Page 88 of That’s My Orc, Tusk Off

I frowned Traig’s way.

“I knew Laina was my mate when I met her, though it took her a few days to figure that out,” Brovish said.

Laina went over and leaned into his side. “Humans take longer, though I was pretty quick deciding.”

Was that what Traig had been trying to awkwardly tell me yesterday? I wanted to ask him, but there was no way I could do it in front of everyone else.

“Interesting,” was all I said.

I hurried over to where Krem was loading books from my bookshelf into a box, and selected only a few. “Not all of them. We won’t need them.”

“What about wall hangings?” Drogar asked, gesturing to the few I’d hung on my walls. “Traig’s home is…sparse.”

Greth snorted. “Sparse is a good word for it.”

“You haven’t lived there long, have you?” I asked Traig.

“We built our cottages first,” he said. “Then the rescue building. We all have homes, though they’re small.”

“Some might be getting bigger soon,” Laina said, smiling up at Brovish.

“An orcling?” Drogar breathed, his hands stilling on the picture he’d started to remove from the wall.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” Laina said, color rising into her cheeks. “We don’t know yet.”

Drogar left the picture swinging and bounded across the room, sweeping Laina up and spinning around while she laughed. “I get to be an uncle, right?” he asked as he placed her on her feet.

“All of you, if we’re blessed with an orcling,” Laina said. “Let’s not get too excited yet. There may not be anything to celebrate.”

“Try harder,” Krem told Brovish.

“We’re not going to discuss this,” Brovish said in a stern tone that was contradicted by the happy gleam in his dark eyes.

We got back to work.

Drogar took down pictures and carried them out to the truck while Krem grabbed my coffee supplies.

Greth moved through the apartment like a shadow, collecting a framed photo, the plant on my windowsill, and the throw blanket I kept on the couch. Things that made a space feel lived-in. Perfect, actually.

My notebook sat on the kitchen counter. I picked it up, tucking it into my purse.

“Is this everything from the bedroom?” Laina asked, carrying a box that Brovish promptly took from her.

“Nothing heavy,” he growled.

“We don’t know if there’s an orcling on the way, and even if there is, that doesn’t make me an invalid.”

“Sit on the sofa,” he said. “Supervise.”

She rolled her eyes and stepped past him, coming straight over to me.

Her arms wrapped around me in a hug. “Welcome to the family,” she whispered by my ear.

This wasn’t real. But it felt real when she said it like that. When Brovish smiled at us with all his tusks showing. When Drogar spun me around like I’d given him the best news of his life.

“It’s just while the scribe is here,” I said, but my voice wobbled.

Her smile felt too knowing. “Sure it is.”