Chapter Twenty-Three

Chasten

We left the lot without buying a truck. I was starting to think maybe Kirk was too picky for his own good but as long as he was willing to drive my car around, I wouldn't rush him too much. After all, we'd already had one of the backseats fitted with a newborn car seat.

"What are you looking for really?" I asked him as we pulled out of the lot.

"I'll know when I see it. It's an important decision. I don't swap out vehicles all the time. I find one and stick with it. So whatever I buy we'll have to like for a long time. Both of the ones I liked didn't have much leg room in the back and Delanie Hope won't be a tiny baby forever. She'll need leg room eventually. Plus, by three she'd be able to kick the shit out of the seats easily if we went with either of them. The van was nice but had kidnapper vibes. Imagine pulling up to preschool to pick her up in a van like that."

"No thank you," I laughed.

"I still miss the old truck. I'd probably have kept it as a work truck and got something more pup friendly."

"We can still do that if we can find a used one like you're old one."

"That would be more money than we've budgeted."

"It'd be okay."

"Save your money for the baby," he said like he had a thousand times before.

"You're allowed to have stuff you like too," I reminded him.

"I have plenty of stuff I like. I just don't like much stuff," he shrugged. "I also want a truck that can make the drive to see the leaves next fall and sleep us all comfortably in the bed."

I grinned at him. I couldn't complain about that. The tentative plan we made in the hospital was taking shape. We'd decided that this time we wanted to go alone without any of our friends or family. Just me, Kirk, and Delanie.

"Don't be mad," Kirk said as we turned onto our street.

"What would I be mad at?" I blinked. "The truck stuff?"

Then I saw the cars lining the street on both sides. I recognized some of but not all them.

"What's this?" I asked, my nails digging into the door handle.

"Grina and Treg's surprise baby shower for you. I told them they were only allowed in the kitchen and living room."

"I should bite you!" I said, swallowing down a growl from my wolf.

"Your parents are here. Mine too."

"What?! You didn't warn me?"

"You'll be fine. My parents will love you to pieces!"

And they did. The evening wasn't as bad as I thought it would turn out to be. My wolf behaved himself well enough as our friends and family lavished us with gifts for Delanie Hope and told stories about us when we were kids. There was something quaint about it all – something that made our house feel even more like a home. With only a few weeks left to go before Delanie Hope was born it was nice to check off the final items from our ‘to-buy' list without having to go into a store or waiting on a drone to drop them off on the porch. It was even nicer to realize we weren't alone in this whole raising a baby thing. Our parents were more than ready to be grandparents. The people gathered around us loved Delanie Hope almost as much as Kirk and I already did. I forgave them all for infiltrating our den and told them I wouldn't make them wait too long to meet our baby once she arrived.