The Baby Shift- Idaho

by Becca Fanning

  But as good as that news was, all Sadie could focus on was the fact that it was nearly 10:30 and Josh hadn’t said a word to her.

  Seeing how distressed she was, Mike offered to loan her his car so he could take the truck back to its parking spot.

  “You look pretty beat, and you have to be at the kitchen early tomorrow morning to make those scones,” was his reasoning.

  Sadie relented because she couldn’t face the prospect of driving the twenty minutes to the parking lot before making the half-hour trip home. She knew she’d be crying before she even made it halfway to the kitchen, and she doubted the bakers who always stayed late wouldn’t take kindly to her emotional display.

  She was turning the keys in Mike’s little vintage red Saab when she felt Josh’s presence behind her.

  Chapter 7

  Josh felt small and fragile as he stood behind Sadie. He’d been feeling like that for days, ever since he’d unexpectedly shifted at the kitchen on Monday afternoon.

  It had happened so suddenly there hadn’t been time to hide. One minute, he was whisking molasses into barbecue sauce, thinking about how the color reminded him of the underwear Sadie had worn on their last date, and the next he was covered in fur, his legs leading him to the pantry, his senses pointing him to the shelf stocked with organic, grass-fed local red meat.

  By the end of the binge, Josh had consumed almost $500 of supplies, including but not limited to 25 packages of ground turkey, fifteen pounds of chuck steak, and a whole container of ribs that had been soaking in brine for the following days’ special. He had eaten through two days’ worth of lunches and thousands of dollars in profits.

  Josh normally shifted rarely, during full moons and after the one bar fight he’d ever been in. But he knew that this was no ordinary shift. This was one born of passion. It might have just involved him eating his way through the pantry, but Josh knew that if other humans had been around, they, rather than the animal meat, might have been the recipients of his claws and teeth.

  It had taken half an hour of calming down and some serious bribes to his meat guy to get things back in order, both in himself and in the kitchen. Thankfully, none of the other kitchens had been occupied when the shift happened, which at least meant Josh didn’t have to explain his true nature to the whole of the building. Just his team.

  They had all reacted differently. Gracie, who had initially found him curled up asleep in the fridge, a half-gnawed rib in his paw, was scared, Andy was angry, and Fatima was oddly calm. When asked why, she had shrugged and said, “I already knew. Two of my cousins are werewolves. I know the signs.”

  Josh had hoped when he first moved back to Boise that he would be able to keep his wolf side a secret. He’d managed to go his whole life without it ever being a problem. In fact, no one other than his parents knew his true nature. But he knew exactly why it had suddenly become a problem after all this time: Sadie.

  The same thing had happened to Josh’s dad. The first time he had shifted unexpectedly was the day he met Josh’s mom, and from that point onward, whenever things got particularly passionate or heated between them, out went Warren Campbell, quiet dentist and father of three, and in came the fur and the claws and the growling. Furniture, cars, appliances, even Josh’s hamster, Mr. Fuzzies, were all fair game when Warren was in wolf mode.

  It was terrifying to watch, especially as a kid, even if it was usually out of love for his mom and nothing else. When Josh was a kid, it didn’t matter that his dad was shifting and wreaking havoc because he was so consumed with passion for his mom. In the eyes of an eight-year-old, a monster was a monster, no matter how sweet the cause of its transformation. And Josh’s dad was definitely a monster after what he’d done to Mr. Fuzzies. Even twenty years later, Josh still shuddered when he thought about the poor mangled animal.

  By the time Josh’s parents had finally gotten it through his head that his dad’s shifting wasn’t a bad thing, it had been too late. Josh would forever associate shifting with fear and resentment. Couple that with the awkwardness of knowing that whenever his dad had shifted, it had been because he was overcome with affection for his mom, and Josh had sworn off any sort of relationship that might lead to a similar state of being in himself.

  It was why he’d avoided relationships for most of his life. One-night stands were fine, even month or two-long flings were okay, but anything more than that and he knew he was in trouble. The minute he looked at a woman and started to look forward to seeing her every day, to fantasize about waking up next to her, Josh knew it was time to bail. He should have known the minute he smelled Sadie, the minute he felt like he couldn’t let go of her, that he was in more danger than he’d ever been in before.

  But no matter how dangerous it was, he wanted her. He wanted her in his life. He had no idea how he was going to handle himself in the long-term, but he could think about that later. Right now, he needed to explain himself and beg for her forgiveness. Hopefully, she’d accept him. Otherwise, Josh was pretty sure there was another meat-fueled angst session in his future.

  When Sadie finally turned around, Josh tried to tamp down his reaction, which was one of mixed delight and terror. Delight, because she looked beautiful, if a little tired and sad, and terror, because her beauty was stirring up emotions he’d spent the last few days trying in vain to shove to the very bottom of his soul.

  “Hi,” she whispered, her eyes doing a sweep over his figure. Josh knew he looked haggard. He hadn’t been sleeping well, and he’d been running himself ragged rehearsing what he was going to say. He’d even let the team handle the prep for the market the night before, worried that one look at the new set of ribs brining would send him over the edge again. The last thing he or the business needed was a wolf shift in the middle of the dinner prep.

  “Hey. I wanted to come talk to you,” he said, rubbing his hand over the fine hairs at the back of his neck, something he always did when he was nervous.

  “Cool. What about?” Sadie asked, and Josh could tell she was purposefully being chilly toward him. Her easy, bright smile was gone, as was the shine in her eyes. Her shoulders were hunched up toward her ears, and she was standing like she was ready to go to battle. He had done this. He had made her this way. Damn it. Why had he ever talked to her in the first place? What had made him think he would ever be ready for a real relationship, given his...difficulties?

  Stop, he told himself. That’s your insecurities talking. If she likes you, she’ll be with you through this. She’ll support you while you figure this out. And in return, you will repay her with a thousand orgasms.

  “About me avoiding you. There’s a reason. I haven’t just ghosted you the last few days, and tonight, because I’m a jerk,” he said.

  Sadie raised an eyebrow at him, and he backtracked. “Okay, fine. I am a jerk, but I swear there’s a reason why. Just let me explain, okay?”

  Sadie nodded, and Josh exhaled, glad for the opportunity to redeem himself in her eyes. He didn’t want her to walk away writing him off as yet another asshole. He wanted, needed, her to understand.

  “So, you know how there are shifters in the world? Like werebears and werewolves and weredragons?” he asked.

  “Yeah…” she said, clearly unsure where he was going with this.

  “Well, I’m one of them. A shifter, I mean. A werewolf, to be exact. And for some reason, the men in my family shift when they feel very...passionate. In love,” he said, the word making him squirm as he said it.

  Sadie stared at him, clearly not getting it. He was going to have to be more direct, and it was going to be awkward. But then, what part of the last few days, during which Gracie had visibly flinched whenever he entered the truck or kitchen, hadn’t been awkward?

  “Basically, when I’m really into a girl, I shift. And I’m really into you. And the other day, the day after we hooked up at my apartment, I shifted in my industrial kitchen, ate through my meat supply for the next three days, and scared the living shit out of one of my employe
es. She still can’t look me in the eye, and I had to really test my morals to get my meat guy to give me extra chuck for the week.”

  Josh had been trying to be funny with that last bit, but it was instantly obvious that Sadie had not appreciated his attempt at humor.

  “So, let me get this straight. You shifted into a wolf and destroyed half your fridge and you’re blaming me? And not only that, but you ghosted me for days, using the excuse of your “family stuff,” which was a lie, after we’d been on a bunch of amazing dates and gotten to third base? And now I’m supposed to what, exactly? What are you expecting from me?”

  “I’m expecting...forgiveness, I guess. Understanding,” Josh said, his soft a contrast to her raised one.

  Sadie shook her head, her posture straightening from its hunched position. The light came back into her eyes, but this time, it wasn’t the spark of happiness Josh saw in her hazel irises. It was fiery ire, and it was all aimed at him.

  “Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning? Why not be honest with me? Do you not trust me? Because I trusted you. I trusted you so much that I told you about my miscarriage, Josh. That was huge for me. You’re the first guy I’ve told since it happened,” she said, and Josh winced when he saw tears forming in her eyes. Fuck, he was messing this up.

  “I know,” Josh said, realizing that he was really fucking this up and scrambling for some way to fix it. “I’m so sorry, Sadie. I fucked up, I know I did. I should’ve told you, but you gotta understand. I’ve never…” he broke off, shaking his head.

  “You’ve never what?” Sadie asked. She spat the question out, but at least she hadn’t walked away yet. That had to be a good sign, or at the very least, not an entirely bad one.

  “I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve actually spent my whole life expressly trying to avoid this feeling because I knew what it would do to me.”

  Josh had expected to get some sympathy for that, but to his surprise, Sadie not only scoffed, but she walked forward and shoved him. And again. And again. Until Josh was pinned against the chain-link fence that surrounded the parking lot, the rusted metal digging into his back.

  Sadie’s face was mere inches away from him as she spoke. “So, you’re saying you want to avoid me?” she whispered, her voice deadly serious as she glared at him.

  “No,” Josh was quick to answer. “No. I don’t want to avoid you. Jesus, Sadie. If you’d let me get a word in edgewise, you’d know that I want to do the exact opposite of that!”

  “Wait..” Sadie whispered, pulling back slightly. “What?”

  Josh took her face in his hands and brought it back, close to his. “I want to be with you, Sadie. I know I’m a mess, and I’ve got a lot of stuff to work through, but I want to be with you. If, that is, you want to be with me. I know it’s a lot to process, with the wolf thing, and the shifting, but…”

  Sadie cut him off with a kiss. It was not a soft kiss, a gentle caress of her mouth on his, but rather an assault. She bit and sucked at Josh’s lips, and Josh moaned in pleasure, loving how rough she was. He dragged his hands from her face down her body, cupped her breasts through her dress and loving the soft mewl Sadie gave at his touch. Her body fit perfectly against his, like they were made to be entwined, made to wrap each other up in arms and heat and kisses and lust and love that couldn’t be quelled even by the honk of Mike as he drove the food truck out of the parking lot, shouting “Get it on!” as he passed. Nothing could stop their momentum.

  Chapter 8

  “Josh! Get in here and taste this!” Sadie yelled, giggling when she realized just how sexual that had sounded.

  She was standing in front of the new robin’s egg-blue KitchenAid mixer that Josh had bought her for her birthday. It held pride of place on their countertop, alongside Josh’s beloved slow cooker and her prized collection of vintage whisks.

  It had been just over six months since they’d opened their joint food truck, Gem State Eats and Sweets, and sales were good. Great, actually. They were making enough money to pay both their salaries as well as those of Mike and Josh’s team of three. The truck was open from 9-7 six days a week, and in their downtime they were both constantly testing new recipes.

  On the counter in front of Sadie now was a pecan shortbread jammie dodger, a riff on a traditional British biscuit with a vanilla shortbread base studded with fresh pecans from the farmer’s market and filled with a cherry jam Sadie had made herself. She was pretty sure they were one of the best cookies she had ever made, but pregnancy had made her taste buds a little weird, so she wanted a second opinion.

  “Sorry, was just reading your boyfriend’s column,” Josh joked as he walked into their kitchen. Sadie rolled his eyes at the jibe. Ryan Senesi’s interview with her a year ago had turned into a collaboration, wherein he reviewed restaurants each week and Sadie recreated one of the desserts from the restaurant menu. The column was one of the newspaper’s most popular ever, and a local publishing company had recently contacted Sadie about creating a collection of recipes based on it. They had offered her an advance of $10,000, which was just enough to cover the cost of the baby’s room. Sadie was going to send the contract off tomorrow.

  But first, cookies.

  “Okay, so these are the shortbread jammie dodgers I was talking about, but I added a little almond extract. What do you think?” Sadie asked, picking up a cookie from the tray in front of her and holding it up to Josh. He dutifully took a bite and moaned in appreciation.

  “Fuck, that’s good,” he said, grabbing the cookie from Sadie and devouring the rest.

  “Really? The almond isn’t too overpowering? Because I thought—” but Josh cut her off with a kiss.

  Sadie giggled at first as he nipped at her lips, but the giggle quickly turned to a moan when Josh’s hands snuck under her apron to find her nipples.

  Sadie had been baking in a tank top and undies, the kitchen too hot for much else, even though it was winter and therefore freezing outside. The tank top was old and stretched out, meaning it already sat low on her breasts, and that was before they had expanded in pregnancy. Now, she was one move away from a nip-slip, and that was with her apron on.

  Josh, however, did not seem to mind this, if the way he was tweaking the stiffened peaks of her nipples was anything to go by. Sadie loved the way he handled her breasts. He always said she had the best tits in the world, and she had to agree. Even bloated like they were now, they were still a sight, with dark pink nipples, round areolas and a slight tip tilt that made them perfect for squeezing.

  Pregnancy had also made them more sensitive, which was why, instead of just being a little aroused as she watched Josh open his mouth and suck one inside, Sadie was a minute away from coming. Hard. Against the countertop.

  “Josh, I’m close,” she whispered, her voice low and scratchy as she grabbed his head and pushed it closer to her, trying to get his mouth to envelop her fully. It was impossible, she knew, but a girl could dream.

  “Wait, I’m not done with you yet,” he said, letting her breast drop out of his mouth. Sadie was about to give a groan of frustration at the loss of contact, the loss of his sweet tongue on her nipple, when Josh dropped to his knees.

  His hands trailed up her legs while his head dove under her apron, and suddenly, Sadie wasn’t so upset about the lack of attention on her breasts anymore, because now it was her clitoris that was getting all the action.

  In the year they had been together, Josh had gone from a clitoral novice to an expert with the organ, learning exactly how and where to lick to make Sadie come not once, not twice, but often three or four or, on their anniversary, five times.

  He was doing an admirable job right now, running his tongue up and down, side to side and, her favorite, in a circle, making Sadie feel like her pelvis was full of sparkles and her head filled with cotton candy. She knew an orgasm was on its way, and so she lay back against the counter, one elbow propped on the formica, one hand running through Josh’s hair, and let it happen.

&nbs
p; And oh, did it happen. Sadie thrust her head back and her stomach forward as the fizziness rushed from her cunt up her torso and down her legs. With the orgasm came the all-consuming feeling of joy, euphoria, relief, and happiness. Like the world was okay, everything perfectly and wholly good in that moment as her cheeks flushed and her walls pulsed and Josh gave one long, languorous lick up her clit, dragging his mouth to her belly, which he placed soft kisses all over.

  She was nearly recovered when she felt the kick. Lately, every time she came, the baby kicked, like it too was celebrating her vaginal victory.

  “Josh! It’s happening!” Sadie whispered, her eyes still closed as she found his hand and guided it to the center of her stomach.

  She saw his face taking on a reverent expression as the baby kicked again, the motion causing Josh’s hand to jump slightly.

  “Damn. Maybe this kid’s gonna have the same problem as me. It’s already reacting to passion with flailing limbs!” he said, mostly in jest, though Sadie could tell there was a grain of real fear in his voice.

  Sadie moved her hand from her stomach and brought it to Josh’s face, cupping his cheek. “If this kid is anything like you, then I’ll be the luckiest mom in the world.”

  Josh quirked a smile at that, turning to place a kiss on her palm. “Thanks for seeing the good in me, babe. I love you so much.”

  Sadie brought him up until he was standing in front of her, as close as was possible with a seven-month pregnant belly between them.

  “I love you too. Now help me pack these cookies for the truck tomorrow,” she said, and Josh nodded. But he didn’t help. He just held onto Sadie’s hips, placing soft kisses on her neck, her cheeks, her ears, as she packed each cookie in a container, whispering explicitly dirty nothings to her of just what he was going to do with that leftover cherry jam when she was done. He’d come so far in the last year, reining in his passion until it was totally manageable, but Sadie loved that he would always be a little wild, a little unpredictable. He was her wolf, and she wouldn’t have him any other way.