Page 28 of A Bunny for the Bear
"What in the world is this? Are you okay?" He kept running his fingers along the area.
As much as I wished I could tell him what it was, I didn't have a voice in this form. He started counting the hardened points.
"One, two, three, four? I don't know much about bunnies, but I don't think this is a part of it.” He kept me pressed to his chest so tight I couldn't get down to shift.
As he took out his phone and began searching online, I knew time was up. I wiggled so that he would have to put me down. The minute I was on the floor, I shifted back and placed both palms on my stomach.
It was at that exact moment his eyes read over the words on the page. They widened, and his head whipped up. He took in my pose and dropped his phone.
"You're pregnant."
"I am.”
"We're going to be parents. Parents to four?" he asked, voice rising in panic.
"Yes, Alpha. I should have told you sooner. Should have warned you. I don't think there's anything we can do now, obviously.”
He growled as the bear took over, his eyes glowing bright. "My babies, always."
His voice was rough as the animal inside him announced its intention. I leaned forward, still naked as could be, but notcaring. My mate needed my reassurance. I pressed my hands to his cheeks hoping my touch would bring him back.
“I don't want to do anything like that to our babies, Alpha. I was terrified you would send me away with them. That you would be upset that I hadn't told you just how fertile I was and how bunnies have multiple babies at a time. I was scared that you would treat me differently because I was a small animal shifter.”
Tears welled in my eyes. I closed them tight, hopeful my mate didn’t notice. It was the feeling of his hands covering mine that made them reopen a few seconds later.
"Omega," he said softly. "There is nothing you could have been that would have changed my mind. I love you. Fate blessed me by giving you to me, and these babies will be so loved."
In a blink, I was sobbing. My mate brought me to his chest and wrapped his arms around me tightly. We stayed like that on the floor for a long while, neither of us ready to get up.
When we pulled apart, he wiped my face clean, then kissed my forehead. "I'm sorry that you had to live a life where you thought I would be upset by this news. If anything, I'm overjoyed.”
I sighed. “You may not be all that happy when I add the last part to the news."
"What last part?" he said as he tilted his head to the side.
"The part that lets you know we only have thirty days from the point of conception until the babies are born?"
His jaw dropped, and his hands fell to his side. He blinked several times in a row. Then he jumped from the floor and rushed to grab his computer that was on the dining room table.
"Thirty days. Okay, let's go back and look at a calendar. When was the first day we mated?" He began to mumble to himself as he clicked away at the keyboard.
I slipped my clothes back on and moved to stand behind him. On the screen, he had an open document titled "Baby Arrival Plans." From there, he had begun to list everything chronologically including date of conception, date of announcement, and a plan moving forward. Each listed day had some type of task whether it be to contact a doctor or buy baby supplies or even tell his aunt and uncle.
Pointing to the one mentioning his family, I said, “That one should probably happen sooner than later. Someone noticed today at the pharmacy that I was rubbing my stomach. She guessed that I was pregnant, though she promised she wouldn't say anything. I have no doubt your aunt will know by the week's end anyway.”
My mate turned to me and nodded. Then he leaned his forehead against my stomach and took a deep breath. "I'm honored to be your dad, little ones. You're going to have a grandma and grandpa who love you endlessly."
He raised up and pressed a kiss against my clothed stomach. Then picked up his phone. He kept it on speaker as he dialed his aunt who answered quickly with a, "Hey there, favorite nephew."
My mate rolled his eyes and said, "Can you and Uncle come over? Like right now?”
She paused. “Is something wrong? We can be there in three minutes. We're actually close right now."
"Good," he said, then hung up the phone.
I snorted. "You know she's going to give you hell for that, right?"
"Exactly, and it will probably get her here much quicker because she wants to know what's going on." As he said the words, a knock came at the door.
