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I looked in the closet, counted how many things I had that might fit, and realized it was just better to buy new everything.
After downloading the store’s app, I looked for Anders to discover he was in the bathroom brushing his teeth.
I waited until he was done and asked him, “Want to go to the mall?”
“Never,” he replied, which was a pretty accurate reflection of how I felt about the place as a rule. Except the mall was the only place I knew of that had paternity clothes close by, and it didn’t seem like the kind of thing you could buy without trying on.
“Fair enough.” I kissed his minty-fresh mouth. “I’m gonna go. I’ll see you later.” I gave a half wave. If I hurried, I might be able to salvage half the day.
“Wait,” he said, and I turned to face him. “I never want to go to the mall, but I always want to spend time with you. What are we getting?”
Talk about misreading my mate. I had to shake myself. “You just saw my belly, and you’re asking me what I’m getting?”
He picked me up, hugged me tight, and twirled me around in a few full circles. “Yes, I’ve been wanting to do this. You are going to be the hottest omega in this county.” More than once, he had offered to take me to buy paternity clothes and I’d brushed him off. I was so glad it was still on the table.
I chuckled, remembering how in the beginning of my pregnancy, he offered to take me and I didn’t even have a belly yet. He was quite the doting father-to-be.
The mall wasn’t super close, which meant this was most likely going to be a day trip.
“What about the pup?” I asked, noticing him sleeping in the corner on a little bed that looked more like a stuffed animal.
“Don’t worry. He’ll probably just sleep there all day.”
“You think so?” Because I was far from sure. “We could bring him to the mall?”
“How about instead of the vet, we use the doggie daycare and we can drop them off on the way.”
Never in a million years did I think I was going to be the kind of pet owner that had a doggie daycare on my speed dial. But here I was. It sounded ridiculous, and maybe it was for a lot of dog owners, but dogs liked to play.
The mall itself wasn’t very busy. In fact, if you drove by, you might think that the only people there were the ones at the restaurant, and even that area of the parking lot wasn’t very full.
We parked at the entrance we thought was close to the paternity store, but it ended up being on the absolute opposite side. They really needed better signs.
Anders offered to drive the car around so I didn’t have to waddle that distance—because, yes, I was on waddle time—but I declined, saying that the walking was good for me. Which it was, but what was better for me was holding my mate’s hand and feeling his warmth against mine as I did so.
The paternity store had a big “Last Chance” sign up. When we inquired at the front desk, they said that they were no longer going to have this store and would just stick with their flagship which was not super far. Still, they slashed prices, and I loved that.
I picked out so many clothes, unsure which, if any, I was going to try on. I only had so much energy to get undressed and redressed in a tiny dressing room. It wasn’t actually tiny, but with my belly it felt that way.
Every time I found something that looked good, my mate tried to get me to buy it in every color. There were a couple of things I did just that, but for the most part, I just bought singles. It wasn’t like I was going to have a lot of time to enjoy these items. Pregnancy only lasted so long.
Shopping with my mate was an adventure. He was adorable, the way he seemed more excited than I was, immediately pulling shirts off the racks and holding them up to me with a grin. There were other alphas in the store with their mates who were far less into the experience, that was for sure. More than one looked like they would rather be anywhere but here.
“This one,” he said, showing me a soft, heather-gray shirt that looked like it might actually cover my entire belly. “And this one too,” he added, grabbing another in navy.
“Hold on,” I laughed. “Let me try them on first.”
I tried on the gray shirt first. He was right, it looked great. And best of all, it was soft and fit perfectly, snug enough not to look like I was wearing someone else’s clothes, but also loose enough that none of it felt tight. Anders was waiting outside, and when I stepped out to show him, his face lit up.
“You look amazing,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me into a little twirl. “But let’s see how the other colors look.”
We went through more shirts, Anders insisting on at least three different colors for each style I liked. I tried on a deep green, a soft lavender, and even a fun striped one that I wasn’t sure about at first but ended up loving once it was on. Each time I emerged from the changing room, Anders’ face would leave no room for me to doubt that he thought I was the sexiest omega in the place.
Next were the pants. I hadn’t realized how uncomfortable my regular jeans had become until I slid into a pair of paternity jeans. The waistband was a revelation—soft, stretchy, and designed to fit comfortably over my belly. Trying them on sucked, so it was good the first pair fit. They were officially going to become my pregnancy uniform. I was buying five of them… done.
“These are perfect,” I said, doing a little happy dance that made one of the grumpy alphas break out into a little smile.
After discovering how much better I felt with new pants, I decided to try the new “comfort fit” boxer briefs. They were a gift from the gods. I suspected I was going to be wearing them long after the baby was born. Who knew clothing could be this comfortable?
