Page 90 of As The Shifter World Turns

“And I’m here to help you choose the—” Neil scanned his phone. “The baby lasso and the poop alarm.”

“The what now?” The word lasso had me imagining Micah swinging our little one over his head while a siren sounded in the baby’s butt.

“He insists you need all of this.” Judging by Neil’s face, he was having doubts.

I needed to get my hands on that stupid list but Micah snatched his hand away when I tried to grab the device.

“Send it to me,” I mouthed to Neil but he shook his head.

“Secret,” he mouthed back.

“Drive slowly,” my mate instructed Daire as we buckled up.

Him saying that I didn’t mind because the grizzly shifter was kinda reckless when he got behind the wheel.

“Here we are,” Daire announced when he pulled up in front of an upmarket baby store.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked as I checked the place out online. “It’s really expensive. I was thinking we could buy some of the big items secondhand. You know, at an online marketplace.”

Micah screwed up his face and so did Daire. “Unicorns prefer to buy everything new.” He cupped his ear. That was my mate’s new, really irritating habit he’d developed whenever his beast spoke to him. But I couldn't be mad at him, no matter how annoying it was because he’d lived his life until now with no animal inside him. It didn’t mean we couldn’t tease him about it.

Daire and Neil cupped their ears. “Hello, hello. Anybody there?” Daire giggled and snorted.

“Why yes. This is the diaper genie,” Neil replied.

“And what say you, diaper genie?” Daire asked.

“You’re full of crap.” Neil bent over, his shoulders shaking.

“Shouldn’t that be you who are full of crap?”

The three of us laughed until I glanced at Micah who had his arms folded. “My unicorn thinks you’re buttheads!”

Daire clutched his chest. “Oh, no, I’m wounded,” and I was reminded of the day I moved into Sunshine Manor when Kellan was trying and failing to insult Daire.

“Come on. We’re here to shop.” Micah helped me out of the van and then took over. I was happy to wander around the store while Neil and my mate argued over ten different wallpapers and when they’d narrowed it to three, I chose the one I liked.

I wanted our healthy baby in my arms with Micah beside me and Patch at my feet. All the other things, they were just noise. But Micah was having fun.

When I wandered past a bunk bed, Daire was curled up on the bottom one, yawning.

“Here you lie down,” he said.

“I’m okay. I sat on a rocker and put a cushion behind my back.” It seemed with the running of Sunshine Manor, his community college classes and working at the nursery, plus all the hassle with his stolen identity, Daire was doing too much. But when I broached the subject, he said, “I didn’t do much for the past couple of years, sort of coasted along. I’m young. I can cope.”

I avoided the subject of the guy he was sleeping with. I’d leave that mess to Neil who knew details which I didn’t.

“There you are.” Micah strolled up followed by Neil. “Everything’s going to be delivered this afternoon.” But when we reached the cashier, there were at least ten bags that Micah and Daire carried to the car. “How much did you buy?”

“You’ll be pleased to know we didn’t get the lasso but the poop alarm is here somewhere,” Neil told me. He mouthed, “Sorry.”

We took Daire and Neil out to lunch to thank them and when we made it home, a huge delivery van was out front. “Please tell me that’s just the crib and not full of everything you bought.”

“You’ll love it, Micah told me. “Stay with Ivor and Patch while I direct the delivery guys.”

Every so often I stuck my head out of 1A as burly guys grunted and yelled, “Watch out,” while they carried furniture up the stairs. And when Micah walked in, his excitement was tamped down a little.

“All done?”

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