Page 52 of Duke's Baby Deal
I nearly yelled at him, until I realized he was watching me just a little too closely.Oh. He’s trying to distract me.Doing a pretty good job too. “You realize you get to wait on me hand and foot?” Ha, take that!
“Naw,” he drawled, his eyes lighting up. “I’ll just drop you off a few cans of spaghetti noodles and a bucket to pee in. Check on you in the evening.”
“Have fun with that,” I promised, implying all sorts of reprisals.
Duke grinned at me and opened his mouth, but Adelaide interrupted him. “Okay, we’re done here. Bram, you can walk out to the truck once I get something wrapped around you to take the pressure off that spot, but as soon as you get home, you go straight to bed.”
I nodded and Duke squeezed my hand again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Duke wanted to carry Bram out to the truck. It seemed logical—Bram wasn’t supposed to be on his feet. But the look of appalled amusement on Bax’s face and Adelaide’s startled pause made him flush and just help Bram off the table.
Bram did lean on him as they walked out to the truck, which made him feel a little better. Not much, but some.
“It’ll be all right,” Duke said, hoping he was telling the truth.
“I’m sorry about all this,” Bram said, his eyes on the ground as they got to the passenger door.
“Not your fault.” Duke gave him a hand in, his eyes automatically going to the swell of his mate’s belly. If he could just get his hands on Justin… Tomorrow, after he’d gotten Bram settled and they knew things weren’t going to go south on them, he’d have to come back and get the full story from Adelaide. Why this happened, what he could do to help, how not to have it happen again. Bram had mentioned having pups together, more pups. He’d be devastated if he couldn’t have more.
Duke closed the door of the truck and went around to the driver’s side. Bram was quiet all the way home, his hands on his belly, his eyes on the road ahead, but he himself was…somewhere.
They pulled up in front of the little apartment. Bram smiled weakly at him. “I’m okay here. You can go back to whatever you guys were doing.”
Duke thought about what he was going to say as he came around the truck, only to find out that Bram had already gotten out. “Hey, you should be waiting for me to help you. The truck is high.”
“I’m fine, really.” He looked tired, but he took Duke’s arm as they walked inside. “I’m going to grab something to eat then go to bed like Adelaide said. I’ll leave you a plate in the fridge?”
“No, you won’t.” Duke pointed him toward the bedroom and pushed gently. “What do you want to eat? I’ll get it for you. And you’re not supposed to be up and cooking at all, so if I come home and find a plate in the fridge, we’re going to have words.”
“It’d be too late to stop me then.” The cheekiness was back, though faded and strained.
“Bram…” They stopped by the bed and Duke turned Bram around. He took Bram’s chin in his hand, or tried too—Bram wasn’t in the mood to be manhandled. Duke suppressed a growl. “Do you want to lose them? And I’m not saying that because I’m angry, I’m asking if you’ve changed your mind. No one needs to know.” He hated the thought that the babies might not make it. At the same time, he couldn’t imagine having to carry two babies that had been forced on you, and then having to look after them for the next eighteen years, a constant reminder of someone else’s conviction that they were the only one who mattered. Bram was careful never to say he didn’t want them, but did he really mean it? Maybe this was what Bram really wanted, only was afraid to say. Duke couldn’t blame him if he did.
Bram’s eyes went wide and he wrapped his arms around his swollen belly. “No!” He backed away from Duke, until the backs of his knees hit the edge of the bed and he sat down with a muffled thump. “No, they’re mine! And fuck Justin and Montana Border. I’m going to raise them not to be assholes, and if Justin ever asks, I’ll tell him it was you first, and he got the sloppy seconds.” His face distorted with disgust and he laid down on the bed, rolling over to put his back to Duke.
I wish it had been me.But there was no going back in time to fix this. Duke sat on the edge of the bed, one hip supporting his entire weight. He felt as physically off-balance as he was emotionally, but Bram needed someone. “Then you will, that’s fine. I just…this is a legitimate way out, if you want to take it.” His heart hurt, saying the words.
After a moment, Bram asked in a small voice, “Do you really not want the babies? I can’t blame you for not wanting another man’s pups in your house.”
“Who said that? Idowant these babies, and they’re damn well my pups and fuck Justin from me too! But I don’t want you to suffer for it, either. I—” He braced his arms on his knees, suddenly light-headed and sick to his stomach.This must be what he feels when he’s sick.It was a stupid thought, but it kept rolling around in his head until Bram spoke.
“You what?” Bram rolled onto his back, then sat up. “What, Duke?”
Duke shook his head. “Get some rest. What do you want to eat?” He didn’t know what he felt now.
“Duke, you want these babies, don’t you?” Bram asked quietly.
“Yes!” It burst out of him, no need to think about it at all. “Bram, they’re yours. And they’re mine. I know that I wasn’t there to start them in you, but I’ve been around for the rest of it. I think that gives me a better claim than the assturd.”
Bram had opened his mouth to say something, but that last word made him freeze in startled bafflement. Then, he began to laugh. “Oh, Duke, I love you. That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard ever.” He crawled over to wrap himself around Duke and hugged him close, laughing. Duke held him until Bram’s giggles finally faded and he allowed himself to be tucked into bed. Duke left him there to rest, planning to make some supper. He stopped in the door and looked back to check on him, then stepped back in to drop a kiss on his hair. Bram looked lost in the middle of the bed, lonely.
Bram nodded at him, then laid back and closed his eyes, releasing Duke from whatever spell of love or manners held him there. He went back to the living room and stared around, the once familiar furnishings changed now into something he no longer recognized. A plan was what he needed now.
Duke stepped outside, far enough away that he though Bram wouldn’t be able to hear him, and pulled out his phone to call Mac. It was lucky he’d been working all those extra shifts lately.
Mac didn’t bother with hello. “How is he?”
