Chapter 37 – Grim
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Grim
The next couple of days are a haze of sex, bodily fluids, and negotiating with an easily frustrated omega.
She’s bossy, needy, and downright unreasonable at times.
Her body makes demands it’s not capable of accommodating, but taking care of her during her most vulnerable time fills my chest with pride.
She put all her trust in us, and while we may not get everything right, we’ve done everything we can to make it the best first heat possible.
There are a few omega tantrums—no matter how sticky she is, she doesn’t want to be bathed. The same goes for eating. She has no appetite, and that leads to her acting like we’re torturing her any time we coax her to try to nibble on something.
I still think it’s cute as hell, and I wouldn’t change a single thing. Except, maybe I would have gotten in on the spanking action. It took a lot, but Callum finally snapped when Lacey told him to go fuck himself after he tried to get her to drink something the other night.
She definitely earned that spanking, but it didn’t do much other than turn her on. Omega systems convert pain into pleasure during heats, so a few swats on the ass were highly ineffective at getting his point across.
The waves have finally settled down to the point she’s more lucid in between them, although I don’t think her heat is over quite yet.
The post-heat cramps haven’t started, and the bleeding hasn’t come.
All of that is pretty miserable, from the research that I’ve done, so I’m in no rush for her to face those things.
If conception occurs during a heat, those symptoms don’t start. So, when they do, it’ll give us a better understanding of when the heat is finally over. Considering Lacey has a birth control implant, I expect they’ll begin within a few days max.
The nest really needs a visit by one of those professional cleaning companies. They’re set up for hazmat levels of biological cleanup, and while we do what we can by changing the sheets…
It still smells like a fuck-fest.
Lacey finally agrees to come downstairs to eat once she realizes it’s Christmas Eve. She picks at the small plate of meat, cheese, and crackers that Collins left out, but she gets frustrated when she spots the gifts under the tree we all decorated.
“With everything that happened with the fight, you never put me in touch with Alice,” she says, frowning as Wilder guides her into the living room.
Callum and I follow, and I debate if it’s time to pull out the kitten card. That might be best saved for tomorrow morning, but I do want to give her at least a little something tonight.
“You can do all the shopping you’d like once your heat is over,” Wilder assures her.
Speeding up my pace, I scoop her up, grab the gift I picked up the same day we got the kittens, and take a seat on the end of the couch. Lacey ends up sitting sideways over my lap, and I drop the gift on her thighs.
“This one is from me,” I tell her.
She laughs. “No way, I never would have guessed.”
I smile like a fool.
Maybe Callum is rubbing off on me, but I love it when she gets a little feisty, and not because it gives me an excuse to spank her. I enjoy seeing her come out of her shell more and more as she grows confident in her place with us.
She holds the jewelry box in one hand and pops the lid with the other.
Callum hurries to get his phone out, snapping pictures as she examines the bracelet.
I give him a nod of thanks and snuggle my cheek to the side of her head. “It has a tracker.”
“What?” Lacey snorts, twisting her head to look up at me.
“I thought I should be honest about that. It has a battery that has to be replaced every three months,” I say, laying it all out there.
“It’s housed in the heart.” Reaching around her, I point to the charm on the bracelet.
“But I’ll take care of that. You just make sure you put it on when you plan to leave the house. ”
“You weren’t joking,” she whispers, shaking her head. “Thank you for telling me. I never would have suspected. I’ll wear it whenever I’m out and about.”
“Me next.” Callum passes his phone to Wilder, goes over to the tree, and picks around for whatever he’s looking for. He comes back with a flat package that’s medium sized. He offers it to Lacey, taking a seat on the middle cushion.
It feels like the right thing to do, so I lift her and hand her off to him. Once she’s settled, I grab the bracelet box and set it on the coffee table.
Lacey rips into the paper, pulls out a photo album, and runs her fingers over the front cover.
“It’s empty,” Callum says, laughing awkwardly. “I didn’t have enough time to get any pictures printed, but we can do that soon.”
“I love that it has the year.” She twists, kissing his jaw.
I lean over and study the front of the album. She’s right. It says, Established in with the year in a fancy script.
“It’s the least expensive thing that I got you, but it feels like maybe it’s the most meaningful? Fuck if I know.” Callum shrugs, and his face turns pink.
Damn.
I’ve never seen him blush before.
Lacey drops the album and tilts his face down to hers. They share a quick kiss, and I push myself off the couch, holding out a hand for Callum’s phone.
Wilder gives it to me and heads to the tree. I snap a few pictures of him as he browses and refocus on Callum and Lacey.
Cal nuzzles his nose to hers, and the little omega lights up with a smile that seems to steal all the air from my lungs. Seeing her joy and feeling her happiness echo through the bond is addictive.
I can’t wait to spend the next fifty years showering her with love and affection. We’ll make sure that smile grows brighter with every year that passes.
Wilder makes his way back to the couch, and I frown when I spot the small box in his hand.
Well, shit.
I thought we were saving that for tomorrow, but I suppose now is as good a time as any.
I swap to the record button as he hits a knee in front of her.
“You already let the three of us sink our teeth in, so this feels like a formality…” He grins, popping the box. “Will you marry us, beautiful?”
Lacey freezes, her eyes bugging as she examines the ring.
“This was my mother’s, but if you don’t feel comfortable—”
“I love it,” she whispers. “I would be honored to wear your mom’s ring.”
Wilder plucks it out of the box, and Callum holds up her hand so Wilder can slide the ring on.
There’s a chance it might need to be sized, but I doubt that’s the ring she’ll wear daily, anyway.
It has a monster-sized center stone with smaller stones around it.
It gives it the effect of being a flower, but that sucker has to be six or seven carats.
The faint sound of meowing draws closer, and I spin to the side just in time to catch the kittens barreling through the kitchen.
“Do you hear that?” Lacey asks.
“I’m quite sure it’s nothing,” Callum says, lying unconvincingly.
“Menace! Mistletoe!” Collins sounds frantic as he chases after the pair.
Only, they skid into the living room.
Lacey trips over Wilder in an attempt to see what’s happening, and he grabs her hips similarly to how he saved Vanessa’s drunk ass from face-planting at the warehouse.
The exact moment she spots them is obvious because her hand flies to her mouth.
“Oh, please tell me those are for us,” she whispers, stumbling forward.
“They’re yours, sweetheart,” I say, grinning like a fiend. “We were going to give them to you in the morning.”
Collins smiles tightly, and I regret not buying him a kitten.
Now that I think about it, he’s here with us for Christmas, and this place can get really damn lonely, even when it’s not over a family-related holiday. Maybe I can talk Lacey into letting him keep the psycho kitten who likes to attack my beard.
I mean, they’ll both live together here in the house with us.
Fuck.
We do not need a third cat.
I switch over to the camera, snapping a few pictures of Lacey as she meets the kittens.
Callum and Wilder make their way over, and I shut off Cal’s phone before going to see if I can catch the crazy one that’s back to doing zooming laps around the room.
It’s unreal how quickly things change, but I’m a fuck of a lot happier now than I’ve ever been. Even if I have to learn how to scoop out a litter box. Oh, and protect my face from unhinged kittens with a personal vendetta against my beard.