Page 73 of Packed in the Fire house

Sunny was in her element going through box after box of nesting supplies. Within minutes, she was lost in her own world, pulling out blankets, running her hands over them, her face scrunching as she considered where they would go best.

Watching her was fascinating, the little facial expression she made when she found a throw blanket she particularly liked or the way her nose scrunched if one was a bit too scratchy. I had probably gone overboard when it came to buying nesting supplies, but I wanted her to have everything she could possibly need.

It wasn't often that I dipped into my family's money. I tended to view it as my parents’ money and not my own, even though they had gifted me a generous sum upon turning eighteen. My salary from the fire station was enough to keep me stocked in pizza and video games, so I was a happy alpha.

Now that we had Sunny, things were different.

She was worth spoiling.

She clearly didn't seem to think she was worthy of being showered with nice things, and I was going to take great joy in showing her otherwise. If I had to spend the next twenty yearsshowering her with gifts, then so be it. I had a trust fund and a credit card with a very high spending limit.

I was also stubborn to a fault and willing to go toe to toe with her for as long as it took for her to accept my love and money.

One thing I failed to mention purposefully—because I was pretty sure she would throw something at my head if I told her—was that this was only a fraction of the things I'd bought. Walker was already starting looking at houses with proper nesting space for Sunny, so she would need more.A lot more.

Naturally, we would encourage her to go shopping herself to pick out whatever items she wanted—on our dime, of course—but knowing Sunny, she would be reluctant. I had taken the liberty of buying a lot already, so when we finally did get a house, her space wouldn’t be sparse.

If, by some miracle, she did accept our money and went shopping of her own volition, I would simply donate everything I bought before she even knew it existed.

That way, the nesting supplies could help someone else.

“This is pretty,” she whispered to herself as she shook out a fluffy green throw.

The toddler bed had been a pain in the ass to build. It had railings, so Luka couldn't go for any solo adventures yet, even though I had no doubt he was going to try. At the store, there had been a toddler bed shaped like a fire truck. The restraint it took me not to buy that had been monumental. But I was going to let Sunshine choose the furniture for Luka’s room when the time came.

“I'm pretty sure there's some matching throw pillows in that box over there,” I said with a grin, pointing to one of the corner piles.

Sunny’s eyes widened as she hurried to the box, diving in. Once she had started rushing through all the boxes, her attitudequickly changed from reluctant to entranced by all the soft, squishy things.

No omega could resist the call of nesting supplies.

It was fascinating to watch her be so enthralled by the entire experience. She looked over every item so critically, I could practically see the cogs turning in her brain.

Still, this wasn't a proper nest; it was merely making this room comfortable for Sunny in the short term.

The house would be a whole different story. She would be building a nest there that hopefully, one day, I would get invited into.

Fuck, I wanted that.

After she had gone through the first three boxes, she stopped complaining it was too much and surrendered herself to the call of nesting. She took tiny steps as she wandered the room, moving items around, taking a blanket off the bed before putting it back, taking it off again, and putting it back once again.

“I’ve got a few work calls to take care of. I’ll leave you in this idiot’s hands.” Walker jerked a thumb at me before pulling the distracted omega in for a hug and kissing the top of her head. Her eyes never once left her gifts and were almost hazy in appearance, like Sunny wasn't completely there. Her omega was taking over.

“I’d rather be an idiot than prematurely gray!” I said, making Walker glare at me before giving Sunny another kiss and leaving.

I took a seat on the floor near the door, the farthest away that I could be, while still keeping an eye on her. I desperately wanted to watch her work.

Not long after Walker departed, our other pack mate turned up. “Dinner is almost ready, Cher,” he declared, his eyes widening at the carnage around him. “This is something,” he said, taking in the piles of blankets and pillows strewn across the room.

Sunny pouted. “Blaze gave me too many options!”

My eyes widened.Had I done that? I wanted her to pick whatever she wanted, but had I overwhelmed her with my enthusiasm?

Rune didn’t seem phased. In fact, he chuckled at her antics. “Cher, plenty of choices is good.”

“I suppose.” She nodded, more focused on untangling the fairy lights I had found than looking at Rune.

“You want me to help put those up, or do you want me to go sit with Blaze? Dinner will keep easily enough,” he said, gesturing to the tangle of fairy lights in her hand.

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