Page 27 of Wrong Number, Right Valentine

“I thought you had work tonight.”

“I let the new manager take over because we have something to celebrate.” We didn’t have many people on the books, and it was easy enough to do.

“And what’s that?”

“Go look on our bed.”

He laughed. “Should I be expecting sexy briefs?”

I didn’t pretend to hide the fact that I loved him in his tight briefs, and I’d since given him a few pairs in some fun colors.

I grinned. “I wish I’d thought of that. Go check.”

He walked into the bedroom, and I followed behind, standing in the doorway as he approached the box on the bed. He opened the lid and pulled out the pregnancy tests and the stuffed toy, staring for a moment before I heard an audible gasp.

“You don’t think?—?”

“No, I don’t think,” I stepped closer to him. “I know. I scented it this morning, and I can hear their little heartbeat.” I rested my hand gently on his belly. “But I thought you might need proof.”

He dropped the sticks and threw his arms around me while he still clutched the wolf. “I don’t need proof. If you can hear and scent them, they are there. I’m pregnant.”

“You are.” I held him closer. “I love you, mate.”

“I love you too, and I love them already, so very much.”

We held each other for what felt like forever, savoring the moment. Later, we enjoyed our special dinner, shared the beautiful cake, and ended the night making love.

We were going to be fathers, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled.

21

BANKS

What did I know about raising a wolf shifter baby?

Being able to make smores in the microwave and use a pancake pen didn’t count.

I lay awake beside Reg in the early hours of the morning, going over what I’d learned about shifters from being mated to one.

There was breathing room because their beast didn’t appear until adolescence. But I couldn’t bring up our little one as a human. They had to know who they were. Whether they were shifter or human, they would have shifter blood and a shifter alpha dad. They’d belong to a pack.

I brushed away unshed tears as I thought of my mate and child shifting—assuming the baby had a wolf inside them—and leaving me behind, worrying that something might happen while they were in their fur.

Never being able to experience that would set me apart. The teen years were difficult enough with raging hormones. But to experience them with a parent who would never understand what it was like being a shifter might create a barrier between us.

“You’re worrying.” Reg rolled toward me and slung an arm over my belly.

“Am not. I just can’t sleep.”

“Banks!”

Damn. Reg sensed when I was upset, and I suspected his wolf gave him secret squirrel powers. I really wished I could give his beast a talking to and urge him to turn over that super power.

“Okay. I fibbed.” I placed my hand over his. “I won’t be a good father to this baby because I’m human.”

Reg wrapped a leg over me. “People adopt babies and they have no common DNA and love them as if they came from their own body.”

“That’s not the same.”

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