Chapter Eighteen
Bowen
Once I’d gotten settled in Remi’s or should I remember to say even in my thoughts, our cabin, it was time to look around for a job.
My alpha had reminded me that I was welcome to work with him, and I actually did go in sometimes, especially when he had a big sale or things were particularly busy, but my pride demanded that I still find my own work.
Applications for anything that would be covered by my degree, experience, and qualifications were long and detailed.
And few positions of the kind were currently available—as I’d feared.
But I didn’t have much else to do but fill them out, so I decided that was my job.
And I did it a minimum of eight hours per day with coffee breaks and lunch.
It made me feel better about not pulling my weight.
I cleaned and cooked and did anything I could think of to make my alpha’s life run smoothly, but still… Nobody was paying me for that, and as a small business man, albeit successful, my mate didn’t have money to throw around.
Three months in, the stress was getting to me. The days were getting warmer, and the cabin never seemed to cool off all the way at night. We had AC, but Remi didn’t seem bothered by the temperature, and I didn’t want to be the whiner.
Of all the applications, the one for the state parks held the most interest for me.
They were establishing a native plant program, and while I had never run one myself, my botany minor didn’t hurt.
I’d never used it before to try to get a job, so it was kind of fun to list it.
But that had been the first application and after hearing nothing for so long, I had decided it just wasn’t going to happen.
Lying in bed one morning, after my alpha headed off to the nursery, I was about ready to broaden my search.
Maybe it wouldn’t be something perfect for me, but I could do just about anything for a while.
Most people had imperfect positions, and attitude was the most important thing, right?
My ranger job had been incredible, but my unemployment was running out and I had to do something.
Sitting up, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up.
Fast. Too fast. Head spinning, I plopped back to sit down.
Waiting until the dizziness passed, I tried again, more slowly.
“I’ve got to stop doing that.” But even that careful rise had me nauseous. Stress really was eating me alive.
That settled it. I would absolutely get a job today, whatever it took. But I only made it as far as the bathroom before I ended up hunched over the porcelain basin, emptying what little remained in my stomach from my late-night snack.
“Bowen?” My alpha’s voice cut through the misery that returned every time I tried to lift my head. “Omega, what’s wrong?”
“I think it’s stress. My stomach is just so bad.” I tried to stand again, making it halfway up before my alpha’s supportive arms closed around me.
“If I help, can you make it to the bedroom?”
“What if I throw up again?”
“If you do, I’ll clean it all up.” He assisted me, speaking encouragingly with each step. “You’re doing great. Keep going. You’ve got this. Here we are.” Easing me down onto the mattress, he bent to study my face. “Better?”
“I think so. Thank you.” Still a little dizzy, I at least wasn’t throwing up at the moment.
“I’m going to get you some water.” He left and returned thirty seconds later. “Take this glass and sip very slowly. Okay?”
Nodding, I took a teensy sip then a bigger one. “Yeah. I’m fine. But why are you home? Did you forget something?”
“No, but you got a message that somehow came through on my email by mistake, and I wanted to get it to you.”
In a burst of adorable enthusiasm, we’d set up a shared email when I first moved in. After a couple of weeks, we’d figured out that was a mistake and stopped using it. I hadn’t even given it out to many people, though, and hadn’t checked it in weeks.
“I’m so sorry to make you come home for that. It can’t have been important enough to cut into your day… Wait, why would you come home for an email?” He could have called or texted me to check it or just waited until the end of the day.
“Here.” He held his phone up in front of my face. “See if you think I wasted my time.”
I read it aloud. “We are pleased to offer you the position of… This is the state parks. The job I applied for three months ago. When did this come in?”
“Had to be today. When we stopped using the email, I had it forwarded to my regular email that I check every day.”
“I forgot I used that one with them. I haven’t checked that email in at least two months. I would have missed it.” Leaping up, I flung my arms around my alpha’s neck in gratitude then groaned, clapped a hand over my mouth, and fled.
With an empty stomach, I didn’t actually throw up that time, but I did a great round of dry heaves. If stress was causing it, it should ease now that I had a job offer.
But when I managed to stand up again, it was to find my alpha standing there holding a box. “I also brought you this. You haven’t been feeling the best and you looked positively green the other morning.”
“A pregnancy test? I can’t be pregnant. I’m about to start a new job.”
His look held all his doubts for my sanity. “Omega, I don’t think one thing negates the other. From what you told me, from job offer to job start will take several weeks, and you should be past the nauseated stage, if you are pregnant.”
“But what about after the baby comes?”
“How about if we find out if one is coming, then we’ll make the best plan for us as a family.” Calm, always calm.
“All right.” I took the box then stopped him as he went to leave the bathroom. “Alpha, do you want me to be pregnant?”
“I won’t lie and say I hate the idea of our family growing, but how do you feel about it?”
“I want it to be true.”
He hugged me and pressed a kiss on my forehead. “Me too.”
Those minutes felt like hours before we knew for sure. I was pregnant and we’d figure out all the rest later.
My alpha was one smart panther.