Page 52 of Bear with Me
Blake smirked at me, his anger long forgotten. "I know."
Cassie had been the one to break through to him."Ollie did something really sweet for us,"she said when he showed her around the basement on the Friday before Memorial Day. "Stop fighting him and relax. It's safer here, and you have everything at your fingertips instead of miles away."
Cassie stayed with us for a couple weeks over the summer, but she'd already returned to her summer internship at a Minneapolis daycare. She was getting her degree in elementary education. Despite Blake's fears, she would most likely graduate a semester early, after the fall semester next year. That's why I'd put up the temporary shelves. Once she had her own place and took her share of the stuff, he could build all the permanent storage he wanted.
"I want to build something sturdy, something that will hold up when we move them to their own rooms."
We planned to finish the basement together when the kids outgrew their room. We'd already sketched the floor plan for the kids' rooms, a playroom, and space for another bedroom, if we chose to expand our family even more.
That was for much, much later. Now, I served up our burritos, since the rice was ready, and watched Blake eat for three. His appetite had been spotty recently, but when he finished both burritos, he accepted my offer of a bowl of cherries jubilee ice cream with gusto and ate the whole bowl.
At bedtime, we were both too tired to do more than kiss goodnight, but I loved spooning around him and listening to each breath he took as he fell asleep. He was so precious to me. I hugged him close, careful not to wake him. My hand rested on his belly, where our children grew larger every day.
Blake sometimes resented the changes to his body, but I loved them all. I loved the rounded curve of his abdomen and the light swell of his pecs. He looked positively radiant when hewoke in the morning, though he claimed that was from the extra heat the babies generated inside him.
I kissed his nape and nuzzled his neck, needing to be closer to him. He arched his back, slotting his ass against my cock. When he settled against me, our bodies were even closer together. The press of his body against mine released the tension in my chest I hadn't known I was holding.
My mate was here with me, carrying our twins. He loved me, and I loved him. The world was still a giant, uncertain place where nothing stayed the same, but we would grow together, the four of us. Of that, I was certain.
CHAPTER 22
BLAKE
Whoever decidedpeople should hold a party when they were eight months pregnant deserved to have their nose rubbed in a pile of dirty diapers. I couldn't have cared less that the party was for us. I didn't want one.
Vic and Ollie ignored my complaints. They set up a lovely event space in the cottage's living room. It was standing room only around the couch, where Vic sat beside Ollie, and Cassie sat beside me.
I felt like a complete slob in my gray sweatpants and loose-fitting tank top with spaghetti straps. I didn't care how feminine it looked. It was comfortable, dammit, and clothing didn't have gender.
Ollie's family crowded around us, all talking at once while we opened their presents first. Behind them, our work friends watched to see if we got too many multiples. Because I'd fought the baby shower idea so hard, we hadn't registered anywhere.
When I unpacked four car seats and four changing mats, it wasn't the end of the world. "Two for each car," I said, always looking for the bright side. The only thing I hated more than parties was returning gifts, so that wasn't happening, no matter how much money we might have saved.
"Open mine next," Vic said when I'd made it through the family gifts. "I need to get back into town for a meeting."
"On a Saturday?" I couldn't keep the frustration from my voice. If I had to be here, so did he. He'd planned this shindig, after all.
"We're a month and a half out from Halloween," he said. "The planning committee needs me."
"Abel needs you," I teased.
"Well, I wouldn't be opposed." Vic grinned. "Have I mentioned how gorgeous his soulful brown eyes are?"
"You have."
I tugged the present from Vic's grasp as he continued to wax poetic about his crush, the beautiful Black man who lived alone in the apartment directly below his.
Inside the box was tissue paper. At first, I thought it was filler, but then my fingers bumped against something cool and hard. I pulled it out of the box, and something fell back into the pile of tissue paper.
"Be careful!" Vic scolded. He scooped the second piece out and handed it to me. It was a little bear cub made of clear glass, stretched out on all fours. The one in my hand was sitting on its haunches. They were both in the same style as the bear figurine I'd given Ollie for Christmas.
"They're perfect." My eyes welled with tears. "Thank you."
Vic hopped up, and I struggled to my feet to give him a hug. He kissed my cheek. "You're going to be the best dad to these little ones. I'm so happy for you."
He tapped the box. "Now open the rest."
"There's more?" I sat down and peeled away the top layer of tissue paper, only to find more beneath it.
