Page 105 of Mortify

"Humor me," he replies. "I've got precious cargo."

The clubhouse is quiet when we arrive—most of the guys probably sleeping off last night's mission.

But Mom's waiting, along with Astrid and several other women.

"Careful," Mom fusses as Regnor helps me from the truck. "Are you sure you should be walking?"

"It's ten feet to the door," I say, but I'm leaning heavily on Regnor by the time we make it inside.

Turns out even minimal blood loss makes you weaker than expected.

"We've spruced up Regnor's room a bit," Charm announces. "Got a pregnancy pillow, extra blankets, books, tablet for movies. Anything else you need?"

"This is too much?—"

"This is what we do," Mom cuts me off. "Now come on, let's get you settled."

Regnor's room has been transformed.

The basic bed has been supplemented with multiple pillows, soft blankets, a small fridge stocked with ginger ale and crackers.

There's even a comfortable chair beside the bed for visitors.

"Wow," I breathe.

"The ladies worked on it all morning," Regnor says, helping me to the bed. "Wanted you to be comfortable."

I ease onto the bed, surprised by how exhausted the simple trip has made me.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," I admit.

"What is?" Astrid asks, fluffing pillows behind me.

"Being helpless. Letting people take care of me."

"You're not helpless," Mom says firmly. "You're growing a human. That's literally the opposite of helpless."

"Doesn't feel that way when I can't even make my own tea."

"That's what we're for," Astrid says. "Speaking of which—tea? Crackers? Soup?"

"Just water for now," I say, still fighting slight nausea.

As Mom and Charm fuss with the room setup, Astrid perches on the bed beside me.

"How are you really?" she asks quietly. "This has to be scary."

"Terrifying," I admit. "Not just the bleeding. Everything. Dylan, the pregnancy,"

"Hey." She glances around, trying to make sure our conversation is private. "Everything is going to work out, I promise."

"Is it though? Or is he just stuck because he made a promise?"

"You didn't see him last night," she says. "Geirolf told me. When he got the call about you being in the hospital? He went white. Literally white. That's not purely obligation, Everly. That's love."

"You might be right," I murmur.

"Definitely. Trust me, I know what a man in love looks like." She squeezes my hand. "The rest is just details."

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