Page 38 of Dante
Banner nodded slowly. As soon as we stepped inside, we found ourselves in a massive open room that went all the way tothe back. I could see a wall of windows, and beyond them were evergreens that were covered in snow.
“Oh, wow. This place is…I’ve not been in any of these houses yet. But I’ve not really had a reason.” Banner looked up at me. “Until now.” Banner turned back toward the house and started walking in. “Is this where you want to live?” he asked.
“I do not care one way or another. My only requirement is that you are happy. If this is where you wish to live, then I am happy here. If you would like a different house, then we can look at others.”
Banner turned back toward me and shrugged. “I mean, before you showed up and asked me to dinner, I was seriously contemplating moving away. I didn’t know how far my bear was going to let me go, but I was going to try.”
I closed the distance between us, my heart hurting at the thought of my mate leaving because of me. “I’m glad you didn’t leave, but sorry that I put you through that.” I sighed. “You seemed sad about having a hellhound baby. Do you not want to carry my children?”
Banner snorted. “No, that’s fine. I just had always thought I’d have a little bear girl. I don’t know why, honestly, but I always thought I would.”
Once more, I felt a pain in my chest. “Maybe we will get lucky and have one next time? Or if you really want to have a guarantee, we could ask the council if there are any baby girls that need adopted? I am not against it if you would like to adopt a little girl.” Banner shrugged. “No? I’m trying, Banner. I don’t know how to fix this issue for you.”
Banner chuckled. “You can’t, but it’s not really an issue. I’m happy to have a hellhound baby because I know he’s going to be amazing. And if I only ever have hellhound babies, that’s okay too.” Banner pointed over his shoulder. “What do you think? Do you have enough furniture to fill it? I have very little to add.”
I knew he was changing the subject, and I let it slide for now. “I think we can figure it out. Is this the one you want?”
“I’m indifferent,” he said. “This one works. The next one would work. It’s a house. It’s warm. Or it will be when you turn on the heat. It’s dry; it will provide us a safe place for our children. I don’t need much, Dante. This is more than enough. It’s really nice, actually.”
I nodded. “Very well, then. How would you like to have a fireside picnic for breakfast in our new house?” I asked as I gestured to the left. I’d used magic to not only light the fireplace but also provide a full breakfast for my mate. He needed food beyond the crackers and tea, and it was honestly going to be a long day with all that we really needed to discuss and do.
“Seriously?” Banner asked, looking at me with a huge smile on his face. His hat came off and was tossed over his shoulder as he hurried to the picnic I’d provided. I followed, more than ready to put that smile on my mate’s face as often as I could.
Chapter 14
Banner
It was moving day. I had spent the last two days just trying to take everything in, and now we were moving into our new house. Well, Dante was moving us in. I was actually sitting on the couch that he’d claimed me on while he did his thing with magic. There wasn’t really a whole lot for me to do because Dante was moving everything as it was. Nothing was boxed; he’d simply moved his things from one house to this one, and then we’d gone to my place, and he’d done the same thing. I’d tried to reorganize my stuff, but poof…Dante’s magic had it properly put away.
I knew he wasn’t doing it to be malicious. He was trying his best to take care of me because I wasn’t feeling the greatest still. The tea was helping, and I wasn’t throwing up, but I just had zero energy. I saw movement and focused on the back deck. There was a familiar man standing there, and after I blinked a few times, I realized it was Warwick.
“Dante?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Warwick is standing on our back deck. Should I let him in?”
I didn’t get to answer because Dante was suddenly in the room and standing at the back door. He opened it and welcomed the other hellhound in. “Where’s Cecil and the twins?”
“They’re next door. The boys are napping, otherwise he would have come. I just wanted to extend congratulations and ask how you are feeling?” Warwick said, looking directly at me.
“Eh. I stopped throwing up, which I think is good. But I have zero energy.” I yawned. “Sorry,” I said. “All I seem to do is just sleep and then lie around when I’m actually awake. The thought of doing anything is exhausting, and that’s very much not me.”
“I’ll send Cecil over later if you’d like. He, I am sure, has many stories for you, but you are carrying a baby. That is a lot of work and takes a lot of energy.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I get that. It’s just new for me. I’ve never been this inactive.” I sighed.
“I do understand. Perhaps Cecil will have some pointers for you. I’ve never carried a baby before, so I cannot say I know what you are going through.” Warwick held out his hand. “But Cecil said I was to bring this over to you. He said to tell you it’s from Beau and Lewis.”
That definitely caught my attention, and I sat up. Warwick handed me the box, and immediately, I could smell the cookies that were inside. “Oh, Lewis is the best,” I said. When I opened the box, sure enough, inside was a bunch of chocolate chip cookies that were half dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with big chunks of salt. Yum.
“They’re the best. I’m so tempted to eat some, but I think they’d probably upset my stomach if I ate them now.”
I showed Dante and Warwick. “Do either of you want some? There are probably two dozen here and more than enough to share.”
Warwick held out his hands while shaking his head. “Thank you, no. We have a similar box that Cecil picked up earlier. I’mjust here to deliver them to you. He stopped by earlier, but you weren’t here.”
I looked over at Dante. “We must have been at one of the other houses.”
