Page 31 of Whisker Me Away

“I’m wondering if our bed can handle a manatee.”

Spencer slowly blinks at me a few times. “What?”

“A wild manatee. Do you think one could jump on the bed without it breaking?”

A smirk slowly stretches across Spencer’s face. “I mean, a wild manatee has been jumping on the bed for months now and it’s seemed to handle the job just fine.”

I roll my eyes and flick Spencer’s ear. “For some reason, I really wanna shift and rub myself all over our blankets but I’m not sure our bed can handle it.”

Spencer hums. “Could we put all the blankets on the floor? Would that satisfy your instincts or do they have to be on the bed?”

It makes me weak in the knees when I think about the fact that Spencer understands me. He gets me in a way that other people just don’t. I’m so fucking lucky to call him my mate. I love him more than words can say.

“I think that will work. Thank you, Spencer.”

He gives me a little smile. “It’s like you always say, just another perk of having an omega mate. We get each other.”

The two of us make quick work of pulling our bed apart. The corner of our room becomes my nest with blankets and pillows and old clothes. Once the corner is properly stocked, I get naked. Heat runs through me at the look Spencer gives me as he takes in my naked body. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how much he wants me.

I give Spencer a quick kiss before shifting. One moment I’m a man on two feet and the next, I’m a manatee, flopping into my nest and burying my nose against Spencer’s dirty clothes. Everything smells more intense with this nose. I feel so much more comfortable, like for one reason or another, Ineededto be in this form.

Spencer gets on his knees, petting my head. I wrinkle my nose and my whiskers twitch against my face, making him chuckle. He leans down and kisses my nose.

I close my eyes and a moment later, I can hear Spencer leaving the room. I drift in and out of sleep. I’m not sure how long I was out but eventually, I hear Spencer come back into the room.

“Amery is already in bed,” he explains, holding up the baby monitor. My eyes dart over to the window, surprised to see it dark outside. “Do you want me to spray you down or are you okay? One blink for ‘make me wet’, two blinks for ‘I’m okay for now’.”

I give him two blinks, feeling fine. My chest is soft with affection but my stomach hurts something fierce. It’s easy to ignore though, thankful just to have my mate with me.

“I’m gonna shift and snuggle with you. Is that okay?”

I nod my head, scooting over slightly so that Spencer can join me in my nest. His little grey kitty form leaps onto my back, kneading me softly. I rumble with affection at the feeling before his little paws are spinning in a circle as he gets comfortable on top of me.

Spencer is a warm presence on me, his fur soft against my skin. His wet nose pokes me before I feel his head rest against my back. A moment later, he begins to purr, the sound soothing me down to my very core.

I don’t think anything could be more perfect than this. Someday, when the kids are older, we’ll make nests in the living room together so we can all snuggle together. Spencer will purr all of us to sleep, but for now, this is fucking perfect. What more does a man truly need?

When I pictured my life in the distant future, I imagined some faceless mate and maybe a couple kids, but it was always distant and vague. Nothing could have prepared me for all of this. I never knew it was possible to be this happy.

Snuggled up with my mate, I continue to drift in and out of sleep, woken up periodically by cramps in my stomach. They progressively get worse and worse until I can’t seem to fall back asleep. The cramps race through my midsection, pain lancing through me. The pain radiates through my back and down my flippers. Fuck, why does it hurt so bad?

I make a broken noise, the moan sounding strange since I’m in my manatee form. Spencer quickly wakes up, pressing his cat nose against my face. I make another noise of pain and he shifts into his human skin.

“Hey, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

I flap my flipper against the nest, shaking my head as best as I can in this form. I know it would be so much easier to shift back into my human form so I have proper lips to form words, but for some reason I feel compelled to stay exactly as I am. I want to be in my manatee form. I want to stay right here in my nest.

“Can you shift for me?”

I shake my head, making a wailing noise. Spencer pets my face, making gentle, soothing shooshes in response.

“You’re okay. You don’t have to shift if you don’t want to. I’m just trying to understand what’s going on, Cade.”

I lean my face against Spencer’s stomach, letting his scent wash over me. It soothes me until I’m relaxed in our nest once more. Sure, there’s pain coursing through me, making my middle tense, but with Spencer here beside me, it doesn’t feel too bad. I can handle this. I can get through this.

It dawns on me slowly that I know exactly what’s going on. Our baby is getting ready to enter the world. I should shift and tell Spencer to call Shelby, but I just can’t get myself to change. I’m comfortable in this form and the idea of switching now causes too much stress. It’s better for me and the baby to just keep doing what feels right.

I slap my flipper against my stomach, trying to wordlessly explain to my mate what’s going on. His eyes widen and I hear his sharp intake of breath.

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