17. Kennedy
Chapter 17
Kennedy
B y the time Eli had convinced me to eat more than two bowlfuls of soup, Charlotte was starting to stir and fuss.
Micha ran his hand along her back, lightly touching her forehead, checking her temperature. I should have been more concerned that I hardly knew this alpha, but every time I looked in his direction, my ovaries almost exploded from the sight.
Hot topless alpha cuddling my baby? That was a special kind of visual porn that would stay with me for years and years.
I padded over to them, ready to pick up Charlotte, but she simmered down, smooshing her face into Micha’s chest and dozing off again.
“What am I, chopped liver?” I chuckled as I took a step back.
“Nah, you’re still number one, I’m just a novelty.” Micha smirked. “Plus, I owe you. Looking after this one got me out of a study session I was dreading.”
My head cocked to the side as I knelt on the floor next to the sofa. “What is it you study?” I vaguely remembered Eli mentioning it at the game café, but I was drawing a blank.
“Computer science.”
“What made you decide to study that?”
“I enjoy it.” He shrugged. “I was kind of spoiled as a child, so I was free to do whatever I wanted. I liked computers, so I decided on a whim to study them. What about you? Eli mentioned you’re getting your master’s?”
I nodded. “I have only six months left—the end is in sight!”
Micha chuckled. “Eli’s work scares me. Have you seen his textbooks?”
“I have! They’re straight out of a horror movie, aren’t they?”
“See, that’s why I like computers. They can do all the math, instead of me. I’ve told Eli repeatedly that computers are going to make him obsolete.”
Eli poked his head around the door, having heard us. “Oh, I’m not so sure. There’s something I do with my tongue that a machine will never be able to do. Isn’t that right, Kennedy?” he asked innocently.
Micha’s eyes widened as he turned to me. “I need details,” he said as my face heated up. “Sweetheart, your face is going bright pink.” A smug grin spread across his face. “If Eli isn’t doing a good job, just let me know. It’s my duty as a pack mate to set him straight. You know?—”
“Okay, not in front of the baby.” Eli chuckled, plucking the sleeping Charlotte from his pack mate’s chest and into his arms.
“Hey! You’re stealing my baby snuggles.” Micha turned to me. “I suppose it’s too forward to ask you to fill in?” he asked, holding his arms open.
I should have been horrified at this random alpha asking for cuddles, but damn, I wanted to take him up on that offer.
“As tempting as that is, I need to find my phone. I haven’t checked my emails in a few days, and I’ve missed some classes.”
“It’s on the kitchen counter,” Eli explained as he gently rocked Charlotte. “I plugged it in to charge for you.”
I beamed at him. He was so goddamned thoughtful. I should have been worried, with how quickly I was getting attached to his support. “Thank you,” I said, moving to stand up, but Eli held a hand out.
“Stay there. Little Miss and I will go get your phone, won’t we?” he said, as he wandered out of the room, returning a moment later with my phone.
Micha stood up, stretching his hands to the sky. His semi-naked state only served to emphasize the muscles in his chest.
“I’m sorry you had to take care of Charlotte. I really appreciate it,” I told him.
“Hey, like I said, it was kind of fun.” As he moved, I noticed just how different my couch was. Before I’d fallen sick, it had been bare, with only a singular throw pillow that had seen better days.
Now it was stuffed with throw blankets and the squishiest looking pillows. It was essentially a little nest.
“Where did all those blankets and pillows come from?” I asked, frowning at my sofa.
Micha looked behind him. “Oh, that? We may have gone a little overboard. Eli thought we should wash some of your sheets, so you could have fresh sheets when you started to feel better. Then we realized you only have the one set, so we ordered some stuff for me to pick up, and once I was at the store, I was kind of enraptured. Who knew there were so many varieties of pillows? I couldn't resist getting several of them.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, but my words rang hollow as I marveled at all the soft bedding.
Micha shrugged. “We wanted to.”
Tears started to gather in my eyes as I resisted the urge to ugly sob. This wasn’t the first time Char had gotten sick, but this was the first time I had any support.
A desperate urge to hug him came over me, and before I could second-guess it, I lurched forward and wrapped my arms around his very naked midsection. Micha let out an oomph sound and, after a second, wrapped his arms around me.
“Thank you,” I whispered quietly, nuzzling into his embrace.
“Any time, Kennedy. I mean that.”
“You’re being too nice to me.” I sniffed. His raspberry soda scent was so much stronger with my nose pressed against his bare chest, but I couldn’t pull myself away just yet.
“I’m really not. I’m just being a decent human being. We really need to discuss your standards because they seem to be under the earth’s crust. Never fear, though, Micha is here, and I’ll teach you all!”
As he spoke, he ran his hand along my back in soothing, circular motions.
“I see how it is. I get baby cuddles, so you have to have omega cuddles?” Eli asked in mock outrage as he stood in the doorway to the living room, Charlotte on one hip, my phone in his other hand.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, going to pull away, but Micha’s arms were rock solid around me, keeping me in place.
“Nope, you can’t start a cuddle, then stop it too soon. That’s a big no-no in snuggle law,” he said in a conspiring whisper.
“Snuggle law?” I asked tearfully.
He nodded, his face serious as I stayed in his arms. “The laws of cuddles are very important. I’ve watched enough legal dramas to know!”
They stayed at my house for another two days until they were certain I was well enough to look after Charlotte again. I wasn't feeling 100%, but I felt well enough to get back to class, and Charlotte was right as rain, so she could go to day care.
Still, once they left, they texted me nearly constantly, checking on how I was doing. It was nice to have someone who cared that much.
As I tucked Charlotte in and crawled into my nest, I couldn't help the pang of loneliness that hit me. In a startlingly short amount of time—a mere two days—I had gotten used to their presence, and now my home felt oddly empty without it.
Thankfully, I didn't get the impression that I would be on my own for much longer.