Page 36 of Bailey-Rose: The Complete Duet

We hadn’t had the chance to go over final selections with Bailey-Rose about setting up the room, but I made the executive call to at least get basics so the room could be used. Looking at all the things she’d picked out gave me a rather interesting look into her mind. It was creative, abstract, and honed in on finding maximum comfort.

“Are you sure this is the one she would have picked?” Gareth asked from the top of a stepladder. “I didn’t even know a bed like this existed. Thank fuck the ceiling has enough wood to it that we can mount it properly.”

It had been a risk to pick this bed out of the three she saved, but this one showed it had been viewed twenty times. That told me it was the one she really wanted yet didn’t think we would go for. I knew it would take a little adjusting for her to realize that this room is hers. No matter what she wanted to do with it, we would back her one hundred percent. Omegas needed a space that met their personal needs, and the only person who could make that happen was Bailey-Rose.

“Trust me, this is absolutely what she wants,” Ulysses said, handing up the rope to Gareth.

We’d already put together the mint green loveseat with a matching pair of armchairs and a pastel pink coffee table shaped like a daisy. I made sure we had plenty of hangers and organization for the closet. That might have been me putting my own desires for order in the chaos that was this room, but it couldn’t hurt. Other than bedding so she could sleep here tonight, I didn’t get any additional accessories for the room. As long as she had a place to relax, sleep, and store her clothes, we could manage. Tomorrow we’d all go to the store for her to pick out whatever pillows and blankets might be needed.

“Okay, that was the last rope. Now we can wrestle that mattress into place,” Gareth announced as he hopped off the ladder.

“I said sorry,” Vili muttered as he tied the lilac canvas border to the ropes creating the space to put the round mass off fluff. “Excitement took over, and I had to open.”

Gareth patted Vili on the shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m just teasing you. Even if you left the mattress shrink wrapped, it still would be a bitch to get in a hanging cradle of ropes.”

“You think she let us join her tonight?” Vili asked. “I want to snuggle our kitten in her nest and sway gently in the air.”

Vili, at his core, was a hopeless artist who saw the world and all its possibilities, much like I think Bailey-Rose does. Maybe it was their creative mind that gave them the ability to see what we linear-minded folks didn’t. It was strange how our pack was such a blend of opposites. Half of us were detailed rule followers who worked by the book, while the other half saw the world in gray, lines blurred, and nothing was ever permanent. Yet somehow, it worked to create a family who made each other better.

Warrick and Vili reminded the rest of us there was more to life than accomplishing the next goal. Especially now that we had Bailey-Rose in our lives, I could easily see how work would become something I resented for taking me away from her. My work was important, but it didn’t need to be all I cared about—like my father. Our family owned one of the most prestigious law firms in Oldstead, the second largest city in Preidon. It had been assumed I would join my father since I was the only male to be born into our family.

“Hey, you gonna help us or what, Yun?” Gareth called, pulling me from my thoughts.

Immediately, I grabbed a section of the feather-stuffed poof that served as a mattress for the round floating nest I’d ordered. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen. A network of woven ropes created the base covered by a thick canvas that served as a boundary to keep whatever was inside from falling out. One section of the structure was left open so people could easily get in and out of bed.

“Hold on, let me grab the damn thing,” Ulysses grunted. “Were we supposed to put this in, then hang the ropes?”

There was no answer as we struggled to get this unwieldy mass into a moving target.

“Are you seriously asking that question now?” Gareth muttered. “Look, I was in charge of getting the eyes anchored in the ceiling, that’s it. Did anyone bother to read the instructions all the way through?”

We all paused, realizing the answer to that was no. “I was working on the coffee table,” I pointed out. “You three were supposed to manage this.”

“Fucking hell, the damn thing won’t stay still,” Ulysses snapped. “Vili, let go of the mattress and see if you can keep this damn thing in check.”

Dripping sweat with copious amounts of swearing, we managed to get the fucking thing in the net we’d hung. It looked like a giant ball of marshmallow fluff was trying to escape, oozing out of the space between the ropes. The picture online made it look way more inviting, but at this point, I’d take the win that it was where it was supposed to be. Dropping to the floor, I sprawled out, my breathing labored and my heart feeling like it was going to pop out of my chest.

“God, that shouldn’t have kicked our asses that badly,” I commented. “Someone find the instructions and tell me we didn’t do this the hardest way possible.”

“Oh, I found it,” Vili exclaimed, waving the papers in the air. “Ah, I see… I see, there are two. One, if you want to use different mattress, then this for goose-down nesting poof. Let’s see what the poof one says.”

Vili’s handle on the Preidonian language was excellent, but his reading and writing skills weren’t at the same level. He managed brilliantly, but there were times he’d come find one of us to help him navigate something he didn’t know. I admired the man. Never once did he seem embarrassed or ashamed that he couldn’t figure out a word or phrase. He used to tell me that no matter what age you are, learning a new language is the same as for a child. You start small and build. No one shames a child for not understanding something, so why should his being an adult matter?

“Ah, yes, this better idea,” Vili mumbled, nodding his head. “They say hang half, put poof, then finish the rest. Seems much better idea, and I didn’t make harder by opening poof.” The room filled with our groans at this news.

“Next time, one person reads the whole thing before we even get started,” Gareth suggested. “Then they can tell people what to do and split up the work.”

“So I shouldn’t mention that there is still the gauze covering that has fairy lights sewn into it to drape?” I asked, knowing the answer as I shoved up on my elbows.

Ulysses and Gareth flipped me off, but Vili seemed rather excited. The discussion was sidetracked as all our phones went off. Pulling mine out of my pocket, I saw it was from Warrick.

Warrick:

Hey we’re heading back to have dinner at the house. A situation came up and Bailey-Rose wasn’t up for it after that.

I frowned, not liking any part of that message.

Yun-Sun: