Page 71 of Breeding Clinic

“Wow,” Matthew says. “That’s… something.”

“Horrible?” I suggest.

“Yeah, it’s bad. It’s like a teenage girl’s mood board threw up on a room.”

“I don’t know why anyone still goes on these shows. Their makeovers are obviously rage bait.”

“What kind of nest doyouwant?” he asks.

I blush. Because I have a mood board dream nest. I’ve made several over the years as my tastes change. But once I saw the house, I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like.

“I’ll show you.” I pull out my phone, somewhat nervous. What if they hate it? I haven’t had to share a space withsomeone and compromise on decor in years. Their house is traditional and cozy. My dream nest is… well, different.

I pull up the mood board I made and hand it to him so he can scroll. My heart thumps in my chest while I wait for his verdict.

“Wow. That’s not what I expected.”

“Too much?” I ask. It’s my nest, but I still want them to be comfortable in it.

“It’s darker than I assumed it would be. I like it.”

He hands the phone back to me, and I scroll through my saved images again. The mood board is full of dark, gleaming wood. Deep green or teal or sometimes black walls. Dark floral wallpapers. Big beds draped in rich velvets and satin, with four posters and a canopy to enclose it and make it cozy. Gallery walls covered in gilded framed paintings and one wall that’s nothing but shelves covered in books. Dark oriental rugs cover hardwood floors. When I saw our house’s dark wood trim and red chestnut-stained hardwood floors, I knew I wanted to highlight those. It would be criminal to paint all that gorgeous trim white.

“You don’t think the nest will be too dark?” he asks.

“The ceiling’s so tall and there are a lot of windows. And we’ll add accent lamps, of course. Maybe some fairy lights. Do you think they’ll like it?”

“It’s surprisingly not too feminine.”

The tension coiled in my body relaxes. “What, you expected a pink and glitter unicorn dreamland nest?”

His cheeks blush pink. “Something like that. I like it,” he adds. “You did a good job.”

His praise is nice. And I’m glad he likes my ideas. That eases some of my worries.

“We should go to Nested,” Matthew offers. “We can pick out most of our furniture somewhere else, but Nested has thebest nests from what I read. They’ll probably have something like this.”

I raise my eyebrows. “We should probably close on the house first before picking out furniture.”

Matthew shrugs. “You’re paying cash so unless the inspection comes back with big red flags, you won’t have problems closing. Besides, there might be back orders.”

That’s a good point. And I’m excited to start furnishing our house. There’s going to be so much to do. Paint, hang up curtains, buy furniture, pack and then unpack, then set up a nursery. Moving is so much work. I’m already exhausted simply by planning it. And I’m grateful that this time I’ll have a pack to help.

Moving into my single omega house was bitter sweet. Moving into my dream pack house is already completely different. Exciting. Like the future is full of wonderful surprises.

Matthew sucks in a breath. His hand skims over my baby bump. “I think I felt her.”

“Really?”

The baby kicks again, and his eyes light up with wonder. He moves his hand around my belly, keeping track of her.

“Hi, baby,” he says, talking to my belly. “I can’t wait to tell Liam I was the first to feel you. He’s gonna be sooooo jealous.”

I smile and pet his curls while he talks to our baby, then goes back to reading to her from his book. Trying to get her to move again. We lie there like that, with me half-watching the nest makeover show, half-watching Matthew. It’s comfortable and intimate.

Chapter Sixteen

KAT

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