Chapter Sixteen
Hudson
We were hooked on a new crime documentary series, my alpha and I.
I had to turn my head at the bloody parts which was strange because I drew people’s blood for a living.
Crime scene blood and living people’s blood were different.
My stomach had been queasy lately and this doc wasn’t helping one bit.
That morning, Evander and I went to breakfast at our favorite diner, the place we’d gone to together on our first sort-of date. I ordered what I wanted but when the plate was set down and I got a whiff of the ham-and-cheese-stuffed waffle, I almost threw up.
Maybe I was coming down with something.
The reveal came on the TV. After a ton of interviews, they said who the killer was. Evander paused the show. “Did you see that coming? I had no idea. It was her mom!”
I shook my head. “No clue. But now that I know, she was acting kind of weird.”
Our day had been easy. We shopped for groceries. Dropped off return packages. Bought him a new suit he needed for a meeting or something.
It was nice to run errands with him. He bought me a smoothie, but I could only get half of it down.
“I need to talk to you about something,” he said, turning to face me on the couch. My stomach rolled. Crap. Bad news? Had I done something wrong? Was he angry with me?
“Okay,” I choked out.
“Hey.” He took my hands in his. “It’s nothing bad and you did nothing wrong.”
I let out a long exhale. “Tell me.”
“Lately, I’ve noticed your smell change.”
I sniffed. “I stink?”
Chuckling, my mate shook his head. “You never ever stink, Hudson. But your scent has become sweeter.”
“What does that mean?”
Evander opened and closed his mouth several times before speaking. The show was paused. The world seemed to go silent waiting for him to speak. “Do you think with your changed scent and your new aversion to foods that you might be pregnant?”
“Do you think so?” I asked, unable to quell my smile.
“I think so. I’ve thought so for a couple of days now. I bought a test at the pharmacy yesterday. I told myself that if you were willing, you could take the test while you were here.”
“You planned this,” I whispered.
“Not against you, omega mine. Not against you. I’m not plotting your demise. I’m trying to help you. Don’t you want to know if you are?”
I nodded. I did. Having his baby, our baby, would mean the world to me.
And I had to remember that Evander, my alpha, wasn’t my enemy. Sometimes my mind made him the enemy, relying on old patterns of thought and behavior. I put up walls when there was no need for them anymore.
“I want that. Yes.”
“Good. Do you want me to be there with you?”
Instead of answering, I got up from the couch and extended my hand. Evander took it and we went toward the master bedroom and then into the attached bathroom. True to his word, there was a test underneath the sink and I took it.
“How long?” I asked him since he was holding the instructions.
“Two minutes,” he answered. “The longest two minutes ever.”
My brain began to work overtime. I viewed his statement as proof he didn’t want this baby. If I was pregnant, he would leave me. We hadn’t spoken about having kids or a family. This would change everything.
Evander tried to hold me while we were waiting, but I wrapped my arms around myself, convinced that this was the end. I would have to raise this child alone.
Again, my trust was misplaced.
The timer on Evander’s phone went off and he looked at me. “Do you want to see it first?”
“No,” I replied coldly. “Go ahead.”
He walked over and checked it. He put the stick down and then picked it up again. My heart plummeted to my stomach.
All my fears were coming true.
“You’re pregnant,” he said, turning to face me. His expression was blank but then, as I made contingency plans in my head, a smile broke out on his face. “Aren’t you happy, omega?” His brow furrowed as his scent grew tangier. “You didn’t want this…”
That was when my better judgment kicked in. “What? I want this baby. I want your baby more than anything.”
“Then what is it?” He held my biceps. “Please, tell me.”
“I thought…I thought you didn’t want it. That this would change everything. That you would leave me because it was too soon or we hadn’t talked about kids. My thoughts went all kind of yucky places.”
He nodded and, when he offered his embrace, I sank into it. “It’s okay to think those things. You’re still learning to trust me. But I would rather you verbalize those things instead of keeping them from me. We can tackle them head-on if you tell me.”
“Do you trust me?”
“I do. With my life.”
That shocked me. “It must be nice to trust so easily.”
He kissed the top of my head and held me tighter. “It is, but we all have different paths. Now, if you discard all of those negative thoughts, how do you feel about having our baby?”
It only took a second to reply. “I’m happy. I want this life with you. I want a family and children and all of that.”
“Good,” he said, “because I want all of that with you too.”