Page 32 of Duke's Baby Deal
“I love you, you crazy shifter. Now go eat, and then we’ll figure out what to do with the rest of our day.”
Bram slid off his lap, but his mood had darkened. “We can still…”
Duke held him close with a hand around his waist. “I’m not forcing you to do something your body doesn’t want. Eat. I promise, we’ll talk about this, but for now, I’d like to enjoy knowing that you do want to be with me. That’s still pretty exciting, to me anyway.”
“Me too.” Bram smiled and accepted another hug. “All right. But I’m holding you to that promise.”
“Good. Now eat, and we can explore the apartment. And hit up Supplies for anything we need.”
“I just need you,” Bram said, before kissing him tenderly and returning to his chair. “Everything else is gravy.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
It felt strange to be in my own place for Christmas. Bax had invited us to have Christmas morning with them, since we were so close, but then Duke had brought home a tree for us, and now I was kind of feeling like keeping it just the two of us, in our little den. The tree was just a small one, and kind of crooked, but I loved it because it was ours. I had it propped up in a corner in a bucket of water and when Duke came home that night, I was sitting in the chair next to it stringing popcorn for decorating.
“I was thinking,” I said to him, “That I should ask for more hours after Christmas.”
He hung up his jacket and lined his sneakers up next to mine by the door. “Why?”
“We could use the pack credits. And I’m almost done school—the only thing I have left is the American History course, which won’t take much time.”
“You finished all your other credits?”
I nodded and set aside my string of popcorn. “The only thing left is the ACT, but I wonder if I shouldn’t do my math and biology over again, to make sure I remember everything. But then I wouldn’t be able to take on extra hours.”
“Whatever works. Just tell me what to do.” Duke wandered into the kitchen and lifted the top on the pot of stew simmering on the stove. “This smells delicious.”
“Thank you.” Though he always said everything smelled delicious and never complained that he didn’t like something. I paid attention to everything he liked and didn’t like, but I still didn’t know if I was actually cooking things he thought tasted good, or if he was just that polite. With the baby already stealing energy from me, though, I’d decided that he was a big boy, and he could make up his own mind about food. “Well, the baby will be here in May, and he or she will be a lot of work. I don’t want to land that on you. And we haven’t heard anything from Quin, so I’m guessing that he doesn’t want to let me go. That’s okay. School isn’t really for omegas, anyway.” I got up to dish supper out, though it was way more effort now than it had been before I got pregnant. None of my notes had prepared me for being ready to go to bed at suppertime at only five weeks along. Ugh. I was going to sleep twenty-four-seven in March at this rate.
I opened the cupboard and got down a couple of plates and some glasses.
Duke stepped out of my way. “If you want to go to school, you should go to school. And it’s my baby too. I don’t see why it should all land on you.”
“What?”
He dug in one of the drawers for forks and knives while I stared at him, dumbfounded. He knew the baby was Justin’s. We’d never really talked about it, walking around the subject like it was a poorly disguised pit trap. I’d never expected that he would help out much with the baby when it came, and I’d already been making plans around keeping the load on him as light as possible. Yes, we loved each other, but the baby wasn’t his responsibility. I didn’t expect him to love it.
For some stupid reason, maybe hope, I was fixed in place, rooted to the floor.
“Would it make you happy?” He looked up from setting the table and watched me silently.
His question broke me out of my frozen moment, and I carried the plates over to the stove to fill them. “I don’t want to make you unhappy.”
He made a noise, not quite a sigh, but something that carried with it a sense of frustration and disappointment. “If you’re unhappy, I’m going to be unhappy. What does it matter? You’re my mate, there’s a baby coming. The baby did nothing to me, or you, except be conceived. As far as I’m concerned, it’s mine.”
“Oh, Duke.” I was so gladhewas mine. I put the plates down and went to hug him. He hugged me back and put a hand on the slight swell of my belly. A hug for the tiny bundle of cells dividing rapidly inside me. Lysoonka, what an amazing man I had.
I thought about it as I ladled the stew onto the plates, sliced thick slabs of the bread I’d made that morning, and brought the food to the table. This put a different spin on the way I’d pictured our future together. Now, it felt even more important that I find some way to be a real mate to him, not just outside the bedroom.
“Maybe Ishouldput off going to school for a year, though.” I put a hand on my belly and considered. “I might change my mind later and it would be a waste of credits.” After all, omegas were made for having babies. Maybe I’d decide I wanted to just be a mate and a bearer and work enough hours in the daycare to cover credits for me and my pups. And as tired as I was now, I couldn’t imagine how tired I’d be later. Could I even manage a pup, a mate, and schoolwork? I loved him. He was my best friend, joyful discovery. And it felt right, having someone to look after, to look after me. To come home, to a home.
“Are you worrying about me again?” Duke asked, a smile curling his lips.
“Duuuuuke,” I said.
“Stop. How many times have we had this discussion? I’m beginning to think you’re afraid to go.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but paused to think about it before I said anything. Was I afraid? Maybe a little. “It’s… It’s just different, you know?”
