Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

R eed headed into the office after doing the half-dozen errands James needed doing, and the look in the others' eyes proved that he was in trouble.

No one said so much as a word.

Reed found himself utterly unconcerned.

He had Tyler. They were having a baby. He couldn't stop smiling.

Reed breezed to his cubby, looking to see if there was really anything he needed to take with him. His day planner. He'd paid for that. His little solar-powered flower that danced if he played music…

"Reed! Get your ass in here!"

He rolled his eyes. He didn't need to be hollered at. He didn't care enough to be upset.

He took his time, putting stuff in his messenger bag before heading to James's office. "Good afternoon."

He wasn't stressed at all. He was about to give notice and be with his mate.

"Damn it, Reed. Where have you been? I need you to get some shit done. There's flowers to arrange for Deena Lowry; she got that part on the soap opera."

"All right. I can do that, but I need to tell you?—"

"And I need you to deal with setting appointments for jewelry."

Someone wasn't listening to him.

James never did, and usually he hunched up and nodded and smiled, but this time, he needed to be heard. He lifted his chin. "I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but someone else will need to do the jewelry fittings. I'm giving my notice, effective immediately."

"What?" The big dragon's eyes flashed, and he stood up with a growl, coming around the desk.

"I quit. You have my two weeks' notice."

"What?" James repeated, his nostrils flaring.

"I. Fucking. Quit!" He was so tired of being scared, being attacked, being ordered around. He was done.

A curl of smoke came out of James's nose, and he grabbed Reed's shoulders, shaking him. "Don't you curse at me."

A flash of pure fury washed over him, and he swiped out with one paw, his claws tearing into James's cheek. The only thing he could think was that his baby was inside him, and he had to protect his cub.

No! My baby! No!

James jumped back, clapping a hand to his face, and Reed roared.

"Reed! Stop." James held up his hands. "You're pregnant. Aren't you?"

He panted, glaring.

James's face actually softened. "I shouldn't have touched you. It was inappropriate. Are you leaving today?"

"I'm—Yes." He blinked at James. "Oh, James. You're bleeding. I'm so sorry?—"

The world went sparkly around the edges, and then like a television turning off, everything went black.

Tyler's head snapped up, and he was running before Reed's anguished cry stopped echoing in his head.

He didn't bother to take the truck. Reed's office was close enough as the crow flew, and he ran like the hounds of hell were on his heels.

Something was wrong with his little bear, and he wouldn't have it.

By the time he hit the receptionist's desk, he was already fighting the fuzzy. She shrank back from him, so he followed his nose, not to Reed's cubby but to the swank inner office.

"Reed!"

Bright gold slitted eyes flashed up at him, the man's face more dragon than human. "He passed out. He's breathing just fine."

"What did you do to him?" He flew to Reed's side in favor of tearing the guy's head off.

"I grabbed his arm. I was out of line. I have…a bit of a fiery temper. He paid me back."

Tyler looked at the man, seeing the scratches that hadn't yet healed. "He quits."

James's lips quirked. "So he said. Baby daddy, yes?"

"Yes." He bared his teeth.

"Don't, bear. We're fine. I'll have his final check drawn up. With a bonus."

Surprised, Tyler blinked. "Really?"

"Yes. I'm an ass, but he deserves the congratulations. He's a good kid." James blew a little smoke out. "We just eat those for breakfast in Valleywood. Take him back to the mountains."

"I intend to."

James stood, stepping to the door. "You can stay here until he wakes up. He put up with a lot, but he's never going to make it here. He's meant for wilder spaces."

Tyler knew that. He'd known from the very second he met his mate.

He did manage a thank-you as James marched out the door.

All he could do was hold Reed and wait for him to wake up, kissing his cheeks.

Mate. Mate, I need you. The soft call was undeniable.

I'm right here, love. You're safe. Wake up, sweet bear. He needed to see Reed look at him.

"I hurt James. It was an accident," Reed whispered.

"He knows. I just talked to him. He says you're fine, and he'll have your check for you by the time we leave." He stroked Reed's sweaty hair.

"What happened? I don't remember what happened."

"He says he touched you. Grabbed your arms. You protected our little one, love. That's all." He was fiercely proud, in fact. Reed had taken on a dragon.

"That's our baby. Our cub. I won't let anyone hurt us."

"No. No, you shouldn't. You did the right thing." When Reed reached for him, Tyler helped him sit up.

Reed leaned against him for a moment, sighing. "I hate going out on a bad note."

"I think your boss admires you for it."

"I just need a couple of things from my desk, and we can go, yes? It's over?"

"It's over." He lifted Reed to his feet. "Come on, baby." He took Reed to the office door, where they were met by the admin he'd seen before when delivering pastry.

"Here's your check, Reed. I'll miss you." She kissed Reed's cheek. He thought she meant it.

"I'll miss you. I just need… I'm having a baby." Reed glanced up at Tyler. "My mate's baby."

"Oh, congratulations! You mean you're not going to let us throw you a party?"

Tyler put an arm around Reed. "He's heading back to Colorado with me." This week.

"Let us know where you register? Please? We'll send goodies!"

"I will. Thank you, Leah."

"Good luck to you, Reed. Thank you for all of your hard work." That was James, his cheek healed now. "Your place is just around the way, isn't it, er…"

"Tyler." He handed James a card. "My manager will be happy to talk to you about group sales for meetings."

James's lips quirked. "I'll have Reed's replacement set up a meeting."

Tyler laughed. "Good deal. Let's get what you need, love. Then we're out."

"Yes. Can we call my folks tonight? Tell them the good news?"

"Yes. We'll call both sets. Do a soft meeting over Zoom to take off some of the stress." He held his mate's hand all the way.

"Good. I—I'm unemployed. I haven't been unemployed since I was fifteen years old."

"Well, you have maybe a week to wallow before Justin and I put you to work." Tyler hugged Reed tight, then let him go so he could grab his little bag. "Anything else?" When Reed shook his head, Tyler led him right through the crowd now gathered to stare at them and listened with glee as the outer door to the office closed behind them.

As soon as they walked away, the tension in Reed's shoulders eased.

"There you go, love. That chapter is closing."

"It was a long one, but…oh, Tyler. I want to go home to the Rockies."

"I do too. We can leave…" He chuckled. "Well, probably day after tomorrow. I will need to clean out the office and sit down with Dan."

"I need to get my stuff together. It'll take a day or so. Should I ship boxes?"

"Yeah. I have a rental here, so we'll fly home." That was the fastest. "I'll help tomorrow around the meeting with Dan."

Reed squeezed his fingers. "Let's go introduce each other to our families. They all deserve to know that we're having a baby."

"They really do. I can't wait for you to meet them." Tyler knew his folks would be over the moon. They were ready for grandkids.

They went to his rooms after they grabbed a pizza and enough chicken tenders to sink a battleship. Reed seemed a little shell-shocked, but there was a constant, happy little smile on his mate's face.

They ate first while Reed texted his folks and got them set up for a Zoom call. A phone call just wasn't going to do it for this. A meeting this momentous needed to happen face-to-face.

He was about to meet his in-laws. It made him a little fuzzy.

"You okay?" Reed asked, touching his hand.

"I am. Excited." Hell, Tyler was vibrating.

Reed came to hug him, leaning on his back. "I love you."

"I love you, too, baby. Bring it on."

Reed grabbed his laptop and started it up, and in a few minutes, a lovely dark-haired lady and a good-sized older man appeared on the screen.

"Mom! Dad! Hello!"

"Baby!" Reed's mother's face lit up. "We miss you!"

"Oh, I miss you too. Really. I have someone I want you to meet. Both of you. And I have news…"

"Is it good news?" Reed's mom looked at him curiously, and Tyler smiled, hoping he didn't have pizza in his teeth.

"Yes. It's the best news. But first, I'd like you to meet my mate. Tyler. Tyler, this is Henry and Melody, my folks."

"Hello. It's so nice to meet both of you, if only virtually."

"You found your mate…that's…congratulations! Are you from Valleywood?" Mom looked all teary.

"No, ma'am. I spend most of my time near Estes, and I run a coffee company based in Denver. Rocky Mountain Java?"

"Oh! We have one of those downtown." She clapped her hands. "You're—you're based here in Colorado?"

"I am. I was in Valleywood to open a new store and we've been lucky enough to meet each other. Now I want to bring Reed home with me."

Reed's mom's eyes lit up. "That would be wonderful. Oh, Reed. How exciting."

"Yes. Yes, and… Mom? There's more."

"More?"

Reed nodded and squeezed his hand. "We're pregnant."

Tyler waited, hoping no one got mad.

Reed's dad frowned. "That was fast."

"It was meant to be, Dad. I was on suppressants and I still went into heat."

"We didn't plan it this way, but I can't wait for our baby." Tyler squeezed back. "I love Reed very much."

"And you're coming home? To have the baby? You're coming back?"

Reed nodded. "We're flying to Denver this week. I have to pack up my things."

"And I have to wrap up training tomorrow at the store. But then we're on our way." Excitement flooded him, and he saw Reed's nose twitch.

"Oh. Oh, baby!"

Tyler laughed as Melody grabbed Henry and danced him around.

"Grandbabies! We're going to be grandparents!"

"We are." Reed's dad had a big, booming laugh. "Wow!"

Tyler kept chuckling, so relieved. Then he gave Reed a kiss.

"Aww… So, you're going to Denver. Can we see you? Maybe for a weekend after you're settled?"

Reed looked up to him.

"We would love that. I'll send you directions to my cabin if you want to stay the weekend, or I can drive Reed down to see you." Tyler would do whatever Reed wanted. He had no idea how some people felt about driving in the mountains.

"We'll talk about it once you boys are settled." Henry smiled. "We love to take a long drive together."

"They hold hands," Reed said. "Well, on the not-curvy parts."

He could see that in his head, twenty or thirty years from now, their young one telling people they held hands on a drive. "I'm so excited to meet you in person," Tyler said. "Reed has told me so much about you."

"And yet…" Reed's dad was frowning again.

"Work was tough, Dad. And I was an idiot when I first found out. I hid for a week. I was so freaked out."

"You work too hard, son. It's not good for you. You always seem so tired."

Reed rolled his eyes. "Mom always worries."

"Well, he left that job today. His new one will be far less stressful."

Now Reed's mom frowned. "Parenting can be hard."

"Oh! No, we both intend to devote all our talent and skill to that, and we both expect to need help and advice. I just mean my brother has plans for Reed's skill set if he wants to work a regular job."

"Oh? He's going to join the family business?" Reed's father nodded. "Good. That's good. That's important, to work together."

"It is, and he's so organized and encouraging. We can really use him at the home office." He rubbed Reed's back.

"I just wanted you to hear all my good news. I'm so happy, and I can't wait to see you both. I've missed you."

"We've missed you too. So much." His mom sniffled. "Let me know when you're back home where you belong. Do you need any money to ship your things?"

"No, Mom. Thank you, though." Reed's soft smile said what a good idea this was. Thank goodness. "I love you both. I'll call when I know when our flights are."

"Be safe, sweetie."

"Take care of our boy, Tyler."

"I will, sir. I take that very seriously."

Reed squeezed his fingers, waving goodbye to his parents before he lifted his face for a kiss.

Tyler shut off the laptop and kissed Reed deeply, more proud than he'd ever been in his life. His mate had introduced him as such to his family.

I'm going home with you, Tyler. We're going home.

We are. I want you to see the house in Denver. The cabin in the mountains. I want to show you everything.

Please. I'm ready.

Day after tomorrow. He would go in, meet with Dan, turn over the accounting, and go help Reed pack and ship tomorrow.

Then he would take his little bear home.