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“So what do you think? We can head over and buy it today and burn all of this in the fire pit.” His offer was extremely tempting. “I bet my brother would even let us take the nice truck so it didn’t get greasy.”
Like all things that Aydan did, he had jumped headfirst into being the best uncle he could possibly be, offering his help wherever we needed it. If he thought for even a nanosecond that I truly needed him here, he’d have stayed until the last screw was in place. He only left to give us privacy. It was pretty sweet.
After he discovered the pregnancy, the first thing he did after hugs and tears—tears we all pretended not to see—he arranged for Corey to have his own office space so that he didn’t have to drive around town to get the paperwork from all the businesses—they brought it to him. It wasn’t even a far drive, but he said he wasn’t going to like to get in and out of the vehicles soon, and it was better this way. He was going to be a good mate someday.
Aydan had also been a huge-ass help around the house. It was in good shape, but not really baby friendly at first. It was now. Uncle Aydan to the rescue. It might’ve bought out an entire baby-proofing aisle to do so, which somehow made it extra sweeter.
I pushed myself to my feet, kicking at the various pieces that were on the floor. “We can go ahead and let Northbay know that we’ll take one of their used cribs. I give up on this thing.”
“Smart.” Corey patted my cheek. “I hope that others get mated soon. Otherwise, our little guy is going to be one of the only cubs in the territory.”
“If they do, we need to warn them about this.” I pointed to the directions from hell.
It was true that we were going to be one of the only bears with cubs and the only with baby cubs. We didn’t have many young ones around. There were a handful of toddlers and a few older kids, but no babies. It had been part of the reason Aydan had been so focused on getting some omegas here. A den that didn’t grow, faded with time, if they didn’t fall apart before then.
“Maybe we should find someone for your brother,” I suggested. Aydan was Aydan, and it was going to take the right omega to appreciate his greatness, but what a lucky omega that would be. I didn’t like to see him all alone.
Corey snorted. “He’s already looking. If it were up to him, he would’ve arranged a mating months ago.”
That was news to me.
“I’m surprised he didn’t. I’m not sure what held him back.”
“Let me tell you all about the conversation I had with Finnegan.” He took my hand.
“I didn’t know you two had become friendly.” I was happy they were. It was nice that they had been staying. I wasn’t sure for how long they would. I was hoping permanently. I knew Aydan was too. But that was for den politics to decide—not ours, but theirs.
“We bonded over you getting your face bashed in.” He stuck out his tongue. I loved seeing him so playful. “Come. Papa bear needs to eat. I’ll tell you all about it over lunch.”
My mate led me down the hall into the kitchen where he had lunch waiting for me. And it wasn’t just any lunch. It was one of my all-time favorites, and I wasn’t sure what he did that made this better than all the others I’d ever tasted, but wow!
“You spoil me,” I said as I grabbed my grilled cheese and dipped it in the tomato soup. He’d even cut it into dippable strips. I could see my mate being one of those dads that made fancy lunch boxes of fruit cut to look like little animals for our cubs.
“I do indeed, but this was more me craving tomato soup.”
“Cravings for the win.” I took a huge bite of the buttery goodness, the sound of his spoon hitting the side of his bowl echoing in the air.
“I guess. Now that I’ve had a spoonful, I don’t really want it anymore.”
This wasn’t the first time this had happened. Sometimes it was the smell of an item cooking, other times he thought of something else he wanted more, and a few times in the beginning, they made him sick to his stomach at first bite. Pregnancy was weird.
Corey’s pregnancy had been progressing quite well according to the healer. There were a few minor complaints, like swollen ankles after a long day and difficulty sleeping. But according to the healer, if you felt normal and nothing hurt or was amplified, that’s when you needed to worry. Apparently, pregnancy sucking was the goal.
But it didn’t suck for Corey. Not really. He enjoyed it. I would walk in and catch him with his hands on his belly and telling our little one all about work or what he was going to do the next day. It was adorable.
There were times it was also heartbreaking, like when he promised our cub that he wasn’t going to be like his parents, that we were going to love and cherish him and always put his needs first. The more I heard about his life growing up, the angrier I became at the people he called his parents. I refused to call them that. A parent loves and cares for you, they don’t treat you like garbage.
I took every opportunity I had to assure him that he was going to be the perfect father for our cubs. My hope was that one day he would truly believe me, that he’d no longer second-guess himself. Ha. As if I didn’t question myself just as much. Although, in a way, didn’t that mean we were going to be good parents, by default?
“I’m surprised you wanted to risk the heartburn with the soup,” I said. Tomatoes were not his friend.
“I really didn’t. But it sounded so good.”
“And what sounds good now?” I was already standing, not wanting him to say he was full so I’d sit and eat. As good as this was, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it knowing he was going without.
“Milkshakes at the diner?”
“Milkshakes at the diner it is.” I grabbed the keys from the counter. “We’ll even get fries to dip in them.”
