Chapter Twenty One

Ben

We are going on a date tonight. Our first one in this territory. We"re taking Desie to a very fancy restaurant on the upside of town. Jasper called it elite. Talia discreetly mouthed the word fancy and Devon looked away with his eyebrows raised into his hairline. Desie likes fancy, though, and we wanted to take her out somewhere good before the baby comes.

"I can"t wear this," she moans from behind the open closet door. "It"s ridiculous."

"Show me."

"You"re going to laugh."

Not likely. The past six dresses she"s put on have had one common problem according to her. They"re "obscenely" tight across her stomach. She has been very clear that they aren"t uncomfortable, she just thinks they look bad. They definitely don"t think they look bad and I"ve got the semi to prove it. "Show me."

"Don"t laugh."

"I"d never laugh at you."

She snorts. "Yes, you would. But don"t this time, okay?"

"I promise I won"t laugh."

She sighs heavily and steps around the door in a black dress that ends just above her knees. It"s strapless and skin-tight across her stomach. We might not get out of the house, especially after Seth sees her. "That"s an immediate yes. Holy shit. Which shoes?"

She looks around her stomach at her feet. "Not the heels I wore with it last year, that"s for sure. Flip flops?"

"Baby, I"d love to okay the flip flops. But I don"t think you can wear them to the place we"re going."

She goes back into the closet and starts digging through shoes. "I"ll never survive wearing heels, not even small ones. And this isn"t a flats kind of dress. I"ll have to pick a different outfit."

"Don"t you dare change out of that dress. Seth"s eyes are going to bug out. Boots? I know it"s getting warmer, but what about some ankle boots? You have some of those don"t you?"

"I"ll die if I try to wear boots, Ben. I"m too hot for that."

"Do you have fancy flip flops?"

"Maybe." More aggressive rummaging sounds come from inside the closet. "What about these?"

She steps out wearing some dark purple flip flops that aren"t quite heels but aren"t flat either. "Perfect. Let"s go give Seth a heart attack."

She doesn"t even get down the stairs before he"s dragging his hands down his face. "Why do you hate me?"

"She looks gorgeous, don"t you think?" I help her down the last few stairs and twirl her off to Michael.

"So gorgeous," he agrees and kisses her neck.

"Goddammit," Seth mutters. "I"m going to cause a scene. You picked that dress, didn"t you?" He glares at me.

"I didn"t pick it, but I definitely encouraged it. And you can"t cause a scene at this place. It"s elite."

Seth scrubs at his jaw again and looks up at the ceiling. "Half the council will probably be there. I can"t afford to make a scene. I have have to be–"

"Elite," I finish for him and laugh when he glares at me.

I regret laughing at him within two minutes of being inside the restaurant. There are too many men here without packs or partners. And they all look at Desie a little too long to be considered respectful. By the time we"re seated at our table, all three of us are bristling. Michael isn"t bothering to hide the snarl on his face, and Seth has popped his knuckles enough times that Desie has called him out on it twice.

"Maybe I shouldn"t have worn the flip flops," Desie says as Michael helps her into her seat.

Seth takes his seat next to her, scowling in the direction of the bar. "It isn"t the flip flops, Desir"ee. You look perfect. I just don"t like the fact that every untethered male in the place agrees with me. Don"t worry, darlin. We won"t let anyone near you."

She presses her lips together to keep from smiling. "I know you won"t."

The rest of dinner goes smoothly. We drink expensive wine and water. We eat through appetizers and courses. Everything is great until dessert. Desie ordered the most intricate version of an ice cream sundae I"ve ever seen and now everyone in here is watching her eat it. Well, not everyone. But more men are watching her lick the spoon she"s holding than I can handle without making that scene Seth was so worried about. The least violent solution I can manage is to take the spoon from her and feed her the rest of it. No licking. It takes some of the visual fun of it from me, but if it keeps me from launching the entire bowl and anything else I can reach on this table at that asshole at the bar then it"s fine.

"I can"t take another bite," she declares before the bowl is half empty.

We all breathe a nearly audible sigh of relief. The plan is to take her to a comedy show after dinner if she feels up to it. We"d normally take her dancing or to see a local musician, which would likely lead to dancing, but she asked for something a little less energetic since she"s so close to her due date. Seth has never been to see a stand-up comic. To be perfectly honest, I'm a little worried. A lot of comedians will pick someone out of the audience to use as a bit in the show, and Seth is a red head wearing an eye patch. He might as well be wearing a target on his face.

Something much worse happens, though. The show listed on the club"s online schedule was very clearly a one-man comedy act. The show being advertised on the marquee when we get there is not a one-man comedy act. It is apparently poetry night.

We all stare up at the billing sign without saying anything. I don"t think any of us wants to be the one to say we don"t want to snap our fingers and listen to people read depressing prose. I like poetry as much as the next guy, but I don"t think I can sit through an hour of it tonight.

"Um," Desie starts, but doesn"t get much further.

Michael gives me a sidelong glance. "Well..."

"Listen," Seth says, turning to face Desie. "This was supposed to be a comedy act. A one-man stand-up show. I even prepared myself to be the focal point of a whole bunch of jokes."

"Why would you be the focal point?" Desie asks, hand on hip.

He smiles down at her. "I"m wearing an eye patch, darlin. I might as well have an actual neon arrow pointing at me."

When she still doesn"t get it, I hold up one hooked finger. "Aargh. You know, a pirate?"

"Seth does not look like a pirate."

He brings her hand up to kiss her knuckles. "Thank you, Desir"ee. I appreciate that, but I do. Especially to a comedian. I was prepared for it. But, please, don"t make me sit through poetry tonight. I"m not artsy enough to enjoy it right now."

"Oh," she frowns. "Okay. We can go home. I"m getting tired anyway."

"I don"t think so," Michael argues. "You"re not that tired. I have a back-up plan."

Seth turns to look at him. "A back-up plan?"

"Yeah," Michael rubs the back of his neck. "I thought about the eye patch thing too and I thought it might piss me off for anybody to make a joke about it so I found an alternative option."

I gesture for him to continue and he gives me a wide smile. "There"s an arcade two blocks over."

The arcade is filled with yelling and laughing teenagers and way too many flashing lights, but we love it. Desie has kicked all our asses at air hockey and we will never live it down. She won a ton of tickets playing skeeball, too. By the time we"re finished playing all the games we can stand to play without getting headaches, we"ve accumulated enough tickets to win a hot-pink stuffed tiger. It is immediately Desie"s most favorite possession.

"This was a perfect night," she sighs when we"re back home and in bed.

I had big plans for when we got back home, especially after she walked out in that dress. But Desie actually is exhausted now. She"s around three weeks from her due date and I"m honestly surprised she"s not asleep every second she isn"t spending making sure everything is ready for the baby.

One of the greatest things is turning out to be how she utilizes her education and experience. Even with all the stress we"ve been through, she has remained calm about preparing for delivery and the baby. She hasn"t gone overboard with supplies and toys. She hasn"t bought out all the clothes at the baby stores. She"s been more excited about the hand-me-downs that Amber has shipped to us and what Talia has passed down from their babies than any of the new things.

"I"m sorry I"m so tired," she says, yawning. "I thought tucking me in tonight would be a little more fun."

I push her hair back from her face and pull her tighter against me. "This is fun. We can tuck you in tomorrow when we didn"t keep you out all night. Go to sleep."

She yawns again and hooks her knee over my hip, getting even closer. "When are Seth and Michael coming to bed?"

"They"ll be up soon. What do you want to do tomorrow?"

Tomorrow is the last day we will have free for the rest of this week. Michael and I are going to The Omega House to begin working on whatever we need to work on. We"ve been put under the impression that Elizabet is particular and exhausting, but she called me yesterday to confirm when we"d be over to help. She"s making us sandwiches and cookies, and she wants to bring a gift basket for Desie. I think she"s going to be great.

"Sleep late. Maybe have breakfast on the porch. Watch some movies. Mostly nothing."

That sounds like a perfect day. "What kind of movies?"

"The kind you hate," she says, yawning again, and tucks her head into my shoulder. "You and Michael will survive. We can order take out if you want. I don"t know what we can have delivered out here. I"ll ask Talia. I think we"ll have to meet the driver at the gate, though."

I like that inconvenience. I like knowing that nobody can get through the main gate and onto the property without either the code or the key. The biggest security risk at this point is the distillery staff, but there are only a few betas who work there. Corso is very hands-on. Reid, Devon, and Alex are too, so a big staff isn"t necessary. And the staff that they do have has been with Corso since they were all young. If he trusts them with the code to the main gate, then so do I.

"We"ll probably just send Seth out."

"Send Seth out for what?" he asks, coming through the door and pulling off clothes.

Desie and I scoot a little to give him room to crawl into bed on the other side of her. "Take out for tomorrow. We"re doing nothing."

"Oh," he mumbles as he winds his body around her. "I"ll go. Just tell me what you want." He drapes his arm across her, tucking his hand between her body and mine to hold her.

Michael joins us a few minutes later. He sprawls out behind me and pushes his foot between my ankles so that he"s touching Desie, too. She falls asleep almost the second that all three of us are touching her.

I"m about to fall asleep myself when Michael says quietly, "I like it here."

"Me, too."