Chapter Eighteen
Noble
I went downstairs for my shift, feeling like I’d been run over by a train, maybe a truck too. My bones ached. My muscles strained. If I wasn’t a shifter, I would’ve thought I was coming down with something, but we didn’t get sick very often.
“Noble?” Dave asked as I came down. The thought of coffee made me want to hurl, but I forced myself to make a fresh pot.
“I’m here. Making coffee.”
“No. That’s not what I’m talking about.”
That got my attention. “What’s going on?”
“You don’t look good,” he said, frowning. “Wendy, come here. Noble doesn’t look good.”
Wendy came scrambling over as fast as her little legs could take her. She was a short woman and even in the time I’d been working here, she had gotten shorter somehow.
“Dave, I’m fine. Just tired. That’s all.”
“Noble, you are pale. Come over here and sit down. I brought soup.” The thought of bubbling broth made the bit of cracker in my stomach want to bubble up along with it.
“Oh no. No. I can’t. Nothing sounds good lately.”
“Sit down,” Wendy said and I opened my mouth, but she wasn’t having it. Fierce little woman. “Sit. Now, how long have you been feeling like this?”
I sighed and shrugged. “A couple of weeks?” Oren noticed it too. He made me promise to eat better and sleep more, but I couldn’t keep much down and I was sleeping more than ever.
Wendy stood in front of me and did all the mom things even though she wasn’t mine. She felt my forehead. Asked me more questions.
But the last one struck me the most. “You have a new boyfriend, right?”
I nodded. Wendy and Dave weren’t shifters and while I could’ve explained, I didn’t have the energy. “Yes. Oren.”
Wendy walked away and came back with a box in her hand. I looked at the box and then at her and back again.
“You’ve got to be kidding me?”
“Why?” she asked, promptly putting her hand on her hip. “You got a boyfriend. You’re tired. Food smells bad. Red cheeks.”
“I have to work tonight.” And avoid all things pregnancy test.
“Dave is going to work tonight for you.” Dave didn’t know that and it showed on his face, but what Wendy said went. “You go back upstairs. Call the boyfriend. Take a test. Then at least you’ll know.”
Fuck me. “Okay.”
I took the box from her after a mild, short, argument on whether or not I would pay for it. I would not, for the record. I took the stairs two at a time while calling Oren. He dropped everything and was at my apartment in less than ten minutes.
“Did you speed here?” I asked.
“No. I was careful but I took some shortcuts. What is it?”
My only answer was to hold up the box. “Wendy, the owner of the store, saw me. Asked me questions. This was her solution.”
“She thinks you’re pregnant.”
I shrugged. Maybe rolled my eyes. “Yes.”
“I think so too. I was going to tell you tomorrow when you came over.”
“What?” I yelled a bit too loudly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do. We didn’t talk about this. Plan this. I live over a convenience store. I work nights. Sometimes I eat cake for breakfast. I…” Could’ve come up with a thousand excuses.
“Take the test and then you can freak out all you want, but at least we’ll know it’s warranted.”
I took a long breath. “Fine. Pee on a stick.”
The two minutes was definitely an hour. Oren hugged me and held me until the timer went off. Neither of us said anything.
“It’s two lines,” he said after I begged him to go in and read the results for me. “You’re pregnant.”
I sat down. More like almost toppled over. “I’m pregnant.”
Oren kneeled in front of me. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”
“Scared. Surprised.”
“What are you scared of, omega?”
There was no point in skating the truth. Oren could read me like a book. “We didn’t talk about this. What if you didn’t want children and you’re going to leave me now? What if I’m not a good dad? What if my kid looks at me with terror? What if they don’t want to be around me?”
He moved to sit next to me and tugged on me until I sat in his lap. His hand moved to my belly. Goddess, that felt good. Warm. Tender. Loving. Like I was safe again. “One at a time. I want children with you and even if I didn’t, there’s nothing in this world that could make me leave you. Ever.”
I nodded and one knot untied itself.
“Second, you’re going to be the best dad. I know this because you’re the sweetest, kindest, most loving omega.”
He went through all the other questions and concerns as well.
Of course our baby would love me. I would be different from the other dads, but everyone had their flaws.
“Are you happy?” I finally asked after he’d put out all my fires.
He kissed my forehead and rubbed my belly. I had a feeling he’d be doing a lot of that. “I’m ecstatic. I’ve always wanted kids but I didn’t let myself hope until you. But tell me, my love, are you happy?”
I looked down at my abdomen. Flat now, but soon would be rounded, growing our child. “The only time I’ve been happier was the night you made me yours.”
Oren spent the night, and, in the morning, we told Dave and Wendy, my adopted family, our news. I still wanted to work and be independent but in the back of my head, I knew that the night would be difficult further along in the pregnancy.
I packed a bag and went to Oren’s for the day. He took the day off so we could celebrate.
There were so many things up in the air. The baby’s gender. The nursery. Planning. Child-rearing. Where we would live.
But for now, I knew one thing for sure. My life was nearly perfect.