Page 313 of Bride of Choice

Bia and Noyel exchanged overdone wide-eyed looks. “What do you mean?” Bia shrugged his shoulders.

Noyel copied the motion.

“They lie. Make reasons.” Odix gave a grunt. “No go now.”

“Who bring plants for healing, then?” Doogie pointed out. “We say we go, we go.”

Odix made a groaning noise.

Reaching out to him, I gave his arm a comforting pat. “It’s okay, big guy. Dingus Two and Dingus Three will go and get their shit, and maybe Goph will pop in at the last minute, then you’ll go, grab a bunch of weeds, and be back before you know it.”

“They aren’t getting weeds.” Mina snorted at that.

“Plants. Roots. Petals, stems. Souls of a thousand virgins. Whatever.” My hand lifted to airily wave that ish off.

“Why thousand souls of virdgrens?” Odix asked, glancing my way. When I laughed and the others did too, Doogie rumbled something at him in Lo deanaii. Odix shrugged his massive shoulders at, reeled me in, then pinned me to his big, cuddly dad bod to sniff at my hair. “Nope. No ‘llect my Jojo. No’ virdgren here.”

“Bah!” A bark of a laugh left me.

“He’s got the jokes.” Mina held her belly as she laughed. She was carrying low and that bump full of I didn’t dare ask how many, was probably playing water polo on her bladder.

“Odix has the Joadnee,” Odix purred. Nuzzling the top of my head, he rubbed his hands comfortingly up and down my back. I was a nervous wreck. It was more than the trip and everything being in limbo with Celuk and all of Tor’s sides still.

I’d thought I’d seen… but no. No way. Odix had checked both times I’d thought I’d seen a Krampus. A part of me was worried I might be hallucinating these sightings or someone was playing a very cruel prank on me.

All Odix found was the dust of shame stink lingering in the spots I’d indicated and nothing more.

There was no one around here that I thought could be that mean spirited.

Unless… No way. That would just- For any reason, that would just be heartless! Yet the thought persisted…

“Ey!”

“He has arrived!” Mina crowed, clapping for Gopher as Bia groaned at her back, snuggling her and her baby bump, his hands roving over the small bump so sweetly my teeth ached to watch it.

I’d never been so jealous of morning sickness in my life. Baby fever was taking me for a spin. It was bordering on green-eyed jellies, wondering if it just wasn’t meant to be for me. Only time and a lot of bumping uglies would tell.

Odix insisted I was going to be ready to put a baby in soon, as he so lovingly informed me. I was fertile. It would happen. I just had to grow some patience. Long story short— I’m impatient, I don’t wanna wait, I wanna scream cry in preggers happiness— fuck me.

Trying to wriggle free of Odix to see Gopher’s arrival, he grunted and held on tighter for a long moment. Slapping at his thick arms banding around me, I gave him a look. “What gives, my big hairy butt of a beast?”

Odix grinned down at me at that, like I’d just given him the sweetest nickname. “Only call Odix this,” he warned me sternly.

Saluting him sarcastically, having to loop my arm over his to manage the feat, I promised him, “Only my hairy butt for you. On this, I swear.”

Plucking me up to take my lips hungrily, he growled against my mouth, “Goot.”

“I’m beginning to see why we’re told we’re gross, cute, and weird to watch all at once,” Mina told Bia conversationally.

Bia chuckled. “Because we are. I’ve seen you with Kirch.” Bia made a mock shuddering sound I was sure accompanied some sort of ick face.

The sound of Mina smacking at Bia softly, playfully, at my back, had my lips tipping up.

Odix’s eyes narrowed at the humor in my eyes. “We not gross weird,” he grumbled against my lips.

“Of course not, my hairy butt,” I assured him, our lips still mashed together as we spoke.

He let out a grunt, gave me one last whammy of a liplock, to release me, wobbly knees and all, and turned us to face Gopher.

---