Chapter Sixteen

Clay

It took both my arms pushing on my chair to get me up and out of it. I loved that I was carrying my mate's baby, the feel of our little one kicking inside me, the way Jeremy looked at me like I was the most precious thing in the world. I loved almost everything about being pregnant, but getting my big-old prego ass out of an office chair after sitting in it for three hours straight trying to solve all past, future, and present money problems? Yeah, that wasn't one of the things I loved.

"You okay?" Tyrus spun his chair around on the other side of the room. We'd taken to sharing workspaces. It was where all the computers lived, and it was easier for me to do my accounting there than lugging around a laptop and ledgers because goodness help these guys, they'd been using ledgers and envelopes of receipts for some, but not all things. They were not accountants, for sure.

"Yeah," I replied. "Just, you know…the chair."

"How many times has your mate offered to buy you a new one?"

I gave him some serious side-eye. "Do you think they make a chair that can keep this comfortable?" I indicated my huge belly that pulled me forward all day long and was the cause of the discomfort in this chair and any other that existed.

"Fair point." Tyrus shrugged one shoulder. "Wish I had an answer for you."

"Yeah, I know." He wasn't the only one. Everyone here had been so great to me. I truly was one of them now, and I loved it. "Sorry I snapped. But I have some good news."

"Good news?"

"Yeah, come look at this."

He came over and sat in the chair I had struggled out of as if it was the most comfortable thing in the world. Maybe to him, it was, but I was glad to not be in it anymore. That would change soon enough, when standing was being a pain in the butt. Such was pregnancy.

"What do you think?" I'd written up a proposal on how to save the guys some money. It was great that they were helping everyone out who needed them, but funds were drying up quickly, and if they could become a legitimate business entity, I could show them all sorts of ways to avoid not only the tax man but certain expenses.

"Huh, never thought of that." Tyrus grabbed the back of his neck. "I feel like that could work."

"Yeah, I think so too. Do you know where Hammer is?" I needed his stamp of approval to move forward.

"He's not in today. He was going to do something in town with… I forget who it was." So on brand for him lately. The thumb drive I gave him kept revealing more and more rabbit holes to dive into. He was singularly focused far too much of the time. Sloan kept him grounded, but I was pretty sure had he not been mated, he'd be all rabbit holing all the time.

"Did he try to talk to you while you were in the middle of something?" I was only half teasing.

"Maybe?" Tyrus chuckled. "Fine, he did, but you should know by now that he needs my full attention before he speaks to me."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I'm gonna go find my mate because I am not getting back in that chair today. If I do, it's gonna take a forklift to get me out of it."

"Not a forklift but maybe a mate."

I gave his shoulder a light smack. He ignored it. He was a good alpha.

"Go ahead. You've sure done your share of work."

"Well, we'll see if Hammer thinks so."

I walked around the warehouse, unsure where my mate was. Fine, I wasn't walking—I was waddling. Oh-so slowly. But the more I did, the better my joints felt, so I wasn't even mad about it.

When I didn't see him anywhere, I asked one of the omegas, and they told me he was outside on "car duty." I had no idea what that meant until I walked out into the parking lot and saw him pushing two double strollers with babies sound asleep in them.

I'd heard the omegas say that the trick to getting kids to fall asleep was to drive them around in a car. But since none of them had any cars and the vans were less than practical, it wasn't something that anybody saw in action. Apparently, my mate took that as a challenge, one he was slaying.

"Hey, I got one of these." I grabbed the handle, and we walked back and forth.

"The key," he said, "is, every once in a while, bounce it up a little bit. Then it feels like a real car."

"Do you think the babies are paying attention to that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, but they're taking their naps, and their dads are able to shower and not stress. So, that works."

He was so freaking hot on daddy duty like this. Not that I was supposed to be thinking about how attractive he was while we were on "car" duty.

About a half hour later, three omegas came out, freshly bathed and smiling.

"You are going to be an amazing papa," the youngest one, Daniel, said.

"He really is."

They stepped in, strolling away with the babies, and Jeremy offered to take me on a date—an ice cream date.

"Or…"

"Or?" He stopped walking and gave me his undivided attention. "Or what? I'm up for anything."

"Fabulous, because what I have in mind requires us both to be up." Before I finished my sentence, Jeremy had me in his arms and was carrying me straight to our room. There had been a time when I'd have argued that I was too heavy, or that I could walk, but that time wasn't today. This was so much faster than my waddling, and I couldn't wait to strip my mate naked and have a little snack.