Page 46 of Mated into the Mob

23

TONY

“What baby?” Did Flint forget to tell me about a child or had he adopted a puppy?

Rudy drew me inside, and I sat while Flint stood beside me, holding my hand. “I’m not certain, but it might be.” Rudy was bouncing on his toes.

Whatever I had couldn’t have been bad, because Rudy was beaming, but when I looked up at Flint, he was as white as a sheet. Maybe he had caught the same nasty bug I had.

“Okay. Is it catching?”

Ranger guffawed. “Not the way you mean. And besides, many human illnesses don’t affect shifters.”

I squeezed Flint’s hand because he wasn’t saying anything, and the others were downplaying what was wrong with me. Rudy was bubbling with excitement.

“Flint?” Hunter nudged his big brother. “You got something to say to your mate?”

“Yeah, Flint. You got something to say?” I mimicked Hunter.

Flint squatted in front of me. “They’re trying to tell us that you might be pregnant.”

“Pregnant? We only had sex for the first time two weeks ago!”

Everyone except me and Flint burst out laughing.

“That’s all it takes, especially for shifters.” Rudy hugged us. “I’m going to have a grandbaby. But I warn you, I won’t be doing the traditional grandpa activities. There’ll be color, laughter, and dancing under the stars at midnight.” He raced off looking for a purple feather boa.

“Are they right?” My hand went to my belly, but it was Flint’s reaction that worried me. Tears were streaming over his cheeks, his face was red and puffy, and ewww, there was snot. I’d never seen him look anything other than put together.

“Do you not want a baby?” I was suddenly very protective of the sesame-sized nugget in my tummy.

“Gods, no, the opposite.” He covered my face with kisses despite the tears and the mucus. “I just never imagined… we… I don’t know.” He sniffed and put his head in my lap.

“Is that what happens when you find out you’re a father?” Hunter asked his dad as Arnie handed Flint a box of tissues.

“Pretty much.” Rudy had returned with a bunch of photos of Flint as a baby.

“Do you feel well enough for the drive… back to… my house? We can stay here for the next nine months if you don’t.” He helped me to my feet.

“That’s a joke, right?” I frowned at him as the Durands shook their heads at him. “I’ll be at college tomorrow and the next day and the next until I defend my thesis.”

I kissed the four Durands who were standing at attention and waltzed out the door. Amazing how the prospect of an argument with my mate made me feel so much better.

“You and the baby won’t be safe on campus.” Flint raced in front of me while scrolling on his phone. “I’m hiring a doctor who’ll be with you every minute until the birth.”

“Stop.” I grabbed the phone out of his hand and tossed it in the car. “I’m no different than I was an hour ago or yesterday orlast week. I have a tiny speck inside me which is the size of our baby.”

“But what if something happens?”

“Omegas have been giving birth for centuries.” I buckled the seat belt, the metal cool to the touch. “Wait, is there something different about a shifter birth?” I could ask my dad because my alpha father was a shifter. Not that he was aware of that, so no, I couldn’t.

The last time we spoke a week ago, he and Derek had been embarking on a cruise, and he’d talked about them and their upcoming vacation and never once asked how I was.

“No. If the baby is a shifter, they won’t meet their wolf until adolescence.”

Ahhh, that was one worry crossed off my list. For a second, I’d pictured myself running through the woods after a diapered wolf cub.

I yawned, and Flint stopped the car. Now what? I was no mechanic, so we might have to spend the night at Rudy’s.

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