Page 62 of Dante
Banner picked up his coffee, took a long sip, and closed his eyes while swallowing. “Yep, it’s so good.” He set the coffee down and looked at me, suddenly serious. “I’m sorry about earlier,” he said. “I was being insecure, and I apologize. I know it’s too soon, and we’re both too tired to even think about anything more than taking care of Blaze and getting a shower once every couple of days.”
I reached for Banner’s hand, and when he placed his in mine, I gave it a gentle squeeze before I laced our fingers together. “I’ll happen. I promise it will. But yeah, it’s too early. I would never forgive myself if I hurt you while making love to you.”
Banner nodded. “I know. I just wanted to say I’m sorry for what I asked earlier. I’ve slept a bit more now and was thinking about it while I was feeding Blaze.”
I brought Banner’s hand to mine and kissed his knuckles. “All’s good,” I told him. “We’ll just wait and see how things progress, and I’m sure it will surprise both of us.”
Banner seemed relieved that I wasn’t upset. And I truly wasn’t. More concerned than anything, but now that we’d discussed it a bit more, I was happy to let the subject drop. At least for the time being. I did want to ask why he was so insecure, but now wasn’t the time.
I passed Banner a plate full of waffles with blueberry compote on them, and he groaned. I knew my mate, and I’d spoil him any chance I got. If it was blueberry-smothered waffles that he wanted, he’d get them.
Chapter 22
Banner
Ihad very little experience with babies, but even I knew I was incredibly lucky with how amazing Blaze was. He was just over three weeks old now, and although he was a little more alert, he was still very much on his own routine. He no longer fell back asleep almost immediately. He would look around, he’d started smiling, and he made baby noises that I couldn’t get enough of. But even I knew that I was so lucky that he wasn’t super fussy.
“Baby?”
“In here,” I called out to Dante. We had done what Todd and Briggs had, and our downstairs office was now a baby room. It allowed for me to venture places other than the upstairs bedrooms without having to deal with rushing upstairs to get to Blaze when he started to fuss.
Dante came in moments later while I finished up changing Blaze. He froze in the doorway, then walked over to where we were. “I could have changed him for you.”
I grinned up at my hellhound. He could be quite scary-looking, but he was an absolute marshmallow when it came to me and Blaze.
“There was no need though. I was in here feeding him his bottle, and he was wet when he was finished,” I said. Just then, we both heard grunting and the all-too-familiar sounds of Blaze filling his diaper. “Really?” I asked our son. His face turned red again as he continued to fill his diaper. I looked up at Dante and shook my head. “Yep, you can change him,” I said. I held my hand on his stomach while taking a step back. Dante moved closer, and then I went to retrieve the bottle before going to the kitchen.
“Oh, did you need something? Or were you just wondering where I was?”
“Both. I’ll be right out,” Dante said. I hesitated, but he waved me off while our son finished filling his diaper.
Dante and Blaze wouldn’t be far, and I knew Dante was only waiting for Blaze to finish filling his diaper before he used magic to change it. I took the bottle to the kitchen and placed it in the sink. I saw the cookies on the counter and grinned. My mate was the absolute best. I needed to add the ingredients to the list so I could make him his coffee cinnamon rolls.
Dante arrived with Blaze on one shoulder and his phone in his other hand. He was scowling, and I assumed that meant it was work related.
“Baby, I went into the office because I wanted you to read this message I just received.” Dante handed me his phone, and I took it, worried about what I was about to read.
Alpha Bernard: I realize you are still on leave after the arrival of your new baby with your mate. It is Banner that I am reaching out to you about. Could you please contact me at your earliest convenience? It’s quite important, and by earliest, I do mean at some point today.
I looked at my mate, worried. “Why would the created bear want to talk to you about me? I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Dante shrugged. “That was why I was looking for you. I wanted you to be with me when I contacted him.”
I nodded. “I’ll take the baby,” I said as I reached for Blaze. I needed to cuddle him because my mind was racing, trying to figure out what I had done. Why would the created bear want to discuss me? I was a nobody in comparison.
“Are you all right with me calling or messaging him?”
I nodded. “I mean, he’s one of the created ones, right? And you sort of work for all of them?”
“In a way. We all obviously belong to the created one that we come from, but there is no created hellhound. Well, there probably is, but if you think about the first hellhound to ever have children, that would be Warwick.”
Dante shook his head, and I smiled. I placed my hand on his arm, stopping him from spiraling during his explanation. “I understand. You should call him and see what he needs. I can’t fathom what he needs to talk to you about regarding me. I’ve been very well-behaved since I’ve been here. I go to my therapy appointments, I got a job, I—” Dante stopped me with a hand on my arm this time.
“Baby, I’m just going to call him, all right? We’ll see what it is that he needs. It might be something as simple as congratulating us. You belong to his den, so that’s probably it.”
I nodded. It couldn’t be anything else. I went to the back room and sat on the couch, Dante not far behind me. He had his phone up to his ear, and although I couldn’t hear anything on the other end of the conversation, I could hear that Alpha Bernard had answered the phone and was talking.
“Yes, Alpha.” Dante looked at me. “Banner and I are at home, yes.” Dante was quiet, and it was obvious he was listening. “No, that wouldn’t be an issue.” Dante nodded. “Yes, we will see you then.”
