Chapter 16 #2
Kane walks over and takes off the burnt orange ring sling that vaguely reminds me of his hair, cupping it around the baby doll inside of it.
“I don’t like not being part of conversations, but that doesn’t mean the baby can’t,” he says with a pout.
“No it doesn’t,” I say gravelly, pinching my lips together to hide my smile. “I’ll hang out with the baby.”
After watching me carefully take the ring sling and baby doll, he nods and shuffles out of the room with everyone else. Except Linus, who merely scoots an ottoman closer to us.
“I know this is girl talk, but?—”
“Omega’s prerogative,” I say with a wink, enjoying his eager nod.
“So what do you want to know?” I ask, smirking.
“Everything,” Quinn says, curled up on the sofa now that her infusion is done. “Let’s start with the bite mark on your throat, shall we?”
My hand moves over to Tyde’s slowly healing bite and sigh. My body is so odd. Sometimes it’ll heal quickly, and other times it’ll flaunt the injury. I guess this is one of those times where I’m going to be dealing with a lot of questions.
The position of it doesn’t let me cover it with clothes, and I really don’t want to.
Quinn, Adira, Linus, and I chat together about things for the next hour, but Adira frowns at one point as she thinks of something.
“Little Eavesdropper,” she calls out, and Kane strolls into the room with his hands in his pockets.
“You called, Little Rabbit?” he asks.
Something about that nickname makes me frown, but it’s hard for me to make the connection as to why so I let it go.
“Nova’s kidnappers have a home in Michigan. Would you like to blow it up?” Adira asks.
“Yes,” Kane says, eyes wide. “Nova, would that make you happy?”
Blinking rapidly as tears threaten to escape, I nod. “It would,” I whisper, making a face as a tear escapes. “I hate that place.”
“Don’t cry,” he says, looking worried. “Do you want me to video call you when I make it go ka-boom?”
“That would be really sweet,” I say, watching as the wheels start to turn for him.
“Can you watch the baby for me?” he asks. “Adira is tired and pregnant, and I don’t really trust Jed. He’d stick it in a closet.”
The last part is whispered, and my shoulders shake as I struggle not to laugh out loud. That would be rude, but I can totally see his older brother doing that.
“Kane,” Adira groans. “I can watch the baby.”
“It’s fine,” I wheeze. “I don’t mind at all.”
“See, it’s fine,” Kane says with a firm nod. “You look like you have to sneeze or fart, Nova. It’s not good to hold things like that in.”
My hand covers my mouth as I nod, and Adira takes pity on me.
“You have to take someone with you, Kane,” she reminds him.
“Morris,” he mutters to himself, leaving the room as I fall over and start to laugh.
“He thought… I had to fart!” I gasp as they all giggle.
“It was good advice though,” Linus chuckles. “Let it go!”
That tumbles us all into another round of laughter, and Duncan walks into the room with a wince as he brings in a tray.
“Did Callum forget?” Quinn asks, a smile still on his lips.
“He did, but I decided to just cook and bring food and coffee,” he says. “Morris and Kane just left. Something about needing to go to Michigan?”
“He certainly doesn’t waste any time, does he?” I ask, feeling all warm and fuzzy.
I’m feeling a lot of emotions from you, Little Queen. You good? Tyde asks through the bond.
I am, I reply. I’m having a really interesting and weird day.
Nothing wrong with weird. I can’t wait to see you.
I feel Tyde fade slightly away as he goes back to work, while I tune back into what’s happening in front of me and take a cup of coffee from Duncan.
“Thank you,” I murmur with a smile, taking a small sip. It’s perfect, and I raise my brow at him.
“I pay attention to things. I made sure to bring out things you could eat as well,” he says with a shrug. “Is whatever Kane’s going to do with Morris going to cause issues anywhere?”
“Ah, he’s going to blow up the house I grew up in,” I reply. “He may need help getting through the gates. They’re electrified. John and Louise always had a full security team too.”
“They have weapons with them,” Adira says, getting quiet as she speaks to someone through one of her bonds. “Damon is going to warn them to swing by the house for extra artillery.”
“Just a normal day in the life,” Linus mutters under his breath as Quinn grins before popping a pretzel into her mouth.
“You know you wouldn’t change it for anything,” she murmurs. Her voice is soft, and I’ve noticed that she rarely raises it unless it’s necessary. It makes me wonder if she ruined it due to screaming too often, because it’s raspy and hard when she talks louder.
“Not at all,” Linus agrees.
Duncan leaves to I assume talk to his brother, while I have a late lunch with Quinn, Linus, and Adira.
Glancing at my phone, I bite my lip.
“I have to go,” I sigh. “Tyde is going to be leaving the hospital soon.”
“The alpha we like,” Linus snarks. “There’s always at least one that gets his shit together before the others.”
“Hey, I had my shit together, thank you,” Callum says, coming into the room with the other alphas behind him.
“Sometimes, they’re all just special,” Adira grunts, and I notice how Jed ducks his head.
At least I know I’m not alone as I figure this out. Apparently it’s not abnormal for alphas to have their dicks in a twist. Well, maybe that’s just a coincidence of most humans who have dicks?
I’d have to run a blind study to be sure.
Standing, I pull my coat back on and grab my things.
“You’re both about a month and a half apart,” I remind Quinn and Adira. “We can either continue separate appointments or together. I don’t mind either way.”
“You’re taking more clients, right?” Adira asks as Quinn nods.
“That’s my plan. I am meeting with new clients next week,” I explain.
“Is it easier for you to see us together?” Quinn asks.
I hesitate for a moment because whatever I say may influence their decision.
“Please tell the truth,” Jed grumbles. “We actually want to make your life easier.”
“Yes,” I sigh. “Seeing you together would help my commute between appointments.”
“Then that’s our answer,” Adira says. “I’ll see you in two weeks.”
Since Quinn is further along in her pregnancy now, that’s about how often I’d need to see her as well. Her nausea was the reason I was stopping by more.
Saying goodbye, I head out to my van and wince as I see the time. Waving quickly at Duncan by the garage door as usual, I drive away and call Malcolm because I’m going to need his help.
“ Are you calling me about an alpha in scrubs at the gate?” he answers.
“I’m running so late,” I groan. “I’m so sorry. He worked a double shift at the hospital. Can you please let him into my um…”
“ It’s your house, Nova. You can say it,” he grumbles. “ I have a story to tell you about that one day. I’ll let him in. Drive safe. It’s starting to snow again.”
“Thank you,” I breathe. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Hanging up, I reach out to Tyde.
Running late. Get comfortable, please don’t wait up for me.
It doesn’t matter that the sun is still in the sky and he got off work earlier than we both expected. I know he has to be exhausted.
I’d wait forever for you, Little Queen. I’m going to go shower and crash in your bed.
I can’t stop smiling as I drive home, and I find him curled up exactly where he said he’d be, his face buried in the pillow I slept on.
“You’re adorable,” I whisper, pulling off my clothing before I crawl into bed.
“You are,” Tyde groans, his arm yanking me against his chest. “You don’t have to sleep with me, I just need to snuggle.”
My eyelids already feel heavy as I lay my head on his chest, and I fall asleep to the sound of his breathing.