21. Kai

“The three of us can’t live in this small apartment with a baby.”

Gideon was adamant, and while I secretly agreed with him, it wasn’t his decision to make. Or it was, but Dante and I had to agree. That was how this relationship worked, especially since this place was Dante’s. It was where he lived while forging his career, and he’d brought me here when I was scared and confused.

“It is small, and we could do with at least one more bedroom.” I glanced at Dante as I spoke. “For me to use as an office.” There wasn’t much space in the living area, and both Dante and Gideon were tall. The space would be crowded with baby paraphernalia. Add one omega and two alphas and we’d be sidling past one another and apologizing for bumping into the other person.

“Four.” Gideon held up four fingers. “We each need a room for privacy, and the baby must have a nursery.”

I tapped a finger on my lips as I pondered what the polar bear shifter had said. The point to us being together was that we were… with one another, not alone in our separate rooms.

“Why four?” That would be an unnecessary expense, and while the three of us worked, babies weren’t cheap. And with a smaller place, we could save for a deposit and buy a home one day.

“Four people. Four bedrooms.” Dante wasn’t questioning Gideon’s suggestion, and again, I was the outsider.

The pair, born in Tarrin, seemed to get the other’s intention, and I was left with many questions. We’d been here before with them on one side of an issue and me on the other. Damn it.

Gideon put his hands on my shoulders. “You adored your grandparents, didn’t you?” What sort of question was that? He was trying to change the subject. But I mumbled a yes. “And yet, did you ever retreat to your room, wanting to be alone, craving privacy?”

I thought back, and tears pricked my eyes. I had, because as much as I loved them, I loved myself too and needed time to collect my thoughts and just be, with no one expecting something from me.

“Wanting time to yourself has nothing to do with how much you love us.” Dante came up behind me and cradled my bump.

“Okay. Four bedrooms.” I rested my head on Gideon while placing a hand over my wolf shifter’s.

Dante and Gideon scoured the for-rent sites on the internet. An app would have been easier, but no, the techies of Tarrin were not there yet. I used pregnancy as an excuse for not searching, because other than the subway, café, park, mall, and Dante’s office, I knew little about Martslock.

“This one might do.” Dante tapped the computer screen. “It says no pets.” Gideon giggle-snorted, but it must have been a joke only Tarrin citizens understood. We didn’t have a puppy or kittens. Not even a parrot or a cuddly bunny.

“Can someone explain that to me, please?” I could blame baby brain, but it was more like Pinedale mind.

“They’re referring to our beasts.”

“What?” I swiveled my butt so I was facing them. “That’s terrible. They can’t get away with that. We need to sue.” I was met with blank expressions. The landlord must have been human, like me. But not like me, because they belonged here.

My bottom lip trembled as I asked, “Is discrimination allowed in Tarrin?” Maybe I didn’t want our baby growing up here.

“No. It’s a message to shifters that they don’t allow shifting inside.” Gideon blew me a kiss.

“Big beasts can wreck a room, causing huge damages. Shifters who can’t control their animals would be hit with a big bill if they shifted inside.” Dante grinned, his head tilted to the side as he did when we had Tarrin/Pinedale misunderstandings.

“Okay.” One misunderstanding solved. A million more to go. Perhaps our child could translate and get me out of awkward situations when they got older.

“It would be five subway stops from your work and seven for me.” Gideon peered at the screen. “It’s doable.”

“But it’s on the third floor and there’s no elevator, so we can cross that off the list.” Dante sighed, and they resumed their search while I sipped iced tea and chatted to the baby who was awake and wriggling.

After two hours, my alphas had a list of five possible rentals. Buying a house would have been nice, but they were farther away from the city center and also out of our price range.

They made arrangements with the realtor to visit tomorrow, Sunday, and said I could stay home and they’d send me pics.

“Thanks, but I’m pregnant, not deathly ill. I’m coming.” I was lucky to not have to traipse to work every day like most other pregnant omegas did. And I had two guys at home doing the chores and catering to my every whim.

But that night, I didn’t sleep well, tossing and turning, dreaming of houses with gaping floors that swallowed me, and tentacles extending from the walls that wrapped around me, choking the air from my lungs. Dante slept on the sofa, and Gideon still had his place, so he still slept there most nights.

In the wee hours of the morning, I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep. Refusing to look out the bedroom window at the city lights, in case the world blurred and shimmered, I sat up and tried to figure out what was on my mind.

In the first few weeks after I arrived here, I had trouble sleeping, but Dante was always in the room. Glancing around at the furniture and pictures on the walls, it hit me that I was scared of letting go of the familiar. I was surrounded by things I’d touched and scented and looked at countless times and memorized.

And it was going to be taken away from me.

The door opened, and Dante strode to the bed. “Is something wrong?”