Chapter Eighteen
Pierce
My mates were getting up for their day, and all I wanted to do was stay in bed. I grabbed the covers and pulled them over my head, telling myself I just needed five more minutes. Just five.
If I hadn’t gone to bed before dinner was even finished cooking last night, I’d have thought I stayed up too late—but no, I had thirteen hours of sleep. And I still needed more. I was beyond exhausted and had been for days. It was getting old.
Job hunting was stressful, although it was a lot less stressful knowing I had my mates to come home to, a place to live, and food to eat. I wasn’t treading water just to stay housed anymore. But still, it was wearing me out, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I was going to be able keep going before I just gave up.
My mates had told me numerous times I didn’t need to work. And while I appreciated that, part of me longed to contribute. And with all of this job hunting, goodness knew, I wasn’t contributing by doing housework or cooking. It was hard to do any of that when you were sound asleep most of the time.
I must’ve dozed off again because the next thing I knew, Quill was sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling back the covers.
“Hey. We’re about to leave, but I don’t think you should have the blanket over your head. It’s not good for you.”
He reached over and put his wrist against my forehead, as if checking my temperature.
“Sorry. The light was bright. I’m so tired.”
“You don’t feel like you have a fever.” At least that was good. “We left a plate of food for you in the fridge. Why don’t you just take a day to rest? Don’t worry about the house, or your job search, or anything other than taking care of yourself. Okay?”
“I…” It was more of a mumble than a word. “Okay.”
I dozed off again, almost instantly, not even seeing them leave.
The next time I woke was because I needed to use the bathroom—there was no ignoring it for even five more minutes of sleep. I got up and decided maybe a shower would do me some good too. I turned it on to get warm, took care of business, and started brushing my teeth.
But the scent of the toothpaste was starting to get to my stomach, and I didn’t come close to brushing them as well as I should. I’d have to re-brush later, but if I kept going the way I was, I was going to end up sick, and I did not need that.
The warm water felt great as it cascaded over my body, and when I came out, I finally felt like myself again.
That was…until I tried brushing my teeth for a second time.
Maybe it was a different kind of toothpaste, like a new formula or something, because—nope. I just could not with it. I put new toothpaste on my mental list of things to buy the next time I went to the grocery store. A new brand it was.
I padded into the kitchen wearing my jam pants and nothing else, my stomach going from ew at the toothpaste to full-on starving. I opened the fridge and found the plate of food they’d left for me, a stack of pancakes with blueberries arranged into a smile and a little Post-it that said, We love you.
They were the sweetest alphas ever.
I popped the plate into the microwave, and, as it warmed up, I messaged them to tell them how wonderful they were.
The pancakes smelled delicious, but I only managed one bite before my stomach turned on me again, and this time, I had to run to the bathroom—making it just in time.
Great. I was sick. That was the last thing I needed.
I left the pancakes where they were and climbed back into bed, closing my eyes until sleep took over again. It was going to be a long day.
Rafe came home early, looking very worried as he rushed to the side of the bed. “Hey. You okay?”
“Yeah… Why are you home early?”
“Because I texted you a bunch. And called you. And you never answered. You didn’t look so good when we left, so I worried.”
Sweetest alpha ever.
I reached for my phone. I’d assumed I had turned it off—but no. It was on full blast. I’d slept through all of his phone calls and texts. I’d have been worried in his place, too.
“I guess I was really tired. And my stomach’s not doing so well…”
And the jerk had the audacity to smile. Fine, he wasn’t a jerk, but he smiled when I mentioned my stomach. and I wasn’t impressed.
“You’re happy I’m sick?”
“No, I’m not happy you’re sick.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “Do you want me to make you something to eat?”
“No. I’m afraid I’ll be sick again. Just gonna sleep a little bit more. Tomorrow, I’ll be good as new.”
I didn’t get a chance to fall back to sleep before Quill came home.
“You’re here early too?”
“Yep.” He plopped down on the opposite side of the bed and dropped a small paper bag beside me. “I heard you might need this.”
Now I was curious. I sat up and looked inside.
It was a box labeled pregnancy test.
“That’s why you were smiling before,” I said to Rafe. “You both think I’m pregnant?”
“There’s a good possibility,” he said.
I raced to the bathroom, not even wanting to have the conversation yet but needing to know. I was afraid of getting too excited and then being disappointed with a negative. It was best to get it over and done with.
I peed on the stick, put the cap back on it, and despite the instructions telling me not to watch it and to set a timer instead, I stared at that sucker.
I watched as one line appeared and then another.
I was pregnant.
When I opened the bathroom door, both of my mates were standing there.
“We were just curious,” Quill said.
I probably should’ve left the door open.
I handed them the stick. “I’m pregnant.”
The next thing I knew, I was scooped into their arms, being peppered with kisses and told how much they loved me. Me and our baby. I was the luckiest omega in the entire world to have Rafe and Quill as my mates.