Chapter Fourteen
Lux
My mate and I were not moving forward quickly—even by human standards.
His shock at my being a shifter had him keeping me at arm’s length.
That and finding out he was pregnant were probably too much for him to take in, but it didn’t make things any easier for my nerves.
Fortunately, while he would not see me in person, Rain was willing to talk on the phone with me.
And I’d take anything I could get from him.
I called my dad to chat and without intending to, ended up telling him the whole story, even the part where his own early life had stuck with me. “Dad, I know he’s human, and this is hard for him, but I don’t think I could stand it if he walks away.”
“It sounds pretty different from my story, Son,” he said. “For one thing, your mate is pregnant. I never laid a hand on mine. You’ve made love and that’s an intimacy with a mate that’s not likely to be forgotten. You need to be patient and I bet he’ll come around.”
“Where do you think we’d be if your fated had not said no?” I’d never asked this question, but under my current circumstances, it was on my mind.
“I don’t know for sure, but I can’t regret anything now.
Not only do I have you, the best son ever”—he did have others, but he said the same thing to them when they were talking—“but a partner who makes every day special for me. Sure, Fate picks out the very best one she can for each of us, but sometimes things work out for the best. Your mate will see the light. Unless he hates foxes?”
“No no,” I hurried to assure him. “He doesn’t hate foxes. He even gave me a little one on a key chain. Looks a lot like Father.”
We both laughed at that. Father had a tendency to take things too seriously, but he could laugh at himself if he wanted to. Or if his funny bone was tickled, like now.
“I love my mate and I don’t want anyone else. Ever,” I said, returning to the topic at hand.
“Give him a chance. What if you’d learned he was an alien from outer space. Wouldn’t you need a little time to adjust to the concept?”
“Well, yeah, but that’s not the case here. Nobody is from outer space, and I’m just a garden-variety shifter.”
“Lux…” His tone held all the warning I remembered from when I was ten. Both my fathers were kind and funny, but they could also be strict when it was required. And nobody had to tell me when to back off.
“Okay, I’ll be patient.”
“You’d better be. We are counting on you to give us our first grandchild, and if you drive your mate away by being fussy and nagging, you’ll be in big trouble, foxy boy.”
“Yes, Dad. I get it. Patient. No fussy, no nagging. Deliver grandchild immediately upon arrival for your blessing.”
“And spoiling. Not by me, of course, but your father is already collecting toys.”
No, Dad wouldn’t spoil the child with toys. He’d be the one baking up a storm. Way too many cookies before dinner, preferably after our child had teeth.
“I love you guys. Thanks for the pep talk, Dad.”
“We love you, Son.”
I disconnected the call and dialed my mate. “Hi, how are you?” At first, most of the contact had been text. I was so afraid of overstepping that I didn’t want to chance him cutting me off entirely. But now, we were talking on the phone and even had done a FaceTime.
“I’m fine. Just working hard. Between work-work and the house, it’s keeping me busy.”
I wanted to help him, as long as he wasn’t asking me to come over or otherwise indicating he wanted to spend time with me in person.
After several days, I called in to work and took a week off.
I had plenty of time saved up, and I didn’t trust myself to drive that big truck while my mind was so galvanized by my mate.
He continued to be willing to chat on the phone, listened to all my woes without saying anything negative. I felt guilty about dumping on him when he was dealing with plenty too. But my fox was getting very upset, and so was I. Why have a mate if you never got to see him?
And then, on the third day I stayed home from work, there came a knock on the door. In no shape to see anyone, unshowered, unshaven, and wearing old worn-out pajamas, I dragged over to answer it and then stumbled back in surprise when I saw who it was.
“Rain!” He wore a pair of jeans that fit like he wasn’t even pregnant and a T-shirt with a rainbow embossed on the front. “You look amazing.”
My mate’s arms were filled with grocery bags and one from the pharmacy. “Ah-ha! You look…amazing…too. Have you eaten anything at all?”
Turned out, when we did our FaceTime, he took one look at me and realized what he needed to do.
“Alpha, you look like shit.”
“Thanks.” I tried to chuckle, but I didn’t have the energy. I hadn’t slept much, either. “But, I’m not hungry.”
“I’m going to cook, and we’re both going to eat and I brought supplements to build you up.”
“You are the sweetest omega ever, but you don’t need to bring me medicine. If it’s all right with you if I do it, I just want to hug you.”
“Hug away then I will go make dinner. I don’t intend to take no for an answer. My kit’s father is not going to fade away. Geez, alpha, are all shifters as drama-bama as you?”
“Some are,” I defended myself. “Others are not.”
He laughed and sailed past me into the kitchen where he unpacked his groceries and started to cook.
“You know you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do. I’m your omega, and I want to.”
“You mean, this isn’t just a pity visit?”
“No, alpha, this is me getting over myself and coming here to apologize. Your fox—despite his sharp little teeth, is adorable, and I’ll take a shifter like you over any man I’ve ever met.”
He went back to work, preparing steaks and baked potatoes, a big green salad. “But I have one question. It was really hard to be apart from you, but I think it was making you sick. Why?”
“Shifter thing. Until the mating bond is completed, we should stay as close together as we can.”
“Or maybe forever.”