Chapter Twenty-Two

West

"Oh, come on, buddy. You have to give your papa a break."

Sutton was doing the thing where he made a neh sound and started to get red in the face. Once he started kicking his legs, it was all over.

"I'm here. My milk came down the moment I heard him making that sound. Give me the little meat loaf."

Didn't know why my mate started calling Sutton his little meat loaf but it kind of fit. He was a chunky boy with thunder-thigh creases where his wrists met his hands. Dimples in his knuckles.

And an appetite that made me think he would shift into a cub once his animal demanded it.

I sighed. I wished I could help more with the feedings, but Antoine had the goods. "Here, buddy. Your papa had to stop painting to come and feed you."

Antoine sat in the rocking chair in the nursery. I unbuttoned his shirt and got the cloth diaper for when Sutton dribbled, which always happened.

Soon the sounds of gulping filled the room.

Antoine and I took turns taking care of our little one on the days when my truck was open but with an infant and the fall approaching, we had decided that come October, I would shut the truck down for the winter. We had enough money, thanks to Antoine selling that painting of me, and we could take some time to focus on our baby and each other.

Antoine would paint all winter, I hoped.

I made Antoine a cup of iced tea, red raspberry leaf, and a plate of cheese, crackers, and some vegetables to eat while he nursed. Feeding our babe really took it out of him but I was grateful he was able to. Some omegas weren't.

"Thank you, West. You always take care of us. Doesn't he, Sutton?" My mate cooed at our babe. Sutton stopped feeding to gurgle and smile at his papa and then me.

"I try, my love," I said and picked up things while he continued feeding. There was always laundry to be done and today was no exception. Taking trash out. But all worth it. I'd never been happier in my life.

And Antoine hadn't been quiet about wanting another baby already.

"Are you ready for your grandpas to visit?" I asked Sutton, tickling his pudgy toes.

"Have you talked to them?" Antoine asked.

"I have. They insisted on getting a car and driving into town once their plane lands. I offered to pick them up but they said no."

My mate nodded and switched Sutton to the other side of his chest.

"Are they excited?" he asked. "They are my fathers and you've been texting them more than me."

"You've been busy and yes. I would use the word ecstatic. They offered to babysit one night next week."

"Why? Is something going on?"

I nodded and touched Antoine's knee. "Yeah. I thought I would take my lovely omega on a date."

Antoine closed his eyes. "Do you know how dreamy that sounds? I haven't gotten you alone since he was born."

"Well," I murmured. "You've been healing. But it will be a little over six weeks postpartum when we go on our date. I may have booked us a fancy hotel for the night."

He gasped. "Awfully presumptuous of you, alpha."

My heart sank. "Was it? Are you not ready? I can cancel."

He said nothing but when Sutton finished feeding and went down for a nap, he pushed me against the wall in the hallway and fisted the front of my shirt. "Please, don't cancel, alpha. I need time alone with you."

We'd, of course, had a lot of time alone but, since the baby, it had mostly been spent napping.

"Thank the gods," I breathed out.

"Until then, kiss me."