17. Warwick

Chapter 17

If you had asked me before I claimed my mate a month ago if I would fall in love with the quiet little snores of another person, I would have glared at you for asking such a question. I smiled. It was still early, but I had always been an early riser, despite where I was or what was going on around me. But Cecil, my sweet, precious mate. He had decidedly become a not morning person.

He'd told me that mornings didn't use to bother him, but that had been before. Before he'd been claimed, before he became pregnant. Before me. I'd thrown his life upside down for certain, but I liked to think he didn't mind too much. Especially since he'd done the same to me. Which was how I'd found myself lying in bed on a Friday morning instead of getting ready to go to work.

Cecil was what you would expect an omega to be. He was sweet, caring, and just happiness. I could feel my entire mood shift when I was around him. My beast had calmed considerably, and no longer did I desire to go out on every assignment I could volunteer for.

Cecil was safely tucked in beside me, and that made my beast happy. I pulled my mate a little bit tighter to me, enjoying the feel of him there. Sleeping next to someone had been new, but it was something we both quickly adjusted to.

My talk with Chin and Lev was still very much in the front of my thoughts. I didn't know love as I'd never experienced it. I didn't have parents that loved me growing up. But as Chin and Lev had pointed out, I'd seen it since joining the council, and I found myself acting much the same as others around me. My days were filled with thoughts of my mate and the children he was carrying. My desire to see to his every need was overwhelming, and only when I had made certain that Cecil's needs and desires had been seen did my beast relax. That was a new experience, and I decided I liked it.

Cecil's snoring abruptly stopped, putting me on alert. He quickly rolled from my embrace, and when he rushed to the bathroom, I quickly got up to follow. I'd read the book Dr. King had given us, and I was worried that he might be experiencing morning sickness for the first time. As I approached the bathroom though, I heard him sighing in relief as he apparently emptied his bladder. I leaned against the bathroom doorframe and waited. When Cecil was finished and turned and saw me, he gave me a sheepish smile.

"My body suddenly decided it was dire that I went pee."

I chuckled. "It happens. How are you feeling otherwise?"

Cecil flushed and went to the sink. "Good. Although I'm feeling a little bloated, I don't think I feel any different."

"No upset stomach or anything of that sort?"

Cecil dried his hands. "No. I seriously feel fine. Like I did before we claimed each other." Cecil shook his head. "Well, aside from the fact that I can communicate with you through our bond. But what I meant was I don't feel as if I'm going to throw up or anything. Actually, I'm really hungry. Are you up for breakfast?"

I chuckled. I was always up to eat, and eventually, Cecil would realize that. "Yes. What would you like? Bacon? Sausage? Eggs? Steak?"

"Whatever. I'm actually really hungry this morning but not craving any one particular thing."

I could take care of that for him. We switched places, and I took care of morning needs before washing my hands. When I was finished, I found Cecil in the bedroom, pulling on jeans. He was already wearing a long-sleeve shirt.

"What would you like to do today?" I asked. Since Cecil was already dressed, I used magic to dress myself. Cecil's shoulders slumped, and he sighed.

"That has to be nice. To just be able to think about something, and boom, it's done."

I chuckled. "Yes, it is. But I can do it without the magic as well. I spent a long time without the use of my magic."

Cecil looked sad. "I won't say I'm upset that you're here, because I'm not. I wouldn't have you in my life if you hadn't been banished here. But I think it's sad that he mistreated all of you so much. I can't imagine what all you've gone through. Both before you were banished and after."

I walked over to Cecil and pulled him into my arms. "I'm thankful I have you in my life. You've certainly changed it for the better. And any hardships I had to go through before you were brought to me were worth it."

Cecil leaned his forehead onto my chest. "You can't be all sweet like that. It makes me emotional."

I chuckled at that. When Cecil looked back up at me, I cupped his face and leaned down to give him a gentle kiss. "I say things like that because I mean them. You have very quickly become my entire reason for being here. I can't say that I for sure know what love is, but if what I feel for you isn't love, then I'm at a loss."

Cecil started blinking, took a step back and out of my embrace, and then started fanning his face. I was confused until he looked up at me with tears in his eyes. "I love you too." I smiled down at my mate and pulled him back to me.

"Good. I hope to never screw things up. I'm sure I will at some point, and I'll beg forgiveness. Please don't hold my mistakes against me."

Cecil hugged me tighter. "Never."

We stood there for a minute or two, just holding one another. But Cecil's stomach growling had me pulling away enough to look down at him. "We should get you fed."

"Probably. Sorry. I was really enjoying you holding me."

"That's all right. We have the rest of our long lives to hold one another." I planned on holding Cecil as often as I could. "But right now, you and the babies need to eat." I took Cecil's hand, and after we left the bedroom, I held his hand while we went down the stairs. Yes, he was quite capable, but that didn't stop me from being overly protective of him.

I was protective to begin with. Add in my mate and the fact that he was pregnant, and the protective instincts multiplied significantly. I would do anything to keep Cecil and the twins safe. I led Cecil to the kitchen and over to the small table that we'd put in the eat-in area and pulled out a chair for him. He grinned up at me before sitting down.

"Breakfast is served," I told him as I bent down. I kissed his forehead, and when I stood back up, the table was filled with all of Cecil's favorites. My favorite was simply food. I ate any and everything, and as far as I was concerned, if Cecil was happy, so was I.

We ate in silence until the food was half-gone. By then, Cecil seemed to slow down and was ready to talk. It also didn't hurt that he'd had a cup of coffee and was working on his second. My mate was definitely a coffee drinker.

"What would you like to do today?" Cecil asked.

"Well, I thought we would see if you could still shift. And if so, maybe go for a run and see your grandpa. You haven't seen him since just before we claimed each other, and I know you miss him most. Would you like to go see him? If not, we could just go out for a bit and then come back home. We only have just this weekend before we are both going back to work on Monday."

I knew everyone did it, but I felt it would help because Cecil wasn't going to be far. He was a short walk out of the council building and into the omega clinic behind it. But we also had our bond, which I knew would help keep my beast calm when our mate was out of our sight.

Cecil set his coffee cup down and smiled. "I wouldn't mind going for the walk. If you want to go see Grandpa Lev, we can. But I'm sure we'll see him and Grandfather soon enough." Cecil's smile left his face. "There is to be a family meeting soon. I'm not sure if I'm ready to go, but I probably should. My siblings and I haven't ever had a good relationship though."

I was aware of that. It hurt me that his family had been so terrible to him for so long. But I had to wonder, were his parents just as horrible to his siblings? Cecil's next oldest sibling was only three decades older. Yet they were all gone, and from what I saw in Cecil's memories, they didn't come back to visit often. In fact, they moved away.

"It was just a thought," I told him. "We can simply work on the house and find more things to decorate the place with."

Cecil grinned. "I think it's good. It doesn't need to be cluttered."

I shrugged. If he wanted it cluttered, I'd happily fill every available space. "Then what would you like to do today?" I glanced outside. It was snowing again. But we were supposed to be getting snow this weekend. It was the beginning of November. That happened in the mountains in Montana in November.

"I'm happy to see if I can still shift and then go for a walk with you. I know your beast likes to spend time with my bear. But we don't have to go visit family. They will be around enough once the babies come."

Cecil placed his hand on his stomach, drawing my eyes downward. He didn't look overly pregnant. While dressed, you absolutely couldn't tell. His stomach area was thicker than it had been before. I could tell he was certainly showing when he was naked, but a loose shirt easily hid it from others.

"He does," I said. "But I'm just as happy to spend the day here at the house with you." We were interrupted by my phone ringing. It was across the kitchen on the counter, so I used magic to bring it to me. When I saw Master Edison's name on the screen, I was immediately concerned.

"Hello." I thought about putting it on speakerphone, but I wasn't sure if the call was work related or not.

"Warwick, good morning. I was wondering if you and Cecil could come to the omega clinic this morning. There has been some news that should be shared in person." Immediately, I was concerned.

"Of course. Is there a specific time we should be there?" Cecil was looking at me, his eyes round. I was certain he could hear every word being spoken. I picked up on his worry through our bond, and I knew that before we were able to do anything else today, we would have to go and find out what had been discovered.

"There is no rush. There is also no need for alarm. It's just that I've heard from the goddess, and she was quite informative when it comes to all things hellhound-baby pregnancies. Whenever you and Cecil have a free moment this morning, Dr. King will be available."

Cecil was nodding. "Yes, of course. We'll finish our breakfast and then be over."

"Very good. I'll see the two of you then. Enjoy your breakfast."

"Thank you, Master Edison."

The call ended, and I looked at Cecil, who was suddenly worried. I reached for his hand, hoping to soothe his worry. "It'll be all right. If there was a reason to be concerned, Master Edison wouldn't be asking us to go to the omega clinic. I've seen instances where he simply popped in somewhere. That isn't the case here, so I don't feel there is any need to worry." I ran my thumb over the inside of Cecil's wrist, wondering if it was doing anything to reassure him. He pushed his plate away, and I wanted to growl at the created warlock for interrupting our breakfast.

In all fairness, we were up later than we normally would be. We were having breakfast about an hour after I normally would have been at work. Cecil as well, most likely.

"Just like that, you're finished?"

"I couldn't eat another bite, Warwick. I want to know everything I can about having hellhound babies. Why can't he tell us over the phone? Why not just come here and let us know? I'm ready to go now."

I nodded. We had made a good dent in the food I'd made, and after I used magic to clean up the mess, I stood and helped Cecil to his feet. "Did you want to walk or go with magic?"

Cecil hesitated a moment. "Can we walk? I'd like to get some fresh air, and maybe it will help calm my nerves some."

"We can certainly walk. I'll get the coats, and then we can go."

Cecil nodded. I walked to the front closet by the door, but I was surprised when Cecil went back upstairs. I stopped him halfway up.

"Did you forget something?"

Cecil turned, grabbed the railing, and held out his foot. When he was wiggling it, I realized he was still barefoot.

"I think that you'd probably want me to put on boots or something. I probably want that too. I know I can walk in snow for a little bit, but from here to work is probably too much."

I crooked my finger, calling my mate back to me. He grinned, and by the third step down, he was now wearing warm socks and his hiking boots, which I knew he didn't mind if they got covered in snow or mud. I didn't think we'd encounter either. Master Edison had made the walkways to where they were always clear.

I held out Cecil's coat, and when he turned around, I helped him slip his arms into the sleeves. I wrapped my arms around him, leaning down and kissing his cheek. "No matter what they say, I'm proud to have you as my mate and the daddy of my children."

Cecil looked at me, his eyes a bit wet. "You need to stop with the sweet words." Cecil wiped his eyes. "Not really. I love them and that you are so free with telling me how you feel. But I'm emotional, and you've made me tear up twice this morning already."

I kissed his nose. "I'm sorry. Truly. I'm only trying to make sure you know how I feel. I don't wish for you to ever wonder about my affections toward you." I knew many others thought I was just a grump. And around them, I probably was. I didn't mind being on assignments with them, but I wasn't going to go out of my way to spend all of my free time with them after work. Cecil though, that was a different story.

"I know, and you know it means everything to me that you do." Cecil wiped at his eyes again. "Okay, we have to go, or I feel that I'm going to start full-out crying." Cecil took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

I grabbed my leather jacket, and after I had it on, I opened the front door for my mate. We stepped out into the gently falling snow, and Cecil smiled as he looked upward. I knew as a polar bear shifter, his bear loved to play in the snow. I hoped he got to do that soon enough. We had a lot to get done before the babies were due, but we had time.

"Still want to walk?" I asked.

"It might be better to go your way. I'm afraid that if we walk at my pace, we'll be completely covered by the time we get there. I didn't realize it was snowing this hard." His hair was already partially covered in flakes.

It wasn't snowing that hard, but it was falling at a good rate. But the clouds were heavy and dark gray, promising even more throughout the day.

I reached for Cecil's hand and thought about the omega clinic. That was all it took for me to have us standing in front of it. I closed the distance between us and the door, pulling it open for Cecil. When he gave me a smile as he walked through the door, I followed. I was a bit surprised when we were greeted by several people.

Cecil froze, squeezed my hand, and moved closer to my side. In front of us was not only Dr. King and Master Edison but also Cecil's grandparents. There was another, and I'd seen him around before, but his name was escaping me at the moment.

"Warwick?" Cecil whispered. I looked down at my mate, quickly wrapping my arm around his shoulders and pulling him tightly to my side.

"You are scaring my mate, and my beast isn't at all happy about that. I suggest you spit out whatever it is that you have to say to us so my beast can calm down about our mate being upset," I warned the group as a whole.

"I do apologize, Warwick," Master Edison said. "I didn't expect the two of you to be here quite so soon. And I promise it's nothing negative. A bit surprising though, so perhaps it is best that we have the meeting in the exam room so Maxwell and Constantine can do another exam to check the twins' progress."

That was who it was. The other man was Constantine. He was the warlock doctor from Master Edison's coven.

I looked down at Cecil in question.

"Yeah, let's do it. I just didn't think there would be so many people here."

"I didn't either. I can growl at them and send most of them out if you'd like. But it's just the doctors and your grandparents."

Lev was crossing the room toward us. I loosened my grip on Cecil to allow his grandpa to pull him into an embrace. "It's good news. Especially when it comes to pregnancy. Well, I would think so, but that's only because I had six."

"Grandpa?" Cecil said when Lev took a step back. Lev looked at Cecil and nodded. "I promise it's good news. There's nothing wrong with you or the babies as far as I know. There's just a lot about hellhounds that's different, that's all."

Cecil nodded, then looked back up at me. "There's only one way to find out. Shall we?"

Cecil and I started walking, and I understood why he felt like we were about to get tragic news. My eyes met Master Edison's, but he gave nothing away. When I made eye contact with Alpha Vitomir, he gave me a nod, and I was left wondering what that could mean.

Dr. King led us down the hallway, and after we entered a different room than before, Cecil made a beeline for the exam table. I first helped him take off his coat and then up onto the table. I tossed our coats onto the chair that was against the wall beside the exam table. When everyone started to file into the room, despite its larger size, it quickly became cramped. Cecil squeezed my hand, sensing my unease. I moved closer, my beast unhappy with so many so close to our pregnant mate.

When Alpha Vitomir entered the room, it was immediately apparent that he sensed my beast's unease. He pulled Alpha mate Lev to his side and stood against the far wall. I nodded at the created polar bear, thankful for the gesture. It was something small but meant a lot to me and my beast.