Page 185 of As The Shifter World Turns

Nate giggled. “No, we can do the actual mating in private but I want us to gather our friends and family to celebrate. We can each write vows just as humans do.”

Nate worked with a lot of humans and had been to many of their weddings and he mentioned how he enjoyed the ceremonies.

“We can do that. And I know just the place.”

“Let me guess. Either the Sunshine Manor roof, the beach house, or the lake house where you and your friends shift.”

“Lake house. The grounds are huge and everyone can shift afterward. As long as you’re okay with that? Did you have somewhere else in mind?” I nibbled my bottom lip hoping I hadn’t trampled over his idea of a dream mating location.

“Nope. That sounds perfect.”

78

HOW HARD CAN IT BE?

Ryder

“How hard can it be?” I’d said when Ivor needed me to bring Dyani to work twice a week. “How hard can it be?” Famous last words.

I should’ve seen the error of my ways the second those words formed in my mind. How could I not have? I mean, we struggled balancing getting the laundry done and having a small babe. How could I have thought that being in the office with her was going to be easier?

The first day, it wasn’t so bad. She loved seeing the new things and I had not a ton to do, making me her constant companion. I felt like I could conquer the world by the end of day one.

Day two? That was an entirely different situation altogether. Was Dyani completely taken care of and loved? Absolutely. But my productivity was non-existent.

By the time I got home, I was exhausted. Beyond exhausted. I was lucky to hit the bed before I fell asleep. I was only going to lay down for a minute. Just one.

Yeah, that didn’t happen.

“Ryder.” Ivor’s hand brushed my arm. “Maybe you might want to put your pajamas on or at the least take your shoes off?”

I opened my eyes and glanced at the clock. “It’s eight? I just…” I pushed myself up to sit. “It was my night to cook dinner.”

“And I managed just fine.” His lips brushed my forehead. “Do you want to go to sleep for the night or eat?”

“I need to help around here.” The defeat I felt stung. I wanted Ivor to nothave to worry about our sweet babe while he worked and the very first week I managed to fail and flail. “I’ll figure it out.”

“What you need is a way to manage your time around her naps.” He wrapped his arms around me. “Archer says that’s the key to it all. Not that I’ve been able to accomplish it yet.”

“Yeah. That’s true. And maybe… how would you feel about having someone who comes to the office to watch her while I work. So that way I’m there with her, but also I have help if I need to pee or take on an important call.” Which really I should be able to reschedule given I was the boss.

“Maybe working and having a family don’t go together.” My poor mate let out a sigh, his defeat so evident on his face it nearly broke me.

“No. You keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll figure out a way to make this work. And really, it might just be because it’s new. Remember how hard it was when she first came home?”

He snuggled into me more. “It was the hardest thing.”

“And now?”

“And now it’s not.”

“That’s where I am at with work.” I hoped I was telling the truth. “Did you eat?” Managing and eating were two different things.

“Cereal,” he confessed.

“Let me make something better.” I pushed myself up and off the bed. “We have some ground beef… how about spaghetti?”

“You don’t have to…” His stomach said otherwise, grumbling loudly.

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