Page 73 of Galaxy Between Us

After another kiss, he leans into my ear, ignoring Luna’s hands tugging his shirt while she squeals.

“Give me another baby and we’ll call it even,” he says, low and husky for my ears only.

“I can do that,” I grin up at him with a twinkle in my eye. More babies means that no one gets to complain about me not being on suppressants while employed. And maybe a paternity leave that I’ll get to enjoy the entire duration of without my career on the line.

“Yo, happy birthday space freaks!” Chet’s playful voice reaches us.

Turning our heads, we find him holding a glass to us as he makes his way over. Knox reaches out to ruffle his hair until the Alpha shoos him away like old times. The two of them haven’t changed a bit over the years other than in height.

“Excited for the new baby?” I ask as Luna reaches out with her tiny hands, exploring all the interesting things around her.

“Stoked,” Chet grins before offering Luna one of his enticing fingers which she happily accepts, “You’re going to have a friend soon, little Alpha. And tell your daddies they owe me fifty bucks.” He boops the tip of her nose making her giggle in my arms.

My eyebrows draw together. “We owe you money on our birthday?”

“Why fifty? What the hell for?” Knox adds and Chet’s grin widens.

“I placed a bet back when we were kids that you’d have Arius back someday, and that you two would get mated. Unfortunately, fifty bucks was a lot to us back then, but still, a win is a win.”

I glance at Knox with a pointed look. No way it’s coming out of my paycheck. With a dramatic sigh, my mate reaches into his pocket, and Chet strolls away happy with his fifty dollars. Luna is upset to watch him go, so I carry her around, letting her observe the colorful party.

“Wow, look at all these gifts,” I lean toward a table stacked high with presents that make me feel like a kid again. Tilting my head, I read the tag on one of them with surprise. “Hey, this one is for me.”

“They all are,” Knox smirks beside me and I peer at him.

“Babe, please don’t tell me you bought all these. We’re saving for the cruise!”

He huffs with amusement and rubs his large hand around my back.

“Relax, we’re still getting our luxury cruise, gorgeous. I didn’t buy the presents. I just…didn’t tell anyone it was my birthday too.”

My face softens at his confession. Clever, clever Alpha. Of course he would do something so selfless after countless birthdays of only him receiving gifts.

“That was really sweet of you, Knox,” I whisper, leaning into his side.

“Don’t get too excited,” he warns before planting a kiss on my head. “I think ninety percent of it is for Luna.”

My laugh comes out as a snort.

“I wouldn’t expect anything else. We’ll need more baby stuff for the next one anyway.” I reach up for a kiss, drawn to my mate like a magnet, smushing Luna between us. Her bond to us bursts with warmth, safety, and comfort. “Happy birthday, my love,” I whisper against his lips.

Mine, Knox’s voice rumbles telepathically in my head without breaking our kiss.

“Want to know something, Alpha?”

“What’s that?” he smirks, assuming I’m going to say something flirty and lustful.

“I don’t have to read your mind to know that you want to take a bite out of the telescope cake as much as I do.”

Proving me right, low laughter escapes his chest, carefree and earnest.

“Let’s do it, Omega. That’s why I ordered a backup cake for everyone else, so we could destroy this one.”

We hurry over, finding Jaimie staring longingly at the realistic dessert. I know how it is with those pregnancy cravings, so I wave him over.

“Want to get in on this?” I ask him as me and Knox position ourselves on either side of the cake.

Chet scoops up Luna from my arms and whispers, “Go on,” to Jaimie. With a hungry smile, the Omega joins, pretending to glance through the eyepiece of the cake for pictures. A photographer manages us to get us smiling beside it for only a few seconds before Knox and I chomp down on either side of the sweet dessert.