Chapter 34 Mable
Mable
“Our little one is going to be a hockey player, for sure!” Jasper declared as we piled into the elevator to go back up to the penthouse.
“Of course they are! Did you see those kicks?” Devin said as he gently rubbed my back.
We had gone for the anatomy scan with their doctors.
Thanks to their NHL insurance, I got to go to a top-of-the-line medical facility with spacious rooms so all my guys could pile in and watch the sonogram.
The scan should have taken place over a month ago, when I was twenty weeks pregnant, but the insurance change delayed things slightly.
They loved every second of it. Percy had been asking all the logical questions, while Jasper and Saint had been more focused on watching the baby kick. Devin had appeared concerned throughout the entire thing, only relaxing when the doctor assured him that everything was all right.
“When do we get to peek in the envelope?” Jasper whined. “I want to know!”
“We said we would do something together to reveal the gender,” I reminded him.
The doctor had so kindly written the sex of the baby on a piece of paper and placed it in an envelope for us to decide what to do with later.
Saint had wanted to rip into the envelope immediately, but Jasper was only held back by the idea of getting to plan something chaotic and fun.
Apparently, it didn’t take long for that excitement to end because he already wanted to take a peek.
“We could do colorful explosions,” Jasper suggested.
“No pyrotechnics,” I said as the elevator doors opened and we made our way into the penthouse. Making a beeline for the fridge, I opened it up and started perusing the many snack options available.
Devin had even gone so far as to prepare multiple little snack packs of pre-cut vegetables.
There was cucumber, carrot sticks, red bell pepper, and celery sticks, all cut with a cute little wavy crinkle cutter and mini pots of ranch to dip them in.
He acted like this was something he always did, but I remembered from the first time I came to the penthouse that the fridge had been a lot more barren.
“Oh, I forgot to mention this, but Jensen gave me a gift for you,” Jasper said, pulling something out of his back pocket.
Intrigued, I closed the fridge and approached the island where Jasper was standing.
“Jensen?” I asked.
“What the hell is another alpha doing getting our omega gifts?” Saint frowned. “I don’t care if he’s our team doctor.” They were all a little jealous, but instead of being intimidated by it, I found it amusing.
“I’ve never even met Jensen in person. You guys can stop worrying. Devin, you look like you’re constipated. You need to relax.”
Jasper burst into laughter. “You know, dude, she’s right. You do look a little constipated. The gift isn’t from Jensen, though. It’s from Bethany, his omega. It’s a gift card to a store—I’m not sure what kind of store, though.” He finished with a frown, handing me the gift card.
A small smile graced my face when it dawned on me that Bethany had completely immersed herself in her new life and was still occasionally thinking about me.
I expected her to be radio silent, given that she was now transitioning from a rather solitary life to having a pack and two daughters.
That was a lot for anyone to handle, but if anyone could manage it, it was Bethany.
The little pink logo was easily recognizable.
“It’s a maternity store. They sell a few baby items, but they sell predominantly maternity clothes.”
Jasper pouted. “But I like the idea of you wearing our T-shirts the further along you get!” I had been wearing their T-shirts in the privacy of my own home, but I was starting to struggle when it came to normal clothes.
“As much as I enjoy wearing no clothing, I do need a few normal items and this couldn’t come at a better time because, well, I’m getting rather large.”
I look down at my bump pointedly. In another couple of weeks I would be seven months pregnant. My center of gravity was starting to change, and everything was feeling a bit more difficult.
Then there was the clinginess.
The guys hadn’t even batted an eyelid when I’d started stealing their T-shirts because I was that desperate for their scents; they had taken it in stride.
My omega was becoming such a needy, cantankerous bitch, but I was starting to worry that simply having their scent in my nest wouldn’t be enough.
Sure, they gave me physical touch and cuddles whenever I wanted it, but it was one thing to ask for a snuggle on the sofa while I was feeling a bit cranky.
It was another to drag them into my nest and demand that they stay there all night.
“I want to get some maternity jeans. My current ones are too tight, and they are two sizes bigger than I normally wear, hence why I’ve been wearing only leggings the last few months.”
“Those leggings do make your ass look fantastic,” Devin muttered as he stood next to me, grabbing some of the chopped veggies out of the fridge and taking the bar of chocolate I had grabbed out of my hand. “Veggies first,” he muttered, kissing the top of my head.
“You’re lucky I like you,” I grumbled, accepting the veggies with a glower. “Because stealing a pregnant woman’s chocolate is a dangerous game!”
“We’ve got some death by chocolate cake with your name on it as soon as you eat at least a little something with nutritional value.”
“Fine!” I huffed, ripping open the pot of veggies and angrily chomping on a carrot stick.
Across the kitchen island, the rest of my pack burst into laughter. “Oh, sweetness, you look so cute and grumpy.”
“I’m not cute, I’m angry. You’re supposed to fear me!” I stomped my foot as I spoke, mouth still full of carrot.
“Yes, angry like a newborn kitten,” Percy agreed.
“Why are you so irritating?” I asked, frowning at him. I didn’t mean it with any malice, but I was feeling a little grumpy. I’d been deprived of chocolate.
“He was born that way,” Percy said. “It’s a tragedy, really, but we’ve learned to live with it. Just like we’ve learned to live with Jasper’s lack of a brain.”
“Hey, I’ll have you know that I went to the doctor, and he told me that I had at least ten good brain cells.”
Devin nodded thoughtfully. “That’s a lot of brain cells. How many of them are in hibernation?”
Jasper merely rolled his eyes, probably used to ribbing from his pack mates.
“Tease all you want. I am going to stick the sonogram photos on the fridge while you guys bicker like a bunch of children. Not you, though, Maple girl, you are never childish. You are amazing.” He smiled warmly as he plucked the pictures off the kitchen island and made his way over to the fridge.
“You know, if you moved in with us, you could have this every night,” Devin said as he ran his hand through my hair.
He was on the sofa, leaning back, his feet up while I cuddled into his side, both of us wrapped up in copious fluffy blankets.
It was warm, it was snuggly, and it was perfect.
“Devin…”
“I know you want to keep your independence, but the baby will be here soon enough, and we want to be able to take care of you.”
“I know, and it’s a good idea, but the guest room is…”
“We can decorate it however you want. Your nest can be brought here, or we could even do a whole new nest or a hybrid nest, a little of the old and a little of the new.”
He sat up a bit straighter. It was like now that he sensed I was leaning towards accepting the offer, he was unable to hide his eagerness.
“How would I get to and from class? I know it’s only an extra ten minutes’ walk, but that’s a lot of walking while pregnant.”
“One of us will be around to drive you. If not, the security guys will happily do it. In fact, I think if you told them you wanted to walk, they would refuse to take no for an answer. They’re kind of stubborn when they want to be.
Plus, your classes are online this year.
You only need to go to campus to get textbooks from the library and meet with professors occasionally. ”
I fully believed that the security guys could be quite stubborn.
“But they just made all that effort to add the security system to my dorm!”
Devin laughed, pulling me tighter toward him. “They won’t care about that. They can set up security systems in their sleep. You know Bear has been badgering me to get you to move in before the baby comes so they can keep an eye on both of you?”
I gaped at Devin. “No, he is not!”
“He totally is.” He chuckled.
“You seem to have an answer for everything,” I pointed out as I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Yep, I’m smart like that.”
For a moment I watched this alpha I was quickly becoming very attached to. Most nights I went to sleep alone in my nest, I was consumed by a painful loneliness, and moving in with them would solve that. They were already taking care of me, and I didn’t hate it… in fact, I was starting to enjoy it.
“You really wouldn’t mind redoing the guest room into a proper nest?” I asked.
Devin’s face lit up. “Of course not! What would you change?”
“It needs darker curtains, for one. The walls are so stark white, it’s depressing. The mattress? My God it’s lumpy, and I hate it. Crap, I’m rambling now.”
He chuckled, kissing the top of my head. “This is good, I want you to change everything!” He reached down and pulled out his phone. He opened the pack group chat and sent a voice note.
“You all better keep your weekend free, because I think our girl just agreed to move in!”
I chuckled, shaking my head at his excitement.
The pack chat was filled with a flurry of comments, all the others sending various messages of excitement.
They were all ecstatic.
As was I.