eyes. “I think Laird is dealing with all of this by being very practical. He’s an EMT and a trained paramedic.
He knows all of this stuff, right? So he keeps telling me about blood pressure and blood sugar and heartbeats and on and on.
He also tells me a lot of stories about people giving birth in ambulances. ”
Raven laughed out loud. “Oh my God, that sounds so terrifying. Thanks for that, Laird.”
“Right? He’s just nervous and worried. That’s all.
He’s an alpha, right? How many have we seen now who couldn’t stop pacing and cursing when their babies were being born?
” Devon thought it was wonderful because that meant Laird really was invested in all of this.
He wasn’t just doing the move-in and stay for the baby’s sake, because it was a duty.
Raven glanced over at him. “How many little sweaters have you knitted?”
He shrugged. “For this baby or for your newest?”
“For yours.”
“A couple. Lots of socks too. Baby socks are easy. I’m thinking about doing an entire layette.
But I kind of want to know what the baby’s sex is first. Although part of me goes, I’m going to make pink, just because, or purple.
Or maybe rainbows. I like to do rainbows.
I don’t want to do color work because I don’t wanna make little threads for the baby’s fingers to get caught in… ”
“You’re such a geek. You’re a fiber nerd.” Raven winked at him.
Devon cracked up because truer words had never been spoken. “You know it. I am most totally a fiber nerd.”
Laird and Ben and Nick came in then, loud and bustling, filling the air with noise.
“A fiber nerd? What is that?” Nick asked, head tilting, and Ben rescued the tray of corn on the cob.
Raven snorted. “It’s someone who’s obsessed with things like strands and counting and knitting and purling and thread counts and stuff.”
“You don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Devon shot back. “Thread counts? No. Fiber content? Yes. You know, babies don’t need wool next to their skin.”
Raven winked. “See? Fiber nerd.”
Laird came over and kissed him. “Well, I like it. What are you making?”
“I’m making baby socks.” He held them up.
“Have you ever made me a pair of socks?”
“You know full well I haven’t.” Devon shook his head. “Would you like me to make you a pair of socks?”
Laird frowned at him. “Of course I would. I would wear them every day.”
Ben wrinkled his nose. “That would get kind of stiff and gross and stinky.”
“Only if I didn’t rinse them out.” Laird raised an eyebrow. “I can’t wash them in the washer. It will ruin them. See? I’m learning.”
“You are!” Devon set his knitting aside and rose, going to the kitchen to pull out plates and flatware. “Looks like it’s time to eat, Raven.”
“Yum.” Raven got up too, coming to grab drinks for everyone.
“This is, like, domestic bliss,” Nick said. “Do you guys have another midwife floating around?”
“They do, but she’s not your type, bud,” Laird shot back.
“Oh. Damn.” Winking, Nick snapped his fingers in apparent dismay. “Well, this is fun, anyway. Thanks for letting me come over.”
“You’re always welcome.” Devon put out napkins and such, bustling around until Laird caught him by the waist and held him close. He kissed the back of Devon’s neck, and that made him shiver. It was so wonderfully odd to be part of a couple and hang out with friends.
“Thanks.” Nick winked at him, making his cheeks heat, but he patted Laird’s hands before they broke apart to sit down. They laughed and munched, and the chicken tasted perfect, like just what he wanted along with some coleslaw and potato salad.
No beans.
“Anyone want to play Skip-Bo?” Ben asked. If it was just the four of them, they would probably play Spades, but Nick was along, so…
“Or Five Crowns?” That was Laird. He loved Five Crowns.
“Let’s do that one,” Nick said. “I’ll take you all down.”
“Ha! Devon, get the book.”
Devon chuckled. “I’ll keep score, for sure.” Apparently it was a tradition in Laird’s family to keep a yearly book of everyone who won a game, and that was also where they kept score.
It was sort of dear actually.
Laird had brought him the book to keep on the table, and it was well decorated with a thousand little doodles of everything from dragons to flowers to monsters.
It was hilarious.
Obviously Laird spent a lot of time on this book, and on the cover it said, “Laird’s Scorebook,” and in silver writing, Laird had printed in very carefully, “and Devon”.
So damn sweet.
The only person who had more hash marks in the front cover than Laird and now him was Nick, who had obviously come over to play a lot of cards with Laird before he and Laird got together.
But Devon was overtaking Nick, and he had a feeling that he was going to overtake Laird sometime soon. He was actually really good at cards.
It was a weird skill and not something that he used in his daily life, but fun nonetheless. He found himself quite enjoying the whole winning part of this.
“Man, you’re as cutthroat as Granny is!” Raven tossed a piece of Chex Mix at him.
“So mean!” He ate the Chex piece though. Crunchy goodness.
“Yeah, that’s me—mean and evil.” Raven bumped shoulders with Ben. “Wow, it’s so nice to have an evening out without the babies and just to do normal guy things.”
“Yeah, I guess life does change a lot when you have a baby, huh?” Nick grinned and shook his head. “I think I’m a perpetual bachelor. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like to practice making babies, but—”
Devon knew that was pure nonsense. Seriously. Nick was sweet and gentle. Once he got past the bluster, he’d make a great dad.
“Uh-huh, sure.” Laird clapped him on the back. “I have seen you with the babies when we have to be on the bus.”
“Well, yeah, it breaks my heart. I can’t bear it. Can you imagine if it was my own kid? Nope, I think I’m better off without them.” Nick nodded sagely as if that was that.
“You’re so full of shit.” Laird shook his head, shuffling the cards. “Prepare to go down, guys, tonight’s my night.”
They all laughed and Laird started dealing out the cards after Nick cut the deck.
This was one of the really unexpected pleasures of having a partner.
Now he didn’t feel like the third or fifth wheel anymore, and Devon felt a little sorry for Nick because he knew exactly what that was like.
But this was Secret Springs. He was sure Nick would find someone soon.