11. Lainey
Shopping with the guys has been an experience.
Between Lucky’s constant touching, Wyatt checking in with me, Lawson’s endless stare, and Rhys flexing his dominance, I haven’t had a moment to breathe.
We had dumplings for lunch and then got my promised cinnamon roll, which I will never admit made me feel a bit sick, before getting back in the car and making the short drive to the nesting superstore.
Nestful is the largest nesting supply store on the East Coast according to Wyatt.
The man has been a walking fact fountain all day, and I kind of love it.
He’s knowledgeable on just about every subject, and not once has he made me feel silly for the omega and baby related questions I slip in when I think none of the others are listening.
Of all four of the alphas, I can see myself being the most comfortable with him.
Which is why, when all of the others are distracted, I ask Wyatt to come with me down the personal care aisle.
“Uh, Lainey?” He chokes, cheeks blazing as his perfectly rich cocoa scent swirls around us.
He smells like hot chocolate; the really good stuff, not the little packets that are ninety percent powdered milk.
“Is there a reason we’re standing in front of a wall of sex toys? ”
My throat is thick with embarrassment, but I’m really starting to trust Wyatt.
“My doctor said pregnancy for omegas can be… uncomfortable. All of the extra hormones flowing through our bodies, potential heat spikes, and general need for skin contact and closeness. I already know I’m going to be needy, and I don’t want to assume you and the others will… ”
Wyatt’s hands bracket my hips and push until my back hits the shelf behind me. “Lainey,” he murmurs huskily. “Can I kiss you?”
His scent is doing crazy things to my head, and my clit throbs hearing the raw need in his voice. “Yes,” I whisper back.
Soft lips land on mine, unhurried and sweet.
The kiss is over far too soon, which is probably for the best as I feel like I want to drop to my knees in front of him right this second.
His breath fans across my face when he pulls away, only going far enough so we can lock eyes.
“Please assume. I am begging you, honey. I know I speak for myself and Lucky at the very least when I tell you to consider us your personal sex toys. Anything you need, it’s yours.
Anything you want. All you have to do is say the word. ”
I open my mouth to ask for I don’t know what, but my phone rings, saving me from any potential embarrassment in the form of a pathetic omega whine. “Hello?”
“Hello, is this Magdalene Ryan?” A tinny female voice asks.
I can’t help but cringe at the use of my full name. It’s so rare that I hear anyone but my mother use it that it’s always a bit of an unwelcome shock to the system. “This is she,” I utter suspiciously. Calls like this only ever mean two things: spam, or someone wants money.
“My name is Anna and I am calling from the billing department at Sunday Harbor Hospital. I see here you had a short stay with us recently, but it looks like we failed to verify your insurance information before you left. I have Lawson Daire down as point of contact for insurance, is that correct?”
My heart is in my throat, and everything gets fuzzy around me as I struggle to regulate my breathing.
I don’t have insurance, what the hell was Lawson thinking?
Before I can properly formulate a response, the phone is pried out of my shaking hand.
Lawson’s gingerbread scent is subdued but slightly spicy, like he’s nervous.
“I’m so sorry, Lainey had to step away from the phone for a moment.
This is Lawson Daire, may I ask who I am speaking to? ”
The next few moments are a blur, but I’m cognizant of the alpha giving his full name, social security number, date of birth, as well as some other letter and number combinations I don’t quite understand. He rattles them off so quickly this can’t be his first time at this kind of rodeo.
Wyatt catches my eye with a small but reassuring smile, though it doesn’t mask the concern in his pretty brown eyes.
Lucky and Rhys joined us at some point, but while Rhys is paying rapt attention to whatever Lawson is saying to the hospital, Lucky is making stupid faces at me like I’m an infant in need of distraction.
I hate that it’s working.
He must be able to tell because a brilliant grin takes over his face. It isn’t smug, just genuine happiness that he was able to pull me out of my own head. By the time I turn my attention back to Lawson, his mouth is set in a line that expresses grim determination.
“I don’t have insurance,” I blurt. “My mom closed our store down at the beginning of the year and when she did, I lost my job, home, and health insurance all in one fell swoop.”
Rhys already knows this, though maybe not the insurance part, but the other three look stunned.
“That’s why you were in the dorms?” Lucky asks tentatively.
It’s strange to see him without his particular brand of cocky confidence I was growing reluctantly fond of, but I nod anyway.
My earlier words and actions towards him have been weighing heavily on me, and I know I need to apologize for being a jerk when he was only trying to get to know me.
He sighs. “You can’t be without health insurance, kitten.
It wouldn’t be okay if it was just you, but you are also growing a baby.
Our baby. That increases the risk of something going wrong tenfold. ”
Wyatt nods frantically, his hands wringing together.
“The maternal mortality rate in this country is abysmal, and that is with the advancements of a developed country and modern medicine. You don’t have to see an OB/GYN.
It could be a midwife, a nurse practitioner, or a holistic birthing center.
But to do any of that you will need health insurance. ”
Lucky cuts in, slicing a hand through the air. “She doesn’t. We can pay out of pocket. Not like we can’t afford it.” He isn’t bragging, just very matter of fact.
I balk. “A simple doctors appointment used to be several hundred dollars and that was with the crappy insurance we already had. But monthly appointments, ultrasounds, the birth itself. It would be astronomical."
Lawson grunts, crossing his arms. “I have a solution, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
I raise a brow, already skeptical. My arms cross in a mirror image of his, while the others watch on in amusement, their worry temporarily forgotten.
It must look pretty comical. A five and a half feet tall omega squaring up to an alpha almost a foot taller than her.
A sheriff, no less. But my mother raised me to believe I should be fiercely independent, which comes with a less than healthy dose of stubborn resolve.
Add in the raging pregnancy hormones and it’s a recipe for a moody, mean, disaster of an omega.
He doesn’t blink, delivering words that rock my world on its axis with a sort of detached calm I would expect to see in Sheriff Daire, but not my potential alpha. “We need to bond.”