Chapter Fourteen

Kirk

The next few weeks passed in a flurry of activity. I did go back to work come Monday morning and because I was overbearing, sneaky, and a bit of a control freak (all things Chasten called me when he figured out what I did), I asked Treg to look in on Chasten as often as they could. It only took a few days of that for the line of angry texts to come. It was then that I knew it was time for Chasten to take the damn test. He was always a smart ass and on guard of his sovereignty, but it was hormonal overkill, if you asked me.

So, I took a half day of personal time – much to the grumbling of my boss – and headed home to him. He'd spent the morning exploring the corn maze with Treg for the last day of the Fall Festival having got a clean bill of health from his doctor the Friday before. As long as his glucose levels stayed within range, we were good to go.

"Do you really think I need a babysitter?" he asked in lieu of hello when I walked into the house.

"No," I shook my head, taking my shoes off, "but I'm allowed to worry. Besides, they're your friend!"

"They are! Which is why it didn't take them long to admit it all!" he snapped.

"All of what? That I asked them to check on you while I was at work? You could've found that much out from going through my phone!"

"Which I don't do! I'm not an invalid!"

"I never said you were!"

"You implied it!" he stomped his foot.

I had to bite back a smile. It was hard to stay mad or frustrated at Chasten. True-mates never fought for long anyway.

"No, I didn't. I didn't tell Treg to come wipe your ass or cook your lunch! I asked them to come hang out with you!"

"Yes, and I'm trying to work! They need to work too!"

"Why are you so mad?" I asked, keeping my voice level. "You smell like you're mad enough to spark off and burn the house down!"

"I was having fun when they said they was glad that you asked them to hang out with me!"

"Were they having fun too?"

"YES!" he barked.

"Then what's the problem, Chasten?" I asked, tossing my hands in the air. "I'm sorry I asked them behind your back. I shouldn't have done it that way, but I'm worried! Genuinely fucking worried!"

He stopped talking and sniffed the air. Then he frowned and broke my heart. His scent sank low to a sad almost contrite smell that he should never wear.

"I'm alright, Kirk. I'm okay. Really, I am," he said, crossing the room.

I met him by the sofa and pulled him into a tight hug. Logically, I knew he was okay. Logically, his pregnancy would probably be fine, but for the first time since nursing school – those odds and risk levels meant fuck all! This was Chasten we were talking about! My mate. The wolf I already couldn't imagine going a day without.

"Did you really come home early just to have this argument," he leaned back and looked up at me.

"No. I came home for this," I said, and pulled a pregnancy test out of my pocket.

His eyes went huge and then he relaxed.

"I thought you were gonna pull one of those mini ultrasounds out of your pocket for a minute," he laughed.

"I love you but not enough to steal something like that from the hospital. We can just go there and use one," I said and stole a kiss. "You don't have to be a doctor or a technician anymore. They train everyone to use them these days. Now, go pee on this stick for me."

He gave me a playful salute and disappeared down the hall to the bathroom. I waited until I heard the door shut and then followed him. I wanted to be there when the pixelated baby in whatever color blanket they used these days showed up.

I held my breath while he peed. So that he didn't hear me waiting on the other side of the door and didn't exhale until the water came on and Chasten opened the door with his foot.

"Mate, at this point, I think you could've just watched me piss on it," Chasten rolled his eyes at me but the corners of his mouth were pulled up into a smile.

"I wouldn't mind watching you mark your territory," I teased him.

"Tease and denial are one thing. I'm not pissing on you."

"I didn't ask you to," I laughed and pulled him close. "I'm not a tree."

"I dunno. I climb you like one," he said, his lips brushing against mine as the timer clicked the seconds off from the sink counter.

"This is how we got into this predicament," I teased him.

"I think we're going to be in this ‘predicament' a lot if the sex stays as hot as it's been."

"Why wouldn't it?"

"The pup."

"Which pup?" I quirked an eyebrow.

"The one who will hopefully light that thing up."

"They light up now?" I teased.

"Maybe. Who knows? It might even glow in the dark. Medical technology gets weirder every damn day."

BUZZ! DING! BUZZ!

"What sort of timer is that?" I laughed, reaching behind Chasten to turn it off.

"The sort that gets my attention while I'm doing art," he shrugged, and we both looked down at the little window on the pregnancy test.

"THE BABY IS THERE!" Chasten howled.

There in that tiny window was a pixelated baby wrapped up in a nice orange blanket. I wasn't sure what orange meant – if it meant anything at all. I didn't work on the carrier and baby floor and thankfully, had never knocked anyone up before either.

My mate's howl was contagious, and I joined in. The neighbors shouted something, but we ignored them because it didn't sound like congratulations. Part of the price for living on Hemlock Mountain was that someone was always howling their balls off. You got used to it or you moved somewhere with more noise ordinances.

"I can't believe we're actually going to be dads!" Chasten said before letting out another long howl.

I joined in again as my wolf scratched at my ribs. I gave in to him and Chasten let his wolf out too. Maybe we should've unlocked the door first but after a few minutes of fidgeting with it I managed to get it opened and unlocked. We ran around the neighborhood, bumping and brushing against each other, and barking back and forth. Our celebration left the whole neighborhood with no doubt about what was going on. I chased Chasten around in circles through the yard, skidding and sliding on all the fallen autumn leaves. This was the life. The good fucking life.