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“As long as you don’t run away, I should be fine.”
Layla gave her an encouraging smile. “Of course not. Just shout if you need me.”
The rest of the afternoon went by fast. Niev cuddled with Aaron while Layla tried to catch up on some house chores with Alizia. Closer to the evening, Niev took Alizia on a walk while Layla and Aaron took a nap. When they returned, Blake was already waiting on the porch holding Aaron in his big, strong arms. Niev’s heart melted, and her eyes watered again as she walked closer to her mate, her one and only, the love of her life.
Alizia stormed toward him, gave him a hug, and disappeared into the house, searching for her father.
Blake tilted his head slightly as he watched her come closer with a worried expression on his face. “What happened?”
“You happened.” She beamed and stepped closer to him, pecking his cheek with a kiss. “You look breathtaking with a baby in your arms.”
“Soon you’ll be swooning over me while I hold both our babies.”
“You’ve just made me fall in love with you all over again.” She leaned her head against his massive biceps and looked down at Aaron who was looking at them both with wide blue eyes. “Have you been waiting for very long?”
“No, I only got here a few minutes ago.”
Niev heard footsteps behind them and turned her head to see Michael walking out of the house onto the porch.
“May I have my son back before you two decide to keep him?” he asked amused.
Blake chuckled and carefully handed Aaron back to Michael. “Thank you for having Niev stay with you the past few days.”
“Why wouldn’t we? Layla seems to enjoy having the extra hands and you two seem to get along well.”
Niev knew she would never be able to express how much Layla had done for her the past few days. “Layla has been amazing. You are a very lucky man to have such a wonderful woman.”
Layla stepped next to Michael and wrapped her arms around her mate. “Thank you, Niev.”
Niev intertwined her fingers with Blake’s and waved them both goodbye as they walked off toward the truck.
“How are you feeling? Was it a hard day?”
“It wasn’t too bad. We are slowly catching up to everything and hopefully by next week we can have a little more time to ourselves.” He opened the door and helped her climb inside the truck. “Tomorrow I’ll only be working half a day, so if you like we can go to the store together.”
“Yes, please. That would be amazing.”
She’d only spent a limited amount of time with Blake since he’d been gone all day and she was usually extremely exhausted as soon as they got home. Of course she enjoyed every minute with him, but it had felt as if they’d barely been able to see each other since he started.
“Christa won't be here for the ceremony since she is celebrating with friends. So, I was thinking of staying at home tomorrow morning and reading a few books.”
“Niev, it’s alright for you to just relax and do nothing. And you most definitely don’t need to find an excusenotto do anything.”
“I know but it’s hard for me. I needed to take care of myself for so long and worry about so much that now it’s just embedded into my bones.”
“You don’t need to worry about anything anymore. We’ll take care of you.”
“I know and I appreciate it, but it still feels so weird to me. I went to Cliff’s gas station to fill up the truck a few days ago and it felt wrong not to pay him. I know he’ll get his money back but, in my mind, it’s wrong.”
He took her hand and picked it up, caressing her wrist with his soft, gorgeous lips. “It’s the pack mentality that we all grew up with. For you, it’ll take a while to fully settle.”
“What happens to the money that I’ve saved over the past few years? Should I give it to Tanner?”
“I don’t want you to give it to anyone, it’s yours. If I’d asked you to give it away, I’m sure you would feel as if you lost your independence even more. I understand that all of this is hard on you and you’re not being able to be as independent as you would want, and I won’t worsen that by taking even more from you.”
He was right. He knew her so well. If need be, she would give her money to the pack, but it would definitely leave her with an uncomfortable feeling. Even though she knew Blake would always take care of her, she wanted to have a little money set aside in case things did go wrong. Not that she could imagine things going wrong, but the past few years had taught her never to rely on anyone but herself, or at least not to a certain degree.
“Thank you, Blake.”
