“The sea must be the other direction, then,” Vale observed from his comfortable spot propped up by pillows. The bed was truly divine. The mattress had just the right amount of firm-but-soft to ease his aching body. Growing a baby was ridiculously hard, it seemed, and he didn’t think omegas were given enough credit for the task. Too much was made of the miracle and not enough of the strife involved. He let out a low moan as the child shoved a foot into his rib and twisted it there.
“Are you all right?” Jason asked, immediately by his side, hands on his stomach to feel the baby move. “Should I get Urho?”
“You know I’m perfectly fine,” Vale grumbled. “Just the usual aches and pains.”
“The journey was more tiring for you than I realized it would be,” Jason said, smoothing his hands over the bulge and then smiling when the baby kicked his palm with a sharp pop. “You need to rest.”
Vale shrugged, not sure if he could sleep even if he tried. He was in that fretful state of exhaustion where he’d dearly love to nap but probably couldn’t manage it. “I don’t think I can.” He moved to rise. “Maybe a walk in those gardens will help.”
“No,” Jason said firmly. “You will rest.” He pushed Vale back down on the pillows and sat beside him. Minutes ticked by.
Vale sighed and muttered, “At least hand me my notebook.”
Jason looked as if he might protest, but then he pulled the pencil and pad from Vale’s luggage, brought up while they’d eaten soup by the servants. He handed it over.
Vale pressed the pencil against his lip, tapping it there, waiting for a flow of words to come. He hadn’t written poetry in months. The font had dried up. All his creative energy went to the child inside. And yet he refused to give up. He had so many things he wanted to share with the world—the experience of pregnancy just one of them—and yet no words came.
Jason interrupted his not-writing with a question. “What do you think Xan and Urho are doing?”
Vale arched a brow. “You know exactly what they’re doing, darling.”
Jason cocked his head, considering, before rising to go look out at the gardens again. “Do you think we ought to feel jealous?”
Vale scoffed, tucking the pencil in the notebook and setting it on the night table by the bed. “Of Xan? And Urho?”
“Well, they wereourlovers first. Before they were each other’s, I mean.”
Vale laughed and then laughed some more. He laughed until tears rolled down his face, and Jason started laughing, too. He came to the bed and wiped at Vale’s wet eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. “Stop, stop,” Vale said, half-heartedly pushing his hand away. “You’re going to give me the hiccups making me laugh like this.”
“I was serious,” Jason said, still giggling, too.
“Jealous of them? Because we had them first?” Vale said, and his laughter returned until he finally let out a long breath, clearly trying to get a hold of himself. “No, darling. I don’t think we should be jealous.”
Jason nodded thoughtfully, his own laughter still tugging at his lips. “I know. It’s just…it’s strange isn’t it? To think of what we used to do with them, and then to think they’re doing that together. Right now, most likely.”
“Not really,” Vale said. “I just hope they enjoy it. They’ve both been pining long enough. If the act doesn’t measure up to expectations, we could be looking at a long, awkward stay until this one makes his appearance.” He touched his stomach then. The laughter seemed to have startled the baby enough to calm it. Vale had the sense the babe had paused mid-gymnastics to listen.
“They’ll enjoy it,” Jason said quietly. “Sexually, Xan is…”
Vale’s eyes narrowed. “Careful, baby alpha. Don’t make me kill your best friend in his sleep.”
Jason laughed again. “So, you are jealous.”
“Not of Urho, and not of Urho having him. Of him having once had you…” Vale shrugged. He’d taken Jason and Xan’s former relationship with more ease than manyÉrosgápewould have, but he didn’t like to imagine the details of it.
Jason shrugged. “He’s easy to please, that’s all I was going to say. I promise.”
“Easy to please,” Vale huffed, irritation flaring. “I don’t recall making you work especially hard to please me either.”
Jason laughed again and then sat on the bed, leaning close to nuzzle Vale’s neck. “That could be a fun game. Want to play?”
Vale tried to pretend disinterest, but it lasted all of five seconds before his cock had betrayed him by creating a bulge in the front of his soft, drawstring maternity pants. “What are the rules?” he asked instead.
“I have to please you, and you have to make me work for it.”
Vale smirked. “Oh, I see. Feeling the need for a little discipline, are you?”
Jason shrugged this time. “Maybe. It’s just something we haven’t done before. Not since we were courting anyway. Back then, I wanted to please you so desperately, but you acted like you weren’t sure…” He licked his lips, eyes going shy and hot at the same time. “Like you weren’t sure I was good enough.”
