Page 59 of Duke's Baby Deal
“I don’t know if I’d hold up as well as you have it was Jason.”
“Not much choice, is there? And he needs me.” Duke looked down at Bram, and felt his complete helplessness in this situation. “Not that I’m doing much.” He took a deep breath and decided that a change of topic was in order. “How’s Quin doing organizing the construction?”
“We’ve got enough people now, we think, for the houses anyway. But Bax is up to something, and there’s been dire warnings about a shift in priorities that he’s being mysterious about.”
Duke chewed his lip and slipped out of the bed. “So, when does construction start?”
“Any time now. Quin’s picked out a spot for you and Bram, just the other side of the wall, so you won’t be more than a five or ten minute walk from me and Abel.”
“You guys realize I might not be home again for another six or seven weeks, right? We won’t have the credits to bump us up the list. Unless I can be scheduled for a few extra shifts once we’re back?”
“Your mate is going to be home with two brand new pups. If you think I’m letting you work yourself to death for a new house and taking shit from Jason for the rest of my life over it, maybe we need to checkyouinto the hospital too, because you’re obviously lunar.” There was humor in Mac’s voice, but also alpha, and the message to let it go came through loud and clear. “Besides, I think Quin is up to something, but he’s being very quiet about it. Holland, too, for that matter. Do you think something’s going on between them?”
Damn, he hoped so. Because it was a beacon of hope for his and Bram’s mating. “Well, an Alpha should have a mate. And Holland’s a good man.” He glanced down at Bram again. It was tempting to ask Mac again to put him on the roster for the Summer Meeting, but the sight of Bram, pale-faced with anxiety, shadows under his eyes so dark they were nearly black… Yeah, he needed to put this aside and focus his attention where it was needed. And ultimately, it was hisfrustrationwith everything, with Bram being scared, with his own fear and his own complete inability to do anything to change the outcome, that was making him so bloodthirsty. So he deliberately changed the topic. “You going to bring Macy with you?”
“Don’t know. She’s busy enough as it is. Might be better to leave her home with Grampy.”
“I bet Bram would like to see her. He gets a kick out of her at daycare.”
“Does he? I bet the other toddlers don’t. She’s nearly as headstrong as Fan is.”
“No one’s as headstrong as Fan is, according to Bram,” Duke said dryly.
“We’ll have to hope they never mate.”
Duke snorted, making the bed creak. “Thanks for the nightmare material. Jerk.”
Mac laughed. “I’ll tell Jason you want us to bring the little whirlwind with us when we come. Oh, Quin wants to know if you’d be willing to take one of the smaller houses in the Winston neighborhood until the new ones are done, or if you’re okay staying in the apartment and he’ll give it to one of the new couples mating this spring.”
It would be nice to have a house, especially one of the Winston houses with their hidden cabinets and odd shaped rooms and the history behind them. But trying to move with two new babies? And maybe sick babies? “I think we’ll stay, if it’s all the same. I don’t know what’s going to happen here. Unless—does Holland want his apartment back? Because I’ll make it work. I know Bram’s appreciated having another omega right next door, but we always knew it was only temporary.”
“What? No! Oh, no, he’s never said a thing that I know about. But there’s a Winston house opening up in April, they’re down to two people in the family and they’ll be moved to one of the apartments. Quin thought you should have first crack at it, with the pups coming. It’s a three bedroom, but if you want to wait, the first of the new houses will probably be ready in July.”
Duke looked down at the red-brown head resting on his chest. “Can I get back to you on that?”
“Yeah, no rush.” The laughter of a happy pup rang out in the background. “Hey, I’m gonna have to go. The boss is here.”
Duke heard anoofand then Mac said, “Yeah, gotta go. See you soon.”
Duke put the phone away and climbed back into the bed. It felt good to have Bram in his arms and he drifted off to sleep himself.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
I hadn’t realized how lonely I was, even with Duke there all the time, even with the nurses popping in and out of my room, until Mac and Jason showed up with Macy. And wow, was she ever a hit. She’d gotten to that adorable toddler phase, babbling in a mix of real words and made up ones, giggling at everything, and wide-eyed wondering at every new thing she saw. The nurses went absolutely ape-shit over her, took her down to pediatrics to meet some of the other pups—umm, children. She came back withcandyand astuffed animal.
We had a great time. Duke and Mac went out to get food and Duke picked up treats for the nurses as well, blowing our little budget to smithereens—or so I thought. Turned out, he’d been doing handyman stuff in the enclave to earn some credits there and cover his room, but had refused to tell me because he thought I’d get upset. I did, too, but Jason reminded me that there was no reason he couldn’t nap with me at the hospital, so it really didn’t matter, and it was nice to know that if I wanted or needed something, we’d still have the money for it. So I apologized and Duke laughed at me for being silly, which was fun, because I hadn’t felt silly in a long time.
We joked and caught up on stuff going on in Mercy Hills. Jason was about ready to pop—he said he’d gotten pregnant near the beginning of November, so he only had about three weeks left to go. Mac’s cousin Patrice was pregnant again too, hoping for a boy, because they already had three girls and she said it was getting boring.
“Have you picked out names?” I asked Jason.
“Skye for a girl, Sebastian for a boy.” He leaned back in his chair and I noticed him stroking his belly in the same slow way I often did myself. “I’m kind of jealous of you knowing what you’re having. I’d like to be able to say her or him, and call them by name.”
“We’ll have to save up for one of those machines. It’s amazing.”
“Have you two decided? On names?”
Duke spit out a laugh and I frowned at him. “Stop. It’s not that funny.”
