28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Bennett

"What about a water birth?" Seth asked, with way too much enthusiasm in his voice. He was flipping through every pamphlet they had in my OB/GYN's exam room he could get his hands on.

"Look," he waved the glossy, colorful pamphlet at me, "it looks relaxing."

Pushing his hand away, I told him, "I'm not giving birth in an inflatable…pool thingy in my living room." Swinging my legs against the exam table, I ordered, "Stop fiddling with everything."

"I'm not ‘fiddling'," he informed me primly, "I'm making sure you have all the options for giving birth available to you. I'm being a supportive birth coach. So many choices, B!"

"I'm giving birth in a hospital," I laid back, crossing my hands over my stomach, and squinted up at the way too bright florescent light. "In a bed. With all the machines and…hospital thingies…available. Though I do think I want to do it as naturally as possible. No pain meds because they are bad for the baby, but definitely not at home."

"Ew, why the fuck would you not want the good pain meds?"

"You just wanted me to give birth in a pool of water," I reminded him. "At home."

He shrugged, like he had no idea what the difference between the two things was. "So, what's your point? I just thought it might be fun."

"You try it, then, and let me know your thoughts."

"No thanks. Birthing babies is not for me."

"You're ridiculous." The door opened then, and my doctor entered the room. Sitting up quickly, I gave her an anxious, expectant look.

Lily Taylor smiled warmly at me. "You are definitely pregnant, Bennett. Since the hospital confirmed with a blood test, there was little doubt. We just like to run our own tests to verify. Congratulations."

Warmth spread through me, and my hands strayed to my lower abdomen. There was a baby in there. Not that I hadn't believed Meg or the tests run at the hospital, but having my own doctor confirm it somehow made it real. There was a part of Shay and me growing inside me. Smiling at Lily, all I could do was nod, too overwhelmed by all the things I was feeling to put it into words.

She glanced at Seth, who was clutching his handful of pamphlets tightly to his chest. "Will the alpha father be involved?"

Seth gave a derisive snort, and I shot him a narrowed glare. "Not at the moment. Possibly later. "

"He's going through some shit," Seth muttered under his breath, and I gave him another look that said he'd better knock his own shit off right fucking now.

Lily, bless her, ignored Seth. "This appointment we'll just go over some general do's and don'ts, foods to avoid, and fun stuff like that." Her lips quirked, "Looks like your friend has about all the information you need to take with you. We'll set up an ultrasound at your next appointment."

For the next few minutes, she went over pertinent things for me to know; no shifting after twelve weeks as it could be harmful to the baby, limit caffeine, and foods I should avoid. Thank the Goddess, tacos were not on that list. "Now, any questions?"

My mind was spinning on an overload of information, so I just shook my head, biting my lip.

She smiled knowingly. "There's a lot of information, I know. You look a little shell-shocked. Just write down any questions when you think of them, and we can go over them at your next appointment. Get plenty of rest and listen to your body. Get as much shifting in as possible, since if the date you think you conceived is correct, you only have a few more weeks that you'll be able to shift. We'll go over birth plans at a later appointment. We do have a midwife who has just come on staff with us, if that is something you would be interested in. Naomi is lovely and would be happy to discuss any questions you might have."

I shook my head, "I think I'd rather stick to you and a hospital."

She nodded, "That's fine, too. We just like to let our patients know what's available. And if I'm not available for some reason, Dr. Sinclair will deliver your baby. We usually like to have our patients meet each other before delivering, on the off chance one of us won't be available. "

"Oh, I already know Finn," I explained, "I rent my house from him and Wade. Please, please be available to deliver my baby. I know Finn is a great doctor, but…um…it's just weird. He's my landlord and a friend."

Lily threw her head back, laughing loudly. "I'll do my best. Now, would you like to know when your baby is due? Then I'll let you get out of here."

"Yes, please!" Excitement raced through me, and I grinned when she gave me a date of mid-January. I was going to be a papa just after the holidays. It seemed so far away, but so close. There was so much to do.

She left us then, instructing me to schedule my next appointment on the way out, and handing me prescriptions for prenatal vitamins and something to help with my morning sickness. Which, thankfully, hadn't been too terrible. I was mostly just queasy, which was annoying, but better than heaving my guts up every day.

"You know," Seth informed me, as we were walking towards our cars, "I'm gonna buy this kid a shit ton of Christmas presents, right? I mean, I know he's not even gonna be born yet, but I don't care."

"Could be a girl, you know?"

He waved a dismissive hand at me, reaching for his car door. "B, I am good with whatever you pop out. You do all the gross delivery stuff and I'll do all the shopping. Win, win. You heading back to work?"

I had scheduled my appointment for the latest in the afternoon I could get and had gone into my office early. "I'm done for the day. I'm going to go shopping for Lucas's party tomorrow. "

Seth nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow. I got him three big packs of matchbox cars. Like a hundred and fifty of them. I hope Shay steps on one in his bare feet."

Shaking my head, I laughed. "You're such a brat."

He grinned, unrepentant in his sheer evilness. "I know! Toodles!"

Waving at him, I headed to the mall. I had shopping to do for a very special boy.

The following afternoon, the sounds of a party in full swing drifted to me before I let myself into Shay's backyard through the open gate. Kids were running everywhere in what looked like controlled chaos. I recognized many of them from the pool party, but there were many I hadn't seen before. Which told me Lucas was making plenty of friends before school started.

There was a decorated table set up for gifts and I made my way to it, setting my gift bag down amongst the other brightly wrapped presents. A table next to it held a cake with white frosting and colorful race cars stuck on top of it .

Turning, I noticed Shay standing next to Asher across the yard, keeping his eyes on the kids. Seeing me, he smiled, making his way over to where I was standing.

"I'm glad you came," he told me softly, looking down at me. The look in his blue eyes filled me with heat, and I steadfastly tried to ignore it.

"Of course," taking a sip of the water bottle I had brought with me, I hoped the cool liquid would lower my body temperature.

We stood there, just staring into each other's eyes like a pair of romantic leads in a movie, barely any space between us but not touching.

Shay looked good. Damn good. His hair had lightened more from spending time outdoors, a mixture of tawny and white blonds that highlighted the healthy golden tan of his face. He was wearing shorts again, which he seemed to spend the majority of his time in when he was home. They showed off his muscular legs, and the golden hair that lightly covered his luscious thighs glinted in the sun. His blue eyes sparkled, the shadows that had haunted him pushed to the background.

And his scent!

My Goddess, the man smelled positively divine. My sense of smell had been working overtime with my pregnancy, unfortunately not always in my favor. Many things I had enjoyed before now made me wrinkle my nose in disgust. Coffee made me want to gag. Cooking hamburger was a definite no.

But Shay's musky richness was hitting me in all the right places. His fresh clean, earthy scent had desire swirling low in my belly. Taking a step back in self preservation, I almost knocked into the table holding the cake. Shay grabbed me lightly by my upper arms, his eyes heated. His low, rumbled, "Careful," had my pulse racing .

Lashes fluttering, I stared up at him, lost in the ocean blue of his eyes. "Thanks," I whispered, his hands burning a path where they still held onto me.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," his voice was low, sexy, and reverberated through me. "You look better. Not that you don't always look good; you do." He stammered, and I gave him a lopsided grin at his rambling. "You're beautiful. But you look better. I was worried."

"I feel better," I told him, and he was still holding onto me. "Sorry I was…snappish that day. It had been a really long day."

"No worries."

He hadn't let go yet, and his hands rubbed up and down my arms lightly, sending tiny sparks across my skin with each swipe. "Did you mow my lawn yesterday?" I changed the subject.

He gave me a sheepish grin, his cheeks flushing with rosy color. "Um…yeah. I was home and mowing mine. You shouldn't be mowing in the heat, especially since you don't do well in it."

"That was a one-off day," I assured him. "But thank you. You don't need to do that though. I kind of hate mowing, so I'm not going to complain too hard."

Goddess, I needed to stop thanking him. One thank you was more than sufficient.

"Yeah, I can tell you don't like mowing," he gave me a bigger grin. "To be honest, your weird zigzag patterns you make when you mow, not to mention all the spots you miss, were kind of making my eyes twitch."

Despite laughing, I tried to sound serious. "Oh well, I wouldn't want that. Please feel free to mow my lawn anytime then. I wouldn't want my lawn skills to be the reason you develop an eye twitch. "

Giving me another heated look, his voice turned growly in a much too sexy way. "I will take care of your lawn needs from now on. It's the least I can do for you."

Rolling my eyes, I asked, "Is this still about me taking care of you that first week? I've told you not to worry about it."

Bending low and getting close to my ear, so close his hot breath ghosting over my lobe caused me to shiver despite the warm day, he whispered, "It's about me taking care of my omega. I might not be ready yet, Bennett, but I can take care of you in small ways. I need to take care of this for you."

The way he put emphasis on the word need made me whimper with my own need . Hearing him call me his omega, that he had to take care of me, it caused a primal urge to slam into me I hadn't known I was capable of.

Shay was sexy on any given day. Shay, acting like a primal alpha, even in the tiniest way, was like sex on a stick.

My hands covered his, and I rocked my body closer to him. Needing to feel him against me. Everywhere. Anywhere. My heart pounded too fast, the air escaping my lungs in quick, sharp pants. My hole fluttered, empty and aching to be filled, growing damp with slick.

Shay's nostrils flared, his pupils wide, as he leaned even closer. "You smell so damn good, Bennett. Sweet and spicy. Even better than usual. I don't know why, but it's intoxicating."

"Shay," I whisper panted, my fingers digging into his. The sounds of the party had disappeared, the murmur of voices, laughter, and kids' high-pitched calls. The only sound was of my panting breaths, and the air moving when his nostrils flared as he breathed my scent in. It was just him and me, desire thick between the two of us .

"Bennett! You came!" Lucas's shriek broke the spell we were under, and we both jumped back, putting much needed space between us.

Lucas launched himself at me, and I braced myself for his impact, wrapping him tightly in my arms. He gave the best hugs, and I never wanted to let him go.

"Of course I came," I whispered into his sun-warmed hair, "I wouldn't miss your birthday for the world."

Grinning up at me, my heart ached with love for this little boy. "Daddy, when can I open presents?"

Shay shook his head, staring at me, and I had to look away. I couldn't hold his gaze, afraid if I did, he would see all my secrets. The love I had for his child, and for him, and the secret that was nestled safely in my belly.

My eyes locked with Asher's, and he gave me a small nod, like he understood exactly what I was feeling. Maybe he did. I knew a bit about his and Gabe's story from Seth, and I knew Gabe hadn't made it easy on Asher to catch him. And it had been Asher doing the chasing, according to Seth. The omega had come on a bit too strong for Gabe's bashful bear to handle, and he had shied away from the confident cheetah.

"How about another few minutes," Shay told Lucas thickly, before clearing his throat. "You still have guests arriving."

Seth entered the yard, carrying his package along with a bunch of colorful balloons, and Lucas ran over to him. Shay took a step towards me, and I held my hand up to stop him.

"You stay over there." Waving towards the group of people gathered across the yard, I said, "I'm going to go over there. With Quinn and Wade, and…everyone else. Where it's safe."

"Bennett– "

Shaking my head, I repeated, pointing towards the group of omegas. "I'm going over there. You go…somewhere else. We nearly caused an x-rated scene at a child's party."

His lips quirked up, "PG-13 at best."

"Oh, he's got jokes," I muttered, walking away.

Where it was safe. Away from Shay and all his tanned skin, long legs, and delectable scent. The man wanted space and I was giving it to him.

It was as much for his well-being as mine this time.