Page 38 of Prayers for the Prickly

Yeah, but I was thinking about calling and changing the date to next Saturday, since you won’t be here to supervise everything going in. I don’t want you to come home and be upset because one of the changes I made didn’t turn out the way you envisioned it.

Keep it for Saturday.

His voice cracked over me like a whip, sharp and firm. His tone, as it rumbled through my head, said to not even think about crossing him.

We’ve already discussed where everything is going to go, taken extensive measurements and shifted all of the furniture to make room for what is supposed to go in each spot,he said. There’s no reason to delay just because I won’t be there. It’s your home now, too, August. I trust that everything will go the way we discussed it.

I’d needed to hear him say that, because I hadn’t really wanted to change the date. I was excited to get my things moved in, for several reasons, one of which I decided it might be a good time to mention to him.

I missed my cycle,I blurted.I know it’s too early to speculate as to why that is, but I never miss a cycle and you just finished a rut, so I wanted to let you know that there is a possibility that we’ll have to discuss setting up a nursery sooner rather than later.

I received back only silence that stretched on for almost half a minute. I was afraid to poke at the link to try and prompt an answer, in case my announcement wasn’t being received in a positive way. His thoughts, when he did finally share his reaction, were accompanied by the same chuckle as when his lips were pressed to the nape of my neck.

Do you have a physician in town yet?he asked.

No. I hadn’t had the time to consider one, or the need, until now, I replied.My cousin Jasmine is expecting, though. I’ll ask her when I see her tomorrow who she’s been going to see.

Good. Let me know the moment you have an appointment set so I can put the date in my phone. I want to be there with you for that visit and any other ones that come after it if you are carrying whelps. I’m not going to be one of those guys who sees the first ultrasound third or fourth hand because he couldn’t be bothered to be there while it’s taking place. I want to be there with you so we can listen to their heartbeats together when we hear them for the first time.

My heart clenched and I buried my face in the pillow we shared and squeezed it as the scent of him filled my nose.

Gruff tuff wolverine shifter my ass. I’d landed myself a gruff tuff teddy bear was what I’d done, and I was thrilled to know that our hoglets would have such a good example of fatherhood to model themselves after as they were growing up. Ohh, if we had a baby wolverine or two, they were called whelps. I’d better make sure I knew the terminology for them, too, so I didn’t screw up and refer to the children in my litter the wrong way.

Children.

Child?

We were (maybe) going to be parents.

Oh shit, I didn’t have a clue about what I’d want them to call me, and we’d have to have a conversation about what he’d want to be called, too.

August, are you still awake?

I am, and I’ll get you the date and time as soon as I have one,I assured him.

Are you okay with this?he asked, shocking me again.I know that you’re just getting your shop up off the ground. With all that goes into making the candy each day, are you sure this is a good time for you to be carrying? I’ll understand if it’s not. I don’t want you to feel like you have to go through with it because you think it’s what I would want you to do. I want us to both be on the same page if we’re going to do this.

I’m ready to face whatever changes we have to embrace, as long as you’re there so we can face them together, which means no more getting pulled off ships and nearly drowning,I admonished.You have to be extra careful now, mister, because if it turns out that I’m anything like my sister was when she was expecting, I’m going to be a demanding little hedgehog by the end.

Another chuckle washed over me.

Well, maybe not so little,I amended as I thought about how round and swollen my sister had been by the time she’d delivered her litter.

However you look while you’re making your demands, I’m sure you’ll still be the most amazing creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.

And there he went again, showing that all of that growly wolverine nature had just been for show. Okay, so I had to admit that there was definitely something to everyone’s claims that he was only like that with me. Even his mom had raised an eyebrow at me when he’d pulled out my chair at the dinner table last night when I’d finally gotten to go to supper at their house to meet his family.

They’d all been amazing, too, not much different from my family. They’d broken up into little clumps after the introductions had been made, and I’d been swept into a conversation about whether or not I felt that the town needed an art center that offered workshops in things like crocheting, quilting and basket weaving, so the arts weren’t lost and forgotten.

“You can go anywhere and look at pictures hanging on the wall,” a man I thought had been introduced to me as Gregor’s Uncle Curtis, the captain of the ship he was on, declared. “People need the chance to pick up skills that don’t involve whatever job they’re working. Think of how creative people used to be just a few generations back. They made things themselves and when they couldn’t they traded something they could make for something they couldn’t. The whole concept of sharing knowledge and passing on tradition started to die out the moment we started trying to monotonize everything.”

I’d allowed myself to be swept along and had fully enjoyed the time spent getting to know them.

Once we know if you’re carrying or not, we can start talking about the spots you already mentioned would be nice spaces for nesting,he said, his voice beginning to lull me to sleep now.We’ll want to decide what furniture we want for their room as soon as possible, so I can get started making it, but we need to know which space we’ll be working with so we can decide what will fit where and if, ultimately, we need to have a special addition built on to create the perfect space for them to enter the world in.

You’d really go through another remodel on the house just to give me the perfect room to nest in?

Yes, though it’s more like I’d be doing it to give us the perfect space to nest in,he gently corrected. I plan to be in it as often as possible, even if it means cutting back on hours. My shelves are full enough for the time being, and I’ve got plenty of time to finish the commissions I’ve already accepted. I won’t take any new ones if we’re expecting. I want to spent time bonding with them before they arrive.

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