Page 44 of When She Needs Them Most
“Morning,” he mumbles sleepily. The gravelly tone to his voice makes me shiver as his hand comes to rest on my back. “How’d ya sleep?”
“Great,” I tell him honestly. “A lot better than the night I spent at my house.”
“I’ll bet it was cold, even with the space heater.”
“Yeah,” I agree. That wasn’t what kept me up, tossing and turning half the night, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“Well, I’m glad you were able to get some solid rest. Will you be able to see the baby today? Like an ultrasound?” His massive hand slides up and down my spine.
“I doubt it. Maybe because it’s a new doctor’s office, but honestly, I’m not expecting to.” My fingers land on his chest, running over the few hairs that line his skin. “I’m excited, though. I always look forward to being able to hear her heartbeat. I’ve only had two ultrasounds. One when they verified the pregnancy and another when they did the anatomy scan, but that’s okay. They’re expensive.”
“Hearing the heartbeat sounds incredible,” Kase says. “Maybe I’ll ask Arden to record it for us.”
My lips push together as I struggle against the urge to ask him why he cares.
Being alone for so long may have warped my outlook. I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. Every impulse I’ve got wants to be cared for and coddled by these men, but I’m sure it is a novel experience to have an omega so close. Their instincts could be pulling them to me the same way mine are drawing me to them, but everything is about to change for me in a huge way.
Babies are needy.
They take up all your focus for months straight.
After the first year, the baby books said I should be settled into a routine, but even then… What smoking-hot man wants to deal with a pregnant woman, then someone else’s baby, and I won’t be able to have sex for at least six weeks after Luna comes. I fully expect that my system won’t want anything to do with being intimate for even longer than that.
“I remember you saying your internet is supposed to be hooked up today,” Kase says, drawing me out of my thoughts. “Did they give you a time block of when to make sure you’re home? It doesn’t matter. I figured I’d stick around and work from home today, just to be safe.”
“When they set the appointment, they said it could be anywhere between eight and four.” My head shakes. “I can’t believe I didn’t think about that. I don’t know if pregnancy caught up to me all at once…” I exhale heavily. “But I usually have a better handle on life.”
I’ve been an absolute mess recently.
“It’s no big deal,” the alpha says, still rubbing his hand down my back. “The doctor’s appointment takes priority, anyway.” He’s right about that. The office had one opening this week, and I snagged it without much thought. “I hope you don’t mind that I slept in here last night. All I could think about was how hot you were when you woke up from your nap yesterday. And I just really wanted to snuggle with you.”
My silly heart races. “I didn’t mind a bit.”
Sometimes when he’s shy and open about things others would keep to themselves, he reminds me so much of Clark. They’re totally different people, but Kase is easy to be around, and being around him makes thinking of Clark hurt a little less.
“Good.” He stretches down, pecking a kiss on the top of my head, and my stomach gets all melty.
I have no idea what’s going on, but it’s nice having someone to count on for once. I think I’ll let it ride until they realize how much of a hassle I really am.
Arden accompanies me over to my house to grab clothes. I shower at their house, and Kase gently pushes me to have a few bites of breakfast before it’s time to leave. I’m nervous, but I do get lightheaded when I don’t eat, so I force myself to nibble, even though I’m not really hungry.
Arden won’t let me out the front door afterward without a beanie and gloves. It’s sweet, but I’m already in the new jacket Lincoln bought me. That alone would make it fine to walk from the vehicle into the doctor’s office.
He bends, brushing his cheek over mine one by one. It’s almost as relaxing as hearing him purr, which I need more of.
“I just wanted to say thank you for coming with me. I’m sure I could have managed the drive alone, but I’m grateful that I don’t have to.” My teeth dig into my lower lip, and my cheeks flame.
Damn, now I’m overheating from too many layers. Or maybe my face burns from embarrassment because I didn’t mean to say that. Being an omega means I’m always going to feel safest with alphas at my side to help with the tough stuff, but I’m also about to be a mom.
Moms are supposed to be resilient and capable. My mom was. She was also an alpha, so comparing us is a little like comparing Sky the German shepherd to my old neighbor’s poodle.
Arden grins, grabbing my hand. “Come on. We don’t want to risk being late.”
Arden heads up to the check-in desk while I’m tackling the massive amount of intake paperwork. My old doctor’s office swore they would fax over all my records, and I can only pray they’ve been received and processed.
I frown when Arden reaches into his suit coat and pulls out his wallet. That was not something we discussed, but I suppose I can pay him back once we leave.
My heart pangs when I make it to the section dedicated to Luna’s dad’s information. It’s not like I have much, outside of the tragedy of how young he was when he died. His mom passed away before we met, and his father is supposedly still alive somewhere with his new wife and family, but Clark told me almost nothing outside of that. He clearly has a living brother, and I fill that in, but other than the fact he was Clark’s younger brother, I don’t have anything else to provide. Not even Emmett’s age.
