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“I want to paint you again,” Antoine whispered when we were cuddled on a bench right in front of the metal sculpture in the center of the park.
“You do?” I asked.
He nodded. “I do. One just for me.”
“Let’s get home so I can model for you,” I said, taking his earlobe between my teeth.
“My thoughts exactly.”
Chapter Nineteen
Antoine
At some point in the pregnancy, it felt like things sped up. Suddenly, we didn’t have endless time to prepare for the arrival of our child, and we hadn’t begun to get ready. I realized that on one of my many trips to the restroom in the middle of the night and ended up sitting in the middle of the room that would be the nursery if I ever got off my rapidly expanding backside and got it done. I didn’t know why I was gaining all over—I’d seen so many omegas with a baby bump sticking right out in front but not this omega. Quinn said everything was going as it should and that I did not need to worry about a thing, but what kind of a father was closing in on giving birth and not only had not furnished the nursery but didn’t even have a onesie to put the baby in. It was going to be naked and diaperless.
I cried until I ran out of tears and then realized I wasn’t going to be able to get up off the floor and fell asleep in a heap on the rug.
“Omega?” West’s concerned voice woke me from a dream in which I had to carry a naked baby everywhere while people judged me for my awful parenting skills. “Antoine? Honey, what are you doing here?”
I rolled from my back onto my belly and pushed up onto hands and knees. “This is as far as I can go without help.”
“I’ve got you.” He stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my chest, easing me up onto my knees and then to my feet. “Want to tell me why you are on the nursery floor in the middle of the night?”
I sniffled, very close to tears again, and let him lead me back to our room. “I realized that I’m due very shortly and the room we were just in? That’s not a nursery, it’s a vacancy.” We had actually cleared out the guest room furniture months ago but never done anything else. “The baby is going to think we don’t love them.”
“Oh, omega, this is all my fault.” West guided me to the bed and settled me under the covers. “I wanted to surprise you with everything all done, but the contractor had a delay in the other project and hasn’t begun yet.”
“S-so you set it up to have the nursery done?”
“I did. He’s going to start Monday.”
“So while I did nothing, you planned the whole thing, talked to my contractor, and did it all.” The tears spilled over again. “Hear that, baby? You have one good, responsible daddy who will make sure you aren’t naked at the market.”
“Naked?” He looked so puzzled, I almost laughed. “Why would the baby be naked?”
“We don’t have any clothes for them.”
“I don’t want to hear any more negative things about my mate. You looked up all those nursery pictures online and had them in a digital file. That’s what the contractor is using.” He went around to his side of the bed and climbed in as well. “Then we’ll shop for baby clothes tomorrow, okay?”
“I’m sorry I was so upset.”
“And I’m sorry I tried to surprise you. I should have included you.” He pulled me close and kissed my lips. “How can I make it up to you?”
“I don’t know.”
He whispered a few suggestions, all of them naughty, and then we set out to try to make them all happen. My mate was the best at all things sexual, and tonight his motivation to make me feel better added something even more.
The next morning, we set out for town and the baby store where we bought enough newborn and three-month clothes to satisfy the most fashion-conscious baby. As my mate said, I shouldn’t feel bad because I had my hands full growing the baby and he wanted to help with everything he could.
My mate was the best at everything.
Chapter Twenty
West
I woke up and patted the mattress beside me, noticing that my little spoon was gone. My little spoon with a baby inside him.
“Antoine?” I sat up in a rush. He never got up before me. We always woke up together, and lately he would roll over and go to sleep.
