Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
Laird put the rest of his stuff in his locker and closed it up, glad to be done with cleaning out the bus and heading home from work this morning. He’d had to pull a double because one of the other EMTs was down with the flu, and they couldn’t leave a bus unattended.
Nick had done a double too, partnering up with the other person who was missing their second in the bus. It had left Laird out of sorts and grumpy because he and Nick were like a well-oiled machine, and working with someone new was really tough.
Not to mention the fact that there had been a terrible car accident with a possible limb amputation involved and also a little kid who had choked on a piece of candy. That had just made his night complete.
For a minute he thought about just going to the truck stop and having breakfast, not going home and waking up Devon. Not that Devon wouldn’t be awake by the time he got home, probably, early as it was.
Devon had to get up and get a lot of stuff done before he headed into the birthing center most days.
It wasn’t even that Laird didn’t want to see Devon. In fact, he did. That smiling face always made his chest feel less tight and his hands unclench. But he didn’t want to inflict his stories of the night on Devon first thing in the morning and have his omega thinking about him all day.
On the good side, he was fixing to have three days off, assuming that no one else came down sick. And he could just right himself from this and pick up where he left off.
He rested his head against his locker for a minute, just about the time he had convinced himself to go have breakfast and let Devon have a nice quiet morning, when he got a text, his phone buzzing in his pocket. He grabbed it out to look at it, and sure enough, it was from Devon.
You coming home?
Laird stared at the phone for a minute and then took a deep breath before calling rather than texting back.
“Hey.” Devon sounded a little breathless. “Sorry, I was across the room from my phone and I had to sprint. Are you doing okay? I read about the accident on the morning news email delivery I get.”
“My night sucked, baby. I was just thinking about going to the truck stop for breakfast and not inflicting myself on you.”
“I’ll meet you there. I don’t have a client until ten thirty so I have plenty of time. You can tell me about it.”
Devon’s words were welcome, and he found himself nodding, even smiling. “Sounds great. I’ll meet you there. I’ll order us coffees.”
“I want waffles and bacon.”
“Sweet tooth.”
Devon snorted. “Well, duh.”
He hung up, and then headed over to the truck stop, whistling, his mood already kind of buoyed by the fact that his lover wanted to hang out for breakfast.
After food, he was going to go home, and he was going to sleep. Then maybe he’d get up and make something for dinner for them tonight. Nick was teaching him some amazing recipes now that he was domesticated.
Devon was on call this week, so it would be nice. He wasn’t sure if there were any babies due or not. He didn’t think so.
He ran through all the recipes in his repertoire, thinking of things that weren’t too acidy, which still gave Devon trouble.
He could make chicken spaghetti—it was a little hot but not too acidic.
Potatoes au gratin with ham, because he knew how to make that. He wondered if he could buy cheese sauce in a jar. He knew the dish was potatoes, cheese sauce, and ham.
He’d call his mom. Maybe if he called his mom, she’d bring over scalloped potatoes with ham, so he’d never have to cook. He could just pretend like he was magical and feed his lover.
That was an amazing idea. He’d call her after breakfast and ask her how to make cheese sauce. And then she’d say, “Oh, honey, you go sleep. I’ll make you cheese sauce.”
Fantasy, of course, but it was a fun fantasy to pretend that that would happen, and there was a chance that somebody would say that to him. Probably wouldn’t be Mom.
Now if he asked Nick, Nick would totally provide cheesy, yummy potatoes with ham.
Really, he should have hooked up with Nick. Although, even though Devon wasn’t the world’s most enthusiastic cook, Laird had socks coming out his wazoo and there was a sweater already started that was exactly fit just for him and in his favorite colors.
He pulled into the parking lot, and grinned, because Devon was waiting for him up by the doors, his knitting bag over his shoulder. A wave of love hit him so hard he almost doubled over.
God, he was a lucky asshole.
Devon waved at him, offering him a wide smile. “Good morning. I’m glad that we caught each other. I know you have to be tired, but thanks for coming to breakfast.”
“Of course. Any time.” He wrapped one arm around Devon’s waist and led him towards the door. “What are you knitting?”
“This is a hat.”
“For the baby?” He loved all of these little baby clothes that just came pouring out in all different sizes. It was adorable. This was going to be the warmest baby in history.
“No, it’s for you. I’m doing it in your tartan. I thought if you liked it, I could make one for your dad too.”
“Dad would love that.” Laird wrapped an arm around Devon’s waist and steered him inside. “What’s on your plan for today? Do you have a lot of stuff going on?”
“Like I said, I don’t have a lot. I have one meeting at ten thirty, and then I have an ultrasound. After that, I have a tour of the birthing center at three, but I should be home by four o’clock at the latest.”
“Good deal. I thought I would cook dinner tonight.” Laird waggled his eyebrows and made kissy motions with his lips because that always made Devon laugh.
“That sounds perfect.” Devon settled into their favorite booth and patted the seat next to him. “You know how much I love to cook.”
“I do.” They were both being sarcastic, but that was okay.
That was one of the things he adored about Devon—that he admitted he wasn’t particularly good at things like cooking or gardening, which were supposed to be omegas’ things.
But take him to a fiber art show and he knew every single thing there was to know.
Devon reached over and grabbed his hand. “I’m sorry it was such a hard night, love. I have to tell you, just going from your face, that it was tough.”
“It was. I’m not gonna lie. And it was even worse because Nick and I weren’t together on the bus.
We know each other so well by now that it’s sucky when we have to work with someone else.
” It had taken him ten minutes just to scrub the blood off his hands after the car accident was over, and he hated that feeling.
“I have to admit, I’m really looking forward to starting school because I’m not sure how much longer I can keep doing accidents like that and stuff.
I love my job, you know that, but it hurts my heart, and the closer we get to having this baby, the more I think, ‘What would happen if…’”
“I understand. I think about it a lot.” Devon put a hand on his belly, which was starting to grow. “Having babies and knowing what can happen when one is having a baby is a little daunting.”
“Yeah.” He got that too. He had delivered a few babies himself. “We just have to breathe when it comes to that, right? What does Raven say about it?”
“He says that once I get into being in labor, I’m not going to care anymore about what I know and what I don’t know, and I’m just going to holler like the rest of our clients.
” Devon winked, obviously making a joke.
“He does say that the baby seems to be growing perfectly normally, which makes me happy.” Devon winked at him.
“And the morning sickness is fading fast.”
“That’s wonderful.” Because sometimes, he knew Devon wanted to eat something so bad, and he would get it near him, and he would nope out.
And that sucked. Laird had seen it with chemo patients, too. Folks didn’t realize how fucking frustrating that could be.
Now, the cravings? They hadn’t eased up even a little bit. In fact, Laird thought that was getting worse.
Worse than a little bit if he was honest. They literally had the pickles and ice cream talk at one point, and Devon went, “I’d try it.”
Partially he thought that Devon was just enjoying having him find strange foods at weird hours of the night.
I’d like a sausage and olive pizza at two a.m.
I’m in desperate need of strawberries, whipped cream, and Oreo cookies right now.
I need a cupcake, but not just any cupcake—it has to be a chocolate cupcake filled with peaches soaked in caramel and topped with tahini something or other that no one on earth would ever be able to get in a million years.
And yet somehow, since he was the alpha, he had to figure this out. It hurt his soul a little bit.
On the other hand, it amused him wildly, especially when he managed and he got to watch Devon eat it, and there was this joy.
Then there was the added benefit that always after there was wild sex. It was sort of like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey—If you satisfy my craving, I’ll give you an orgasm that will completely destroy every brain cell you currently have. Deal?
Spoiler—it was always a deal.
“So have you decided which program you’re going to take?” Devon asked. “I know everyone wanted you. Where are you going to do this?”
Devon had been helping him fill out applications and finding reference letters and managing to get him a decent application letter that didn’t suck and proved that he could spell sometimes.
“There’s that low-attendance program—the one where I go for a long weekend every semester and then I can do most of my training at the facility next door to you, like my practicals, and at the hospital over in Montrose. That’s the one.”
Devon bounced for him, and beamed at him. “That’s exciting. Seriously, you’d start in September?”
“Yeah, either September or next January. I’m thinking September. The first bit is going to be all memorization, book work. I could be home with the baby after you get finished with family leave.”
“That sounds amazing. I would love to have you at home with a baby. Not that there isn’t some wonderful childcare available here.
Saul’s daycare is wonderful, and Jack and Chase always have a hotline on every nanny out there.
But it would make me happy to have our baby be mostly at home or at work with one of us.
” They had talked about this before. Since neither one of them were really going to be working with infectious diseases once Laird graduated, it seemed like it would be all right to take the baby to work with them, if it didn’t cause a slowdown of work.
Raven did it now sometimes, and Devon didn’t seem to think it caused a problem.
Laird only nodded, though, and smiled because he was a little worried about going back to school. But he was a smart dog, he could figure this out.
They ordered their food and then they just sat and chatted. It was unbelievably good to be able to unwind and not be stuck with his own company while he tried to do it.
By the time his belly was full and Devon was checking the time to see if he needed to head for work, Laird felt like he could live through the day, or at least the part of it where he wasn’t going to be asleep.
“Thanks for this, honey. I’m really feeling better now. You do wonders for my mood.”
Devon beamed. “I’m glad. I want to make you feel better.” He reached up to touch Laird’s cheek. “Are you going to be okay to drive home?”
He took Devon’s hand in his and kissed his knuckles. “I am. I didn’t have any coffee, but it doesn’t matter. I didn’t need the caffeine to make it that far at least.”
“Then you’ll be safe, promise?”
“I will. Have a good day, baby,” he said, as he paid the bill and they headed their separate ways.
Laird knew he was doing the right thing. Being in love with Devon and going back to school—all the things that would make them a more solid couple. This felt good, deep in his soul. And he didn’t want to mess it up.
He thought he’d make it. It may not be natural, but he could stubborn his way through it.