Nico slid his hands around my waist from behind and kissed the back of my neck. “Plus, you keep getting stolen from us.”
I leaned back against him and turned my head to kiss his cheek. “You act like you like me, or something,” I teased.
“Just a little bit,” he whispered in my ear, resting his hands on my stomach.
“Everyone,” Katar called.
The music stopped and everyone quieted.
“Thank you for coming to celebrate my birthday,” Katar said, looking out over the crowd. “You’ve all made this one special day.” His eyes settled on me and his smile widened. “So, let’s enjoy the night with drinks and food!”
Everyone clapped and a dozen people came out of the main house, carrying trays of food.
“Food,” I whispered, my stomach grumbling in agreement.
All four of my mates chuckled.
“I’ll get her food,” Fox said, kissing my cheek as he walked by.
“There are some seats over here,” Deryn said, pointing to tables that had been set up.
I was incredibly unobservant tonight. I hadn’t seen any of them.
“What’s wrong?” Nico asked, coming to walk on my side as we headed to the tables.
“Just realizing I’m unobservant tonight,” I admitted.
“You’ve got a lot on your mind,” he said, linking our fingers together.
I leaned my shoulder against his as we walked. “Everything is going to be alright, isn’t it?”
He squeezed my hand and smiled. “Yes, my queen. Everything is going to be just fine.”
Fox brought me a huge plate of food and then sat with me while the others went to make their plates.
I sat with the four most important men in my life, eating at a birthday party for one of my fathers-in-law, and silently stressed. A baby was a huge change. We wouldn’t be able to go out whenever we wanted. We wouldn’t have free time. I would have a tiny being who depended on me to survive. Our lives would be focused on keeping this new being alive and healthy.
Fox set his hand on my leg while talking to the others. It did nothing to ease my worry.
I hadn’t planned to have a child yet. Yes, I wanted a child, but not until we were safe. Though, if I were honest with myself, we were never safe. There were always random threats and there would always be evil in the world.
We had so much work to do to baby-proof the house. There were so many things we needed to buy. I didn’t even know what dragon, wolf, mage, or elf babies were like. Did we run the risk of a dragon baby burning down the nursery?
Nursery. We needed to convert one of the rooms into a nursery.
“Jolie,” Deryn whispered in my ear, his chin coming to rest on my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s so much to do before the baby comes,” I whispered.
He wrapped his arms around me. “We have plenty of time. We can figure out all the things we need to do tomorrow, and make a game plan. Okay?”
“I’m just not prepared,” I whispered, closing my eyes. “I wasn’t expecting this yet.”
“None of us were,” he reminded me. “But, we have each other, and we will get through it together.”
He was right, but that didn’t stop me from worrying.
“Have some cake,” Rhys said, sliding a big slice of white cake with chocolate frosting on the table in front of me.
“Cake!” I gasped, leaning away from Deryn to grab a fork.
Deryn was right. We had each other. We could make a plan and get everything in order in the next six months.
I hoped.
Chapter 10
Deryn
Jolie was pregnant. I stared at the wall of my bedroom, letting it sink in fully. Last night, when we had confirmed it, I’d wanted to steal her away and hide her from everyone.
My little siren was so danger prone, and I could not bear the thought of her or our child being injured.
I felt bad for wishing the child was mine, but I knew the others felt the same. We all wanted the child to be sired by us, but we would still love and raise the child as our own, even if it wasn’t truly ours. What mattered, was that it was Jolie’s.
I had wanted to cry in joy, knowing that she was pregnant. We had all been worried she wouldn’t be fertile enough to conceive, but that was obviously not the case.
“Hey,” Rhys said from my doorway.
“What’s up?” I asked, turning to face him.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“The baby,” I admitted.
He smiled, no, beamed. Rhys rarely beamed like that. “It’s pretty awesome, right?”
I nodded. “I can’t wait to see what the baby looks like.”
“I know most dads want sons, but I would love to have a miniature Jolie running around,” he said.
I felt the same.
“We’re about to head out for the shopping trip,” he said. “That’s why I came to get you.”
“Oh, right.”
Jolie had decided she wanted to go to a baby store to look at furniture and begin decorating the nursery. We knew it would help ease her stress, or hoped it would, so we all agreed to go with her.
I followed Rhys down to the garage, where everyone was already inside one of our SUVs. Dad had ordered us to keep a guard and driver at all times, now that Jolie was pregnant. I knew he was just as excited as we were.
“Morning,” I greeted Ezio.
Ezio nodded, but his eyes were focused on Jolie, who was fumbling with a pad of paper in her lap in the front passenger seat. Normally, I would have been jealous or angry at his attention on her, but for once, I was glad to have him. Ezio loved Jolie, and he would sacrifice himself in an instant for her. When I had told him Jolie was pregnant, he’d become even more protective. He hovered near her, ready to catch her if she tripped or fainted. Part of me knew that I should be the one hovering, but I also knew Jolie would hate to have us fawning over her so closely. She liked to be independent and strong, which she was, but for some reason, Ezio fawning over her didn’t make her upset. Perhaps it was her knowledge that he wasn’t her mate, so he was just being a doting friend? I wasn’t certain. But, I could endure his presence, knowing it meant she would be safer.
“Buckle up,” Ezio ordered Jolie.
She complied without even an eye roll.
She would have growled had I ordered her.
What was it about her exes that made her more compliant? Was she just more likely to rebel when it was a true authority figure, like her alpha or her mates? That had to be it.
“Do you have your list?” I asked her.
Fox rolled his eyes at me, and Nico snickered softly.
“Right here!” she announced happily, waving the pad of paper.
She’d become obsessed with lists lately.
“Alright, then let’s go!” I said, smiling at her and sending all the love I felt for the beautiful woman in the front seat down our bond.
She still hadn’t figured out how to communicate telepathically through the bond yet. Fox and Nico had tried to work with her on it, but she just became frustrated and angry. So, we decided to set that task aside until she wasn’t so stressed out.
“She quit,” Nico said through our warrior bond, his head tilted so I could see his face.
My entire body tensed. “What?” I asked, turning to face him fully.
“She sent in her resignation this morning,” he explained. “She told me that she was too stressed with the baby to even think about work and since we had all told her before she could quit and we would provide for her, she did it.”
Wow. I never thought she would quit her job. She loved it. That’s why we hadn’t pushed her too much, because we could tell she truly loved her work.
“I should be happy,” I whispered out loud to him, “but this just makes me worry even more.”
He nodded. “Same.”
Chapter 11
Jolie
The store I had chosen was thre
e stories tall and had everything I would need for the baby. My mates hung back together, whispering to each other. Normally, I would have been irritated, but I had more important things on my mind.
“Ezio, can you get a shopping cart?” I asked. Ezio had been hovering over me ever since Dan had assigned him to me.
I had expected Deryn to growl at Ezio by now, but he hadn’t so much as twitched his lip.
I glanced over at my mates.
They all smiled at me.
Suspicious.
I had known they would be happy once I was pregnant, but I’d underestimated how happy they would be. I had also underestimated the kings’ reactions. Katar had warned me my mates would be overprotective, but the kings were much worse. Dan had tried to convince me to move into his house at the wolf den, stating it would be safer than our house. I had politely declined, and he had assigned Ezio to guard me.
Ezio returned with a cart. “Do you want to push it, so you can lean on it?” he asked, his brows narrowed.
I chuckled and patted his arm. “I’m barely pregnant, Ezio. I don’t need help walking.”
“I could carry you,” he offered.
I put my hands on my hips. “You will do no such thing! I am perfectly capable of walking.”
Fox slid his arm around my waist, and pulled me into his side. “I’ll keep an arm around her,” he said.
Ezio nodded in approval, and we started down the first aisle of the store.
The first stop was bottles. I stared at the wall of bottles. There were dozens of different shapes and sizes, and so many different nipple options that I didn’t know where to begin. Some were marketed for werewolves and others for dragons. Maybe I should have waited until we found out who the sire was before choosing?
“Just get one of each,” Fox suggested. “We can see what works and get more of that winning item.”
I smiled and kissed his cheek. “Good idea.”
Rhys leapt up to grab a bottle off the third shelf, and Deryn jumped up to grab one from the second shelf, tossing them into the cart Ezio was still standing behind.
“You could just ask for help,” a store attendant said with a chuckle.
I turned and the older woman smiled at me. “First child?” she guessed.
I nodded.
“Who’s the father?” she asked.
I glanced at my mates and bit my lip. “Um…”
“We are,” All four said at the same time.
Her eyes widened. “Well, that doesn’t really narrow down the specifics, but I suppose it is better to plan for every possibility. If you give me your list, I can help you find the items you need.”
“Thanks, but I would prefer to look on my own,” I told her, clutching my list a bit tighter.
“Nonsense, the Princess of the Four Clans of Jinla shouldn’t have to do the shopping herself,” she said, stepping closer to me with her hand out.
Ezio shot between us, his teeth bared. “She said, ‘no thank you.’ So, please leave her alone.”
The woman had immediately taken several steps back, her eyes wide. “Yes, sir,” she said and disappeared off into the store.
“Ezio,” I said with a sigh.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, dropping his head and going back to the cart.
“We’ll get the rest of the bottles,” Fox said, giving my side a squeeze.
I kissed his cheek and walked to Ezio, bumping my hip into his. “Hey. Talk to me.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry. I just hate it when people can’t take a hint. Or, straight answers. You clearly stated you didn’t want her help. I don’t want you getting stressed out or worked up. It could negatively impact the baby.”
I hugged him, and he rested his chin on top of my head with a sigh. “Ezio, you are not responsible for me and the baby. Yes, we appreciate you being here to help keep me safe, but you don’t need to stress yourself out trying to keep me from being stressed. You being stressed is going to stress me out. Understand?”
He growled and grumbled something that sounded like agreement, so I patted his back and continued on the shopping trip.
After three hours, I finally conceded defeat, leaning heavily against Fox as Deryn and Rhys paid for the shopping cart full of items we had gathered to purchase.
“What do you want to do now?” Fox asked, and rubbed his hand up and down my left arm.
“I think it’s time to take you guys bulk food shopping,” I said.
“More shopping?” Nico asked.
“We should eat first,” I advised. “That way we aren’t hungry while we’re there.”
“Plus, you need food,” Ezio said, holding out a water bottle.
I drank it without argument and nodded. “I am hungry.”
“Where would you like to eat?” Fox asked.
“Anywhere is fine,” I said.
“Let’s eat somewhere that’s quick, so we can do our shopping, and then get her home,” Nico suggested.
Fox nodded in agreement.
“Ready?” Deryn asked from the register. The cart was now full of shopping bags.
“Ready,” I called back, heading towards them.
“We’re going to get some quick food, and then Jolie wants to take us to another shopping place,” Fox explained.
“This shopping trip wasn’t enough for you?” Rhys teased.
I stuck my tongue out at him, ignoring his taunting.
They packed our purchases into the back, then went through a drive-through, purchasing ten bags of food. I scarfed down three burgers and a large fry before we reached the grocery store I had directed Ezio to.
“This looks like a regular grocery store,” Deryn said.
“It’s their bulk aisle that we’re interested in today,” I explained.
“I thought you were going to take us to that store where you can buy a hundred rolls of toilet paper at once,” Nico said.
I chuckled. “No, that will have to be a different day. I don’t have the energy for that store.”
We all climbed out, and Deryn grabbed a shopping cart, standing on it and using one foot to propel it faster down the aisles.
“To the left, and then it will be the back right corner,” I directed Deryn.
He nodded, sliding the cart around the corner without tipping it over.
“He’s such a child,” Fox said with a sigh.
I laughed. “You’re one to talk.”
He opened his mouth in mock shock. “Me?”
I kissed his cheek. “Your childlike joy is part of what I love about you.”
He smirked, but said nothing.
Deryn did a small circle and then pushed his cart forward again, giving me a perfect view of his ass.
“Stop staring at his butt,” Fox grumbled.
I snickered. “Well, it’s there for my viewing. I can’t help it.”
“I need to do more squats,” Fox mumbled.
Nico laughed and patted Fox’s shoulder. “Just accept that Deryn’s got the nicest butt out of all of us.”
“No,” Fox said. “I refuse to lose.”
“What are you losing?” Ezio asked.
“Nicest ass,” Fox replied.
Ezio threw back his head and laughed, the sound echoing off the tall shelves of the store.
We finally made it to the bulk food section and I smiled at my gathered guys. “Here. You take these bags.” I tore a bag from the roll. “And, you fill it up with food from one of the bins.”
“What do the bins hold?” Rhys asked, peering over at them.
“Spices, pasta shells, trail mix, chocolate, and more,” I explained.
They looked at the bins with wide eyes.
“So, go ahead and get whatever you want,” I said, heading towards the first bin where I could see malt chocolate balls.
“We just fill up the bags with as much of whatever item we want?” Fox asked.
I nodded. “And they charge you by weight.”
Rhys started down the aisles, looking at each item.
Deryn tore off five bags, and began spooning out various things into them.
“Make sure you label them with the item number from the bins,” I called out before I forgot.
“Candy!” Fox called from the other side of the bins I was on.
I chuckled.
“Your mates are very easily entertained,” Ezio said.
“They don’t get out to experience human establishments often. The first time they went to a grocery store was a year ago when I had the flu.”
“That must have been one strange trip,” Ezio said. “I don’t think Deryn has ever been around a sick human before.”
“They thought I was dying,” I said with a smirk.
He laughed. “I can imagine.”
“Clearly you’ve been around humans more often than them,” I commented. Truthfully, I knew very little about what had happened to Ezio between us breaking up and seeing him at the Summit.
He nodded. “I dated a couple humans, so I have a little experience with them.”
“Someday, I’d like to hear your story,” I told him, scooping some malt balls into my bag.
“Okay,” he agreed.
“These bags aren’t big enough,” Rhys complained.
“Can we just take the entire barrel?” Deryn asked.
I laughed and shook my head. “No, just use the small bags. If you want to get a huge amount, we can order it. This was just supposed to be an adventure into the lives of humans for you. We don’t buy huge bulks like you do, since we eat a lot less. One of these bags filled with taco seasoning lasted me over a year.”
“A year?” Nico asked, scowling at the bag in his hand. “That’s a long time.”
“Well, I only made one pound of meat at a time, since I only ate a couple tacos each night,” I admitted.
“Now you eat at least a pound of beef each night,” Fox said. I still couldn’t see him, since he was on the next aisle, but I could hear him just fine.
“And I suppose I’ll be eating even more now?” I asked.
Ezio, Nico, Rhys, and Deryn all nodded their heads in response.
“You should pick out some treats,” Nico said. “So we can keep them on hand when you get a craving.”
Royally Enraged: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (Her Royal Harem Book 4) Page 8
