Page 315 of As The Shifter World Turns

“Your face. It reminded me of when I was…” His voice trailed away and he turned his head and studied a car driving past. He changed the subject. “Wanna come with us to the park?”

Truthfully, I preferred to climb back into bed and sleep the day away. But I had to be at work in a couple of hours so there was no point. “Sure. Why not?”

Neil and I chatted to Charlie as we made our way there. He mentioned a woman walking her dog. A butterfly hovering over a flowerbed. A car driving past. The little boy talked non stop and squealed at the butterfly.

Once we arrived at the park, Neil took Charlie out of the stroller and I told my friend to sit while I ran after the little boy. Neil’s aim was to tire his son sohe’d have a mid-morning nap, usually while Neil was working in the manor with Anthony with Charlie asleep in a crib beside him.

The little boy had more energy than me and his piercing squeal as I chased him around a bush had me wanting to sink onto the grass and close my eyes.

“Charlie, want a snack?” This snack was part of Charlie’s breakfast but when he woke at the crack of dawn, he was eager to get outside rather than eat.

I had a good life with my friends, job and my mate and in the last few weeks, I’d learned to appreciate what I had rather than focusing on what I couldn’t have.

“Maybe you should sit in the stroller and Charlie can push you home.” Neil’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “You look beat.”

I lay back on the grass while Charlie kneeled beside me and offered me fruit. The smell of freshly cut apple had me jumping up and racing to the closest bush before puking into it. Charlie howled, and Neil comforted him as I wiped my mouth and wondered how I’d drag myself home.

“It’s okay, my love.” Neil soothed his son while he kept his eyes on me.

When Charlie quieted, Neil popped him in the stroller. “Can you make it home, Daire?”

Could I? My belly was all jumbly but I wasn’t about to throw up again. The walk home was a blur with me not saying anything. Even Neil and Charlie were quiet.

With Neil being pregnant, I had to carry both Charlie and the stroller up the stairs but my friend said to leave the stroller downstairs for now and the little boy could go up by himself as long as Neil was holding his hand.

“Come up with us,” he said. “I have something to show you.”

I almost said no, because my bed was calling me. And Nate was there, probably just arrived home as he was doing night shoots this week for a new makeup campaign. But Neil insisted and we each held one of Charlie’s hands and eventually made it up to the first floor with the little guy constantly saying, “I can do it myself.”

Once Charlie was in his highchair and Neil checked that Martin was in the bedroom drinking his coffee and Toby was in the shower, he pulled out a drawer and then slammed it shut, as though he’d changed his mind about something. He got Charlie cereal, put bread in the toaster, and then sat me down at the kitchen island.

He chewed his bottom lip and glared at Martin as he came into the kitchen and kissed Charlie good morning. One look at his mate’s face and the fox shifter waved at me and scuttled into the bedroom saying he had to get ready to take Toby to school and would head to work after that.

“We don’t have much time.” Neil took my hand. “I should have done this later when everyone had left.” He pinched his nose.

My mind immediately went to the state of his and Martin’s relationship. From a distance everything seemed fine but no one really knew what wenton behind closed doors.

“Baby okay,” I asked. While I was sure whatever was bothering him wasn’t to do with his pregnancy, but I had to ask.

“Mybaby?” He put a hand on his belly. “Yeah. No problem.”

I noted his emphasis on the word ‘my’. “Someone else we know having a difficult pregnancy?” Now that Ryder was well, he and Ivor had mentioned trying for another child, though not straight away.

“Ummm…” He was interrupted by Toby shooting out of his room and grabbing an apple and a piece of toast.

“Hi, Daire. Bye, Daire.” He blew Neil a kiss. “Love you TD. Love you, little bro.”

“Love you too.”

Charlie waved his cereal-covered spoon at his brother and Martin and Toby were out the door, after Martin kissed his mate and little boy, and the fox shifter mouthed, “I’ll call you.”

My curiosity peaked and once the door closed and Charlie was occupied with smearing cereal over his face, I turned to Neil. “It doesn’t take a mind-reader to know you’re holding something back.”

“I’m worried that if I bring it up and I’m wrong, it’ll crush you.”

That was doubtful. The one issue I’d been devastated about was not getting pregnant. And while it still hurt, I was working through the issues with my therapist. Nate and I were attending joint sessions as well as individual ones.

“Think back to the past few weeks, Daire. You and Nate have been fighting a lot.” When I made a face, he added, “We can hear you.” He wiped Charlie’s face and hands and put him on the floor. “You’re fairly even-tempered, except when someone messes with you, but you’ve been losing your temper multiple times a day.”

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