The gate is wide open when Finn pulls through and into thedrive. Only Gideon’s car is in its usual spot, and the front door is wide open with Tsuki standing watch. “Good girl. Is he okay?”
The dog just huffs and leads the way inside. He thinks she even shuts the door with her nose before disappearing up the stairs toward Nix’s room.
Gideon is standing over a giant bowl of steaming water in the kitchen when Finn toes his shoes off. There are craft supplies on the counter and a melting bag of ice. “This is hardly the time for a facial.” He realizes what he’s said when Gideon raises an eyebrow. “Ha, ha. No time for that either. How is he?”
“I have no idea. He won’t let me in.”
“You haven’t seen him? Shit. What did he say?”
“That he’s ‘not ready’ and that he only ‘needs Luca.’ I’m supposed to keep the rest of the pack out.”
Well, shit. That’s going to last all of ten minutes, by Finn’s calculation, when Jay arrives and Rowan breaks down the door. “Shit.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. But Luca thinks he’ll let you in when you get here. Why won’t he let me–usin?”
That’s a good question. Carlos hadn’t mentioned anything about laboring alone, nor had any of the three Omegan births Finn had attended since Arlo’s last fall. Even Arlo had his whole pack present. But Nix is nothing if not unique, even for an omega.
“I don’t know. But he’s wanted to do this at home like omegas have done for millennia. Can you give me a hand to get the kit out?”
Together, they roll in the cart and bins they had stored in the library. Finn had them packed full of supplies for Nix and the babies since weeks after they’d returned from Florida, when Nix had approached him about a home birth. Items like baby blankets scented by the pack, a scale, medical supplies, and the smallest diapers Finn had ever seen. Nix had insisted Leo order the smallest size when he’d placed his order last month. An omen of a premature birth if there ever was one.
Gideon is back to staring into the steaming water again, like he’s Frodo or Galadriel and he’s watching for a vision of the future. He supposes it’s better than a panicked Gideon, because there is no doubt in Finn’smind that there will be no fewer thanthreeenigmas who will be doing that enough for all of them.
It might be best if he can make his caregiving mate useful. “Could you make the infant formula? The instructions are on the container. It’s ready-made for now, I think, but the bottles will need–”
“Sterilizing. I know this part, Dr. Merritt. Just…you get on with your business and leave the rest to me.” He shakes off his bemused stupor and starts clearing the hodge-podge of stuff on the counter. Finn finally notices there arestacksof premade meals on the counter, and at least fifteen dozen muffins in rows on the breakfast bar. Maybe Rowan and Jay aren’t the only ones whoknewbefore they really knew.
With an armload of meals ready to go into the deep freeze in the pantry, Gideon asks, “Shit, has anyone called Jay, or Gray and Leo?”
“Jay and Rowan-wolf are coming in hot. You should try Gray and Leo. And for Goddess’ sake, don’t get them worked up. I agree with Nix, maybe we should keep them out for the time–”
Finn!echoes through Finn’s head. Flinching, and without a second thought, Finn heads off at a run, bin of medical supplies in his arms.
Hard to Handle: Jay
There’s a growl off to his right, causing Jay to veer away from the last of the setting sun’s light filtering through the trees. He puts on a burst of speed, aiming for the stream he can smell ahead, where he might confuse Rowan-wolf’s superior senses and make the chase worthwhile. Or at least enough to burn off some of his mate’s aggression.
Their resident wolf had spent too many hours this week in his shifted form, growling and pacing, and frankly, Jay had enough of his own territorial feelings to deal with—without adding Rowan’s shit to the mix.
He shouldn’t have been surprised when Gideon had suggested—insisted—that Jay take Rowan out for a run in the woods past the city limits for a few hours. While he hated to leave the house, it had seemed like a brilliant idea—Rowan could burn off all the extra energy and quit being a broody little shit.
Jay had no intention of running himself. He had brought his laptop and two books on parenting twins to occupy his time instead. For reasons Jay doesn’t like to examine too closely, he hadn’t wanted to be too far from the SUV—just in case.
Just in case what, exactly, Jay’s wolf hadn’t made clear.
But Rowan-wolf had been a menace in the car, scratching what looked like his name into the back seat of the brand-new Škoda Kodiaq’s leather upholstery on the drive out. Then he’d lifted his leg on the rear driver’s side tire, the sound of hot liquid hitting the custom titanium hubcaps ringing loudly in the quiet.
Now, Jay isn’t shallow enough to worry about his shit that much, and theSUV is still safe even with piss on the tires—but his mate had intended to piss Jay off, and boy, had it worked.
Still, it had taken everything Jay had to let it slide.
Gritting his teeth, he’d narrowed his eyes before telling his mate to Fuck. Right. Off.
He’d pointed over his shoulder toward the woods and reminded the big idiot that he’d honk when it was time to go. Flicking the lawn chair open single-handedly, he’d pulled out his laptop and settled in for a few hours of reviewing new group bios.
He was already thinking about being home for a late dinner and looking forward to his night keeping Nix company.
But no—Rowan-wolf had rolled his eyes, gotten right up into Jay’s grill, and bumped his laptop hard enough that it had rolled into the dirt that served as a parking lot.
