by Kallie Frost
There was another sound. This one was less like a normal sounding heartbeat, but like the rapid thudding of a horse galloping.
Segel grinned. “There we go. That's…” His eyes narrowed and he trailed off.
“What's wrong?” Cambry said instantly. His hand tightened on mine.
“Nothing,” Segel said calmly. “Nothing. There's just a…” He tilted his head a little, eyebrows furrowed. “There’s a sort of an echo…” He moved the device a couple of times, as the as if he were trying to bring the heartbeat into focus. “Nevermind, just an echo. That happens sometimes,” he said with a laugh. “Sorry to worry you. Anyway…” He pushed the device a little harder against me and smiled. “There's the baby.”
A steady, rapid thudding filled the air. I put my free hand up over my mouth and felt tears pricking the corners of my eyes. I was pregnant. It was real. It was happening. Cambry and I were going to have a baby.
At the same time, I couldn't help but feel a little nervous. I was going to have a baby?! Was I ready for that? It wasn't exactly something I had ever planned on. In the last decade or so I had even started to give up on being a father at all, nevermind having a baby myself. And yet, I took one look at Cambry and the smile he was giving me. We could do this. Absolutely.
Segel lifted the device and rubbed a wet wipe across my stomach, getting all the goo off. “There we are,” he said. “Congratulations. You are definitely pregnant.”
“What's next?” I asked.
“Well, that’s up to you. Your next appointment will be in a month. This time, I’d like you to come to my office and get a full ultrasound. Then, we'll go from there.”
“Great,” I said. “Thank you.”
“And thank you,” Segel said as he picked up the to-go mug from Cambry. He took a sip. “Oh, this is great!”
“Thanks,” said Cambry. I grinned, proud my mate could concoct something delicious with my limited supplies and cheap coffee.
With that, the doctor headed out.
“I’m pregnant,” I said softly to Cambry.
He put an arm around my shoulders and kissed me on the cheek. “I hope this isn’t moving too quickly for you.”
“Of course it’s moving too fast.” Before he could react, I turned and kissed him. “And I couldn’t be happier. In a couple of weeks, you’ve turned my life upside down, for the better.”
Chapter Ten
Cambry
“I could really go for Chinese,” Louis said softly.
“Chinese?” I echoed. I glanced out the window at the falling snow.
“Of course, you don't have to actually get me Chinese,” he said quickly. “I don't even think there's a place nearby. I mean…” he hesitated.
I had a feeling he knew exactly where there was a Chinese place. “What's it called?” I asked.
He put his hands over his stomach and smiled weakly at me. “It's called Panda Palace…” He bowed his head and added. “And it's like an hour away…”
“Your favorite Chinese place is an hour away?” I said.
He shrugged. “Like I said, I don't expect you to actually go get it. It's just, it's the one I used to go to all the time. And they have this really weird sauce that they use on their lo mein, and it just sounds really, really good right now. But forget I said anything.”
I stood and crossed the room to him. “You're my omega.” I put a hand on his stomach. “And you're carrying my child. I absolutely am going to go get you whatever you desire. Which in this case is… Panda Palace lo mein, with weird sauce?”
“You really don't have to, Cambry,” he protested.
“I insist.”
“It's snowing and it's an hour away. We missed my ultrasound last week because we were worried about snow on the roads, don’t go out just for some stupid food.”
I kissed him and returned to the coffee bar, where I had been working on a drink for him. “I was much more worried about the road conditions with my pregnant mate in the car. I’ll be fine. I have my phone, I'll just put it on my GPS, and drive carefully.” I returned to him with a mug. “And if you don't tell me what you want, I'm just going to order the lo mein and bring it back.”
Louis sighed in defeat. “Okay. I want the crab rangoon appetizer and the lo mein. Please.”
“Anything else?”
He shook his head. “Thank you,” Louis said softly, patting his stomach. “I really hate to do this to you.”
“Nonsense. What's an alpha for? Besides, it's only a month and a half to go.”
“Halfway there.” The reminder made him smile. He sniffed at my latest concoction and took a sip. “It’s not… bad.”
I chuckled. “But not right either?”
He smiled awkwardly. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’ll find coffee you’ll love, one of these days.” I kissed him on the forehead. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” he said, flashing me a smile that melted my heart.
I threw on a jacket on the way out the door, and got into his car. I fiddled with the seat for a little bit, getting everything adjusted, and realized it had been quite a while since I drove anywhere. Fortunately, it was an SUV with all-wheel drive, and it felt well suited to the snow. I did a quick search for Panda Palace on my phone, and pulled up the address.
And then I hit the road, driving through the unfamiliar streets. Luckily, even in human form, my eyesight at night was more than keen enough to easily navigate the unfamiliar terrain. But after about ten minutes on a lonely back road, I decided that maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to be on the phone with somebody. If anything did happen, they’d know right away. My first thought, of course, was to call Carrick. But then I decided that if I talked to Carrick, there was no way I would be able to explain what I was doing calling him so late, while I drove, without giving away the nature of my errand. And I really, really wanted to be able to see Carrick’s face when he found out about my mate.
He called me the morning after the last full moon, and I was able to play off being tired, but safe and sound, and get off the phone without him being suspicious. I told him I stayed in my hotel room, but the truth was Louis and I stayed in the café. There were a few things knocked over and rugs that looked like a couple of large cats had skidded on them, but that was it. I woke up when I changed into a human at sunrise and fell off the chair. Louis managed to stay on it as he turned back, but not very comfortably. The next time, we considered locking ourselves in the bedroom in the hopes of curling up together on the bed instead of in a small chair.
A wide smile spread across my face as I remembered it. I couldn’t remember ever waking up feeling better after a full moon. I wasn’t even sore or tired. I felt well rested and content. I hadn’t wanted to admit it to anyone, but full moons were getting harder and harder alone. I’d never have to worry about them again.
Assuming I didn’t die here on a slippery backroad.
Instead of Carrick’s, I punched in Hobie’s number, put my cellphone on speaker, and then set it next to me in the cup holder. After a couple of rings, my closest friend, who wasn’t a cousin, and right-hand man in my café, answered.
“Cambry?” He sounded quite surprised. “Is everything okay? Why are you calling so late?”
“Everything's fine,” I said quickly. “I was just out, driving down a weird backroad, and it’s snowing a little bit, so I figured I would give you a call.”
“Snowing? Where are you anyway, up north?”
“Yeah,” I said vaguely. “Sorry I haven’t checked in more.” The last month and a half with Louis had just flown by. It was hard to remember I wasn’t keeping anyone back home in the loop.
“Hm. Up north, okay. How's your year away going?”
“It's good,” I said. “It's… it's going really well.”
“If you don't mind my saying so, you really needed it.”
“Yeah… I really wasn’t doing very well,” I said honestly.
“How is the full moon treating you? I k
now it's only been one since you left, but…”
“Oh, it was great.” I snorted at myself. No lone alpha had a great full moon. “I mean, you know, I'm a cat. Full moons aren’t that terrible anyway.”
“House cat,” the lynx shifter snorted. “And full moons are all terrible if you're a lonely alpha,” he added quietly.
“True.” I could hear the concern for me in his voice. I felt bad for making him, not to mention my family, worry. I hadn’t planned on going back to Half Moon until I got the café open, but I wasn’t sure how many moons I could stay away without it being unfair to them.
“I wasn’t alone,” I blurted. I couldn't help it. I had to tell someone, damn it.
“You weren't alone?” Hobie demanded.
“Ask me where I'm going,” I chuckled.
“Okay… where are you going?”
“I'm picking up food for my mate, who was craving Chinese in the middle of the night.”
“Your mate!” he gasped. “You met your true mate? You're kidding!”
I didn't answer, I was grinning too broadly.
A moment later, Hobie put it all together. “Wait, your mate had a craving in the middle of the night? Don't tell me…”
“Yeah,” I said. A happy laugh bubbled out of me. “He's pregnant.”
“Oh, Cambry!” Hobie cried. “That's amazing. I’m so happy for you. Tell me everything!”
So, I did. The drive flew by as I told Hobie all about the shop, and how we met, and how the pregnancy was going. At last, I pulled into the parking lot of Panda Palace, and turned off the car, sitting back with a sigh.
“That's amazing,” Hobie said. “Damn, I can't believe he agreed to turn so quickly. We should all be so lucky.”
“Yeah,” I said softly. “Anyway, I'm here, so I should probably get going.”
“Yeah, absolutely. Gotta get your mate his Chinese,” Hobie said with a chuckle.
“Hey, Hobie? You're not going to tell anyone, right?” I asked. “I really want to surprise the family. Especially Carrick.”
“My lips are sealed,” Hobie said. “But you should know, they're all worried about you. So, you do probably want to at least check in now and again.”
“Absolutely,” I said solemnly. “But just as long as you won't tell them, or even hint to them about my mate.”
“I'm not going to tell. I swear, I'm the only one on the island who knows, until you say otherwise,” he said firmly.
“Thanks, Hobie. Oh hey, I didn't even ask, how's the shop?”
“Oh, it's fine. You left it in good hands.”
I chuckled. “I know I did. I'll talk to you later.”
“Bye, Cambry.”
I hung up and sat for another minute, still grinning.
I had left the shop in Hobie’s capable hands, and wasn’t at all worried about it while I was gone. I was confident my ability to turn around Louis's café, and save it but I wondered, if I did successfully do it, whether or not he’d want to stay in Maine or move down to Half Moon. I’d certainly miss my family, but there was no way I could begrudge him wanting to stay in the shop that his mother had worked so hard to build. If that did happen, Hobie would make an excellent manager in my place. I filed the idea away for future reference, and headed into the restaurant.
It never even occurred to me to check the hours, and I was relieved to see it was open all night. It was a little hole-in-the-wall joint, but smelled absolutely delicious. I ended up getting a double order of lo mein, so that I could have some too.
Once I had it all wrapped up to go, I got back in the car and headed home to my mate.
I didn’t think there was a better feeling in the world than opening a door to announce, “I’m home,” and seeing Louis there to greet me.
“That smells amazing. I can’t believe you went all that way for me,” he said. “Here, I set out plates…”
“You didn’t have to do that,” I scolded, secretly pleased by my omega taking care of me. I set out the food on the plates and sat down. “Ready?”
“Starving! Thank you again, Cambry. I’ve been thinking about this food for a week.”
“I’ll get it every night if you want.”
Louis blew me a kiss, then took a bite of crab rangoon and moaned. “Oh yes, this is delicious!” He snapped open a set of chopsticks and twisted up a big bite of lo mein. “This sauce, is incredible, Cambry. Wait ‘til you try it.” He slurped it up eagerly. Then, his eyes widened and he clapped a hand over his mouth.
“Louis?”
He jumped up from the table and raced for the bathroom.
Chapter Eleven
Louis
I came down the stairs after another of my increasingly frequent naps. As I went, I rested my hand on my massive stomach. I felt absolutely huge, even though I had another month to go. The baby kicked where my hand was. I moved my palm around, trying to figure out which direction he or she was facing. Like always, I couldn't quite figure it out. Was I feeling a head or a butt? And when I was pretty sure I was being kicked by feet on one side, the exact same feeling would happen on the other. So, either the baby was punching and kicking or he was rolling all around. It really was quite wild to feel him inside me, wiggling and moving.
I reached the main level and spotted Cambry sitting in the chair by the fireplace, scribbling intently in a notebook. Even though we'd spent just about every single day together for the last two months, my heart still fluttered when I saw him. I paused on the stairway, just watching him, feeling an almost overwhelming sense of love for the man I still hardly knew. Grinning, I went the rest of the way down and caught sight of myself in the bathroom mirror as I did. Once again I paused, this time to take in my new and improved, younger reflection.
Cambry either heard or sensed me, because he looked up and smiled. “How was your nap?”
“It was good,” I said. “I’m still tired or maybe hungry.”
He laughed. “Can I get you anything?”
“No, no, I’m fine. What are you up to?”
“I was coming up with some plans for the café. I think I've got a pretty good one in place. But, of course, I want to run it by you first.” He stood as I joined him and gestured for me to take over the chair. I sank gratefully down, in spite of having just gotten up from a nap, and smiled.
“Okay,” I said. “What's the plan?”
“Well,” he said, settling onto the arm of the chair. “Unfortunately, the baby is going to be born pretty much right as tourist season starts for the spring”
I nodded. I had noticed that.
“Which means,” continued Cambry, “that if we want to get things open again in time for the season, we're basically going to be scrambling to turn everything around during your last month of pregnancy. And while the baby is still a newborn.” I nodded again. “So, I was thinking, we close for the season.”
That was something I hadn't thought of. Then again, I could never have afforded to close before. “Hmm, okay. Go on.”
“Well,” he said, “if we close for the season, it gives us a chance to focus on just you and the baby for a few months, which I think is important.” I nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. “And it gives us plenty of time to make plans and arrangements, and start changing things up. Now, I'm not going to change your mother's aesthetic, but a fresh coat of paint, some new menu boards. A little touch here and there, just to shake things up, and make it look nice and new.”
“Yeah, it definitely could use that,” I said, glancing at the peeling paint on the walls. Frankly, I was embarrassed by the state of the outside. The salty sea air didn't help when it came to paint, and the shop was in desperate need of a few coats of it.
“It also gives us a chance to take our time hiring new staff and giving them some very thorough training,” Cambry went on. “And it lets us really get the marketing nailed down. We close, put up a big ol’ banner: Grand Reopening! We catch the interest of the locals and the vacationers who come back year after year, and we get them excit
ed for it. And next spring, we open with a bang, with all brand new everything. And we knock their socks off with the best coffee they've ever tasted.”
“I like it,” I said. “That sounds great.”
“You're okay closing it for the summer?” he asked. “Hell, not even the summer. It would practically be a year before we reopen.”
“I am. To be honest, I already feel better,” I admitted. “I have been kind of stressing about all the things we need to do and how quickly we'd have to get everything together. I think taking a year off is exactly what we need.” I hesitated and then added, “But can we afford that? I mean, I'm in the red.”
Cambry waved a hand dismissively. “We can afford it. Don't you worry. Besides, think of how much money we’ll save on supplies if we're closed for the summer. I’ve got plenty to burn anyway.”
“That's true,” I said. We wouldn't be bringing any money in, but we wouldn't really be spending much either. I didn’t miss another reference to his supposedly healthy bank account. “Why money to burn?” I asked. “I know you have a successful café, but even then…”
He sighed and turned away, not meeting my eyes.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve acted like you have a lot of money,” I pressed. The first time, I was concerned he had come by the money fraudulently. Being turned and getting pregnant had distracted me. “I’m your true mate and if you insist on giving me so much money, shouldn’t I know a bit about our finances?”
“Yes, yes you should,” Cambry said reluctantly. “It’s just… I guess I’m uncomfortable with it…”
I folded my arms, fixing him with a somewhat impatient look.
“My aunt and uncle own a lot of developed land on Half Moon Island,” he said after a long pause. “They collect quite a tidy sum from business leases and rental properties. And they divide the profits up evenly between them and my cousins… and me.” He shrugged, embarrassed.
