Page 58 of Brage & Dinah

Filled with excitement to have that time with him, she delivered the drinks and returned to find Coco putting Tyr in his car seat.

"Give him to me." Brage waved his hand. "No reason for him to be stuck in that contraption."

Dinah stood out of the way while they exchanged the baby, then returned to her place in front of Brage. He was good with kids.

"I'll take him on a walk." Brage stood from the stool. "Peer, we'll be out in the alley."

"There's another blanket in the breakroom." Peer lifted his chin. "Thanks, brother."

She'd learned over the last week or so that Norwegian men, for how gruff and standoffish they could appear, were gentle giants around babies.

Brage winked at her. She smiled back and watched him leave. They were also gentle with women.

That characteristic in Nordic men should've comforted her when Brage had kidnapped her, but she'd let her experience with her brothers and Moroad color her view and never gave him a chance.

"He's a good man." Peer raised his brows. "He cares for you."

"I care for him."

"Good to hear." Peer moved the bottles back to the shelf. "Grab two bottles of Jack from underneath the counter and open them."

Following his directions, she said, "Are your parents in Norway, too?"

"No. They're in Seattle." Peer faced the labels out. "Once I think I can take care of Tyr by myself, I'm going to drive the club's truck up there and introduce him to his grandparents."

"I bet they'll like that. I never had grandparents." She banged her elbow into the counter and blurted, "I didn't mean to say that."

She hadn't meant to admit that either. Rubbing her arm, she glanced at Peer to get his reaction, but he wasn't even looking at her.

Peer concentrated on lining the shelves. "There are worse things than relying on Brage and the rest of us to fill that hole in your life."

Her chest tightened, and her eyes stung. She hated how her emotions snuck up on her.

"Eh. It is what it is." Not wanting to go deeper into her private life and inform Peer of the new information she'd learned, she walked out onto the floor of the bar and checked in with the customers.

Getting three orders, she jotted them down on her pad. To keep busy kept her mind from dragging up questions about her lack of history. She was tired of feeling sorry for herself.

"Hey." Lizzy leaned against her and lowered her voice. "Why don't you take a break."

She glanced at the clock. "I have a half hour to go."

"Are you sure you don't want to take one now?" Lizzy's gaze softened. "It's not a big deal if you want to go early. We're all pretty lax and work around each other when we need to get out of here."

Knowing she'd caused enough troubles for Slag showing up to spy on them, she wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone.

"Thank you, but I can wait." She met Lizzy's gaze. "Thank you though. That means a lot. I think it's that time of the month, making me..." She waved her hand in the air. "A little crazy."

"Oh, girl. I remember that feeling." Lizzy turned away from the customers and said, "Two months without a period and I haven't missed it...one bit."

The grin on Lizzy's face further emphasized the whispered secret. Dinah gasped. "Are you...?"

Lizzy nodded, beaming. Dinah hugged her, surprised at how happy she was for her coworker.

"Does anyone know?" she asked.

Lizzy rolled her eyes in amusement. "Roar has a big mouth. Within an hour of me peeing on a stick, he'd told Brage and Viktor. From there, everyone was congratulating us."

"Ah, that's awesome news." She squeezed the other woman's arm. "I'm happy for you both."

"Thank you." Lizzy grew serious. "I'm glad we talked about it because Roar's only going to let me work four more months at the bar. We've discussed hiring another server to take my place but honestly, having you work behind the counter and on the floor has helped more than I imagined. I want you to know how much we both appreciate you working here."

Work was the only thing keeping her from losing her mind. She needed the routine and knowing what was expected of her.

Dinah tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you for taking a chance on me."

"It was easy to do." Lizzy stepped back and mouthed, "Customers."

Dinah went back behind the counter and fulfilled the orders. As much as she wanted to embrace those around her, she was still here because Brage was afraid something would happen if she left the security of the clubhouse.

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