“I can get someone to come and get me,” I said. “Thanks Nyle.”
“Don’t mention it.”
I grabbed my stuff and headed out to the front of Club Rumblefish, walking a little way down the road to wait for Slater to show up. My phone buzzed in my pocket and my heart did a little trip.
“Here, where are you?”
I looked up and saw, just a little way down the street, Slater walking with a group of guys. He was at the front of the pack with who I would definitely assume were his brothers. They didn’t all look alike, but there was something in the way that they carried themselves that told me they were all related, a sort of quiet confidence that attracted me to Slater in the first place was present in each of them.
I was about to run over to hug him when I felt my stomach lurch. It was so sudden that it caught me by surprise and I felt suddenly lightheaded. I moved myself off the street and into the alleyway beside Club Rumblefish and vomited by the bins.
It hurt, every contraction of my stomach, every gag in my throat, the acidity of it burning me on the way up. A hand suddenly found its way to my back, rubbing up and down.
“Oh, Niko, what did you even come out for?” Slater’s voice tripped and sang into my ears. “We’re going home, I’m not taking no for an answer okay?”
I nodded and threw up again, little way away from my own shoes, my hand on the nearby wall to steady myself. God I felt shitty. Shitty for ruining Slater’s night as well as my own, just shitty.
“Jarrett,” Slater called. It was one of his brothers. Not exactly the first impression I wanted to make. Someone came over. Slater fished something out of his pocket and handed it to him. “There’s a store a little way down the street from here, could you get me some water and tissues?”
“Big papa making sure everything’s okay, huh?” Jarrett said, I could hear the smile on his face, I was glad he couldn’t seem me blushing.
“Jarrett, now,” Slater growled.
“Okay, Big Papa, don’t be getting angry now!” Jarrett teased, a smattering of laughter echoing from where the rest of the group stood. I still felt super embarrassed. I just hoped that Slater wasn’t being made to feel embarrassed by his brothers. I wanted him to want to be with me, the last thing I wanted to happen was for him to feel shitty about it.
Jarrett quickly returned with the water and tissues and Slater helped me stand upright. It was so good to see his face, I wanted to cry. He looked so concerned for me. I didn’t want him to have to worry. I wanted him to go out and have a good night and I’d ruined it all by being sick.
“I’m sorry, Slater.”
“Please don’t apologize, Niko, it’s okay” he whispered, guiding me over to the wall to let me lean my back on it. He passed me the water. “Here, drink this, you’ll feel better, I swear.” He wouldn’t take his hands off me, squeezing my shoulders, rubbing my back, waiting while I sipped on the water, a packet of tissues in his hand, ready to look after me, ready to make sure that I was okay without a question, not matter what was going on in his own life.
And I didn’t know if I would ever admit it to him, but that was the moment that I started to truly fall for Slater Ewen.
Slater said goodbye to his brothers and to his friends and took me to his car, getting me settled in the front seat, picking up another bottle of water for me and checking every few seconds that I was okay.
He started driving and the radio came on, eighties music softly drifting from the car speakers and into the air around us. A song I recognized came on and Slater started to mouth along to the words.
“What is this?” I asked, sleepily.
“Sorry,” he said. “Is it too loud? I didn’t think to turn it off.”
“No,” I said. “It’s nice. What is it?”
“It’s a song by The Cars called Drive,” he replied. “One of my favorites I think.”
“I know it from somewhere, I think,” I said.
“Don’t worry,” he replied. “I won’t tell anyone you’ve been listening to eighties music. Wouldn’t want to ruin your street cred.”
I slapped him on the arm. “Shut up.” He kept driving us home, a smile on his face, his fingers tapping against the steering wheel. “Hey, Slater,” I said. “Thanks for picking me up tonight. I’m glad you were there to drive me home.”
“God that’s a cheesy line when this song is playing,” he snorted.
“Stop it, I mean it,” I said. “I really appreciate you driving me home.”
“I don’t think the song is that literal,” he giggled.
“Nevermind,” I said. “I thought you were being sweet to me, it turns out you were just being mean.” I stared out the window, watching the quietness of Furbitten Falls drift by. I sighed.
“What is it?” Slater said. “Something’s on your mind, Niko, you’re never this quiet. I know you’re sick but I thought even then you’d have something to say.”
I took a deep breath. “Do you want kids, Slater?” I asked. “Like, do you want a family one day? Do you see the two of us having a little family of our own and a house instead of two bachelor pads and a little cat or whatever?”
“I already have a little cat,” he replied.
“Well, what about the other questions?” I said.
He took a deep breath. “Honestly, it’s all I’ve ever wanted. Ever since I heard about the whole fated mates thing I thought how perfect it would be to find mine and to be able to start a family. I didn’t think it would happen to me because I’m not exactly young.” He looked over at me briefly, taking me in. “Do you think that’s what this sickness is then?” he asked, his voice hushed, drifting over to me and tickling my ears. “Do you think you might be pregnant?”
I shrugged. “The thought crossed my mind,” I said. “I mean, I’ve never been sick like this before but it’s not even been a week since we had sex so I think I might just be tired or something.”
He reached across the gap between us in the car and took my hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing it softly. “If you’re pregnant, Niko, then let today be the start of our dream. If you’re not, then let’s get you better and maybe we can try again when you’re at a hundred percent. Whatever happens, I’m here by your side, Niko,” he said. “Please don’t forget that.”
We held hands the rest of the drive home, and there was a little part of me, itching away in the back of my mind, that sort of hoped I was pregnant.
9
Slater
We pulled up outside the apartment block and I all but carried Niko upstairs to my apartment. There was no way on this planet I was letting him sleep alone tonight if he wasn’t feeling well. That was the last thing I wanted. If he needed me, I wanted to be close enough that he could get to me. And as I connected those thoughts in my brain, I realized I didn’t just mean that for tonight. I meant it for forever.
“I’ll be fine by myself,” he protested as I took him inside. “I really will, I’ve been sick before.”
“But you said yourself, not like this,” I retorted. “So if you’re potentially pregnant sick, I want you right here so I can look after you. No questions about it, this is happening, get into it.”
He got himself undressed and crawled into bed, finding his place on his side, curling up beneath the blanket and closing his eyes. I got him a glass of water and some pills just in case he needed to take something for the pain and I got myself ready for bed, checking in on him every now and again to make sure everything was okay.
“Just brush your fucking teeth,” he groaned. “I’m not going to die in the two minutes it takes you to brush your teeth, I swear.”
“You’re really going to regret saying that if that’s when you go, you know,” I said, heading back to the bathroom.
I crawled into bed next to him and lay on my back. Without a second’s hesitation, Niko rolled over and lay his head on my chest, wrapping an arm across me and hooking a leg over mine. He was so warm and this was so adorable I thought I was going to br
eak down and cry, but now wasn’t the time.
I wrapped my arm around him and kissed him on top of his head, breathing him in, pulling him in as closely as I could. And then I waited. I waited as the sounds of the world ticked down to nothing, as Niko’s breathing steadied and he fell asleep, the entire world vanishing around him. I held him close, determined to keep him safe from whatever it was that was making him feel so awful.
Tomorrow we would figure out what to do next. Now was not the time for such thoughts. But I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to the conversation we’d had earlier on tonight, about Niko potentially being pregnant. Could it be true?
I started to see a life ahead of me like my two brother’s had. They had mercilessly ripped into me tonight, telling me that Niko was a walking talking midlife crisis before then telling me that they were happy to see me so happy. I could have a family too. I could do that. And it would be wonderful. What more could I possibly want?
The next morning, Niko still wasn’t feeling so great. He didn’t really want to eat anything, and I could hardly blame him. If I’d been throwing up the night before, the last thing I’d want to do is put more food in my system and risk it happening all over again. No sir.
We got ourselves ready and I drove Niko to the local doctor where we waited to get an appointment. Doctor Acevedo had been my doctor since I was small. She was a gorgeous black woman with beautiful curly hair and the sparkliest eyes you’d ever see outside of a cartoon. She saw us as quickly as she could, ushering the two of us into a room and sitting us down in front of her desk.
“It certainly feels like an odd thing to say, but it is a pleasure to see you, Slater,” she said. “Not that I was hoping you’d get sick or anything, but I just don’t see you all that often. You’re far too healthy and you’re one of my favorite patients, a terrible combination if you asked me.” She took a breath. “So what is it I can do for you today?”
“Well, it’s not me that needs to be seen today,” I said, gesturing to Niko. “My partner was working last night and has suddenly come over sick and…” I trailed off. I didn’t really know how to put this. “We wanted to find out what was wrong.”
“I think I might be pregnant,” Niko said bluntly. “But I’m not sure, I mean who can be sure without something medical in between? So I wanted to know, we wanted to know. Sorry, I know I’m babbling, I’m just nervous, that’s all.”
Doctor Acevedo reached a kind hand across her desk and took hold of Niko’s. “I totally understand why you’re feeling so stressed,” she said. “Every time I’ve been pregnant, I’ve about lost my mind with nerves about it. If you weren’t nervous, I’d been more concerned, so don’t worry yourself too much, okay?”
Niko smiled. She really was good.
“Where do you work, Niko?”
“I work at Club Rumblefish,” he said. “I DJ in town so was wondering if it was the lights or something, some reaction to that, I don’t know.”
“We’re just going to run a few tests and see what we’re dealing with here,” she said. “And if you’re pregnant, we can discuss options with you should it come to that okay? But let’s not go jumping to any conclusions too quickly now.”
Even with that being said, I couldn’t help but jump to the conclusion that we’d barely been seeing each other for a few days and Niko was already pregnant. It had been a similar situation for Jarrett and Chasen too, but they knew their partners a little before they got themselves into it. I didn’t.
But there was a flicker of excitement in my chest that overwrote all of the feelings of anxiety, that flicker of excitement at being a father, at having my own family after all these years. I couldn’t wait.
The morning seemed to go by ever so slowly, blood tests and health checks to see what Niko was dealing with. When Doctor Acevedo came into the room with a secret smile on her face, I already knew what she was going to say before she said it.
“Well,” she said, opening the file behind her desk. “It’s early days, of course, but it would seem that you are pregnant, Niko.”
The words soared from her mouth to my heart, lifting it in ways I never thought possible. I thought I was going to start crying right there and then. I wanted to hug Niko, hold him and tell him how excited I was, call Jarrett and Chasen to tell them the good news; I didn’t want to come down from this high.
“I’m going to give you guys a few minutes alone to discuss it,” she said. “I’ll be just outside when you’re ready for me to come back in, okay? You take your time now.” She left the room and I turned to Niko, the smile practically bursting across my face.
“I can’t believe it,” Niko breathed, tears springing to his eyes, the smile on his face so wide I thought it was going to split his face in two. “This is…wow. I mean, it’s too much right? It’s very fast.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m excited,” he said quickly. “Scared but excited. I can’t really believe this is happening to me. I never thought it would, you know? I know I’m only young but I never thought about being ready for something like this. Yet here I am and…wow, if the universe was telling me to slow down by being with you it’s telling me to put the fucking brakes on by getting me pregnant, huh?”
I grinned at him. “So you’re happy?” That was all I needed to know. I needed to know he was okay with this and that he wasn’t freaking out too much.
“Of course I’m happy,” he said. “It’s fast and its sudden and I never thought I’d be pregnant at 22 years old but it’s fated.” He smiled a soft sort of smile, tired and elated. “What could be more perfect?”
I leaned forward and kissed him, leaning my forehead against his and feeling his hot breath against my face. “I’m so happy for us,” I said. “I just want to tell everyone. I know that’s stupid and Doctor Acevedo will probably advise us not to but-“
“Are you kidding me?” he said. “I want to tell Nyle, she’s not going to stop me. Do you want to tell your brothers?”
“Of course!”
“Do it then!”
“What, right now?” I asked. It seemed a little inappropriate in a Doctor’s office.
“Fuck it,” he said. “You want to tell them, so tell them. God, they’re going to be so fucking excited for you.”
I dialed them both, putting them on conference in the tiny doctor’s office. The weird echoes of the room made it sound tinny and strange but they both answered the phone pretty sharpish, confused as to why I was calling them.
“Is everything all right with Niko?” Jarrett asked. “He looked like he was in pretty rough shape last night.”
“Not that we would actually know considering we haven’t been formally introduced, but you know what we mean,” Chasen interjected.
“Niko is fine,” I said. “He’s here actually.”
“Hey guys,” Niko said nervously. I’d never thought of him being nervous before. He was always so bold around me; it didn’t occur to me he could be that way.
“We actually have some news,” I said. “We’re pregnant.”
“What?” Jarrett exclaimed.
“Wow, quick work, Slater,” Chasen laughed. “Glad to hear everything’s still working okay in old age.”
“I’m not that old!” I protested.
“Okay, Big Papa, whatever you say,” Chasen laughed a little harder.
“Slater, this is such great news,” Jarrett said. “This is the dream right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well… Niko, are you still there?” he asked.
“I am,” Niko piped up.
“A huge congratulations to you both,” he said. “It’s so great. And Niko, Slater is one of the good ones. You got super lucky, I can’t wait to get to know you more.”
“I know he is,” Niko said, nudging me. “I’m incredibly lucky. Can’t wait to meet you when I’m not throwing up in an alleyway.”
Jarrett laughed. “Sounds perfect to me.”
We said our goodbyes and hung up the phone
, the two of them congratulation Niko and I a million times over before they would let us go. My entire body seemed to have electricity running through it, currents buzzing through every vein right to the tips of my fingers. This was incredible. I was going to be a father, finally taking on the alpha role I was born to have.
We let Doctor Acevedo back in and she took a seat behind her desk, her grin spreading as she saw the happiness on our faces.
“Well, those two happy faces tell me that this is a good piece of news for you both,” she said. “So I’d like to start by saying congratulations.” She then turned to me. “You’ve wanted this for a long time, haven’t you Slater?”
She knew me too well. “Yes, I’m very lucky to have found Niko.”
“I’ll say,” she said. “He’s a cutie. Hold onto this one, hmm?”
I laughed and Niko blushed, his face practically glowing.
“Now, I suppose, comes the not so fun part,” she said. “You mentioned that you work at Club Rumblefish, right?”
“Uh-huh,” Niko said tentatively
“Well, in terms of you carrying this baby I think you might need to slow down with your work at the club,” she said. “Normally my advice during a pregnancy is to stay as active as you have been for as long as you can as its good for you and the baby, but with you working so late at night, I’m not sure it’s such a good idea.” She took a breath. “You’re going to need your rest, that’s for sure, and the environment at somewhere like Club Rumblefish, with the drinking, the flashing lights, the loud music, could put you in danger.”
“In danger how?” Niko said, the worry painted all over his face like a mask. I wished I could take it away from him, wished I could make it all better somehow.
“Well,” Doctor Acevedo started. “I’m sure the club is well maintained and well looked after,” she said. “So I’m not worried about that. But the intense crowds, the heat of all those bodies in one place, the loud music, all of it is going to affect your bodies in ways you can’t really anticipate at this stage. You can keep working for now, but quite soon my advice would be for you to either cut back on it or give it up entirely until the baby is born.” She finished and folded her hands on her desk. Perhaps that was all she’d wanted to say or she could see how much this was upsetting Niko and decided to stop there.
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