Chapter Twenty-One

Archer

“What are you doing?” I asked, coming upon Heath on the couch, tapping away on his phone. “Texting for ice cream?” It was still the time of year where delivery in town was nonexistent, but our alpha mate, Oren, was at the store.

“No, but now that you mention it…” He typed some more. “Chocolate and mango. Yum.”

“Yeah. Sounds amazing.” And far less weird than the bubble gum and peanut butter choices last week. “Why are you still typing though?”

“Oh, putting an ad in the local buy/sell/share site.” He studied the screen, chewing on his lip. “How does this look?”

I took the phone and read the screen. “What? You can’t do this.”

“Sure I can. I haven’t had time to fix it, and with the baby coming, that’s not likely to change.” He patted his belly. “And I don’t think I would fit under it at this point anyway.” He had a point, but…

“We can have a mechanic work on it.”

“That’s not the only reason.” He set the phone down between us and arched his back. “So tense.”

“Lie down on your side, and I’ll work on the muscles.” I helped him get into a reasonably comfortable position and eased his shirt up. “Poor back, having to take on that active baby.” I kissed him in the sweet divot above his buttocks then went to work on his knots. He’d been having pain there lately, but gentle massage, as shown to us by the healer, really seemed to help. “Better?”

He let out a low moan. “So much.”

“So, let’s talk about the bus.”

“Wait, I think that’s Oren coming home.” Our omega was the best at hearing cars arrive, not to say especially cars that were bringing him ice cream. “Can we talk about this later?”

“We can talk about it after I help him bring the groceries in, but do not put that ad up until we all agree, okay?”

“It’s my bus,” he grumbled.

“And that’s a lot of the point.” I left him sitting there, hoping he would wait until I got back and wanting to have a quick word with Oren before Heath took any further steps.

Oren was just opening the back of the SUV. We all drove it more than Oren’s car, the 4-wheel drive having come in handy over the winter. “Just who I hoped to see. I bought a lot of things. Did you know our mate texted me to add to the list six times?”

“No, but I’m not surprised. I was only there for the ice cream order.”

“Which one?”

I chuckled. “How many were there?”

“Only two. The rest were for fruit and nuts and one for cheese crackers and Spam.” He handed me two canvas bags. “Thanks for coming out to help.”

As he picked up a couple of bags of his own, I said, “Wait just one minute?”

“Anything wrong?” He looked alarmed, and I felt bad for making him worry. “Our omega okay? The baby?”

“No no, everything is fine, but did you know Heath wants to sell the bus?”

Oren set down his bags and leaned back against the car. “No way. He loves that thing. Sometimes I find him napping on his bed in there in the afternoon. Why does he want to sell it?”

“He says because he hasn’t had time to fix it. And that now he’s too pregnant.”

“We’ll get a mechanic on it,” Oren said. “Easy peasy.”

“I don’t think that’s the whole story. I was just pressing him for information, and also pressing the knots out of his back, when you got home.”

He picked up his bags again. “Then let’s go find out.”

When we came in, Heath was sitting up again, and Oren and I took the groceries into the kitchen and put them away then returned to sit on either side of him.

“Okay, omega ours,” Oren said. “I hear you’re selling the bus.”

“It’s true.” He held his face up for a kiss, one Oren was glad to give him. “Welcome home.”

“Thank you, but why sell the bus? And no nonsense about not having time or the waistline to fix it.”

Heath flushed. “The real reason is that I don’t need it anymore. I am not living the bus life and I am happy and settled here. We’ve got the cabin all fixed up, and the bus can go to some other traveler.”

“That’s why?” I kissed his cheek. “I’ve always thought it would make a great RV for the family.”

When Heath’s eyes lit up, I knew I had hit on the right thing to say. “I suppose I could remodel the inside to make it family friendly. A bed we can all fit in and somewhere for the baby to sleep?”

That’s the spirit.” I kissed him again. “Think of the adventures we can have.”

Of course, every day with my mates was an adventure.