Chapter 51 Hailey
Hailey
My guys had been nothing short of phenomenal since I was discharged from the hospital. When they told me that our home was uninhabitable, I broke down sobbing at the idea that my nest wasn’t there anymore.
I was relieved that my alphas were all okay, but my nest was my safe space.
Those first few days staying in a hotel, I had felt hollow.
It was bizarre, really, because I had stayed in a hotel before and felt fine while reassured that my nest was at home.
But the knowledge that my nest was gone made it ten times worse.
Luckily for me, I was mated to four absolutely amazing guys who sprang into action. I don’t know how they did it, but within a few days of me being discharged, they had procured a new house for us.
The house they found… it was phenomenal. Large, plenty of land, gigantic windows so everything was bright and airy. Nolan had managed to buy the house so fast thanks to offering above asking, and mainly cash, that we only needed to stay in the hotel for a few days before driving to the new house.
The emotions swirling in my gut as we drove up to the new house were intense. There was a deep sadness at the loss of our home, but also excitement at the prospect of a new place.
“It’s empty,” I said as I walked into the living space, my alphas all hovering around me. Houses didn't come with furniture. In the stress of everything that had happened, I hadn't considered the fact that our furniture had been burned to a crisp.
Also, everything I had bought for Landry was gone, which was devastating. I was trying to focus on the good, that all my alphas were safe. I could re-buy stuff.
It still stung, though.
There were going to be many shopping trips before the baby came.
“Not much of our stuff was salvageable,” Merrick said. “We’ve ordered a few basics, but we wanted to show you the nest room.” He led me through the house.
“This place is stunning,” I whispered as we moved as a pack through the property. I had expected Merrick to take me upstairs, because that was usually where the omega suites were located in big houses, but instead, he took me down a hallway to a large room on the ground floor.
“What do you think?” Preston asked.
What did I think?
I thought it was freaking insane —in the best way.
Attached to the back of the house, three of the walls had floor-to-ceiling windows that opened to give the room an insanely light and airy feeling. At the same time, there were curtains and blinds that could be drawn if I was craving something a bit cozier.
“This is incredible,” I muttered, walking around the room.
“Honestly, it’s pretty impressive,” Merrick agreed. “Good craftsmanship went into this place.”
“I love it.”
Every one of my alphas beamed at that answer.
“As weird as it feels to say, I'm really happy we all contributed to this place. As much as I liked your house, man…” Wilder looked at Merrick, who held up his hands in surrender.
“I totally get it. This place feels more like a team effort.”
I stood in the middle of the room, looking around. “I suppose we better start building my nest.”
The guys all stood around the boxes of flat-pack furniture with looks of confusion on their faces.
“I don't even know where to start,” Preston said. “There's so much.”
“We're going to have to start somewhere,” Nolan added, assessing the pile with a shrewd eye.
“Shall we pick a room and start there?” Merrick suggested, scratching the back of his head.
Wilder shook his head. “That would be a useful idea if any of these boxes were actually labeled. I don't know what's inside half of these.”
I sat in the corner, giggling at their conversation. Box after box of furniture had been delivered for the new house, but we had yet to set anything up. We desperately needed to, though. The house was pretty barren, and we had a baby coming soon, so getting the place ready was the first priority.
The idea of new furniture was a little bit exciting, but I wasn't the biggest fan of new furniture smell. My guys were going to have to rub themselves all over the new stuff to get their funk on it.
“In that case, we just need to start ripping into boxes and building things.” Preston sighed, grabbing a box and tearing open the side.
“I’ll order us some lunch?” I suggested, pulling out my phone. I knew full well that if I offered to help build anything, I would be told off by my alphas, who were insisting that I needed to rest. Not only was I heavily pregnant, but ever since the fire, they had been extra cautious.
They all murmured in agreement. They were going to need fuel if they were going to spend the entire day building furniture.
“I’ll grab some trash bags,” Merrick said, heading toward the kitchen.
Luckily, we had done several grocery runs for basics, like trash bags and dishwashing liquid.
Some of the shopping trips had been extortionate.
Replacing everything you owned was truly expensive.
The guys were adamant that I needed to buy all the toiletries and makeup that I had before, and that receipt made my eyes water.
Slowly but surely, the end was in sight, though.
A few more weeks, and I would be fully settled into our new home, ready for our baby boy to arrive.
The first thing Preston had done after buying the house was set up copious security cameras.
Edward and several of his associates were in prison, and would be for a very long time, but that didn’t stop him from worrying.
As I went to pull up my delivery app, a knock on the door distracted me. Not many people knew our address.
“That is probably more furniture being delivered, so I will leave you guys to unbox that and go check.”
“Call us if you need us to carry things? Actually, no, I'll come with you,” Nolan said, getting up and following me as I waddled toward the door. Even though I was considerably slower than I usually was, he followed me with measured steps.
I pulled open the door, but instead of a delivery driver, there was a small army of people. Sunny and Melody were standing in front, wearing matching leggings and LAFD T-shirts that clearly belonged to their mates.
“Hailey!” Sunny beamed at me, throwing herself toward me and into a hug, enveloping me in her lemony scent.
“S-Sunny?” I stammered.
Melody held several shopping bags, her Dalmatian sitting at her feet. Behind the two omegas stood their various alphas and what appeared to be several extra members of the LAFD.
“We came to help,” Melody explained, her honeydew scent following her as she entered, also pulling me in for a hug, despite the bags in her hands.
“Help?” I asked dumbly.
Sunny nodded. “We know you have a bunch of furniture to build, and Merrick mentioned that you guys are doing it today, so we decided to come help and make a day of it. The boys can build things while we get snacks, pick out nesting supplies online, and maybe do a shopping trip!”
“I also need to get all the things for the baby,” I admitted.
Sunny’s beam widened. “Perfect! We thought about that. We have several bags in my car. Old stuff of Luka’s, and a bunch of other baby things donated from people at the firehouse!”
Tears filled my eyes, and I pulled Sunny in for another, long hug, thanking her profusely.
“Do you guys have a grill?” Elliot asked.
I shook my head. “Not yet. We don’t even have chairs.”
He chuckled. “Well, now you do. We bought you one and also brought plenty of meat for it. One of us can make food while the others build. Also, we have folding chairs with us!”
Behind me, the rest of my pack had followed us to the doorway, gaping at the sheer number of people on our doorstep.
“Are you sure, boss?” Merrick asked.
Walker raised a brow. “Do you really think I would be here if I didn't want to be?”
“Come in!” I ushered them in. Within moments, my spacious house was feeling pretty crowded, with nearly fifteen alphas inside it.
They didn't even wait for instructions. Two of them went back to the car and brought in crates of soda and water, placing them in the refrigerator. Several followed Merrick toward the pile of furniture, and they started plotting their plan of attack.
Nolan looked at me with raised brows. “We may just get this house set up in time!” He laughed, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into his side. “You have quite the village.”
As I watched Sunny and Melody unpacking cans of soda and placing them in the fridge and placing bags of chips in large bowls, so everyone could snack while their alphas unboxed furniture, it hit me.
I adored all these individuals and wanted to support them.
Realizing that they were here to help me hit me in a way that made tears gather in the corner of my eyes.
I was blaming the pregnancy hormones on how quick I was to cry.
“I really do, don’t I?”