Page 185 of The Beta's Blind Date

“We actually haven’t told anyone else she’s here yet,” I say. “We want to enjoy some time with her as a family unit before anyone visits. Plus, I’m exhausted after laboring for almost an entire day,” I add with a laugh. “But we wanted you to know she was here.”

“Thank you,” he says, his eyes watering again. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye,” Reid and I say together.

“Bye, sweet Savvy! I love you!” Dominic says in a whispered coo.

Reid rolls his eyes, but his lips twitch, and he hangs up, ending the video call with Dominic.

“I called her Savvy first,” he says, pouting.

“Oh, stop it.” I laugh, kissing his cheek. “At least he came around quicker than either of us expected.”

“True.” He stands from the bed and pockets his phone again. “Do you want to hold her or should I put her in the cradle so you can sleep some more?”

“No, I’ll hold her for a bit,” I say, nestling her closer to my chest and running my knuckle over her chubby cheek. “She’ll probably want to eat soon, anyway.”

Reid nods and walks around the bed, climbing onto it and settling in next to me, his arm around my back and his chin on my shoulder, peeking over it at our Sour Patch. Our Savvy.

I lean back against him, absorbing his warmth and his scent. His heart beats a soothing rhythm, and my eyes close again, lulled into a relaxed state by his presence. He is my rock and has been so supportive of me through every moment, every speed bump, and every curveball. And I don’t know where I would be without him.

I’ve almost drifted off again when Reid’s pesky phone goes off again.

“Shit,” he mutters, adjusting his body to pull it from his pocket.

I clench my eyes shut and bite back a groan of frustration. It’s not his fault. Although he could put his phone on silent.

“Hey.” He nudges me with his chin, and I glance up at him. “I know we said no visitors yet. But someone is here, someone who needs to meet her almost as much as Dominic did.”

“Who?”

He swallows and his eyes water and his body tenses. “My dad.”

I blink at him and sit up straighter. “He’s back?”

“He arrived last night. Wesley mindlinked me that he was back, so I sent him a text at the same time I sent one to Dominic.”

“Of course he can come. He needs to meet her, and you need to see him.”

He nods and sends off a text to his dad, then leans forward, kissing my forehead and closing his eyes as he takes a deep breath. His arm tightens around me and his other hand wraps underneath mine, helping me hold Savvy.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

He nods, his nose brushing against my skin. “Fine.”

I press my lips together. Words will do nothing for him right now. He’s tense and nervous about seeing his dad again, and it’s understandable.

We’ve had a few phone calls and video chats with him while he was in rehab, and we sent him updates on Sour Patch with ultrasound pictures, but other than that, we didn’t hear from him much. He needed to focus on his healing, and we respected his need to have some space and let him contact us when he felt comfortable with it, instead of pushing a relationship on him, the same way we did with Dominic.

The doorbell rings and Reid tenses more, his jaw clenching and his arms tightening around us. “It will be fine,” I say, tilting my head to kiss him.

He just nods, then kisses me again before leaving to let his dad in.

It’s quiet except for the sound of the door opening and closing and the footsteps traveling through the house, and I swallow, sitting straighter and preparing myself for our guest.

Brad walks through our bedroom door first, with Reid right behind him, his hands in his pockets, his body still as tense as it was before he went to answer the door. But my eyes are mostly on Brad, watching him as he walks to me.

His blue eyes are clear—sharp. His hair is trimmed and styled, and his beard is short and neat. The dark circles that cursed his face when I first met him—when he attacked Reid and when his wolf was dying—are gone. His body is strong, even without his wolf, a testament to the physical work he put in for so many years, and that he likely did while healing himself in rehab.

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