Chapter Nine
Rhomas
Hemlock Mountain
While Eamon visited with Glenn, I took Jolly on a long walk.
He’d spent most of the last couple of days entertaining himself inside the house and in the backyard but since the latter had mostly been taken over by stuff being aired out, he hadn’t gotten much exercise and though I told him he could go out with my siblings he refused to leave me and Eamon unguarded while we had no wits about us.
So, I shifted down and we ran through the nature path not far from the hospital.
Having grass and dirt under my paws again made me feel right at home.
When we finished our first loop we did two more.
Jolly scented a deer nearby and bemoaned the fact that no one was allowed to hunt on the nature trails.
Food was food no matter where it was after all.
He followed the rules but they never made sense to him.
Besides, didn’t all wolves eat deer? I never tried telling him that some wolves were indeed vegetarians because I don’t think he would’ve believed me.
After our run, I bought us a large order of fries to share from the hospital cafeteria where we met up with Eamon.
“How’s Glenn?” I asked as my mate bit into his burger.
“He says he’s ready to come home. Your dad wants him to stay at least two more days.
I told him that was better then two weeks but he’s getting antsy.
He’s still not allowed to shift and now that his wolf is awake it’s harder for him to sit still.
They may have to knock his wolf out again if he keeps trying to come out. ”
“Hopefully they can find a work around. If they do that he might really be in the hospital for weeks. Sometimes if they’re asleep it slows down healing,” I frowned. “But you can’t tell wolves anything.” I said, feeding Jolly a fry.
In the end, that’s exactly what happened.
Altogether, the firework attack kept Glenn in the hospital for sixteen nights before my dad declared him healthy enough to shift and go home.
Only his home was now our home because the apartment building was still not repaired.
There was talk of having to tear the whole thing down and build a new one.
I didn’t understand why they couldn’t just fix the top floor but then again, I also didn’t understand why they didn’t know when the doors of life and death were going to pop up.
By the time he was ready to come home, we managed to air out all of his and Eamon’s belongings.
We’d set him up a bedroom that Eamon swore was nearly a replica of his old room.
We also set up a triple crib nursery because we’d been putting all of our alone time to good use.
I’d also convinced Eamon to go to therapy for a tiny bit just to work out any lingering feelings about the firework attack.
I was certain my dad would set Glenn up with a good therapist too.
The morning of the day Glenn was being released from the hospital, I woke up to Eamon fleeing from the bed. At first, I thought nightmares from the attack finally hit him. Only, he made a b-line for the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him.
I followed him, standing outside of the door, trying to figure out what he needed.
It was morning sickness. Of course, it was morning sickness.
When your gestation is only three months, fifteen days is like seventeen percent of your pregnancy.
Symptoms are bound to start showing up. I tried not to smile.
Pups were happy occasions but smiling while my mate threw up seemed rude.
I pattered through the house and grabbed a few bottles of water and the bottle of the orange flavored morning sickness gummies that my dad passed out like candy at the hospital.
I snagged a bottle from the pharmacy when we visited Glenn the day before to see if he had any last-minute requests for his room or for anything he needed for when he came home.
I’d stashed them under the floorboard in the kitchen pantry, where I’d been hiding things since I was a kid.
Well, the things I didn’t bury in the backyard.
Some instincts were so ingrained into my blood that I couldn’t ignore them.
Some things were just meant to be buried.
Jolly followed on my heels, wagging his tail and sniffing the air as we made our way back to the bathroom.
The door was still locked and that usually meant the person on the other side wanted to be left alone.
Most people wanted to be left alone in the bathroom but sometimes the rules were different when you were mates.
“Mate?” I called out gently.
“Rhomas, you don’t need to see me like this,” he said, his voice full of tears.
“I’ve seen sick people before. I work at a hospital, remember?”
“Yeah, but you haven’t seen me sick.”
“We’re going to be together for a very long time. Sooner or later, I’m going to see you get sick and this isn’t normal sick. This is your body trying to adjust to carrying wolf pups.”
He knew that but sometimes you had to say the obvious things to comfort other wolves. Sometimes hearing those things said aloud made them easier to process.
“We’ll celebrate later, but right no—” his words cut off because he was sick again.
Sighing, I squatted down and shifted my fingernail into my wolf’s claw to pick the lock.
“Don’t—” he said, stretching out his foot to hold the door.
Jolly started pacing in front of the bathroom door and I almost joined him. I could’ve went around and climbed through the bathroom window but that was a tight squeeze and I didn’t want to get stuck.
“I have the gummies. I don’t know if you know but…” I started but his foot slid away from the door and it opened just enough for his hand to grope out. I handed him the bottle of water first and then the gummies when it reappeared.
“I can’t take care of you from out here!” I said, trying and failing to not let my worry leak into my words.
“Alpha,” he sighed. “There is nothing else you can do.”
“I can be with you.”
“This isn’t a spectator sport,” Eamon said.
“I’ll close my eyes.”
“Rhomas,” he said so gently as he sank onto the floor. “Are there any pregnancy tests in those baskets of food the pack kept bringing us on the days we stayed home?”
“They’re in the drawer under the toothbrush side of the sink,” I said.
“Thanks, mate.”
“You can’t take it without me!” I said, trying not to bounce around like a pup.
“I’ve peed alone for all these years. I don’t think my dick is going to fall off if you don’t watch me pee,” he snapped.
I took two steps back from the door. Sometimes pregnant wolves were grouchy. It was hard to predict what got under their skin but they got a pass because growing life is hard and pregnancy hormones flood their systems to make stuff for the puppies at their expense.
“Okay, I won’t watch you pee,” I said and he laughed.
“That sounds like a solemn vow.”
“But I have seen you pee,” I pointed out.
“Can you set a timer? I didn’t grab my phone.”
“Three minutes?” I double-checked that the instructions hadn’t changed since the last time I sat with one of my single siblings while they waited for the pixelated baby. Thankfully for them, it didn’t show up.
“Yeah, please.”
“You don’t have to say please. It’s still a privilege to take care of you.”
“Don’t say that. I’m going to cry. I snapped at you for being all kind like you always are,” he said and sniffled.
“Mate, it’s okay. Your body is going through---”
“I know what my body is going through!” he growled.
“I don’t need you to alpha-ize it for me.
My body thinks it’s being attacked and until my immune system settles down this will happen.
I’m crying because my throat burns and not feeling well makes me an asshole.
You don’t need to spell it out. I just--- I’m pregnant.
” The timer sounded and the water turned on.
I waited in silence as he washed his face and gingerly brushed his teeth.
I’d do anything for my mate but there didn’t seem to be anything he wanted me to do.
I almost picked up my phone to text Dad to ask about an ultrasound appointment but thought better of it.
Maybe that was another way that I’d just be alpha-izing it.
Whatever that was. It didn’t sound like a compliment.
“That’s when you put on your ‘alpha voice’ that says you have it all handled and say things everyone knows. I’m not a pup. I didn’t puke up brain cells and I’m certainly not a patient at the hospital who needs to be babied.”
“You’re my mate. I don’t consider care taking tasks babying. What is babying? Bottles and diapers? Chest feeding?”
“Handled with kid gloves,” Eamon said, trying not to laugh.
“Look, I love you and I know you have this primitive drive to take care of me and I love that because it means you’ll get up to turn the light out at night if the app won’t work.
It means if I put my cold feet on you, you get me socks.
You bring me snacks in the middle of the night if I dream of food because you think it means I’m hungry.
Usually I am hungry, but sometimes, I’m going to want two minutes of privacy. ”
“I know. That’s why I didn’t come in,” I said, trying not to frown. “It’s hard to know you’re hurting and I can’t do anything to stop it. So I wanted to do something to make it easier”
“You did. The gummies really helped. The water too and you gave me the space I asked for. I just don’t want to hurt your feelings either,” he sniffled.
“Can I come in now?”
He flushed the toilet again and stepped out of the bathroom into my arms. I held him close but not too tight because I didn’t want to upset his stomach.
He buried his face in my chest and breathed in my scent.
We stood like that for a long time, taking in the tiny moment that meant our lives were about to change forever.
Soon, we’d be in charge of at least one little person. Probably more.