Page 83 of Mating of Convenience
“Relax, I’m just messing with you.”
“You do that too much.”
“That’s because you’re so fun to mess around with.”
Nathan tried to pout, but I wriggled my eyebrows at him and then he had to laugh, ruining his act. “You’re too much for me.”
“You can’t mean that!” I mimicked his earlier words.
“Okay, you’re right, I don’t mean that. You’re perfect.” He leaned in for another kiss and I got the feeling that my earlier teasing was forgiven.
“Not perfect,” I denied his statement, “but something close enough?” I grinned at my mate. “You know what’s going to be perfect, though? Our baby, and I have no regrets.”
Or at least, I didn’t have any regrets atthatpoint.
* * *
“I regret everything.”
Nathan almost laughed. I saw the corners of his mouth twitch, but then he thought better at the last second. He’dbetternot laugh. I’d been in labor for almost twenty-four hours andnothingabout this was funny. “It’ll be over soon,” Nathan said, squeezing my hand. His words weren’t any more comforting than they had been the last fifty times he’d said them, though.
“I’ll never let you near me again with thatdickof yours,” I promised, if only because I wanted him to regret this moment as much as I did. This was ridiculous. Why had nobody told me that you could be in labor for this long? All I ever saw on TV were rush deliveries and omegas who couldn’t make it to the hospital fast enough.
The first time I’d arrived at the hospital yesterday?
They’d told me to come back later.
The nerve!
But I had to admit that they’d been right, even as I was fuming. Nothing had happened for quite some time.
Now it was twenty-four hours later and it wasstillnot time to push according to the nurse who came in here every so often with her overly friendly smile and her sweet promises that I’d stopped believing a while ago. Everybody in this hospital was a liar. Even my mate, who told me he wasn’t tired while I could see the bags under his eyes.
“Not long now,” he said again.
What a liar.
“Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?” he asked,clearlyto distract me, and I could tell that he was as sleep-deprived as I was because this was the third time he’d asked since this whole thing started but he didn’t seem aware of that fact.
“I don’t know,” I responded just to humor him. “Maybe it’s both. Maybe it’s twins and we just never noticed.”
A look of horror crossed Nathan’s features. “But we only have one crib.”
“That’s okay. You can build a second one, right? Maybe Aaron can help you.”
Nathan’s eyes widened. “Wait, you’re serious?”
“Of course I am. You’re an alpha, right? You must know how to build things.” I looked at him for a second, trying not to crack up, but eventually I broke. His incredulous expression was just too much. “God, Nate, never change.” By now I was laughing so hard I almost forgot about the contractions. They seemed to be getting stronger, but then, I’d been thinking that ever since we arrived at the hospital the first time. Sadly, I seemed to be theonlyone thinking that.
Until suddenly I wasn’t.
The next time the nurse came in to check on me, she looked at the both of us with a satisfied smile after only a minute. “Looks like things are progressing. How are you feeling, Mr. Probst?”
I glared daggers at her. I’d been in labor for over a day, how did she think I was feeling?
“Wonderful,” she said, even though I hadn’t actually given her a response. “We’ll roll you into the delivery room and then we can get this show on the road.”
Finally. I was so relieved that I didn’t even care that she was talking about my pregnancy as if I was here for entertainment purposes. “Yes, take me there,” I pressed out as another contraction hit. “Get this baby out of me.”
