Chapter Eighteen
Joshua
I don’t know what I thought a pregnancy would be like, but then I also had never imagined mating a shifter.
With only a vague idea that shifters might exist, I certainly wouldn’t have expected one to come into my life.
But he had, and he’d explained that he believed Fate had taken charge and destined us for one another.
I grew up like most of my kind just hoping to run in to the right person.
Someone I could make a life with. At a stretch, a soul mate maybe—but who really believed in those?
Now, here I sat, in my reasonably fixed-up home waiting for my mate to come in from the orchard to head to our healer appointment.
Normally, a pregnant human omega would go to a doctor, but Corvus convinced me that this healer had experience in dealing with mixed matings.
He was in the next town over, where they conveniently had a baby furniture store and a Mexican restaurant.
Two things I was very interested in visiting at this stage of my pregnancy.
Having burned out on eggs, I’d become interested in spicy foods of all kinds, and particularly Mexican.
“Ready, mate?” Corvus came in and took off the tool belt he liked to use when out in the orchard. It held all sorts of small things he found useful.
“I am, but you’re not.” I tsked. “You look like you rolled in dust.”
“Oh.” He patted at his sleeve. “That comes right off.”
“And you want the healer to think we are the kind of people who don’t even clean up for our appointment?” I was teasing, of course. My mate looked incredible with or without dust.
“I’d better go take a quick shower,” he said. “For the healer’s benefit.”
We were on the road very shortly thereafter, my mate being one of the fastest showerers in the world, and urged on by my growling stomach.
First stop, the restaurant because I was starving.
Of course, that meant we didn’t have a ton of time to eat, but I managed to put away a taco/enchilada combo plate, a mountain of chips and salsa, and even followed it up with a fried ice cream dessert.
“Oh, that was so good.” I sat back and dabbed at my lips with a napkin. “How long before the doc appointment?”
“Ten minutes.” Corvus picked up the electronic bill and slipped his debit card into the machine. “So we’d better get going.”
“Oh no, we’ll be late, and what if they won’t see us today? We’d have to pay for a missed visit.”
“We’ll be fine, and our healer doesn’t charge that way. I think that’s a human thing. The healers generally understand that people’s time is also valuable and make allowances.”
This wasn’t our first appointment, but I had not been aware of this policy. “They’re awfully nice in the office there, aren’t they?”
“They are that.” He ushered me out the door and down the street to the healer’s offices. “Convenient that it’s so close to the restaurant.”
“Sure is. Even if they will forgive lateness, I hate to make them wait.” I reached for the door, but my mate beat me to it. “Thank you, alpha.”
“You’re welcome.” We entered the office to find the front desk empty, but a voice called from the back, telling us to come right in.
It was just a regular monthly visit, but the healer was a little confused when he listened for the baby’s heart and heard the noises created by eating such a big lunch.
But he said no harm done as long as I didn’t eat that much for every meal.
It was such a thrill to hear the heart, I reached for Corvus’s hand and squeezed.
“That’s our baby in there,” I crooned, stroking the side of my belly.
“Also a taco/enchilada combo plate and fried ice cream,” the healer said, shaking his head. “Remember, eating for two is just an expression.”
A few minutes later, we were back out on the street and heading for the baby furniture store.
Despite my interest in lunch, this was the highlight of our trip.
The nursery was all painted, but until we figured out what furniture to put in it, it wasn’t going to be much of a bedroom for our little one.
The store was well stocked for such a small town, but they had quite a website, so perhaps that was where they did most of their sales.
The floor was set up with various rooms, each complete with furniture, wall decor, rugs, the works.
I was enchanted, darting from one to the next, each cuter or sweeter or more engaging.
“Don’t they say babies like black and white?
” I asked, pausing before a room designed in only black, white, and gray with touches of red.
“Isn’t it supposed to help their minds develop? ”
“I don’t know.” Corvus looked at the geometric patterns. “But that doesn’t look much like a baby’s room, does it?”
“Maybe not. Well, how about this one?” We went from circus to baby animals to trains before deciding we didn’t need a big, bold theme.
The baby would probably love soft neutrals, or at least I did.
We could create our own art with our shiny findings.
After all, the baby was half crow, and even his human father loved sparklies.
Of course, everything we picked had to be special ordered, but it would be there before the baby came, so that was all that mattered, really. We went home tired but happy, another step on the way to welcoming our little one accomplished.