Page 17 of A Hutch for Hoover

They were talking about pregnancy tests. I smiled to myself, thinking of how lucky that alpha and omega were, about to have a little one in their life. Maybe one day, we’d join them. Acid burned in the back of my throat, but I washed it down with the frosty, cold deliciousness. I’d go home early and sleep off whatever was making me feel so cruddy. It would all be fine and good. For sure. Really.

I couldn’t afford a serious illness that would keep me from work.

At the last minute, I grabbed a pregnancy test. Not that it was likely, but it would explain the upset stomach. Tossing it onto the passenger seat, I promptly forgot about it. It was too soon for anything like that in our relationship.

I didn’t even know if my mate wanted a family. As beautiful as they were, children were not everyone’s cup of tea, and it was something we’d have to discuss down the line. Sounded like a good plan until I got home and barely made it out of the carbefore vomiting an unholy color of purple, matching the mix of cherry cola and blue raspberry I’d just drunk down.

Grabbing the test, I went inside and into the bathroom.

“Omega, are you home?” My mate’s voice carried through the closed door. “Something really bad happened in the driveway.”

I was staring at the stick at the moment, comparing it to the examples on the tiny printing on the brochure from the pregnancy test box. “Y-yes. I’m in here.”

“Come out. Is anything wrong?”

“Depends.” I leaned back against the door. “How do you feel about pups?”

“Dogs? We talked about that, right? They’re great. Why? Did you find one?”

I straightened and opened the door, holding the stick in front of me. “Not dogs.”

He squinted in the hallway’s low light, but I knew the moment he realized what he was looking at. A smile inhabited his whole face. “Is that? Are you…are we? Omega!”

Any doubts I had about his being happy were gone before his lips descended on mine, kissing me until my knees went weak. I clung to him, allowing joy to fill every cell of my body. “We’re having a baby,” I said when we paused for breath. “If that’s okay?”

His next kiss confirmed the fact it was more than okay with him. And I felt the same.

Chapter Fifteen

Hoover

Can you bring the van home tonight? I need to deliver some inventory.I shot a quick text to my mate.

One of the contacts I made at the community event had messaged me, wanting me to set up an entire display of my work. I was excited for it.

My shift at the thrift store was nearly over, but there was still a huge box to unpack before I could leave. I put my phone in my back pocket, and removed the items one at a time, sorting what was for sale, what was junk, what could be used for one of my pieces, and what needed to be put in our online store.

I’d gotten quite adept, my boss thrilled with the increase in profits he was seeing. He even gave me a really nice raise.

Today, there were a couple of quilts, one hand sewn and really unique and old. I set it aside for pricing later and put the other two at our standard quilt prices for their sizes.

I went back to my treasure hunt, which was what I thought of digging through each box and pallet we received. This one was an odd mix of items. Board games, the homemade quilts, a piece of carnival glass, a sterling salt shaker with no pepper one to match, and a pair of what had probably been a really expensive pair of shoes before they scuffed them to the hills and back again. Those I tossed.

On and on it went, with random items that had no reason to go together and somehow did, a few catching my eye as special, and most all of it worth pricing.

The one severely damaged item? A book that had obviously been in water at some point, the pages all warped and stuck together. It hadn’t been a super sought-after book to begin with. It was some sort of self-help for gardening, which explained themoisture, I supposed. But, for whatever reason, it held enough value for the previous owner that they hadn’t been ready to throw it away.

I had everything marked and put out, including the quilt, which was from a well-known quilt maker based on my searches. I marked it on the lower side of their current going prices, and someone was looking at it before I even had it completely on display. I didn’t know if it ended up being purchased, though—I was in a hurry to get home, my mate letting me know he was not only bringing the van but that he’d be back soon.

I was home before he was, opening my laptop to check any online sales and pulling the items that did sell from the pile I planned to bring to the store and delisting the others that were coming with me. I had quite an impressive lot to bring. I wasn’t sure if this was going to be the perfect place for the type of people who would like what I was offering, but I was thrilled to be giving it a try.

Ever since we discovered my mate was pregnant, I’d been setting all of the money from my pieces aside for the baby, starting to grow quite a sizable amount. My pottery-piece jewelry was doing exceptionally well. It was funny because I didn’t think of myself as a jeweler or a jewelry designer of any kind, but for whatever reason, these found their audience. And unlike the nightstands and the lamps, they were easy to ship. They weren’t ideal for the store I was setting up in, and I kept them all aside from my online sales.

My mate insisted on being the one to load the van when he arrived, saying I worked too hard. I rolled my eyes and played the alpha card, telling him he was growing an entire human being, and maybe he should let me do it.

It was safe to say we were both ridiculous. There was no alpha card, and we were both working too hard. He listened to me about that less than I listened to him about his work habits.

It didn’t take long to set up our display. I already had a pretty good idea in my head about what I wanted to do, and it came together beautifully.

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