Page 7 of Her Shifter Babe

I went to open my mouth and tell her that fraternal twins came from the mother’s line, then stopped myself. Perfect pairs weren’t normal, so my spouting off some rubbish that I’d tell another patient wasn’t right in this instance. Instead, I forced a smile. “You look the right size for a single baby, but we’ll do an ultrasound as soon as possible, just to make sure.”

She nodded and smiled at me, still clutching her belly, which caused my heart swell with a deep and natural sense of pride and the intrinsic desire to protect her at all costs. “So, you two are close, then? David and you?”

I nodded, feeling my anxiety rise, so I began pacing the study in front of the window. “Yes, we live together, actually. He runs a restaurant in town, so he’s barely home, but he’s a really good guy. I think you’ll like him.”

Stacey smiling politely.

Meanwhile, my stomach twisted with worry. How was I going to tell her the truth about David and me, and that she was the mate we were meant to share?

Chapter 3

David

I SIGHED. MY BROTHER wasn’t picking up the phone, but it didn’t really matter now. I was already running late, but at least I had the cake I’d promised Nancy I would bring and was on my way there now.

I slid the cake box carefully onto the car seat next to me and shut the door. I hadn’t closed the restaurant early on a Saturday in a long time, but I didn’t have a manager I trusted enough to run the evening shift at the moment, so there wasn’t much choice in the matter. In fact, if I were being honest, I was actually looking forward to a relaxed afternoon and a few beers with my extended family.

Hopefully, the housewarming party would stretch into the evening like so many of our family events did, but if it didn’t... Tommy and I could head out to dinner or have an early night.

God knows I need one!

I’d been going too hard for too long, and so had Tommy. We always said to one another we’d work our butts off until our mate showed up in our lives, then we could slow down, just like Wade and Tanner had. Unfortunately, we were over forty now, and the woman who was meant to complete us was still nothing more than a figment of our collective imaginations.

It took me less than five minutes to pull up outside Tanner, Wade, and Nancy’s new place. The street was literally lined with cars from one end to the other, and the aroma of barbecue filled the neighborhood. I made an appreciative noise in my throat, grabbed the cake box and headed inside. They’d done a great job on the façade, and the gardens were planted and landscaped as well.

I admired their restoration and attitude toward maintaining its original integrity, but I certainly couldn’t imagine doing gardening like that myself. Though gorgeous, the colorful, cottage-style gardens were no doubt hugely labor-intensive and digging in the dirt really wasn’t my thing. I had my hands full with a restaurant, which ran me off my feet as it was.

I knocked on the door and plastered a smile on my face.

Nancy was there moments later, a plate of food in hand. “Oh! David. You made it.”

“Hey, Nancy,” I said, greeting her with a kiss on the cheek. “Where do you want me to put the cake?”

“Oh, on the kitchen counter please. I’m really excited about this.”

I grinned at her. The cake wasn’t just an ordinary cake, it was a gender reveal as well. Nancy had some bloodwork done early last week, and my brother had rushed through the results to find out the gender of the baby for her. Both my pastry chef and I knew the results, but no one else. “Right. I’ll go take it in for you.” I took my leave of Nancy and found Wade standing in the kitchen with a beer.

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