Chapter 40 Hailey
Hailey
For the next three months, the four of us slipped into an easy routine.
It was hard to believe how easy life was with the three alphas.
Merrick would do his shifts while Nolan worked from home.
I went down to only one shift a week because that was all my body could handle, and Wilder would occasionally volunteer at a local clinic to use some of his nursing skills.
Every day, my bump grew a bit bigger, and by the time I hit thirty-two weeks, I was starting to resemble a whale.
Minus the tail.
There were still weeks left to go, but my stomach felt stretched to its limits. I had no idea how I was going to handle six to ten more weeks of this.
Let alone, how my bladder was going to handle it. I peed like every five minutes.
Also, I was beginning to regret waiting to find out the gender. That little envelope sat in the top drawer of the dresser in my nest room, taunting me on a daily basis.
Preston was supposed to be back in some unknown number of weeks, and I was concerned that those weeks were turning into months.
Everyone had been so convinced he would return in time, but I had my doubts. The more pregnant I became, the more cranky and less trusting I got.
As time dragged on, I’d started considering how I would give birth without him. One thing about being pregnant was, it had turned me into a planner. I wanted to know exactly how I was going to give birth, where I was going to do it, and the entire process involved.
I wanted to know who was in the room and what their roles would be. Childbirth was such a chaotic and messy experience, I needed to control what little I could.
Maybe I was turning into a control freak, but I didn't care.
Sometimes, even a simple nighttime routine was too much. The baby was sapping my energy to the point that holding a toothbrush could feel like a giant task. Plus, brushing my teeth made me terribly nauseated—I didn’t get sick.
I stood in the bathroom now, staring at myself in the mirror. Rough would be a nice way of putting it. There were bags under my eyes, and my boobs were sore and swollen—downright enormous, in fact—and my milk hadn’t even come in yet.
Standing in just a bra and pajama pants, I struggled through brushing my teeth, cursing waistbands that pressed on my pelvis the way they did and reconsidering my dismissal of belly tape.
“Hey,” Nolan said from the doorway. “Do you want anything else to eat?”
I shook my head, spitting out the toothpaste before talking. “No, I think I'm good. I just want to collapse in bed.”
I grabbed the bottle of oil that I was using for my stomach, looked at it for a moment, and put it down.
I was too tired to do that. Regularly moisturizing was supposed to be the best way to help reduce stretch marks, but there was just so much skin to moisturize now, and I was too exhausted to care.
And there was the fact that my doctor told me they were mostly hereditary. So I could thank my mother for stretch marks if I got them.
“Here, let me help,” Nolan offered.
Plucking the bottle off the counter, he poured a generous amount into his hands. Because I was only wearing a bra, my stomach was easily accessible, and he started rubbing the moisturizer carefully, ensuring it was well absorbed.
“You don't have to,” I mumbled sleepily, but he was already halfway through the task by the time I thought to say something, his hands working in strong, measured strokes.
“I want to,” he insisted softly.
I stood there and let him pamper me for a few moments. Once he was done, the huge bra came off, and I grabbed one of Nolan's shirts from the hamper.
The farther along I got in my pregnancy, the more I wanted my alphas scents near. So their T-shirts had become my nightwear. They were saturated so perfectly in their smells that my omega was obsessed.
“Want me to carry you to the nest?” Nolan smiled when I turned around.
I shook my head. “I can make it.”
That didn't stop him from following me, a hand on my lower back guiding me. I had no doubt that if I stumbled even slightly, he would scoop me up.
As we approached, he crouched down, picking up my favorite blankets and opening the nest so I could crawl in.
“Are you joining me?” I asked, making grabby hands in his general direction, because I very much wanted him to join me.
I never slept alone anymore. The nest was large enough to fit several people, and I was taking advantage of that every moment I could.
“Well, you know, I'm not going to say no to that.” He chuckled, then clambered in after me.
Wrapping myself around him, I buried my face in his chest and inhaled deeply.
Between us, my bump rested against his abdomen. The baby was getting more and more mobile by the day. It was a strange sensation, feeling a baby move inside you, but I had become rather fond of my little nugget’s movements.
Except when I was getting kicked in the ribs or punched in the cervix.
“It's insane to think that, in a few weeks, we’ll be parents,” he mused.
“We probably should build the nursery soon.” I sighed.
I’d been putting it off, hoping to do it once Preston returned, but with every day that crawled by, I was beginning to doubt he would make it in time for the baby's birth.
We’d bought several items, but they were just sitting in boxes in the room that would be the nursery. I kept telling myself that he’d be home soon enough, and we could work on it together, but I was still waiting on that to become reality.
While I knew that my alphas would take care of me and be there for me every step of the way, I was pissed that Preston wasn't home yet.
I had to regularly tell myself that it was because he couldn’t be home, not that he didn’t want to be.
“If that's what you want to do, we'll do it,” Nolan assured me.
“Have you heard anything from Preston recently?” I lifted my brows, trying not to get my hopes up.
“Not for a few weeks, but we knew he wasn't going to be able to communicate much.”
I could tell Nolan was trying to be helpful, but it wasn’t working. “I hate this. I would like to have more than one conversation with him before I give birth to our child. I don't think that's too much to ask.”
“It’s not, Hailey. It’s not. He’s going to have to make up for a lot when he gets home, but he does want to be here.”
I took a deep breath. “I still hate this. On one hand, I'm excited and looking forward to the baby getting here already. On the other hand, I'm terrified and unsure.”
“I think that's just being a parent in general.” Nolan chuckled. “Excited and terrified in equal measure.”
“Sunny said as much when I spoke to her the other day. She's loving being a parent the second time around, though.”
“She was on her own for her first, wasn't she?”
I nodded. “Luka's father was never around, and she did it all on her own. All of it. The night feedings, the crying, the stress—she did it by herself with zero help.”
Nolan dropped his stare, nodding. “That’s a strong woman.”
“Yeah, she really is. For the record, I would like you to note that I am not that strong, and I will not be left alone to deal with any of this,” I said, glancing down at my belly. “Thankfully, this time around with their little girl, Sunny’s got all the help she needs.”
Looking back up at me with a grin, Nolan kissed my forehead. “Give it a few years, and there's going to be so many firehouse babies.”
I chuckled. “There's already a plethora of firehouse pets. Babies will fit right in.”
“Do you want any pets?” Nolan asked, curious.
“Actually, yeah. I've always wanted a pet, but I'm not sure what kind. Maybe I should go see Melody and see who needs rescuing. I wouldn't want to get a cat or dog from a breeder when I know Melody has so many animals that need good homes.”
“I think it's good for a kid to have a pet. Personally, I grew up with dogs. I love animals.” Nolan’s face dropped, shaking his head as he grimaced. “I draw the lines of ferrets, though. They creep me out.”
I pulled back, looking at him in surprise. “Creep you out? They’re adorable!”
“Adorable?” He choked out the word. “Have you seen their weird faces?”
Smacking his chest lightly, I nodded. “Yes! And they’re little fluffy fur noodles.”
Nolan wasn’t convinced, though, shaking his head. “They have beady eyes. I don’t trust them.”
There was something about the way he said it that made me break down into a fit of giggles, my belly jiggling as I held on to him. Even while I laughed, I made a mental note to save cute ferret videos to show him later.
“Please tell me Melody doesn't rescue ferrets…” he whispered, deadly serious.
I bit my lip, trying not to laugh. “At the moment, I'm pretty sure she only has cats, dogs, and bunnies.”
“Bunnies?” he asked, curious.
“Yeah. Actually, at the firehouse where Merrick works, there's a bunny named Sooty. Or at least, there was. I think she lives at the house with the family now.”
“Why did they decide to get a pet rabbit?”
“Rune, one of their pack members, rescued them. The bunny was in a house fire. They took it to Melody for help, and he nursed it back to health, and it became the firehouse mascot.”
“You better tell me that that bunny is black. A rabbit called Sooty has to be black.”
My nose crinkled as I spoke. “Close enough. She's dark gray. Technically, it's a color called blue, apparently.”
“Aww, that sounds cute.”
“Are you a fan of rabbits?” I cocked a brow at him.
“I don’t know. I’ve never really been around them. Maybe we can see some when we visit Melody’s shelter.”
I hummed happily. “That sounds like a plan.”
My eyelids were drooping shut, and I was just about to drift off to a peaceful sleep when Merrick walked into the room.
“Hey, sorry, I didn't think you were going to want to sleep yet.”
“I can assure you I very much want to sleep at all times. This shit is hard,” I mumbled.
In fact, I was pretty sure I was already halfway into a deep, restful sleep, nestled in Nolan’s arms while buried in my nest.
“What’s up?” Nolan asked, shifting slightly underneath me. “And talk fast ’cause we’re losing her.”
I almost laughed, but when Merrick spoke, everything stopped, and sleep became the last thing on my mind.
“Preston's getting out of the camp. He’s officially a free man.”