Chapter 22
None of my clothes fit, my feet hurt, not that I can see as much of them as I used to, and it's hard to get comfortable in bed so I can't sleep for shit.
Not to mention that I can't really go out anywhere looking like this.
It's all out in front so there's no mistaking what's going on.
Jared picked at his lunch. I even have to watch what I eat.
Man, I'd kill for some sushi right now. And cookie dough.
Saliva pooled in his mouth at the thought.
Sugar cookie dough. Ohhh, and hot dogs straight outta the package, cold.
Have to the ones with the sides though, not all round.
MMMMmmmmmm...Soon as this kid is out, I am so going to pig out.
“Earth to Jared, come in, Jared,” quipped Desmond.
“Huh?” Jared's cheeks reddened as he realized he'd zoned out and ignored his friend. Desmond had the day off and had come to spend the day with him until Steve returned home. “I'm sorry. I was just daydreaming about food I miss and how much my feet hurt and stuff. Plus none of my clothes fit.”
Desmond gave a slight frown. “Yeah, that must suck.
Still, it's almost over and you'll have a little bubba at the end of it.
And those are words I never thought I'd be saying to another guy in this context.” Desmond's face brightened.
“We can do something about the clothes though. Let's measure your waist and hip-”
“Let's not. I already know I'm a whale.” Tears pricked the corners of Jared's eyes.
“No you're not,” Desmond soothed. “Just taking the measurements so we can match to the sizes in the store.
We can buy you some of those stretchy jeans and pants, yeah?
But they'll be listed in ladies' sizes, so we'll have to use the size guide.
You fire up your laptop and I'll be right back after I find a tape measure, okay?”
“Alice has one. She used it last week to measure me for my suit.”
“Alrighty then. I'll go see if she's in. I bet she'll be glad to help us find a good store online, and maybe go to pick up stuff for you while you wait.”
Jared brightened. Having some jeans that fit, even if they did have a big stretchy panel in the front, would be nice.
Now if only he could actually go somewhere.
And eat hot dogs, sushi, and cookie dough.
He pushed away his plate. Let's see what there is that'll fit me and is able to be delivered Next Day.He eyed the remains of his sandwich and sighed.
As soon as I finish eating. Steve won't be happy if I don't eat and it won't do my blood sugar any good either if I skip meals.
He'd just opened a third tab, hoping this search result was as promising as it sounded from its Google description entry, when Desmond returned with Alice in tow.
“Oh, sweetie, you should have said something! You need clothes, you can't just sit around all day in sweatpants bunched up under your belly!” She brandished her tape measure like a talisman. “Let's get you sorted! I should have kept the measurements we did last week, but I didn't think.”
An hour later and a few hundred bucks lighter, Jared felt better. Tomorrow he'd have jeans again. It's amazing how that makes me feel more like myself. If only I had somewhere I could wear them.
“Oh, honey,” Alice said in dismay. “You haven't been out at all?”
Crap. I said that out loud.
“Of course you haven't,” she continued. “We'll have to fix that. You know, you can use the portals and visit home. I know it's not New York, but there are artisans living nearby in a community. Galbraith is a lovely place for an outing. Steve should have let you know!”
“I should have let him know what?” Steve asked as he arrived back home.
Jared gave him a soft smile. “Your mom was just saying I could visit Galbraith on my own. It's sort of artist's community?”
“Yeah, sorry, with everything else going on, I didn't think to assign you a detail in case you wanted to do that.”
“Or to tell me the place existed or thatI could even go,” Jared teased.
“Sorry,” Steve replied sheepishly. “Forgive me?” He leaned in to give Jared a quick peck on the lips.
“Sure. Especially as you just bought me new clothes I'm only going to be able to wear a few more weeks.”
“I see,” Steve laughed. “So that's how it is.”
“He needed some maternity clothes,” his mother said firmly.
Steve nodded.
Jared remembered why Steve had been away that day. “So, how did it go?”
“It went well. Agent Patterson is back home and plans to take some personal leave time. He wants to see how things work out with Silas, give their mating a chance. He's also planning on shadowing our security during that time as he may decide to resign and come work for us.”
“That's awesome,” Desmond said.
“What is going to tell the FBI about the last few days?”
“Nothing, unless they ask him. Seems R.W. was covering for him and it's only been two days here, after all. That seemed to surprise him, seems he didn't realize that when they left and went Under Hill that time would move differently to here and the rest of our world.”
“Well, it is kinda weird, if you think about it,” Jared said.
Steve shrugged. “Yeah, but what can you do? It is what it is.”
“What about Silas?” Alice asked.
“He'll be back to work in a few days. He's remaining behind at court at the Prince's request. He's not very happy with him at the moment. He's making Silas help track the two criminals he let loose there.”
Jared shivered. “I hope they find them real soon.”
“Me too, babe, which is why you will have a detail of experienced men with you if you decide to go through. I doubt anything will happen to you, but given what they've done, it's better safe than sorry, yeah?”
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“How about I take you out tomorrow?” Alice asked. “After your clothes get here, of course. We can stop by the tea shop there and visit the shops. There's a fantastic glassblower whose work you simply must see.”
Jared glanced at Steve. “Is that too soon?”
Steve shook his head. “No. Mom has her own detail she can call on and I'll arrange for some guys to join them, just for you.”
“Just how many guards do we need?” Jared looked incredulous.
“Just three or four.”
“Three or four? Seriously?”
“I think we'll be okay with just two, dear. I'm sure if strange humans suddenly appeared anywhere near Galbraith, they'd sound the alarm. Not like humans are commonplace. I'll take one, you can arrange one for Jared, that way if we split up, we each have a guard. Okay?”
“I was going to say...” Jared muttered darkly. “If it was that dangerous, I'd better just stay home.”
Steve put his hands up in surrender. “Okay, sorry. I am probably being a little overprotective.”
“Just a bit,” Jared agreed.
“I'll call Dale and see who he suggests.”
“Good idea.”
“Hey, Jared, let me know what it's like,” Desmond chimed in.
“You've never been?” asked Alice.
“Uh, I've never even been across. My folks weren't really into the pack thing,” he said embarrassed.
“I know some basic stuff about being pack and all that, but we didn't live all together like this and my folks never participated in stuff back home.” Desmond looked at his feet as Alice and Steve looked at him incredulously.
“What a shame,” Alice said softly. “Why don't you come with us tomorrow?”
“I've got work. I'm off again on Thursday though.”
“Great. Why don't we go across again then. We can check at the house to see how the arrangements are coming for the wedding.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Desmond said as Jared nodded.
“I'll make sure to get that covered as well,” Steve said, taking his phone out. “Yeah, hey, Dale. I need to talk to you about arranging a detail for Jared. Mom wants to take him to Galbraith and stuff.”
Galbraith turned out to be a charming small town that sat along a crossroads.
The sign for the crossroads were labelled so that they pointed the way to each of the holdings of the three races.
It was also obvious from the other signage tacked on the post that the inhabitants had quite the sense of humor and were fond of American television.
'Tokyo', 'San Francisco', 'Detroit' and other earthly destinations were labelled, pointing at seemingly random directions, though mileage was missing.
Someone had also put up one that simply read 'There be dragons'. Jared laughed.
“Dragons? Really?”
“Oh,” said Alice. “That one's not a joke. They keep to themselves generally though and are way up in the mountains,” she reassured him.
Jared stopped laughing and gave her a look. “Seriously?”
The two men who'd been assigned their protection detail nodded.
“Yeah, no one has seen any around here for at least five hundred years,” said the one called Danilo.
Jared had been happy when they'd met. Afraid that he'd end up with a muscle bound Secret Service type cliché, he had felt reassured when instead he'd found his personal guard was a leanly muscled man of average height who had a twinkle in his eye.
Danilo exuded confidence and Jared had been reassured that Danilo was skilled enough in combat should it ever be required. Jared hoped it never came to that.
“At least five hundred,” the other man affirmed.
Unlike Danilo, Tim was a giant. Standing over six and a half feet tall, he had muscled arms that Jared was pretty sure his hands wouldn't fit around should he try.
His expression betrayed little emotion and Jared actually felt a bit intimidated by him, despite knowing he was good friends with Steve and one of his future betas.
“But if he says there's no dragons...” Jared mused.