Chapter 31
A LITTLE KICK
“Is this my baby bump, or did I just eat too much food?” Aaren said.
Next to him, Hades chuckled. “Either way, it’s just as beloved.”
He shuffled further down the bed and pressed his face to Aaren’s bare belly, kissing him all over. Aaren blushed. It had been several weeks since they’d gotten together; after all this time, Hades still looked at him with nothing short of warm desire.
“You’re really calm about all of this,” Aaren said. “I’m still kind of nervous about the baby.”
Hades huffed. “I am a little worried. Sometimes I panic. Just a bit.”
“But I don’t see it,” Aaren protested.
“That’s...” Hades hesitated. “I hide it, somewhat. You need an alpha who can be strong while you’re vulnerable.”
“But I want to be there for you too,” Aaren said. “It’s not fair that you help me when I panic, but I don’t get to help you when you panic.”
“Last I heard, alphas should be strong and fearless,” Hades said dryly. “Even if I’m nervous about fatherhood.”
“Oh, Hades.” Aaren tugged on Hades’ arms so he would come up for a hug.
They cuddled together for a while, all bare skin pressed together.
Hades relaxed against him. “I think we would be a little fucked if we were on our own, but we have friends with babies too. They’ll have answers if we get into trouble. ”
Hades cracked a smile then. “Yeah. You’re right.” He kissed Aaren soft and sweet, then trailed kisses back down Aaren’s body, stopping when he reached Aaren’s belly again. “I think it won’t feel real until I’ve felt a kick, to be honest.”
“Same here.” There were various stages of this becoming real—the pregnancy tests, the morning sickness, the maybe-bump, but a kick would go really far in proving that their baby was real and fine. “It’ll be a while yet.”
Hades sighed. Then he pressed a kiss to Aaren’s belly. “Hey you, little one,” he rumbled, his voice vibrating through Aaren’s body. “This is your other dad. I don’t know if you can hear me yet, but I want you to know that we’re both looking forward to meeting you.”
Aaren’s heart swelled so much, it could burst.
He almost blurted, Marry me.
But that would be really weird, since Hades was the one with the house, the better-paying job, and the one who would provide protection.
Then again, it made sense for Aaren to ask, since he would be the one benefiting from all of the above.
Hell, they hadn’t even exchanged bonding marks yet. Maybe this was too soon.
I’ll plan something, Aaren decided as he carded his fingers through Hades’ hair. Maybe if I have a fancy enough proposal, he will say yes?
“You look like you’re plotting something,” Hades said when he looked up at Aaren.
Aaren tried to look innocent. “Am I?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not!”
Hades laughed and pressed his face against Aaren’s belly. “Sure. If you say so.”
Emmy had pickup lines for proposals. Of course he did.
“Here,” he said, brandishing a thick stack of lace-edged paper at Aaren. “Put them in his underwear. You will see results immediately.”
Aaren didn’t think Hades would appreciate having lacy paper suddenly crinkling around his balls. Then again, that was the point: to catch Hades by surprise with something intimate, with a question that Aaren meant with all his heart.
No, the difficult part was picking just one line to tuck into Hades’ underwear.
Aaren straightened his spine and accepted the stack gratefully.
Aaren got his next bright idea a few weeks later.
Sure, he and Hades had exchanged their ‘I love you’s. And sure, they knew where they stood in each other’s lives.
But they had not exchanged bonding marks. Aaren had assumed that Hades was waiting until they got married, before they put those permanent markings on each other’s skin.
In the meantime, Aaren was moving forward with his plan.
He had bought some things with Hades’ credit card by now—fresh cheese curds all the way from Wisconsin, books, and even some shaving cream when he realized Hades’ was running low.
“You shouldn’t peek at the spending on my card this month,” Aaren said, just like he’d done for the shaving cream because he had wanted it to be a surprise.
“Oh?” Hades raised his eyebrows interestedly. “Are you planning something?”
“Maybe.” Aaren blushed and said no more.
Hades gave him a long look and went back to typing on his laptop. “Okay.”
Since Hades had kept his word about not checking the credit card records last month, Aaren went to the website he’d been lurking on, and placed his order.
“Hey, I have something for you,” Hades said one night when Aaren was twenty weeks along.
“Is it a ring?” Aaren’s mouth said.
Immediately after, he clapped his hands over his face, horrified.
“That’s not what I meant! Oh gods. I don’t—It just came out.
Like sometimes when you hold in your pee for too long, and a little bit comes out, but instead of clamping those muscles down, your body just lets go and suddenly you’ve pissed a giant lake around yourself. ”
Then the reality of those words sank down around him, and Aaren could’ve moaned in humiliation.
“Please pretend that I was not here for the past five minutes,” Aaren whined.
Hades was watching him contemplatively. Then he broke into a smile, and slipped his arm around Aaren’s shoulders. “No, I heard nothing about rings or pee.”
“Oh gods,” Aaren said.
Hades grinned, dropping a kiss on the crown of Aaren’s head. “You’re amazing, sweetheart.”
“Let’s change the subject. You were... You had something for me?”
And now Hades looked kind of awkward and shy, nothing like Aaren had ever seen before.
Aaren sat up straight, eyes wide. “Did aliens kidnap you?”
“No, nothing like that.” Hades kissed his temple. “I bought you something. Well, maybe it’s not quite for you? You’ll see.”
He grabbed a huge package he’d set by his feet, placing it on Aaren’s lap.
It was soft and squishy, the wrapping paper crinkling under Aaren’s fingers. Aaren carefully tore open the paper, gasping at the stack of tiny clothes inside—onesies, mittens and socks, little hats and stuffed toys, and even a soft blanket.
“Oh,” Aaren whispered, looking up at Hades.
“You like?” Hades whispered back.
Aaren swallowed hard, his eyes prickling. “Y-Yeah. Of course I do. This is amazing.”
Hades perked up, looking so pleased with himself.
Aaren had to link their fingers together.
“You won’t mess up, you know. Well, I mean, everyone probably does, we’re just human.
Sooner or later, someone will make a mistake no matter how much they try not to.
But I think it’s the way we move on from those messes that matters.
As long as we do our best not to fuck up again. ”
Hades looked so proud. “Like those Ballus-shaped mistakes, you mean?”
Aaren huffed. “Thanks for getting me out of that mess. I didn’t know how to dig myself out of that hole.”
“That’s what I’m here for. To help you with your holes.”
Aaren giggled. He leaned in close and kissed the corner of Hades’ lips. “Thank you for the present. I like it a lot.”
“Yeah?” Hades grinned, rubbing Aaren’s baby bump.
It was definitely a bump now, half the size of a watermelon and growing a little larger every day.
Hades moved Aaren around on the couch so he could tuck himself behind Aaren.
They were now nestled together, Aaren’s back to Hades’ chest. Hades slipped his hands under Aaren’s shirt, stroking all over his belly.
“Now, if our little one would just kick, everything would be perfect.”
Aaren had been feeling tiny flutters for some time now, but they were so faint that they were lost to Hades on the outside. Hades always wore a wistful sort of happiness whenever Aaren told him about them; he wanted to feel their baby for himself.
Hades grew more perfect every day, and he didn’t even know it.
Aaren snuggled into his alpha, picking out the little onesies one by one. There were some with baby animals, some with rainbows, lots with bright colors, and the socks even matched. “The frogs remind me of the ones by the front door—”
In his belly, someone kicked.
“Oof,” Aaren said.
Hades sucked in a sharp breath. “Sweetheart. Did you...? Did I just...?”
He peered over Aaren’s shoulder with such awe, the years falling away from his face in his excitement. Hades rubbed Aaren’s belly. To his delight, their little one kicked again.
“Fuck,” Hades whispered, looking like he’d just witnessed actual magic. “That’s our baby.”
“We should probably not say ‘fuck’ so much,” Aaren said dryly, but it was such a small thing in the face of all the other injustices in the world. “As long as the first word isn’t ‘fuck’, I guess.”
“Could be worse. It could be ‘Ballus’.”
“No!” Aaren said, so vehemently that Hades laughed. Then Aaren huffed, settling back against his alpha. “You’re right though.”
Hades rumbled, picking up a onesie and trailing his wrist over it. He rubbed it against the scent gland on Aaren’s wrist, too. “So our little one will smell like us.”
Aaren’s heart swelled. He needed to find the courage to propose to this man, sooner rather than later.
Hades had been acting sneaky for days. Aaren watched suspiciously from their bed as Hades checked behind the nightstand and under the dresser, like he was looking for something.
“What’re you looking for?” Aaren asked, toweling his hair.
Hades glanced at him and back at the walls, tucking his bath towel around his hips. “Just making sure things are ready,” he said mysteriously.
Aaren narrowed his eyes. “Something’s up.”
Hades gave a vague smile. “Maybe.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll know in time.” Hades stuck his head out of the bedroom door. Then he pulled his head back in and went to the dresser, way too close to where Aaren had stashed his special order panties.
I should do it now, Aaren decided. Before he ruins the surprise.
“Hades?” Aaren said.
“Sweetheart, I have something for you,” Hades said at the same time.
They stared at each other, surprised.
“You first,” Hades said like a true gentlemanly alpha.