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I nodded. "So much."
"Good. Keep him on his toes. The two of them need that."
Joey laughed. "I think it'll be a while before anybody but this little guy is keeping anyone on their toes.” He patted his baby bump. “I’m too tired to give Andro much trouble. And honestly, it isn’t much fun because he lets me get away with everything right now. I could ask for a unicorn and he’d probably track one down.”
“How are you sleeping?" I asked.
"Not too bad. Up every two hours to pee or to move to a more comfortable position, but I'm getting used to it. Practicing for when the baby arrives. It helps that we have a lot of hands around here.”
“I can help now that I'm back. And, well…I don't really have a job now, I guess."
Vern snorted. "Your job is to cook that baby. Get strong. You look like you've worked too many hours. You need to put a little meat on your bones. We’ll talk to the chefs and have them prepare some hearty meals for you."
I wasn’t about to argue with the man, even if I didn’t want to make a fuss about having anything extra. "I suppose I can manage some rest."
"Then welcome to the family." Vern stood up and then left the room.
I let out a long breath.
"You get used to him," Joey said. "I find the easiest thing to do is not to let him know that he's slightly intimidating."
I laughed. "I'll try that.”
“How have you been?" Joey asked.
"Good. It was weird not living here. Quiet. The food wasn’t as good, but I made do. I’m pretty sure my landlord used to work for one of the families. Or maybe she was the head of some family. She was kinda scary, and she kicked Trev and Davy’s ass at poker.” I didn’t mention the whole shootout situation. If Andro wanted Joey to know, he could tell him. Anything I said would just worry him.
"I’m sorry if I gave away too much, and you didn't want to be found."
"It's fine." I couldn’t blame him. It was a big secret to keep from his family. "I did want to be found, if this is the result. I get to stay and be with Louie. That's all I ever wanted. And my baby is safe.”
“I'm glad, because he's gonna be my baby's best friend. If this guy ever decides to make an appearance."
“You haven’t even hit your due date yet.”
We sat and chatted for a while. Joey tried to teach me how to knit, but I was useless at it.
He filled me in on what had been happening while I was away. We also chatted about the shows we liked. It was nice to have my best friend back. I hadn’t let myself miss him too much, or else I would have really cried myself to sleep each night. But now that I was back, I could recognize how much I had missed him.
Eventually, Andro and Louie came back to the room. Louie smiled when he saw me sitting there. "I could get used to that view, seeing you here again, in my home.”
“Go back to your own suite if you’re gonna get all gushy,” Andro said.
Joey slapped at his alpha’s shoulder playfully. “You used to get that excited when you saw me, alpha.”
Andro smiled down at his omega and kissed him on the temple. “I still do, love.”
Louie grabbed my hand and led me out of the room, leaving those two to be alone.
“Are you terribly tired, love? Or are you up for a surprise?” he asked.
“What sort of surprise?”
Louie grinned and held my hand as he led me down the hall. Two guards followed us, Davy and someone else I didn’t recognize. It was probably my guard. I would have one now, assigned to me full-time, like Joey did. That would take some getting used to.
We went to the full birthing suite that had been set up in the family wing. The family kept a medic on-call at all times. The equipment was originally brought in for Joey but would be left for me. It just made more sense to have a full delivery room with access to state-of-the-art equipment that would rival the most modern pediatric center in the country than to go to a public facility and risk running into an enemy.
“What are we doing in here?” I looked around, wondering why he’d brought me here. “I don’t have an exam scheduled for two more weeks.”
