Chapter 13 #2
“Not that I’m being nosey or anything,” Banner said once we were at the front desk, “but is Todd coming back?”
Dr. King smiled. “He is, but only part-time for a bit. He’s more than welcome to return whenever it is that he’d like, but he’s still spending time with the twins, and I can’t blame him.
” Dr. King glanced down at the computer screen.
“Cecil helps out part-time as well. I’ve suggested to the council that we should find an already mated omega like Dr. Bennett and his office has.
But I am not against having to do both jobs.
It just makes answering phones when I’m with a patient a bit more difficult.
” Dr. King looked up at us. “Does the thirtieth work? I have pretty much any time open that day.”
Banner glanced at me. “Does that work for you? Will you be on assignment again?”
I shook my head. “I won’t be going back on assignments until after you give birth.
” That had been in the congratulations message from Master Edison.
He had also mentioned that house number sixteen was open, and it was right next to Warwick and Cecil.
I was certain there was a reason the council seemed to be putting all of the mated hellhounds side by side, but I didn’t know what it could be.
Maybe they thought we wanted to keep our pack together.
Perhaps they put us there so our beasts wouldn’t bother others. I honestly didn’t have a clue.
“So it works? You’ll be back at work though, right?”
I nodded. “I will, but I will be able to take time off to come to the appointments with you. We don’t know exactly what we’re supposed to expect when it comes to hellhound babies.”
Banner nodded, looked back at Dr. King, but then suddenly looked back at me. “Wait. What if I’m having a baby grizzly bear? Would that mean I’ll give birth in five months? Or will it be shorter too?”
“Yes,” Dr. King said. “That much we know. Your pregnancies when you have a hellhound baby will be shorter in gestation. When you are carrying a grizzly bear, you will have your normal gestational time. That is something that the goddess has already said. I’m not certain about much beyond that.
She has said she would like to grow the number of hellhounds in this realm as she only has seven.
It is a bit of a nose-thumb thing toward her brother. ”
“Oh,” Banner said. I could feel his confusion through our bond. I would discuss that with him as soon as we left. Banner looked back at Dr. King. “Well, I guess since I’m having a hellhound baby, it’ll be a shorter gestation. And yes, the thirtieth works. Anytime for us, I guess.”
“All right. I put you down for nine on the thirtieth. Not too early, but not in the middle of the day either.” Dr. King offered a smile.
He placed a card in a bag and then handed it over the small counter.
I took it, quickly looking inside. “That’s the book and the teas.
Please let me know if you need more tea and which one. ”
“We will,” I said. “Thank you for seeing us.”
“Of course. That’s what I’m here for.”
Banner handed Dr. King the mug. “Thank you for the tea. That one helped so much more than the regular breakfast tea Dante had.” Banner held up the crackers. “Or it might be the fact that I’ve had more to eat now too.”
“You are welcome. Call anytime. If it’s after hours, if I don’t answer my phone, leave a message. I’m pretty good about answering it though.”
We thanked Dr. King again before we left the clinic.
It was still cold outside, and I didn’t think it was going to get any warmer throughout the day.
The wind had picked up some since we’d entered the building, and I used magic to get Banner’s hat here with us.
I held it out for my mate, and he looked up at me with a confused expression.
“Aren’t we going right back home?” he asked, pointing toward the single enforcer housing we’d been staying in.
“No. I need to take you over to mated enforcer housing. We need to pick a place to set up house. Especially if you want to be settled before the baby arrives.”
“Oh. Yeah, okay.” Banner pulled the hat on, then leaned closer to me. “I wasn’t out for long, was I?”
“No. Just a minute or so. Dr. King checked on you, and you were fine. Very overwhelmed.”
Banner sighed. “It’s just been a lot to take in.”
“I can understand that.” I held my fingers out, letting my magic show with some sparkles. “Would you like for me to use magic to take us over there?”
Banner looked in that direction. “Yeah. The air has a bite to it, and I’m not feeling the best still. I’m better, but I’m not where I normally am. I feel a bit…I don’t know. Off somehow.”
I used magic to quickly get us to house sixteen. As far as I knew, it was completely empty, and we would need to decorate it, as well as fill it with our furniture, but if we wanted, it could be ours. Houses seventeen through nineteen were also empty, if we decided we wanted one of those instead.
Banner looked around the neighborhood, then up at the house. “Is this ours?”
“It can be,” I told him. I pointed to the house to the left.
“Warwick and Cecil live there with their twins.” I pointed to the house down at the end.
“Damien and Ledger live down there. They’re an alpha pair and don’t have children.
” I gestured to all of the houses down the row.
“The rest of these are all empty.” I turned us to look at the other houses in the neighborhood.
“There are a couple of houses that are empty over in the circle of houses, and there is more housing going up that way.” I indicated, pointing back toward Council Square.
“What’s wrong with this one?”
I shrugged. “Nothing that I’m aware of. It’s empty and is one of the houses that was offered. We just have to decide which one we want.”
“How many bedrooms?” Banner asked as he opened the door and stepped in.
“Four, as far as I know. A main bedroom, then three other bedrooms.”
Banner nodded slowly. As soon as we stepped inside, we found ourselves in a massive open room that went all the way to the back. I could see a wall of windows, and beyond them were evergreens that were covered in snow.
“Oh, wow. This place is…I’ve not been in any of these houses yet. But I’ve not really had a reason.” Banner looked up at me. “Until now.” Banner turned back toward the house and started walking in. “Is this where you want to live?” he asked.
“I do not care one way or another. My only requirement is that you are happy. If this is where you wish to live, then I am happy here. If you would like a different house, then we can look at others.”
Banner turned back toward me and shrugged. “I mean, before you showed up and asked me to dinner, I was seriously contemplating moving away. I didn’t know how far my bear was going to let me go, but I was going to try.”
I closed the distance between us, my heart hurting at the thought of my mate leaving because of me. “I’m glad you didn’t leave, but sorry that I put you through that.” I sighed. “You seemed sad about having a hellhound baby. Do you not want to carry my children?”
Banner snorted. “No, that’s fine. I just had always thought I’d have a little bear girl. I don’t know why, honestly, but I always thought I would.”
Once more, I felt a pain in my chest. “Maybe we will get lucky and have one next time? Or if you really want to have a guarantee, we could ask the council if there are any baby girls that need adopted? I am not against it if you would like to adopt a little girl.” Banner shrugged.
“No? I’m trying, Banner. I don’t know how to fix this issue for you. ”
Banner chuckled. “You can’t, but it’s not really an issue.
I’m happy to have a hellhound baby because I know he’s going to be amazing.
And if I only ever have hellhound babies, that’s okay too.
” Banner pointed over his shoulder. “What do you think? Do you have enough furniture to fill it? I have very little to add.”
I knew he was changing the subject, and I let it slide for now. “I think we can figure it out. Is this the one you want?”
“I’m indifferent,” he said. “This one works. The next one would work. It’s a house. It’s warm. Or it will be when you turn on the heat. It’s dry; it will provide us a safe place for our children. I don’t need much, Dante. This is more than enough. It’s really nice, actually.”
I nodded. “Very well, then. How would you like to have a fireside picnic for breakfast in our new house?” I asked as I gestured to the left.
I’d used magic to not only light the fireplace but also provide a full breakfast for my mate.
He needed food beyond the crackers and tea, and it was honestly going to be a long day with all that we really needed to discuss and do.
“Seriously?” Banner asked, looking at me with a huge smile on his face. His hat came off and was tossed over his shoulder as he hurried to the picnic I’d provided. I followed, more than ready to put that smile on my mate’s face as often as I could.