“Feeling better, then?” I asked, bending to kiss his cheek. “Chicken noodle. And where did you go?”
“I’m starving,” he said, accepting a kiss from Linc. “I’ll tell you all about that downstairs as well, okay?”
“S-sure.” They had a rhythm between them I was just starting to learn, so I trailed after them down to the kitchen, and we all set out the food, chattering about what soups we had and what kind of salads.
Adam grabbed one of the fresh-baked rolls, buttered it, and bit in with a sigh. “Delicious. You two knew just what I’d want.”
When we were all settled at the breakfast counter with our lunch, I felt good for the first time all day. Even the possibility of something to help Dad was just that, possible, and with no guarantees. But sitting with these two together eased the rough edges of worries, something magic I’d heard other people say about mates. I’d never felt this with my ex. If I hadn’t been so sure he was the wrong one already, this would have shown me.
“So,” Adam said, scooping up another bite of soup. He was eating a lot for someone who’d been so sick earlier, but I didn’t want to comment and remind him, or make him slow down. “So, about your dad?”
Linc set down his fork and smiled. “We have more hope than before. They seem to feel a patient who fights so hard might be a good candidate for some experimental treatments, despite his age.” His voice held such force. “And this team is less prejudiced against older folks.”
“Great news.” Adam grabbed his third roll. “And speaking of news, you asked where I went while you were gone?”
“Yes?” Linc replied. “Did you go out to buy magical medicine that made you feel so much better? Even your color is good again.”
“I did go to the drugstore.” He paused to take a drink of water then a couple of bites of roll, his eyes sparkling. What was he up to? “But I didn’t buy medicine.”
“Come on.” I couldn’t stand the suspense. “What did you buy that made you feel so much better if it wasn’t medicine? A magic wand?”
He sprayed soup with his bark of laughter. When he stopped coughing, he reached in his pocket. “You might say that. I hope you both consider this good news.” He pulled something out, something I recognized from past experience before I knew about my inability to make my ex happy. I held my breath. “It’s not exactly something to pass around at lunch, but here. I’ll hold it up and wash my hands after because it’s probably unsanitary and…”
But Linc snatched it from him and looked at it. “Holy cow. But you’re on suppressants and they’re…”
“They’re 97.7 percent effective.” Adam shrugged. “I checked the package after I took the test.”
“Wait.” Despite knowing what they were saying, it wasn’t sinking in. “Are you saying you’re going to have a baby?”
They both turned to me and dragged me into a group hug. “He’s saying we are going to have a baby, Pace.”
Adam nuzzled my throat. “Are you okay, Pace? It’s more work for everyone.”
“Happy?” The only thing keeping me upright was their embrace. “I’m so happy.” And a little sad it couldn’t be mine.
Linc kissed my forehead and then Adam’s. “It’s all of ours no matter what, but after your history, I understand it this is hard for you.”
Ours was all I heard. Ours. And they meant it, too. I could feel it in the love surrounding me. We were having a baby. Sure, biologically it wouldn’t be mine, but it was what was in our hearts that mattered, and in our heart, this baby belonged to all of us. We were going to have a baby. I was going to be a father—something I’d long given up hope of ever having happen. I was going to be a little bean’s father.
“Our wonderful little baby,” Adam replied, placing his hand on his belly, a belly I couldn’t wait to watch grow. “I hope Penny and Beau are as happy about it as I am.”
“As we are!” Linc and I said in ridiculous near-unison. Then we were all talking over one another, and lunch was forgotten until it was time to go for the kids and pick them up. We agreed that a stop at the ice cream store might be the best way to celebrate and break the news.
Ice cream was a winner for all of us, but when we let Penny order a sundae bigger than her head, she looked suspicious. Not suspicious enough not to dig in, but the comparison between her trough and Beau’s toddler cup was striking. And our Penny was no fool. About ten bites in, she held her spoon up, chocolate syrup running down onto the table and fixed us with her strongest glare. “Is it something bad?”
I swallowed hard, but Linc smiled at her. “Bad?”
She waved the spoon, sending the syrup splattering onto her brother. “This is a sundae for news.”
“News?” Adam chuckled. “There’s a sundae for news?”
“My friend Bonnie said when her dads were getting a divorce, they let her get a whole pizza and cinnamon knots.” Her face clouded, eyes suddenly shiny. “Are you all three getting a divorce?”
I loved how her mind worked. Scary, but amazing. “Penny, I’m not even married to your daddies yet, am I?”
“No?” A question.
“No, but would you like us all to be married?” I took the spoon and wiped her arm free of its sticky trail.
The clouds cleared, and her smile brightened her little face. “Yes. Today.”
We—the adults—all shared a warm glance before Linc chuckled. “Not today, but it’s a good idea, isn’t it?”
She nodded, and he went on. “But you’re right, it’s a ‘news sundae.’”
She frowned.
“A good news sundae.” Linc scooped her up into his lap, and I wiped the rainbow sherbet from Beau’s chin.
Penny snuggled close to her daddy, not even protesting the distance to her ice cream. “What’s the good news? Are we getting a puppy?”
“A baby,” he told her. “We’re going to have a new baby in the family.”
“Good.” She wriggled free and returned to her seat and her sundae. “I hope it’s a girl this time. I’ve wanted a sister my whole life.”
“And you, Beau?” I tickled his belly, and he giggled. “Have you wanted a sister your whole life?”
“Beau wants a puppy,” his sister put in helpfully. “I get a sister, and he gets a puppy.” She shoveled a bite of chocolate ice cream and marshmallow sauce between her lips, grinning. “Yes, that’s what we’ll do.”
We were so relieved at her positive reaction to all the changes in her life, we’d probably get the puppy, too. I loved being part of this family.
Chapter Thirty
Lincoln
“Well, at least we know the morning sickness has passed,” I said, trying not to chuckle too hard at Adam wolfing down a double burger and fries and giving some serious lovey-dovey eye to the salted caramel milkshake in the cupholder.
“I think it’s long past,” Pace said from the back seat, meeting my gaze in the rearview mirror. “And here I thought I’d made him a filling breakfast.”
Adam huffed out a breath and took a sip of his lemonade. “It was filling for about an hour. Then I realized we would be passing this glorious burger place, and, suddenly, I wasn’t full anymore. Magic.”
We stayed silent for a bit while I merged onto the freeway.
“I’ve never been to an ultrasound,” Pace murmured.
We knew that already. He’d mentioned it no less than a dozen times in the last week. Pace was the most excited about this babe coming into our lives. He poured over baby books even though he was the most adept at taking care of them of us all. He had a list of names, and I’d caught him more than once, in the middle of the night, stroking Adam’s belly when he should’ve been asleep.
Our new omega was the cutest damned thing on the face of the earth.
“It’s not a thrill—trust me.” Adam looked down at his burger. “But you are, aren’t you?” I snorted. When he was pregnant, the man could eat us out of house and home.
We’d fawned over Adam in the past months, waiting for t
his moment. We wholeheartedly agreed to find out the sex of the babe since Pace insisted it would give us a little edge. Beau and Penny were excited about having another sibling, and Pace looked happier than ever to have more work on his plate—in the form of daddy duty. No longer was he just the manny. Never really had been.
He was always ours.
“Here we are. Pace, you want to go with Adam, and I will park?”
He nodded and got out, rounding the car to open the door for Adam who refused to give up his milkshake, regardless of the clear sign saying no food or drink in the office.
“I’ll finish it outside while we wait.”
Pace just chuckled and shrugged, giving up. There was no use in fighting a pregger Adam.
I parked the car, and the three of us walked in together. After paying the co-pay and signing the forms, we sat down in the waiting room. Pace’s knee bounced up and down, and he flicked through magazine after magazine, never bothering to look at each page.
“Pace, it’s going to be okay,” I said and reached over Adam to take his hand.
“I know, I’m just excited.”
The nurse called us in, and we were chauffeured to a stark-white room with a bed and machinery next to it—typical room for a doctor. Adam sat on top, cringing at the paper crinkling under his form.
We didn’t have to wait long.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen.” The woman wore pink scrubs and a smile that would comfort the most nervous of fathers.
We all nodded, and she got straight to work. “Well, let’s get down to business. Am I revealing the sex, or are we fond of surprises?” Though we had talked about it nonstop for the last six months, we looked to each other for confirmation.
I cleared my throat and spoke up, “Yes, please. We’d like to know.”
She made a sound of approval. “The alpha speaks. Good to know. Let’s get this show on the road.”
Gently and with sweet words, she guided Adam. He pushed his pants down to reveal his engorged belly, and Pace took my hand at the sight. She squirted some blue gel on his lower belly and got her wand out, ready to see our child.
She hummed a tune while letting us hear the heartbeat. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place, and she took credit for it, saying that was how good her singing was.
“Well, would you look at his little—a son it is.”
Pace tightened his grip on my hand. “A son.”
Even the way he said those two words sounded sexy.
“Thank you,” I said to her and winked at Adam who had more than one tear flowing down his face.
“My measurements are done, and here are the pictures for you. Doc will be in soon. Good luck, you three.”
She left, and I exhaled. We were having a son. I hoped he looked like Pace.
Actually, I didn’t care what he looked like, only that he was ours and he would be healthy and happy.
The doctor came in and told us Adam was gaining weight a little too rapidly, but I already knew that. He referenced Adam’s file and realized that was apparently normal for my husband.
“I’ll switch him to yogurt instead of ice cream,” I said, and knew Adam was making a face at me, probably wanting to flip me off.
“The hell you will. I carry the baby—I decide what I eat,” he answered, smiling.
We got back in the car, and I paused for a moment before driving off.
“Who wants to go baby shopping?”
A sigh came from the backseat—a contented, proud-as-hell sigh. “I’m usually a saver—but today—let’s go spend all my money. We have a son.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Adam
Waddling on a hard tile floor was hard on a pregnant omega’s back. Something I learned after doing so for four hours straight while we waited for word on Pace’s father’s surgery. I tried sitting a few times, but sitting was worse. So, walking the path between the seats and the doors it was.
It definitely didn’t help I was in labor.
Not that my men knew. If they even had an inkling, I’d be in triage instead of here with my omega making sure he had all of the support he deserved. Heck, I’d have been in triage, fighting with Lincoln to go to Pace. Pace came first today. Labor took for-freaking-ever and from the schedule they had given us, chances were good the doctor would be out any minute.
Of course, I had thought so two hours ago.
“Go home and rest, love.” Pace’s arms came around my shoulders, and I leaned into his touch. Not because I wanted it. To the contrary, even my clothes felt too tight. Damn labor. “You need rest. You have work tomorrow.”
Which I wish you would take paternity leave already from went unspoken. Both he and Linc had wanted me to stop working a couple of weeks earlier, but I wanted as much time as I could with our son before going back and with the job being so new, there was not much leave to work with.
At least my new job didn’t suck my soul the way my old one did. Sure, I wasn’t going to climb up the corporate ladder as quickly, but one thing this pregnancy coming at the same time as struggling with the emotions of possibly losing a loved one, for Pace’s dad was very much our family now, taught me was a career was grand and all, but don’t let an opportunity slip by to make a memory with your family to achieve it. Life was too unpredictably short for that.
“I will.” I was such a McLiar pants. “After we hear the good word about your father.” Please let there be good word. From everything the doctor said, this was a hail Mary at best.
“Promise?” He kissed the top of my head. So much for me comforting him.
“Promise.” Yeah, he was going to be mad later. Or maybe our sweet baby boy would make it all better…maybe. I was going with that.
“I brought tea.” Linc spoke behind us. Even he and Pace had given up trying to get a good cup of coffee in this place.
“Thanks.” I grabbed the warm liquid, wanting it not at all, and Pace followed suit. The only reason I drank the stuff was it reminded me of Pace, all Earl Grey and Vanilla cupcakes, and with him beside me, it was unnecessary.
Not that anyone pretended the tea was more than a distraction. Hospital waiting rooms sucked. Royally.
“I ran into Nurse Jaymes, and he said the doctor is cleaning up and then coming out to see us.” Lincoln took a sip of his tea, making a slight face as he did so. I set mine down, his reaction enough to tell me it was a horrible idea.
“It will be okay,” Pace muttered more to himself than us.
“Whatever they say, we are going to make sure he gets the best care ever.” Lincoln wrapped his arms around Pace. “And Jaymes didn’t look upset at all so it had to have gone reasonably well. Jaymes has the worst poker face in the wing.” I wasn’t sure how accurate that was, but it seemed to relax Pace slightly and that worked for me.
A contraction roared through me, and this time, I bent down like I was reaching for the tea. If the doctor took much longer, I wouldn’t be able to hide the increasing pain. The only way I was getting away with it so far was the tension in the air, if I were to take a guess. Acting was not my gift.
The doctor came by just as my contraction let up and called out to Linc. Having a doctor in the family had its advantages. He scurried us into a little room, and, at first, I thought that meant things were not good. You would shout it from the rooftops if things were great, right? Except then I saw the huge HIPAA sign and the smile on the doctor’s face. We were here for no reason other than protocol.
“Pace, your father’s surgery went better than I’d ever dared hope. We need to wait for some tests in the next day or two, but I feel confident he is going to be around to watch your little one play baseball or whatever it is he likes. Your dad it rooting for baseball.” Which we all knew by the little baseball pjs he’d bought him in multiple sizes. He was going to be an amazing grandfather, and from the sounds of it, he was going to have the job for far longer than we’d have thought possible when I first discovered my pregnancy.
“And where do we go from here?
” Pace asked just as I found my pants soaking wet. Just great.
“I think triage,” I mumbled, looking down at the mess I had inadvertently made of myself.
“Your water broke out of nowhere?” Pace gave me his stink-eye.
“Baby Pace was waiting for us to find out about his grandfather.” I shrugged. We hadn’t decided on a name, but this one slipped out and it felt so right. They both seemed to agree, their smiles wide even as their eyes held a tinge of worry.
“Baby Pace needs a time out,” Linc teased.
“He needs out all right,” I grumbled as another contraction came barreling in, this time too forceful for me not to make a noise.
“I guess I’ll walk up to triage with you guys.” The doctor laughed and then did just that. I couldn’t begin to process all the medical mumbo-jumbo he was spurting out, my focus on not screaming or falling or drawing attention to my wet pants. All I knew was it was the best news possible, and joy overflowed my being. Pace wasn’t going to lose his father…not the way we’d thought anyway, and we were going to have a baby. What better day could there be?
Three and a half hours later, I was singing a different tune. Or screaming one, in any case. I managed to blame both of them for every bit of pain and told them more than once they would never touch me again, to which the nurse cracked up each and every time.
By hour six, I was begging for an epidural, something I’d very clearly said in all paperwork not to give me. I may have even threatened the nurse for listening to past me and told her she wouldn’t get any birthday cake next year. Because it was a threat to be taken seriously. Even I rolled my eyes as that one came out. If it weren’t for Linc reminding me how horribly I reacted to my last one, I’d have still been harassing the poor nurse right until the moment the doctor came in telling me it was time to push.
And after five million hours of pushing later, or as Linc told it, ten minutes, the first sounds of our sweet baby boy crying filled the room.
“He’s perfect.” Pace held my hand watching as the nurse cleaned him up and measured him and I wasn’t even sure all what. “Absolutely perfect.”
A Bundle of Mannies Page 55
