7. Aerin
7
AERIN
“ M ore popcorn?” Tina offers me the large bowl of buttered popcorn.
My stomach aches and I groan, rubbing it as I recline in the armchair in the den. “I don’t know how you can think I have any more room in my belly after the amount of orange chicken I just ate.”
“Candy?” Penny offers.
I eye the glass bowl and motion it over. “Maybe just a small handful.”
Penny dumps so much into my hand that it spills into my lap.
I raise my eyebrow. “You and me have a very different idea about what constitutes small.”
“What!” She widens her eyes. “As if you weren’t going to go back for seconds.”
She’s probably right about that. I shovel a handful of candies into my mouth and chew as I motion to the foot spa and the movie none of us are watching. “What was all this all about?”
“You need to unwind,” Tina says with her bare feet in the hot pink foot spa with massaging beads that she brought from home. “To be fair, we all do. A movie night with snacks and a foot massage is exactly what we all need.”
It is a good idea. I’ve never had a girl’s night before, and after this, I wouldn’t mind having it again.
“And the reason we had to kick all the guys out?” Zoe asks from her armchair. She wasn’t interested in the foot spa. Tina gave her a manicure, and she’s waiting for her peach fingernail polish to dry with her hands flat on the sides of her chair.
Penny shrugs. “You can’t have guys around for girl’s night.”
“Ah.” I sweep my gaze around the room, taking in the foot spas, the candy, popcorn, sodas, the movie with the Hollywood hunk, and the nail polish I opted out of when Tina offered to do manicures.
The overhead lights are on a dimmer, and Tina is busy giving herself a manicure with bright blue fingernail polish as she sits on the floor. She seems as content and comfortable as the rest of us.
I wonder when they organized all this because it wasn’t the last minute decision I initially believed when Penny declared what we were doing after we finished eating Chinese food. “Don’t you want to go for a run?”
Honestly, I miss running. But now I’m six months pregnant, it wouldn’t be safe for the baby for my body to go through such a monumental change. I couldn’t shift even if I wanted to. For the final three to four months of a shifter’s pregnancy, her body silences the need to shift.
My wolf is still in my head, growling, whimpering, all signs that she is still present, but she just won’t be running around sniffing the grass or exploring the forest until after I’ve given birth.
After the baby comes, going for a run in the forest is going to be one of the first things I do. It’s one of the best feelings ever. I miss it.
“We can go for a run whenever,” Helena says. “Someone pass the candy.”
“Shit. I forgot.” Penny suddenly scrambles up from the couch, tossing the bag of candy to Helena, who fumbles to catch it with a muffled curse.
“Forgot what?” I call after her as she sprints out of the den.
“The thing I brought for you.” I shiver when she lets in a blast of chill air, and glance at the others who seem as confused by Penny’s mad dash as I am.
She’s not gone long.
She returns holding a large white cake box that she thrusts at me. It smells so good that I know exactly what it is. “Here. As a thank you for being so supportive of my baking, I made this for you earlier.”
My stomach grumbles as I drag in another deep inhalation of the sweet and lemony cake coming from the box. And I hug the box with my grabby hands because it smells delicious.
Tina and Helena eye the box with unmistakable hunger. Zoe just looks confused. She hasn’t tasted Penny’s famous lemon chiffon cake yet, so she doesn’t know what she’s missing.
I hug the box. “It’s mine.”
“Quit being greedy,” Tina says, setting her nail polish aside. “We’re family. That means you have to share the cake.”
“What happened to you not having any room for anything sweet because of the orange chicken?” Helena reminds me.
“That was before I knew what Penny baked for me. It’s mine. The cake is all mine.”
“You sound like a gremlin.” Penny grins. “You know that, right?”
“I do not,” I say, indignant.
They all look at me.
I huff. “Okay, fine . I’ll share. Zoe, you can have the biggest piece because you’ve never had the cake before.”
She frowns. “Why do you keep saying the cake like that?”
“I’ll grab plates and a knife,” Penny says and disappears into the kitchen.
I open the lid, turn it, and show her the beauty that is the cake.
Zoe licks her lips as she leans toward it. “That looks like a good cake.”
“It’s the best,” Tina agrees. “Light like angel food cake and perfectly sweet.”
Penny returns from the kitchen and we all finish up with the foot spas, pause the movie, and dig into the lemon cake.
I eat far, far too much.
Between bites of cake, I laugh so much that I have to go pee.
Girl’s night was exactly what I needed.
It’s the perfect opportunity to spend time with my pack and shrug off my anxieties and fears and just embrace having a pack who cares.
“Penny ambushed me with cake,” I say as soon as Mack blinks his eyes open.
I’d intended on waiting up for him to return from his run with the guys, but between all the food I ate, the movie, and fatigue from my pregnancy, I fell asleep on the couch before 11, woke up with a crick in my neck and said goodnight to everyone before heading up to bed.
He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and leans in close to give me a sweet kiss. Our usual good morning kiss. “Ambushed with cake, huh?”
His voice is husky with sleep. Mine isn’t so much. Thumper was back to using my bladder as a punchbag, and despite Mack holding me, there’s only so many times you can have your sleep disturbed before it no longer seems worth it to try.
I spent the time between dawn listening to birds chirping as I watched Mack sleep instead.
“She said she forgot something, ran out of the house and came back with lemon chiffon cake,” I explain.
His eyes brighten. “Was there any more left?”
I’m not surprised he’s asking. That cake is everything .
I snort. “I’m a pregnant and emotional woman who once woke up at 2.a.m., having dreamed of bacon crumbled donuts and when it wasn’t there, burst into tears. And she ambushed me with cake. Cake . What do you think?”
The corners of his eyes crease in amusement. “Well, it couldn’t have gone to a better place than you and Thumper.”
He kisses me again. “And not emotional. Disappointed. I’d have been too. We should ask Penny if she can make the bacon and donut dessert you dreamed. I wouldn’t mind tasting it.”
When he moves to get up, I snag his hand and tug him back. “Not so fast. What happened last night? A run doesn’t usually go on that late.”
His eyes skate away from me, and I knew I was right to wonder. Whenever the rest of the pack has gone for a run before and I’ve stayed at home, they’ve never been gone for longer than an hour. When we went for runs together, we’d go for much longer. But it’s like Mack—or everyone else—agreed to shorten them when I stopped being able to go.
“Bennett had beers and peanuts waiting for us at the bottom of the garden when Penny kicked me out of my own house.”
I swallow my smile. “She did not kick you out. I’m not sure you’d have appreciated soaking your feet in hot water with bath salt and having your nails painted as you ogled hot Hollywood actors.”
He strokes his chin thoughtfully, brown eyes sparkling. “Umm… That actually does sound like?—”
Grinning, I poke his belly. “Don’t be silly. You’d have hated every minute of it. You’d have smiled, but inside, you’d have been dying. Be honest.”
He nods gravely. “The beer and peanuts went down well.”
“And the run?” I prompt.
“The run too.” Again he moves to get up, and again I tug him back.
“Mack. Tell me.”
“Something happened. Something very small that probably means nothing and would only worry you, so there’s no need to even talk about it.”
“Stop…” My voice trails off. I can’t bring myself to say out loud what I’ve started to think as I’ve gotten further and further along in this pregnancy.
Stop treating me like I have to be protected.
Maybe I do. My powers aren’t working, and I can’t even shift to protect myself if I ever needed to.
He gives me a long look. “We were sitting at the bottom of the garden when we heard someone approaching.”
My fingers tighten on the waistband of his sleep shorts.
He smiles reassuringly at me. “Yes, I worried at first, more because of my dad and your aunt being so evasive and hard to pin down.”
“What did you find?”
“Nothing that should worry me. Some tracks, a scratch at the base of a tree, and tire marks on the road near the forest. Someone was there. They had been heading toward the house when something made them stop and leave.”
I study him for a beat, trying not to assume the worst. “So you followed the tracks?”
“There weren’t many tracks since they headed into town. We checked out every inch of the forest near the house, but there was no other sign anyone had been there.”
“A shifter?”
He shakes his head. “Human. We think it might have been a tourist or a hiker who got lost and then left.”
“But you don’t know?”
“Like I said, the way my dad and Ivy have been acting made me go on high alert. I didn’t want to worry you when it didn’t seem that bad.”
“So what happens now?” I ask.
Mack seems calm about it, so I try to be as well. He’s the optimistic, positive one, so it isn’t new for him to be the one looking at the bright side and for me to assume the worst. I’m trying to change that, but anytime something bad happens, it re-sets all the positive outlook I’ve learned to embrace.
“Colton is going with Warren to check out the tourist cabins just in case this is something we need to worry about. I’d rather be paranoid and discover it’s nothing than for something to happen because we didn’t have our eyes open.”
“Me too.” I glance at my belly. “I wish I could help.”
He gathers me close, dropping a kiss on the top of my head. “You’re doing plenty. Growing a human is a pretty big undertaking. I’m not sure I could do it.”
He says it so straight-faced that I can’t help but smile.
“Are you going to see if anyone suspicious is in the hotel?” I ask.
He grins at me. “I knew I wanted you as a mate for a reason.”
“Just one reason?” I slide my arms around him as he kisses the corner of my mouth.
“Your intelligence.” He nods firmly.
“ Just that? Because the reasons I wanted you for a mate are in double digits.” I arch my eyebrow. A lifetime ago, I couldn’t have been so sure of a person's love. And I am. Mack loves me as I love him, so teasing him like this is something I never could have done with anyone. Even Shane, my former mate.
“Maybe not just your intelligence.” His voice is husky.
As I study him, a little of my amusement fades. “I wish I could come with you.” I sigh.
I know it’s not safe. If trouble is in that hotel, it would be stupid and irresponsible to traipse right in and put my life and Thumper’s at risk.
“My job is to keep you safe.” His lips touch mine.
“And mine?” I whisper.
The corners of his eyes crease when he smiles. “Keep Thumper safe and warm until it’s time for her surprise.”
Curiosity snakes through me, and then surprise. “ Her ?”
I’m positive I haven’t given Mack any clues that Thumper feels like a girl, yet Mack is smiling down at me with the confidence that he’s as sure of it as I am.
“Her,” he confirms.
“What’s the surprise?” It would be the easiest thing in the world to wait until he was gone and stick my nose in the nursery and find out the secret myself.
Months ago, I would have. I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself because surprises were something to fear. Something new was almost always something bad.
Not now.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Is it a big surprise?” I ask.
“It covers a large area,” he says enigmatically.
I scrunch my nose as I ponder what it could be. “So it’s a big toy for Thumper? Maybe a rocking chair?” I’m not sure why that’s the first thing that pops into my head, but I can’t think of any other big toy for a child.
“Nope.” He kisses my nose.
“And the hotel? You won’t go alone, will you?”
“I’ll take Bennett. Chris was going to check out the hiking cabins with Warren and Colton, but I can take Chris too. Anyone would take one look at the size of Warren and Colton and leave Winter Lake.”
He’s right. They would. I relax, knowing he won’t be alone if something does go wrong. “Will you be careful?”
“I will.” He nods. “But I want to have breakfast with my beautiful mate first. Maybe we can talk about names because I’m getting pretty attached to Thumper.”
So am I.
“And will you kiss me before you go?”
A slow smile stretches across his face as his head dips. “Just a kiss?”
“Well…” I wind my arms around him. “Maybe not just a kiss.”