If the test came out negative, I would be crushed. Which was weird given all of this was hypothetical and very much unplanned.
“This tub is not long enough to share.” It was quite short. Long enough for his legs to be outstretched at the most, but the water would fill up to close to his armpits and that is the kind of soaking he needed to help him relax and loosen tight muscles he might have between work and the car ride. “But it is deep enough for you to get a good soak.” He squished up his nose as if not liking the sound of us not taking a bath together.
Note to self: remodel bathroom at home with a huge-ass tub.
“You work hard too.”
“This weekend is about pampering you,” I countered. If only he knew how much I worked previously. I had slowed way down, so grateful for the client I signed that kept our firm in the black without me needing to work sixteen-hour days.
“And who will pamper you?”
“Just being with you makes me feel on top of the world.” I leaned over and kissed his cheek, then got out of the car and around to his side, where I opened the door and helped him out.
“I can do this on my own, you know.” He kissed me softly. “But thank you for being such a prince.”
“A knight. Remember the day I came to your door and…” his face pinkened nicely.
I grabbed our bags, and we walked inside and possibly into a time machine.
“Good evening, gents. Are you requiring a room?” A woman dressed in a period costume not of any particular period, but multiple if my historical memory was correct, asked. It was still quaint and perfect, even if a hot mess for anyone who came for the history.
“Why yes, ma’am, we do.” I handed her my credit card, and she did the only modern thing we would see from any of the staff all weekend and slid the card, typing into the computer.
“Let me show you gents to your room. It is our finest, I will have you know. President Garfield stayed here.” I wasn’t sure how true that was, but we listened to her go on and on as she explained the decor, the plumbing, and meal times. It felt like forever before she left us alone in our room.
“Do you think any of that was true?” Jesse asked as he squinted for a closer look at the wallpaper that held a ten-minute-long story.
“I think she believes it.” I shrugged.
“She also thinks that hat would be worn by someone not a maidservant and not with that dress so…”
“There is that.” I deposited the bags on the bed. “She did say we missed dinner,” which had one sitting at six, when we had yet to leave the city. “Want to head into town and find a diner?”
“Not really. My stomach is kinda yuck.” He mushed his lips to the side. “I mean, yes, let’s go. You must be starving.
“About your stomach...” I began, and he cut me off with a finger to my lips.
“I’m sure it is not contagious. I’m probably just over-hungry. I missed lunch thanks to a parent phone call.”
He was so giving with his students, to a fault. “Not eating all day isn’t good for you.” I’d been guilty of it plenty so I probably shouldn’t be talking.
“Yes, Dad.” He rolled his eyes.
“And speaking of dad, I have something to give you.” If his sick stomach wasn’t a segue to the pregnancy test, I was going to make one out of his sarcasm.
“I opened the bag and took out the wrapped box.”
“Is it a special day?”
“I hope so,” was all I said as he opened the box to see the pregnancy test. “I thought maybe you could take it this weekend?”
24
Jesse
Some surprise!
Not 100% true. It was huge and unexpected and knocked the wind out of me. I’d been looking forward to sexy times multiplied by three days as we spent the long weekend, just the two of us, at the small inn upstate. But my significant other had presented me with a pregnancy test. Not what I’d foreseen for our weekend of passion.
In my heart, I didn’t need a test. My exhaustion, sleepless nights, and rumbly tummy now made sense. I’m pregnant. I’d been avoiding the truth.
I peered at the instructions and the photos showing negative and positive results. “It says I’m supposed to do it first thing in the morning.”
“Okay, we’ll wait until tomorrow.”
“No.” As I heard my grouchy, irrational response, I pictured a toddler stamping his foot. Or a teenager refusing to clean her room. My emotions were seesawing and I wanted to pummel Dean’s chest.
Why?
Just because.
Definitely toddler and teen behavior.
But now I was contemplating not just a change in lifestyle as Dean and I considered our future, but a life with another person. And baby makes three. This wasn’t what I’d predicted when I met Dean on Valentine’s Day. “What are we going to do?”
“I’d say we’ve done a lot already.” Dean sat on the bed beside me and nudged my arm. “First thing is take the test.”
“You’re so practical. I’m talking about complicated life stuff.”
He slung an arm around my shoulder. “No matter what happens, it’ll work out.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” I got up and leaned against the wall. “I’m the one who probably has a baby growing inside him. Who’ll get fat and have weird cravings and God only knows what else.”
“Come here, babe.”
It’d become a habit—him calling me that. But right now, thinking of a possible pregnancy, that word had reality smacking me in the face. I folded my arms, wanting to be annoyed. But Dean ignored my pouting and pulled me to him. Damn him. I’d intended to be cantankerous a little longer.
With me on his lap, he rested his chin on my head. “And I’ll be right here giving you back rubs and making midnight food runs to satisfy those cravings.” He gave me a peck on the lips.
“You’re making fun of me.”
“Never.” But he had a smile plastered over his lips.
“Dean, this is serious.”
He tilted my chin, and his piercing gaze had my thighs quivering despite trying to fathom a future with me being pregnant.
“Stop it.”
“What? I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re giving me the look.” I was babbling, but he was doing things to me. My dick was hard and I wanted him. Badly.
He held up his hands in surrender. “No idea what you’re talking about?”
I screwed up my face. He thinks he’s so clever. “It’s your ‘I want to throw you on the bed and fuck your brains out’ look.”
“Nope.” He closed one eye. God he’s sexy as fuck!
“Dean, we’re having a serious conversation here.” I waved the pregnancy test in his face.
He slid to the floor. What’s he doing? This isn’t what I’d wanted. Not now. In the future, maybe.”
He held up one hand. “I solemnly swear that no matter what happens, I’ll be right beside you on this crazy ride.”
“I hoped to have kids someday, but this wasn’t how I imagined it.”
“Me neither. But I didn’t wrap my dick, so I accept over 50% of the blame.”
“Not blame. That’s so negative.” I took a deep breath. “Responsibility.” The test weighed heavy in my now sweaty hand. “I have to do this.”
“Do you want me to supervise?”
I slapped Dean’s shoulder. “I think I can manage, though after giving up football, my aim might be off.”
“I’m pretty good at aiming.”
“You and your little swimmers have done enough, love.”
“Come out when you’re done,” he told me. “I want us to be together when we get the result.”
I nodded, unable to speak. My fingers trembled as I did what I had to do and washed my hands. I placed the test on a paper towel Dean had put on the coffee table, and we waited. Each second ticked by like an eternity. I was sure time was laughing at us and deliberately slowing.
Dean had set an alarm on his p
hone, and he jumped when it went off. I sat, not bothering to look. I didn’t need to. I was certain. Dean picked up the test and peered at it. “Does the plus symbol indicate what I think it does?”
“Mmmm,” I replied.
“Wow! We’re pregnant.” He took my hand and squeezed.
“Yeah, I guess we are,” I agreed.
“Jesse, you’re not saying much.”
“I’m an idiot.”
“That’s not what I expected, babe.”
“My symptoms were obvious, and I ignored them.”
“Does it matter? And for the record, you’re not an idiot. You’re a sexy, pregnant omega who I want to hump, right now.”
I had an image of him behind me plugging his dick into my channel. “Really? That’s what you’re thinking? Fucking? It’s what got us into this mess.”
“I get that this will be harder on you, but to me, it’s not a mess. It’s amazing. We made a baby, Jesse. How incredible is that?”
His positive mood was infectious. “I didn’t intend for this to happen.”
“I know. But it has. We’re going to be a family. And we should celebrate.”
“How? I can’t drink.” I thought about the bottle of champagne I’d hidden in my bag.
His fingers crept over my thigh. “I’ve never made love to a pregnant omega.” That side-eye and mischievous grin breached my defenses. He clutched my shirt but dropped it just as suddenly and pulled away.
“What?”
“This is okay, right?” He rubbed a hand over my belly.
“More than all right. I need your cock. Inside me.”
Dean’s mouth gaped. This time I grabbed his tee and shoved him flat on the mattress. “I love it when you’re rough.”
I sniggered. “Oh, please. You enjoy being on your back watching as I straddle you and your dick goes in and out of my hole.”
“Is that wrong?” He pulled me on top of him and wriggled his hips.
“You know what is wrong? So very wrong.”
He shook his head.
“Us. Fully clothed. Get rid of them.”
Within seconds, we were naked, and Dean’s fingers edged toward my ass. I tensed as he eased one finger inside.
25
Dean
“Last day of school, babe.” I kissed his lips and handed him a paper bag. “I made you lunch.”
“You made me a brown paper bag lunch?” He looked back and forth between the bag and me.
He had every reason to be skeptical. It was more than a lunch. I’d hidden an invitation in there, one I hoped he would take advantage of, but also one I wanted him to think about before answering me, which was why I hadn’t delivered it in person.
“Yes, sir. Don’t you remember?” He shook his head and bit his lip as if thinking hard. “My dad made me lunch every day and put it in one of these bags.” I had hated it. All the other kids went out for lunch or bought school lunch, and I had a sack lunch. I was so worried about what others thought back then. It was nice to have grown out of that stage.
“He did. I was so jealous. I had that stupid square pizza or those hockey puck burgers every day.” And he had told me how lucky I was at the time. “And you brought me one on the last day of school.” Because it was the first day I had the courage to.
“You do remember.”
“Of course I do. It was your dad’s homemade meatloaf sandwich with mayonnaise on white bread with a pear, a plastic baggie of broken chips, and a juice box.”
“I felt dumb about the juice box, but we didn’t have bottles of water at my house.” I’d felt dumb about the whole thing up until the second he broke out in a smile brighter than I’d ever seen from him before. Then—I felt like the king of all alphas, at least until he didn’t show up at lunch that day. Not that we ever ate together, but a huge part of me hoped we would—that somehow my bringing him a lunch would make a difference.
“The juice box was perfect. I got stuck in lunch detention for being late to class after gym because Coach had to tell me twenty things and none of them were ‘Here is a late pass,’ and they didn’t even let us up for a drink from the fountain in there.” He went to open it, and I shook my head.
“Wait until lunch,” I instructed. “I had hoped you would eat with me that day.”
“Same,” was all he said as he slid his lunch into his messenger bag. “I better get going.”
“I can drop you off,” I offered, and he glanced at the clock. “I won’t be late. Promise. I took the day off.” I snapped my mouth shut. I hadn’t planned on letting that out just yet.
“Because?”
“I am having a contractor come to check out the bathrooms and see if they can make some adjustments, like a huge tub in the one and a ginormous shower in the other.” I shrugged as if it were no big deal.
“Why would you do that?”
“Richard is moving.”
“And?”
“Damn it, you ruined the surprise...or I did...it doesn’t matter.” I reached over, my hand rubbing across his growing belly as I took his messenger bag gently off his shoulder and fished out the lunch. “Open it.”
“Is it meatloaf?” It was. It was the identical lunch with the exception of the juice box and only due to the fact the company no longer made the one he’d had that day so instead I printed off a label from an internet picture I found. Fair to say I was hopelessly trying to be romantic, or at least I was until I put my foot in my mouth and ruined the entire thing.
“You’ll see.”
He looked inside and pulled out the items one at a time. “It’s the...wow. You are amazing, but what does this have to do with bathrooms?”
“There is one more thing.”
He reached in and pulled out the card. “A card?”
“Open it.”
He looked from the card to me and back again and slid his finger under the flap, opening it slowly and removing the card. “It’s an invitation?”
“Yeah, to a housewarming.”
He opened it up, and it floated to the ground, his mouth hanging open as Stu nudged at him from the side.
“What do you think?”
He threw himself at me, wrapping his arms around me tightly, not saying a word. I hugged him back, his belly having it so my arms almost didn’t reach fully. Heaven.
“Is that a yes?”
He pushed back slightly, tears streaming from his eyes. “Really? You want me to move in here...with you...for always?”
“More than my next breath.”
“And not because you think I can’t pay rent alone, because I can?” he questioned.
“No, silly omega. Not because I worry you can’t pay rent. Because I love you, and any night you are not by my side, I miss you terribly.” Maybe the timing wasn’t as ideal as it could have been, but the truth was, the only reason I hadn’t asked him earlier was because I knew Richard couldn’t afford to live alone and I didn’t want to put Jesse in an awkward position, not when waiting a few months could allow things to self-correct. Richard made no secret he wanted to relocate so it was always just a matter of time.
“And not just because I’m pregnant?”
“Did you miss the part about loving you?” I kissed the tip of his nose. “I drove all the way to my dad’s after begging him to make me meatloaf yesterday, if that doesn’t show love I don’t know what does.” And if he knew my dad better, he would hear the truth in those words. I had to tell him his grandbaby needed it before he would even consider my crazy notion, and then I had to deal with him grilling me about baby names for an hour. Totally worth it if he said yes.
Scratch that. Totally worth that for his smile.
“This is the meatloaf!” Jesse squeed.
“It is the meatloaf.”
“Then I have to say yes, don’t I?” He winked.
“It’s pretty much the rule, yeah,” I nonchalantly replied, even as all of me wanted to celebrate with everything from a happy dance to a fist bump.
“Then a
ll the yeses with a side of yes.”
26
Jesse
Today’s the day.
I lay snuggled in Dean’s arms as he slept, while Stu curled up on my feet. The little one inside me kicked, and I placed a hand on my belly. “Hello,” I whispered, not wanting to wake up the alpha who was snoring gently beside me. “Did you sleep well? I hope so because I’ve got a surprise for you.”
The baby stopped kicking. Awww he or she is listening to me. “We’re going to see you later today. If you can, wave or maybe give a kick.” The little one wriggled and then went quiet.
Yesterday, he or she had had the hiccups, and at first it amused me. Dean put his head on my rounded belly, and we’d giggled.
But the hiccups went on for over thirty minutes, and I’d been in tears, imagining the little one in agony. Dean had me in the car ready to head to the hospital when they finally quieted. And the baby had slept.
I glanced at the clock. Just after seven. Staying in bed past 6:30 a.m. was blissful. The summer vacation stretched ahead of me. Dean was working just as much as ever and I had a twinge of guilt. When we’d confirmed my pregnancy, I’d found someone to take my place at summer camp, and come the fall, I was taking a year off.
Most teachers couldn’t afford to do that, but I had the luxury of Dean’s excellent salary and healthcare package. I’d made a decision that once the baby and I’d established a routine, I’d do some substitute teaching. But only one or two days a week.
Dean had taken the morning off as our appointment was 10:30. I could go back to sleep, but the thought of ‘meeting’ the baby had me so excited, I was wide awake. I padded into the kitchen and made tea. While the water boiled, I fed Stu who was purring and rubbing himself against my leg.
I sat on the window seat watching the world go by and humming to my son or daughter until Dean staggered into the kitchen rubbing his eyes. “You okay?” he asked.
Love at Blind Date Complete Series: Books 1-4 Page 9