Page 73 of Pucking the Enemy

Hazel’s hand drifted to her belly as she stared at the ceiling. “It’s insane to think that, in a few months, I’ll have a baby. A real baby who needs feeding and changing, and all the love. I just can’t picture it.”

“I can picture you with a little mini Hazel,” I admitted.

“You can?” she asked, turning to me with surprise.

“Oh, yeah.” I nodded. “You’ll dress her in all the bright princess clothes, put her hair in bows, and always keep her glued to your side. You’ll basically be the polar opposite of your parents.”

Hazel hummed. “That would be nice. There’s no way in hell I’m going to raise them like I was raised. I don’t care how loaded Roman is. We don’t need a nanny. Even if I have to be sleep deprived and manic to make it work.”

“That’s one of the great things about packs. There’s always someone around to help. You’ll never be completely overwhelmed. I get the impression that these guys will be fairly hands on.”

“That’s true.” Hazel nodded thoughtfully. “I feel like it’s going to be a boy.”

“Nope, I’ll bet on that.”

“You’ll have to do my laundry for a month!”

I snorted. “You have a laundry service,” I reminded her.

“Oh yeah… what should we bet?”

“If I’m wrong, I’ll accompany you to your family’s next Christmas party?”

Hazel sat up with a gasp. “You’d let me go alone to one of those vile things?”

“You know I won’t. We’ll have to just owe each other one.”

“I’ll accept that!”

Chapter 25

Roman

“Duchess! Time to call my mother!” I declared excitedly as I bounded into her room.

Her head poked out from the nest, a grimace on her face. “Really?”

“Yes, really. She’s going to love you. We need to call now, otherwise she won’t have time to prepare for Christmas. You don’t want her to have to scramble to accommodate us, do you?”

Hazel glowered at me. She was such a sweet omega, I knew the idea of putting anyone out would distress her. Usually, I wouldn’t have resorted to such measures, but she had been pointedly avoiding calling my mother for several days.

“I suppose.” She sighed, sitting up and giving me a pained expression.

With a happy grin, I jumped into the nest next to her, wriggling my ass to get comfortable in the many pillows. Hazel’s nest was getting better by the day. Not only did it smell like her, but somehow, the pillows seemed to be multiplying.

Pulling out my phone, I pressed call on my mother’s contact, putting it on speaker, so Hazel could hear us.

My mom answered after the first ring. “Roman! How are you? How are Cormac and Phillip? Did you guys get the new skate covers I sent?”

“Hi, Ma.” I laughed as she barrelled on, excited to speak. “We did get them. Thank you!”

“Oh, good! I noticed Phillip’s were a little worn down last time I visited. Now, I hope you’re calling about Christmas?”

“I am,” I confirmed.

“Perfect! Oh, your dad and I will be so happy to see you boys. I’ll get your rooms made up in case you want to spend the night.”

“That’s good, but could you possibly make up a few extra beds? Just in case?” As I spoke, I turned to Hazel with a smile. She was biting her lip and looked utterly terrified.

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