Bram gave him a slightly wary look. “Like what?”
Where to start? “I know you got really good grades in school, and that the pups all like you. I know your favorite color is green, and it looks great on you. And I know you’d like to go do more school after you finish here.”
Bram sat up straight and put his fork down with a clatter. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open in surprise. “How did you find that out?”
Duke grinned into his mug. “You’re not the only one who pays attention.”
Bram snorted and picked up his fork again. “I’ll bet Rosie told on me.”
Duke choked on his tea, because Bram was right. “How’d you know?”
“Because I know Rosie.” Bram sighed and stared down at his breakfast, idly twisting his fork back and forth in the spill of egg yolk. “It was only a thought. I know omegas don’t do stuff like that. I have a job and there’s going to be a pup soon, so it’s not like it was ever going to happen anyway.” With an effort that was obvious to Duke, he cut off a small piece of egg white with the side of his fork and put it in his mouth.
Even though he knew that it bothered Bram, Duke couldn’t help himself asking. “What did you want to do?”
Bram sipped at his tea. “Does it matter?” He glanced up at Duke, his eyes full of hurt. “Really, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s not practical anyway.”
Something about this infuriated Duke. That Bram, his mate, who was doing his best in a shitty situation, should have that dream taken from him… Duke had never had any interest in school. He liked his little woodshop, and he was good at the security thing, though to him, it was just a job. But everyone in the pack had to contribute, and sometimes you didn’t get to do the job you really wanted, either because someone else was already doing it, or there wasn’t any need for it in the pack. But if Bram wanted to go to school for something that the pack could use, why shouldn’t he? “Tell me. Why shouldn’t you go to school?”
Bram’s eyes widened. “Because I’m having a pup?”
Duke shrugged. “Like I’ve never changed a diaper. What do you want to do?”
Bram sat back and stared at him in astonishment for a moment, then nodded slowly. “I thought about doing what Adelaide does. She’s a nurse practitioner, right?”
“I think so.”
“Then that.”
Duke ate a mouthful of toast while he thought about the idea. It would be a good job for Bram. The extra hours he’d be working would make organizing the family a little harder, but Duke’s schedule could be flexible. “You really want that?”
Bram nodded. “It’s not really an omega job, but I like the idea. The daycare is okay, but it’s kind of boring. I like the pups, but sometimes my brain just wants something more interesting to do, you know?”
He could see that. Duke had no problem at all with the idea that his mate was smarter than him. And he had no doubt at all that Bram would be a good medic. After all, he noticed things. Lots of things. “Well, I’ll talk to Quin. I know that Cas is done school this year and he’s coming back to help Garrick. There won’t be anyone to run the pack’s house in town for the ones that want to go to school. Maybe we can work a deal. I’ll take over looking after the house, and you can go to school.”
“Duke!” Bram exclaimed, and dropped his fork. He ignored it as it tinged against the floor, and ran around the table to throw himself at Duke. “You mean it?”
“A change is as good as a rest, my granny used to say.” Duke fought off the ferocious hug, but agreed to a kiss or four in exchange. “No guarantees. He might have found someone already, but I’ll ask him.”
Bram slid into his lap and curled against him. “Oh, Duke. Why couldn’t it have been you full moon night?” he whispered.
Yeah, he needed to get his hands on Justin. Someplace where no one would see them. “No matter. It’s you and me now, and Justin can fuck himself with whatever pointy plant is native to Montana.”
Bram snorted and hugged him tighter. “Thank you for being you, Duke.”
“I love you, you crazy shifter. Now go eat, and then we’ll figure out what to do with the rest of our day.”
Bram slid off his lap, but his mood had darkened. “We can still…”
Duke held him close with a hand around his waist. “I’m not forcing you to do something your body doesn’t want. Eat. I promise, we’ll talk about this, but for now, I’d like to enjoy knowing that you do want to be with me. That’s still pretty exciting, to me anyway.”
“Me too.” Bram smiled and accepted another hug. “All right. But I’m holding you to that promise.”
“Good. Now eat, and we can explore the apartment. And hit up Supplies for anything we need.”
“I just need you,” Bram said, before kissing him tenderly and returning to his chair. “Everything else is gravy.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
It felt strange to be in my own place for Christmas. Bax had invited us to have Christmas morning with them, since we were so close, but then Duke had brought home a tree for us, and now I was kind of feeling like keeping it just the two of us, in our little den. The tree was just a small one, and kind of crooked, but I loved it because it was ours. I had it propped up in a corner in a bucket of water and when Duke came home that night, I was sitting in the chair next to it stringing popcorn for decorating.
“I was thinking,” I said to him, “That I should ask for more hours after Christmas.”
He hung up his jacket and lined his sneakers up next to mine by the door. “Why?”
“We could use the pack credits. And I’m almost done school—the only thing I have left is the American History course, which won’t take much time.”
“You finished all your other credits?”
I nodded and set aside my string of popcorn. “The only thing left is the ACT, but I wonder if I shouldn’t do my math and biology over again, to make sure I remember everything. But then I wouldn’t be able to take on extra hours.”
“Whatever works. Just tell me what to do.” Duke wandered into the kitchen and lifted the top on the pot of stew simmering on the stove. “This smells delicious.”
“Thank you.” Though he always said everything smelled delicious and never complained that he didn’t like something. I paid attention to everything he liked and didn’t like, but I still didn’t know if I was actually cooking things he thought tasted good, or if he was just that polite. With the baby already stealing energy from me, though, I’d decided that he was a big boy, and he could make up his own mind about food. “Well, the baby will be here in May, and he or she will be a lot of work. I don’t want to land that on you. And we haven’t heard anything from Quin, so I’m guessing that he doesn’t want to let me go. That’s okay. School isn’t really for omegas, anyway.” I got up to dish supper out, though it was way more effort now than it had been before I got pregnant. None of my notes had prepared me for being ready to go to bed at suppertime at only five weeks along. Ugh. I was going to sleep twenty-four-seven in March at this rate.
I opened the cupboard and got down a couple of plates and some glasses.
Duke stepped out of my way. “If you want to go to school, you should go to school. And it’s my baby too. I don’t see why it should all land on you.”
“What?”
He dug in one of the drawers for forks and knives while I stared at him, dumbfounded. He knew the baby was Justin’s. We’d never really talked about it, walking around the subject like it was a poorly disguised pit trap. I’d never expected that he would help out much with the baby when it came, and I’d already been making plans around keeping the load on him as light as possible. Yes, we loved each other, but the baby wasn’t his responsibility. I didn’t expect him to love it.
For some stupid reason, maybe hope, I was fixed in place, rooted to the floor.
“Would it make you happy?” He looked up from setting the table and watched me silently.
His question broke me out of my froze
n moment, and I carried the plates over to the stove to fill them. “I don’t want to make you unhappy.”
He made a noise, not quite a sigh, but something that carried with it a sense of frustration and disappointment. “If you’re unhappy, I’m going to be unhappy. What does it matter? You’re my mate, there’s a baby coming. The baby did nothing to me, or you, except be conceived. As far as I’m concerned, it’s mine.”
“Oh, Duke.” I was so glad he was mine. I put the plates down and went to hug him. He hugged me back and put a hand on the slight swell of my belly. A hug for the tiny bundle of cells dividing rapidly inside me. Lysoonka, what an amazing man I had.
I thought about it as I ladled the stew onto the plates, sliced thick slabs of the bread I’d made that morning, and brought the food to the table. This put a different spin on the way I’d pictured our future together. Now, it felt even more important that I find some way to be a real mate to him, not just outside the bedroom.
“Maybe I should put off going to school for a year, though.” I put a hand on my belly and considered. “I might change my mind later and it would be a waste of credits.” After all, omegas were made for having babies. Maybe I’d decide I wanted to just be a mate and a bearer and work enough hours in the daycare to cover credits for me and my pups. And as tired as I was now, I couldn’t imagine how tired I’d be later. Could I even manage a pup, a mate, and schoolwork? I loved him. He was my best friend, joyful discovery. And it felt right, having someone to look after, to look after me. To come home, to a home.
“Are you worrying about me again?” Duke asked, a smile curling his lips.
“Duuuuuke,” I said.
“Stop. How many times have we had this discussion? I’m beginning to think you’re afraid to go.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but paused to think about it before I said anything. Was I afraid? Maybe a little. “It’s… It’s just different, you know?”
“I know. Made me nervous the first time I went outside walls.” He reached across the table to me and squeezed my hand. “If it helps, I sat down with Quin and Abel this week, and we’re good for credits. We’re just going to run a debt for a bit after you start working again, but I’m okay with that. You’ll earn a ton of credits, I can take on some extra shifts. We’ll get by. And Quin’s offered a deal on the tuition money you’ll need—he’s absolutely slavering at the idea of getting another medic.”
“You sure?”
“Most animated I’ve ever seen the man. I was worried for a moment he was going to kiss me,” Duke said dryly, and picked up his fork. “Eat. You’ve got someone else to think about now too.”
I picked up my fork, but couldn’t resist. “You don’t think he’s cute?”
“Not as cute as my mate. Now, get that into you. It’s too delicious to go to waste.”
I laughed at him, then scooped up some turnip and brought it to my mouth, but something—I don’t know—the smell, the shape, the texture? As soon as I put it in my mouth, I had to get it out. Now.
I raced for the bathroom, everything I’d eaten all day gurgling up my throat, and made it just in time to lose the piece of turnip and my afternoon tea into the toilet. “Dammit.”
“You okay?” Duke asked behind me. A large warm hand landed on my back, and my glass of water from the table appeared in front of me. “Here, rinse your mouth.”
“You sound like you know what you’re doing,” I commented, then took the glass.
“My misspent youth in the barracks,” he said, his tone amused.
“Mmm,” I answered, and rinsed my mouth. “I hope this isn’t the flu.”
He put a hand on my forehead and I closed my eyes and savored the feeling. It still didn’t raise the goosebumps it would have before Justin, but I liked the touch of his hand against my skin. I was glad the omega bond was only physical—my heart could still go where it wanted.
“You don’t feel warm,” he said. “Did you eat something today that didn’t sit well?”
I shook my head and stood up a little shakily. “No.” I smiled up at Duke and took the hand that had just been on my forehead. “I think I’m fine now.” He smiled worriedly at me and took his hand back. I picked up my glass. “Thank you. Let’s go eat.”
But when I got back to the kitchen, the smell of the stew turned my stomach again, and I ended up lying on the couch in the living room with the window open, freezing us out, while Duke shoveled his meal into his mouth, then packed away the food I couldn’t seem to stomach even without eating it.
“I’m sorry,” I groaned from the living room.
“I’m going to call Adelaide and see if she can look at you,” he told me, worry evident in his tone.
“No, don’t, it’s okay. It’s probably just a small bug. I’ll be fine tomorrow.”
Except I wasn’t.
Christmas Eve saw me eat a good breakfast, but as the day wore on, my stomach got pickier and pickier about what I could put in it. When I put a plate in front of Duke at supper and tried to retreat to the living room, he stopped me.
“You were fine this morning. What’s going on? The truth, Bram. You’re not inconveniencing me.”
“I think maybe I do need to go see Adelaide.” I was wearing a pair of jeans that normally hung loose on me, but they were—not tight, but snug, today. Only around my waist and my hips, though. The jeans I’d planned to wear today had been uncomfortably tight. It couldn’t be the baby yet, though, right? I still had time before I was out of normal clothes and begging for maternity stuff according to the Sex Ed notes.
“Why? Is it the baby?” He stood up and examined me closely. “You do look pale.”
“Eat your food and I’ll call her.” No question of leaving him home while I went to see her, that was obvious, and I was grateful. So while he finished his meal, I called the clinic receptionist, who told me to come right over.
It was snowing, probably our only snow of the year, but it was nice to have a white Christmas. Except that it made the walk over to the clinic cold. I curled in under Duke’s arm and wished I could crawl inside his jacket and suck the heat out of him like I did at night. We trudged silently through the cold until we’d reached the entrance to the clinic. It was dark, only the one tiny light outside the door. “Crap,” I said with feeling while Duke knocked on the door. “She must be ready to go home.”
Duke cast me an amused glance, but before he could say anything, the door opened and Adelaide ushered us in.
“What’s the problem, Bram?” she asked.
“He’s been sick,” Duke put in before I could say anything. “And tired. But the throwing up is what I’m most worried about.”
“And my pants don’t fit,” I added in a quiet voice.
Adelaide’s startled glance told me that I’d been right to suspect this wasn’t normal. “Come on back,” she said. “Let me have a look at you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Twins. They were having twins. Probably anyway. Duke felt like he was going to be torn apart, by the giddy excitement of two babies, and the heavy knowledge that they were of Justin’s line.
Bram was quiet beside him as they walked home and it occurred to him that this pregnancy was going to be much tougher on him than they’d anticipated.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” he said, hoping to reassure his mate.
“Yeah,” Bram said quietly.
“No extra hours,” Duke told him. Adelaide had given them a book to read on having twins when the blood test had come back with suspiciously high hormone levels, then had complicated matters by telling them that the combination of Bram’s omega status and his age was going to make this pregnancy more risky than an ordinary one. They were going to have to go to the clinic outside walls for an ultrasound to be sure, and to check for any other problems. They were also going to have to see a human obstetrician, one of the few who also occasionally saw shifters.
“I don’t have the particular experience to deal with this. Not that I’m certain h
e will, but he’ll at the least have more equipment,” she’d told them. Bram had gone pale and it nearly killed Duke that the only thing he could really offer was a squeeze of his hand in support.
Duke held the door open for Bram to go inside and followed him in. Bram moved like a sleepwalker, fumbling his jacket off and stumbling out of his shoes. Duke took the jacket from him. “I’ll hang this up. Why don’t you get into your pajamas and I’ll make something easy on the stomach for you.”
“But you worked all day,” Bram said. Duke’s words seemed to have woken him from his daze.
“I’m not building two future packmembers. You go ahead, I’ll make food, then we can look at this book.”
Bram threw it an uncertain look. “Okay.” But his tone sounded anything but okay. He shambled off to his bedroom and closed the door, and Duke set the book on the tiny kitchen table and checked the refrigerator for eggs. They’d be good—lots of protein, lots of vitamin A, not too hard on the stomach. Bram could eat them in little bites. He picked three out of the carton and was scrambling them into a bowl as Bram came back out of the bedroom.
“I can do that,” Bram said.
“Sit,” Duke told him. “It’s fine. I was in bachelor’s quarters for a decade—I can scramble an egg and not give you food poisoning.” He smiled at Bram, and was pleased at getting a smile back in return, even if it was kind of tentative.
While Duke cooked the eggs, Bram picked up the book and began looking through it. He didn’t say anything, just went from page to page, his eyes sadder than Duke had ever seen. Duke watched the eggs as they went from translucent to opaque, poking idly at them with the wooden spatula while he retooled his plans for the next year. He’d guessed—and he’d have to check with Adelaide to be sure—that Bram was going to need a lot more help farther along in the pregnancy, and after the babies came, which meant the extra hours he’d been working to build up school credits for Bram would have to be cut back. He could talk to Abel about putting up a shed behind the house, something that could be turned into a playhouse once Duke and Bram had a bigger place. That way, he could be near to look after Bram—they were going to need two cradles now, and two high chairs, and eventually two beds, all of which he could build. It would keep the dirt and dust out of the apartment too.
Duke's Baby Deal (MM Mpreg Shifter Romance) (Mercy Hills Pack Book 3) Page 12
