19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Jayce

"What if there are lasting effects of the skunk spray, and we don't even know it?" I didn't know that pregnancy could cause so much worry, but it did, and I had a feeling once our cub arrived, that would only grow. There were so many things to consider, and our sweet one was counting on us to get everything right.

My mate rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh. "You already asked Rissa that at our last appointment, and they assured you that there were no such effects, right?"

Just because it was asked and answered, that didn't mean the worry flew away. If only that were the case.

"But they could be mistaken." Even I didn't believe my own argument. They were the best healer I'd ever met. That was for sure.

Aydan put a hand over my mouth. "Jayce, sweetheart, our baby is healthy. We just had an ultrasound, and we found out the most fantastic news of all—we're having a baby girl." Not that we'd cared if they were a boy or a girl. We were happy that they had the right numbers of fingers and toes and that everything looked as if it were exactly as it should be. I didn't pretend to understand how to read the pictures, but I trusted them, and they were confident that everything was right as rain. "There are no lasting effects from the skunk spray. You don't even smell like a skunk anymore."

I tried to speak, but it just came out as a garbled mess.

"Where is my carefree mate? My laissez-faire type? I'm the worrier. Let me worry," he said. Aydan took his hand away.

"You're not worrying, though." Which, thinking about it now, was odd. Very. Very. Odd.

"Because there's nothing to worry about." He tapped my nose playfully. Had we somehow switched personalities along this journey? "No one in the history of the world has ever had any lingering effects from skunk spray."

I bit my lip, looking toward the ground. I knew he was right, but I still couldn't calm my mind. I'd lost my sense of smell when I was sprayed, and it took more than a shower to fix that. It wasn't a leap that it might've impacted other parts of my body.

Aydan tucked a finger under my chin and lifted my gaze to his. "Is everything all right, mate? It's not like you to worry like this."

"I'm chaos. My chaos," I said, rolling my eyes. "What if I'm terrible at this? What if—"

And that was what this boiled down to. Corey had fallen right into parenthood like a boss. But looking back, he'd always had that personality. He'd taken care of me so many times over the years. He was born for this role.

Me? Not really, at least not in any way I could tangibly point to, anyway.

Aydan reacted as if he'd been hit over the head. "What? Sweetheart, no. What if I'm terrible at this? What if all the structure annoys our child so much that they hate me? What if I spend too much time with the den and not with my family?"

Great. We were both a hot-ass mess.

"No, that'll never happen. You'll—" I walked right into that one. "We'll balance each other out, won't we?"

"Yes, my mate, we will. Everything is going to be great. It will be hard raising children—always is. Running a den is difficult, but we do that, don't we?"

"Yes." But we didn't have to worry if the grapes were cut for the pack or the plethora of other things I had been reading about in my dad-to-be group threads. There were dangers around every corner, and I needed to learn about all of them in order to avoid badness.

What I really needed to do was get out of those groups. Corey had said as much on multiple occasions, and I needed to listen to him. Getting my hormone-filled self all in a spiral wasn't going to do any of us any good.

"Now let's go into this store. You can pick out what you want to show off at our event tonight."

We were creeping into the colder season now, and since the Pumpkin Festival went so well, we'd opted to have even more of the moon-gathering activities. During the winter was when we, as bears, slowed down in general, wanting to conserve our energy. So naturally, these gatherings would be a little more low-key, which was good because my energy was at an all-time low. I knew it was because I was growing a full-ass person, but knowing the way didn't change the outcome.

"I think a cake sounds good, and maybe some cupcakes and cookies and sweets." I wanted to do the baking, but the energy fairy hadn't come. Buying baked goodness would have to do.

"Got it. You have a sweet tooth right now," Aydan said as my stomach chose that exact moment to rumble with hunger.

"I can't help it. I'm stocking up for winter and a baby." Rissa said that if I craved something it meant my body needed it, and I was going with that.

"This is true. You are doing that, and you're fantastic at it."

I narrowed my eyes. "I feel like that's just a low-key way of telling me that I'm good at eating." And fat. He'd never say those words, not to me or to anyone. But I still heard them loud and clear.

"We're bears. We're always good at eating." He kissed my cheek. "It's what we do."

And just like that, I was no longer pissed at him for calling me fat when he didn't actually call me fat. Pregnancy was a wild ride. There was no denying that.

"Will we be letting the pack know that we're having a little girl?" I didn't know how much it mattered to me, but not knowing if or when we were going to share had been something on my mind.

"I was hoping to."

"Good. My plan is to do something fun, maybe make a game out of it."

Not a gender reveal like the humans did, but like a fun way to get the den involved. There weren't many omegas and births weren't common. I discovered early on that the alphas didn't really know what to do with me now that I was pregnant. It was almost as if they thought I was fragile and needed to be guarded from all things. I half hoped that this would help them feel more a part of things and less overprotective—no, that wasn't the word, but they were that, too.

"We're well into the fall season, and there's a lot of fun to be had on our gathering nights." I loved how many events my mate planned for the den. He might've been organized, but he knew how to have a good time.

Aydan leaned over and kissed my cheek. "I'm just so happy."

"Well, good. It'd be real awkward if you were miserable." I stuck out my tongue.

"Hush you. I mean, it's just great, isn't it? The den is doing well. You're doing well. It's really great."

Better than great. The den was thriving, new omegas petitioning to come for a visit pretty regularly now. I was about to have the love of my life's child, and my bestie was blissed out with his mating and family.

"I'm getting one of everything," I said as the case of baked goods filled my vision. "Or two. Maybe two is better."

"For the den? Is that enough?"

"Oh, crap." I'd forgotten we were picking up treats for everyone. "No, that was for us. Let's get a dozen of each cookie and a couple dozen cannoli, and all the cupcakes in the case except the ones with the clowns on them. Nobody wants that." At least no one I knew. But they were in the case, so someone must be buying them.

"That sounds like plenty."

I shook my head. "It's deceiving. We should also get those brownies, yes, all of them, and those muffins. That should do."

The poor women behind the counter spent the next forty-five minutes boxing everything up, and the display case looked like it had been looted by sugar bandits. It took us three trips to get it all in the car, and if we'd had another person with us, there wouldn't have been any room.

"Thank you for inviting me into your den." I kissed him and slid into my seat. Slid being an exaggeration. There were no smooth motions with this belly.

My mate walked around to the driver's side and climbed into his seat. He took my hand and brought it up to his cheek. "Thank you for coming and showing me what good disorder could do for me."

"If you hurry up, we can get these unloaded and still have an hour to ourselves."

"An hour. Whatever shall we do with that time?"

"Oh, my sexy alpha, I'm sure you'll think of something."

He got us home within an hour and a half, and I showed him exactly where my mind had been going.