Page 41 of Room 1212

I chuckled lightly, reaching for his hand so I could draw him closer to where I was sitting at the table. I pulled him in between my legs and rested my forehead on his firm stomach while he ran his fingers through my hair. “You’re not a watermelon, are you?” I asked his belly. “No, you’re a beautiful baby, and we love you so much.”

There was a gentle kick from within, as if in reply, and I chose to believe that was our child saying they loved us too.

Life, no matter how many years we spent on the earth, was always too short. Here I was, faced with both death and new life at once, and I tried my best to focus on the gratitude for being a part of it all.

“Come on, it’s getting late. We’d better go.” Jordan squeezed my shoulders before stepping away and slipping his boots on.

“Where are you going?” I asked, confused. “I thought your meeting wasn’t until this afternoon.”

He shrugged on his winter coat. It was a good thing he was always overheating, because there was no way he could zip that jacket up over his stomach. “I’m coming to work with you, obviously,” he said.

“You are?” I got up from the table and walked over to him.

“Of course I am,” he said, wrapping his arms around my neck. “You need me today. Anything else can wait.”

“But your meeting—” I began.

“Can wait,” he repeated. “I called Deanna and asked if we could reschedule. She was very accommodating and asked me to pass on her condolences.”

I was entirely disarmed by Jordan’s gesture. The tears I’d been holding off all morning let loose, running in rivulets down my cheeks. “Thank you,” I said as earnestly as I could.

“Of course. There’s nowhere else I would rather be today.” That felt like a lie, because I would honestly prefer to be anywhere but in this moment of unbearable grief, but as if to prove me wrong, Jordan was a steady presence at my side for the entire day, and not once did he look uncomfortable or bored. He came into Golden Years with me and visited with the residents. By now, he felt like a part of the family there. He knew everyone by name and sat patiently beside them and listened as they retold stories of Kristoph’s antics, laughing or crying right along with them.

By the end of the day, I was emotionally wrung out. I had most of the funeral arrangements made, and Jordan promised to help me with whatever was left tomorrow.

I finally collapsed into bed, glad for the respite sleep would bring. Jordan crawled in behind me and draped his arm around my waist, getting as close as his belly would allow. “I love you so much,” he whispered in the dark. I felt him place a kiss on my back.

“I love you too.”

I lay there for a few minutes, but it didn’t feel right to end the day like this. It had been heavy and sad and overwhelming at times, but Kristoph was one of the happiest guys I’d ever known. He loved dad jokes he called “groaners” and sang show tunes at full volume. He was quick with a compliment and was always the first to laugh when we watched old black-and-white comedy skits because he’d seen them a million times and knew all the words. This wasn’t how he would want his life to be celebrated.

I wiggled around until I was facing Jordan. I could just make out the sheen of his eyes in the darkness, still open. “Can’t sleep?” he asked.

“No, and I don’t want to.”

“No? Then what did you—oh!” he gasped when I reached between us and stroked his cock.

“I want to make love to my omega,” I told him. “I want to celebrate love and happiness and family.”

His shaft thickened against my palm, and his breath became uneven. We’d had to get creative with sex positions as he grew bigger, but this seemed like an easy decision tonight. Jordan rolled over onto his other side so I could cradle him in my arms. I wanted him pressed close, to feel his heart beating against mine.

I slid myself inside him gently, slowly, and as I rocked into him, it felt as though we were moving as one. I never wanted it to end. I held my climax off for as long as I could, but as Jordan’s body shuddered, his channel clenching tight around me, I finally allowed myself to come inside him, my knot inflating to bind us together for what felt like eternity.

“I love you, omega mine,” I whispered. Jordan was my forever. My heart, my body, my soul, they all belonged to him, just as he belonged to me.

23

Jordan

Chapter23—Jordan

Drew came up behind me and plucked the knife from my hand. “Allow me,” he said, nudging me out of the way so he could continue chopping the vegetables.

“Seriously? I am perfectly capable of moving a knife up and down. It’s not like it weighs ten pounds or anything.” The doctor had put me on light duty for the remainder of the pregnancy, but Drew was taking things a bit far.

The smug bastard just smirked. “I could point out that you can barely get close enough to the counter to be able to reach the cutting board,” Drew said, shooting me a look with his eyebrow raised.

I rolled my eyes at him in reply. I’d lived on my own for so long that it felt strange allowing someone to do everything for me. It made me feel weak. “Then while you’re doing that, I’ll just throw a load of laundry in.”

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