30. Eli
Chapter 30
Eli
“ A re you sure you can take the morning off?” Kennedy asked. “It’s not like I haven’t been through this before.”
She was sitting at our kitchen counter, feeding mashed-up banana to Charlotte, wearing a large sweatshirt of mine and a pair of leggings with her hair thrown up in a bun.
To me, she had never looked better.
“For the twentieth time, of course I can. I want to be there for every appointment,” I insisted.
It was time for her first medical appointment, and I was excited to go. According to my Internet research, they were going to do a scan at this appointment, so there was a good chance I would get to see our baby.
“And you’re sure that Storm doesn't mind babysitting Charlotte this morning?”
“Babysitting?” Storm asked indignantly as he wandered into the kitchen, walking over to Charlotte and placing a kiss on the top of her head. “I resent that. I am merely parenting. I am not babysitting.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Let me guess, Sunny told you to never call or view it as babysitting?”
Storm beamed at me. “Yep. In fact, she described something I didn't think was anatomically possible that she would do to me if I ever referred to watching Char as babysitting. I understood her point, though, so I will never call it babysitting when I'm looking after my little angel.” He said the last part as he looked down at Charlotte, gently weaving his fingers through her tufts of hair.
“Have I mentioned lately how much I freaking love Sunny?” Kennedy said as she cooed at Charlotte.
“She is pretty awesome,” I agreed, taking a sip of my coffee.
“How are we doing today?” the doctor asked as she entered the room where Kennedy and I were waiting.
“Hey, Dr. Helm. I’m feeling good.” Kennedy greeted her warmly before turning to me. “Dr. Helm was the one who delivered Charlotte.”
“And how is that sweet baby girl doing?”
“She's doing everything in her power to figure out how to crawl away from me.”
The doctor laughed. “I remember those days well. So, you're here for a pregnancy appointment by the looks of it,” she said, checking her tablet. “Well, congratulations. Are you Dad?” she asked, turning to me.
I nodded. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Okay, so the nurse took some blood, didn't she? The first order of business will be a scan, so we can measure the size of the fetus and figure out how many weeks along you are.”
Kennedy nodded. “If it helps, I'm pretty certain I know the exact date I conceived.”
The doctor's eyebrows rose. “I love that, but I do think it's best to always double-check these things. What’s your bet?”
“I’m eleven weeks along right now—well, eleven weeks post-conception.”
I silently thanked the universe that Google existed. If I hadn't done copious Internet searches before coming to this appointment, I wouldn't have known how calculating gestation worked. To my utter surprise, it wasn't simply the day the child was conceived; it was the weeks from the last day of a woman’s period…or something like that. It was a type of math that baffled even me.
“Okay, then, why don’t you hop on the table, and I’ll get scanning,” the doctor said, gesturing to the examination table in the corner of the room.
Kennedy walked over and hopped onto the table with ease. “It looks like you've done that before.” I smiled.
“It’s easy in the early stages, but toward the end of pregnancy, I need a crane to get me up on this thing.”
“Don't worry, I'll pick you up when you get too big to climb on yourself.”
Dr. Helm chuckled. “This one’s clearly a romantic. He's a keeper, Kennedy.”
“He even gives me foot rubs,” she said as she pulled up her shirt.
“Okay, definitely a good one, then.”
The doctor spread a jelly-like substance on Kennedy’s stomach before pressing the Doppler into her skin.
“Just give me a moment to find your baby. They like to hide occasionally. Ah! There we go,” she said, turning the screen around so we could see.
The screen just looked like blobs to start with… But the more I looked, the clearer the image of the tiny fetus became. I was just starting to make out their arms and legs when Dr. Helm pushed a button and a loud heartbeat filled the room.
It was a rapid heartbeat, but that was something I had also discovered online. Babies' heartbeats tended to be quite fast while they were in utero. Kennedy didn't look at all worried. And as long as she was happy, I was happy.
“Well, all looks good here. You know what, Kennedy? I think you're right. I would put your pregnancy at twelve weeks, exactly. That’ll give you a due date in June.”
Kennedy nodded. “That’s perfect, considering I graduate in May.”
Dr. Helm looked away from the screen to frown at Kennedy. “If you're still going to be studying, I don't want you to work. You stressed yourself out far too much with your last pregnancy. It's not good for you or the baby.”
“She's not going to have to lift a finger,” I said confidently. “My pack and I will be taking care of her.”
“Pack?” she asked, looking between us. “Good for you, Kennedy! I knew someone would scoop you up. Now”—she turned to face me—“ideally, she should be hardly getting out of bed, and she needs to put her feet up regularly. I know nothing will stop this girl from studying, but she can study from a comfy sofa or a nest.”
“I'm not an invalid,” Kennedy grumbled.
The doctor rolled her eyes. “Will you stop being stubborn and let the alpha spoil you? It’s the least you deserve after everything you've been through. Enjoy yourself a bit. Now, have you been having the same kind of nausea as last time?”
“Yeah, it’s been pretty brutal.”
“Do you want me to prescribe the same anti-nausea medication?” she asked, but then turned to me. “There are two types of anti-nausea medication that can help Kennedy. There's one that is really good, and there's one that's just okay. Unfortunately, Kennedy's insurance doesn't cover the one that's really good,” she said pointedly.
I raised my eyebrows. Well, there was no question of which one she would be getting.
“The normal one is fine,” Kennedy insisted.
“Order the better one,” I said to the doctor before turning to Kennedy, taking her hand in mine. “We can afford it, and you're going to need it. You're pregnant and you have a baby who’s almost a toddler. You should take any medication you can if it’ll help you feel better.”
“Are you sure?” Kennedy asked, biting her lip.
“Positive.”
After the appointment, we went straight back to the pack house, and Kennedy crawled into my bed for a nap. Her exhaustion levels had been ridiculous of late, but growing a human being was a difficult task, so I was doing everything I could to make it easier for her.
Charlotte was also having a nap in her pack-and-play crib in the living room while Charlie sat on the sofa, studying.
“Where the hell is Storm? He’s supposed to be watching her.” I frowned.
Charlie looked up from the laptop for a brief moment to smile at me. “You should see for yourself,” he said with a laugh. “He’s rearranging the den.”
The den? What the hell was he doing in the den? Despite living in an apartment building, the unique layout of our unit meant that we had a few spacious rooms on the main level and a second floor. Like a typical house, the bedrooms were located upstairs. There was a small double bedroom for each pack member. Well, at least there had been until Kennedy came along.
Heading in the direction of the den, I was surprised to find the room completely dismantled. Gone were the sofas and study tables. It was a large room that we didn't use very often, but it was good for when we wanted to host small get-togethers. Otherwise, we mainly used the family space in the open-plan kitchen area.
In a twist I didn’t expect…Storm was cleaning. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't a complete slob, but I had never seen him scrubbing the floors on his hands and knees before.
“Care to explain what's going on here?”
Storm’s head shot up, registering my presence. “Hey! How did the appointment go?”
“Good.” I nodded. “Now explain this?” I gestured to the room around me.
Storm grinned sheepishly. “Well, I had an idea. I ran it by the guys, but you were out all day with Kennedy, so I decided to go ahead with it because I doubted you would be opposed.”
“I think I oppose your ideas on a fairly regular basis. Remember the beer pong table?”
He winced. “Yeah…that's understandable. This, on the other hand, is for our omega, so I doubt you’re going to say no.”
My eyebrows rose. Our omega? Just because he had gotten Kennedy pregnant a year and a half ago did not make her his.
“Okay… I'm still going to need an explanation.”
“You want Kennedy to move in, don’t you?” Storm asked pointedly.
“Of course, I do. That's why I've been sending you guys listings for other properties.”
Storm nodded. “And that's fine, but this property is close to where Kennedy has classes, and we're already settled here. Moving an entire house while Kennedy is pregnant wouldn’t be ideal. So… I’m redoing this room!” he declared.
I cocked my head to the side. “This room?”
“Yeah, think about it, man. There's the storage room to the side with a window that can be used as a small nursery for Charlotte or the new baby. They have their own bathroom down here, and this room has plenty of space. It just needs a damn good clean because there's still some beer sticking to the floor in some places.”
Glancing around the room, I could understand his vision.
“It's not ideal, but given the situation we're in, it's the best we can do,” I admitted.
“I need to do what I can to make things right for Kennedy and make sure she's comfortable. She's pregnant, so she should have her own bed here and not have to go back and forth between here and her place or camp in one of our beds. Not that I mind taking the sofa, so she can get a good night's sleep, but I'm sure the omega would much rather have her own bed.”
“Is that what that box is?” I asked, pointing to the large cardboard box in the corner of the room.
Storm nodded, scratching the back of his head. “Yeah. It's a California king bed. I got it on same-day delivery. There are even curtains that can be used to make a canopy, plus a rug. I didn’t want to get much more, in case Kenedy wanted to do the shopping herself or bring stuff from the nest at her apartment.”
He had thought this through shockingly well.
“That sounds good,” I admitted.
“I even ordered this bassinet that goes at the side of the nest, so the baby can be near her but not be in the bed, because apparently, that could be dangerous when there are lots of nesting materials.”
“Yeah, I read the same thing.”
“Look, I don't want to impose on your time with Kennedy right now. I'll be honest, I'm grumpy and mad at myself that I missed so much of Charlotte's early life. I should have been the one running out at three in the morning to satisfy her cravings. I know I need to respect that this is your turn.”
I sighed deeply. “Yes and no. Storm, none of this is how we envisioned it. We should have all dated an omega at the same time, then any pregnancy that she went through would have been all of our responsibility. Late-night snack runs would be a lot easier if we could trade off. I can't help how possessive I feel at the moment, though.”
“And I get that. Honestly, if you feel like I'm stepping over the line, tell me.”
“But are you actually stepping over the line? Charlotte is your daughter. You and Kennedy are family now.”
Storm snorted. “If we ever work our way out of this mess, you know that Micha and Charlie are going to demand that they knock her up next.”
“Yeah, I guess the idea of not knowing where any of our children came from biologically is not really a possibility anymore,” I agreed. “Look, can I help? This room is a good call for Kennedy, and it’s a fuck ton of work. You don't have to do it all by yourself. I know you're trying to get it all done on your own because you're beating yourself up and feeling guilty. But there's no shame in accepting help.”
“Wouldn't you feel ashamed and guilty in my position?”
“Totally.” I shrugged. “But we’re a pack, and packs do things together.”
Storm’s face melted into a smile. “In that case, can you help me build this goddamn bed? It looks like all the instructions are in Russian, and I have no clue how to read them.”