Chapter 19
Dante
Banner was a trooper. He was due in a week, and here he was. Did I want him outside in the cold? Not exactly, but it had been brought up too many times that our newest pack member hadn’t met the pack yet. They were referring to Banner and not the baby he was carrying.
He was bundled up, and thanks to a little bit of magic, his coat actually zipped in front of him now.
But that still didn’t mean I was overly happy with the pack’s insistence that he come meet them.
Now. Today. We were walking over to Damien’s house because Banner said he was too pregnant to have his stomach swirling like it did when I used magic. That and it wasn’t a far walk.
My mate’s pace was slower than it used to be, and I was thankful that he had no issues with me holding his arm to help stabilize him, but he was certainly in the final stretch of his pregnancy.
“Seriously, why did they need to have me meet them today? I’ve seen them all before. Are you going to like…abandon me at Damien’s while you all go for a run?”
I stopped and pulled Banner to a stop beside me.
He looked up at me in confusion. “I would never abandon you. I have no clue as to why they wanted to have a welcome to the pack thing today, but here we are. Even if they go for a run, I’m not going.
You are too close to your due date, and your omega line is pink. I’m not leaving your side.”
Banner smiled up at me. I knew the look that went with it too, and it was so very tempting. I’d just turned my mate on. “I’ll do whatever you want later. We do have to go say hi though. Thirty minutes tops.” Banner faked a pout, but I knew he wasn’t serious.
“Okay.” Banner took a step and looked over at me, and I started walking again. It wasn’t as if it was a far walk. Damien lived on the end, Warwick lived beside him, and then there was our place. It was literally two doors down.
I scented several others as we walked up to the door, and when we stepped up onto the one step for the alcove, I could have sworn that I scented Todd. That was odd. Why would I smell Banner’s friend? He wasn’t part of the pack.
I raised my hand to knock, but the door was suddenly pulled open. There was Ledger with a huge smile on his face.
“Hey! You are the last ones to arrive,” he said. “Come on in.” Ledger stood to the side, and after Banner entered, I followed closely behind.
“Thanks for inviting us,” Banner said. He looked over at Ledger, and I knew he scented it at the same time I did. Or them. Banner’s brow furrowed. “Do you think Todd and Briggs were here recently?”
I smiled at Banner and helped him out of his coat. “It’s possible. Briggs works with us, and they’ve lived here a bit longer than we have.”
I raised an eyebrow at Ledger. I had a feeling this wasn’t just a meet-the-pack thing. The jaguar shifter managed to look apologetic.
“So Atticus has a big meal planned. He wanted to officially welcome you into the pack,” Ledger said.
I nodded slowly. I had heard that, and since Ledger didn’t scent of deceit, I had to believe that much was true and was going to happen.
We followed Ledger into the house after hanging Banner’s coat up on a peg.
There were several other coats hanging there, and I assumed that Damien didn’t wear many, but I did see his leather jacket.
But there were a lot. Many more than there were pack members.
I had just slid my arm around Banner when we stepped into the back room. It was decorated with blue streamers and balloons everywhere, and the reason we scented Todd and Briggs became apparent when the couple appeared.
“Surprise,” everyone shouted.
Banner was absolutely surprised, and it not only showed on his face, but I could feel it through our bond. He looked up at me, and I quickly pulled my mate into my arms when he started crying. The mood of the others became awkward, but it was Todd who saved the day.
“Hey, don’t worry, everyone,” Todd said.
“I’m sure he’s not upset that we’re having a surprise baby shower for him.
He’s emotional.” Todd quickly crossed to us and wrapped his arms around his friend and, in turn, me as well.
Cecil arrived shortly after, and I took a step away and let the omegas hug my mate.
Banner quickly wiped his face.
“Man, don’t worry about it,” Todd said. “I had a complete meltdown over a shirt. Seriously. A shirt and which one I should wear. Full-out snot everywhere, sitting on the floor of the closet. It was…not pretty.”
Banner laughed while still crying.
“Oh, I have one too. I cried over cereal,” Cecil said as he came around to the side of Banner so he could see him.
“I wanted a certain one that of course I had eaten all of it, and Warwick was at work. I was craving it so bad, and it was the only cereal I liked at that time. I did not have a good morning that morning.”
I held out several tissues to Banner, who took them and mouthed that he loved me.
I winked at my mate. He’d not been overly emotional, but I knew that there were certain things that would trigger his emotions, and it was obvious that this act of kindness from my pack and Briggs and Todd had done so.
Banner, Todd, and Cecil were talking quietly for a moment before Banner nodded. Todd gave him another hug, then Cecil, and then Banner walked over to me. I opened my arms for my mate, and he walked directly into the embrace.
“Okay, it’s my fault,” Atticus said. “I should have let the two of you know that we wanted to have a baby shower for you. That and I really did wish to welcome Banner into the pack.”
Banner pulled from my arms enough to look at our pack’s alpha. “Thank you, Atticus. I really appreciate everything. I’m not upset, I swear,” he said. “It was just a sudden overwhelming burst of emotions.” Banner wiped his eyes and then his nose again.
“Well, since the two of you are the guests of honor, you get to sit on the throne that is in front of the fireplace and then open your presents.”
I looked down at Banner. “Throne?” Banner asked quietly.
There was a bit of laughter, and when I looked over that direction, I saw why.
Sure enough, there in front of the fireplace was a makeshift throne.
It looked like a baby crib, where the one side of it had been removed so it could be used as a chair of sorts?
Maybe. Banner saw it and started laughing because the “throne” was decorated with lots of diapers, wipes, and blankets.
“That’s too cute,” Banner said as he went over to the “throne.” He touched a blanket and started laughing. He tugged on it and then held it up. “Are these little monsters?”
“They are,” Todd said. “Aren’t they adorable? All we knew was you wanted bright colors, and they were bright and colorful.”
Banner brought the blanket over to me, a look on his face that I absolutely knew. He had just then decided that our nursery should be little monsters. I didn’t care one way or another. It was currently simple and a bunch of different colors.
“Dante…”
I smiled at my mate. “We can wait and see how things go here, and then we’ll take care of things,” I told him.
Banner smiled at me, and when he was walking back over to our spot, I quickly gave Atticus a look of desperation.
He chuckled before he nodded. I didn’t know if that meant that they had collectively decided to go with little monsters or if he had just used magic to change everything to little monsters.
Either way, I knew that when we got home, I’d be doing some magic to change our nursery.
Well, at least incorporating some sort of monster theme to it.
I joined Banner, curious if the seat would actually hold both of us, but it was Warwick who reassured me. “It’ll hold you,” he said. “I was sitting on it with Augustus earlier. It’s completely solid.”
That was reassuring.
“Is it actually a crib?” Banner asked. He looked at it, then put the blanket back where he’d gotten it from.
“It is. We know you have one though,” Atticus said. “It’ll get sent back to where it came from once we’re finished with the party.”
“Where is that?” Banner asked.
Atticus shrugged. “I don’t know. I just used magic, and here it is. I’ll use magic again, and it’ll go back to wherever it came from.”
Banner gave me a horrified look. “Don’t pick on my mate, Atticus,” I said.
Atticus smiled. “Sorry. It’s from the council’s medical wing.”
“Oh.”
Azar and Titus came over, both with awkward smiles on their faces. “Banner, this is Titus and Azar,” I said as I gestured to each of them. “They are the newest members of our pack, and the last two according to the goddess.”
“Hi,” Banner said.
“Welcome to the pack,” Azar said.
“Yeah,” Titus added. “That.” He nodded. “I’d say more, but I usually end up saying the wrong things, so I’m just saying welcome and calling it good.”
There were more chuckles from the others. We all were probably remembering Titus’s comments about Banner and how he thought he was an alpha because he was so tall.
“All right. Sit down, and let’s get to the presents because…food,” Atticus said. “We really need to get to the food because I’m doing a full brisket-and-ribs thing.”
Banner whimpered.
I glared at Atticus, but it was his mate, Brice, who whacked the alpha. “You cannot mention food in front of a pregnant omega and then not provide said food. Especially not something he is obviously happy to hear about,” Brice said.
Atticus looked over at Banner, who was holding his stomach with one hand and hanging on to the crib throne. Atticus seemed to realize that he’d messed up. “All right. Change of plans. We’ll eat first, and then the soon-to-be parents can open presents after. Sound good?”
“You won’t hear any complaints from us,” someone said.
I crossed to Banner and smiled down at my mate. “Are you hungry, baby?”
“When am I not?”
“I’ll get you a plate. Do you want to find somewhere to eat, or do you want to eat here?”