Page 17 of Dreaming of His Omega
“Let me see.” I leaned over and took a look. “Very cute,” I agreed, looking at the patterns of deer, and hedgehogs, and foxes all mixed together. “We do live right by the woods.”
“That's true. You like this set?”
I took another look at it and felt my heart swell as I pictured the nursery full of baby woodland animals. “Let's do it.”
Traviel nodded and started adding things to the cart. “Crib bumpers…” he read. “What's a crib bumper?”
“I think they're supposed to be dangerous,” I said.
“Really?” His eyes rolled over the description and he shrugged. “If you say so, let's not get one, then. What about—” He vanished, and his laptop dropped to the floor with a thud.
I groaned and lowered myself off the couch, awkwardly knelt down to rescue the laptop. After a brief struggle, caught between the couch and the coffee table, I managed to get back up. Fortunately, the laptop seemed unbroken. I set it down on the table with a sigh, and buried my face in my hands. We couldn't even get through a little nursery decorating session without Traviel disappearing on me.
After composing myself, I sat back and wondered whether or not I wanted to try and keep doing it without him. Assuming nothing about his strange disappearances had changed since the last one, he'd be poofing back into existence right here in the living room. So, I headed into the kitchen for a snack. It was hard, but I was trying to just accept the disappearances as normal and comfort myself by being confident that he would return. There was a slice of cheesecake from Sweet Bites in the fridge. So, I grabbed half of it and settled in to eat.
Going to Sweet Bites for what was apparently the first time had been strange. Just like the hospital, I didn't the way there or the interior at all, even though the outside was familiar. None of the employees knew us, although they were all very friendly and eager to set a pregnant guy up with some sweet treats. Now, it seemed everybody knew us. And while I hated that Traviel wasn't a consistent fixture in my daily life, everyone was always happy to ask how I was doing and stop to check in on me.
I ate the cheesecake in silence; listening hopefully for the sound of Traviel returning. It was uncomfortably quiet in the house since Falkanar left. After driving me to the hospital, he came over regularly to check on me, just like he promised. After a particularly rough day, when Traviel was gone for nearly twelve hours, Falkanar had generously stayed the night to make sure I was okay. After that, he ended up staying with us for a couple more weeks. I couldn't have been more thankful that Rosemary made sure our paths crossed. Falkanar really helped me out in the beginning and had really stepped up to help out on a total stranger. Since neither one of them wanted me handling fresh paint, Falkanar even finished painting the nursery one day when Traviel vanished.
Even though it was a bittersweet memory, I smiled at the thought. We chose green for the nursery; it would look great with the woodland critter theme.
Sadly, like all wandering elves, Falkanar hadn't been able to stay long. He got noticeably antsy the last couple of days, and at last I told him that if he really needed to, it was okay move on. I promised I'd be fine. And that was that. Now, I didn't really have anyone to keep me company when Traviel vanished and it was lonelier than ever.
I finished my cheesecake and wandered up to the nursery to look around, hoping it would inspire me with other things to add to our list. After a while, I headed downstairs, turned the laptop back on, and began to browse through and add additional things to the cart. When I was done, I sat back and studied it, wondering if I really wanted to semi-impulse buy all of these things.
“—a crib duster? Or is that the same as a crib bump…” Traviel trailed off, no doubt noticing that I was sitting on the other side of the room with his laptop. He thumped his hands against his thighs in irritation. “How long this time?” he asked grimly.
I glanced at the clock. “About two hours.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry, Elarian, truly.”
“Don’t be, my love. You can't help it. Here.” I moved over to the couch and held the laptop out for him. “What do you think?”
He started browsing through the cart and by the time he was done the smile on his face was genuine. “This looks wonderful. Let's order.”
“Are you sure?” I said. “It's a little expensive.”
“It's our baby. Besides, we have plenty of money. Don't worry about it. Here, you can order,” he said, turning the laptop to me.
I grinned and clicked thePlace Orderbutton, and couldn't hold back a grin. “Did we just ordered furniture for the baby's nursery?”
“We did,” Traviel replied, with a matching grin of disbelief. “It’s starting to feelreallyreal now.”
“Just wait until it’s all here and set up.”
He set the laptop on the coffee table and stood, pulling me to my feet with him. “Are you hungry?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes at him. “What do you think?
“I’ll make dinner,” he said, heading to the kitchen. “And then why don't we go for a walk? Youaresupposed to keep that up after all.”
I suppressed a groan at the thought of being on my feet again. As much as I loved our evening walks, they were becoming torture. I couldn't say no to dinner. I sat down and Traviel started rattling off our options. My stomach turned. Okay, maybe Icouldsay no to dinner.
“You know,” I said awkwardly. “I think maybe I just want a few bowls of cereal...”
Traviel laughed and took out a bowl for me. “Anything for you.” He filled the bowl with just the right amount of cereal to milk ratio, and set it down in front of me. “Stomach upset?”
“Sort of, I don't know. Nothing you said sounded as good as cereal does, no offense.”
