Page 110 of His Gentle Omega
Which had me wondering what on earth Shay was up to. He had been walking the floors with me, taking Brodie when I had been near tears and exhaustion. It was wonderful to have a partner who more than shared the workload of a new baby. I was more than thankful that at least one of us had firsthand experience with a newborn.
Slipping out of bed, I tiptoed down the hallway, until I could use my wolf hearing to try to determine what Shay, and from the sounds of the smaller voice, Lucas, were up to this morning.
“Brodie has been so cranky,” Lucas lamented from his perch on one of the bar stools at the counter. I could just see him, but I couldn’t see Shay.
“He’s getting a tooth,” Shay told him, clattering something in the sink. “You were cranky like that, too.” He sighed loudly, frustration evident in the sound. “Well, pancakes were a bust. What do you think? Should I try French toast?”
My brows rose, and now that I knew what he had been trying to make, I could discern the scent of charred pancake in the air. What were they up to?
Lucas shook his head, “I think we should just go pick up pancakes from the diner. You’re good at a lot of things, Daddy, but cooking isn’t one of them.”
Shoulders shaking with laughter, I clamped both hands over my mouth to stifle the sound. They were obviously planning to surprise me by making breakfast. But Lucas was right, Shay was a disaster in the kitchen. He did, however, insist on doing thecleanup since I did the cooking. Since I loved cooking but not the cleanup, it was a win-win for me.
I heard the jingle of keys, and Lucas hopped down from the stool. Plastering myself against the wall so I didn’t spoil their surprise, I waited until they had gone out the door to the garage. Listening as the garage door opened, I saw them leave in Trixie from the window.
Checking on Brodie, who was still passed out from his exhausting night, I slid back beneath the covers. I was so thankful I had switched jobs after Brodie was born, and I had all my weekends free now.
Realizing that working the hours I did and having a new baby weren’t working for me, Shay and I had discussed what was best for our family. Deciding a job with set hours, and weekends free, would work best, I had just started working on my resume when Asher had approached me with an offer.
His long-time office manager, Janet, was retiring, moving out of state to be closer to her grandchildren. He and his partner in his practice, Jax, had talked about the type of person they wanted to replace her. They wanted to expand their practice, adding another doctor and several nurses. They were looking for a manager that could conduct initial interviews, handle employee schedules, and all the other things that made their practice run smoothly. They also liked the fact that I knew all the services offered around Sweet Alps and could be of assistance to their patients’ parents. It was a huge change for me, but I loved it, and it offered me the hours I needed. I especially loved being home by five-thirty Monday through Friday, and not working weekends.
Yawning, I hugged Shay’s pillow to my chest, and closed my eyes to wait for them to return. Surrounded by his fresh earthy scent, I dozed back off.
Not sure how much time had passed, I roused when I heard whispering at the bedroom door.
“Shh, careful,” Shay said, “can you wake him, and I’ll hold the tray.”
Pretending to still be asleep, I let Lucas shake my shoulder gently. “Bennett, Bennett, we have a surprise for you.”
Making a show of blinking my eyes sleepily and yawning, I slowly sat up. Shay wasted no time placing a bed tray over my lap. It held a plate with fragrant, fluffy buttermilk pancakes, slices of crisp bacon, syrup, steaming coffee, and a vase with two pale pink tulips.
“What’s all this?” Closing my eyes, I sniffed the flowers. “These are beautiful, Shay. And this looks wonderful. I’m not sure why I’m getting breakfast in bed, but I’m not going to complain.”
“Daddy tried to make pancakes, but he kept burning them,” Lucas gleefully tattled, “so we ordered from the diner.” He was bouncing from one foot to the other, barely able to contain his happiness. “Daddy, Brodie needs to be here for this.”
Shay frowned, “He’s sleeping, bud. He had a rough night. Don’t you think we should let him sleep?”
“No,” Lucas was adamant, “this is ‘bout our family and he’s part of our family. He needs to be here.”
Blowing out a breath of defeat, Shay held up a finger to me. “Don’t go anywhere. Apparently, I’m getting the baby.”
Not sure where he thought I was going to go with a tray full of food, I took the opportunity to down half the cup of coffee before he returned. Somehow, he had managed to strap Brodie intohis bouncy seat without waking him, and I would be eternally grateful. After last night, I was already planning a nap in my future. Shay sat the bouncy on the bed next to me, making sure he was secure.
“What’s going on guys?” My curiosity was getting the better of me, because these two were definitely up to something.
“Don’t you know what today is?” Lucas asked me.
“Um,” searching my mind for what special day this could be, all I came up with was, “Saturday?”
Lucas shook his head, grinning broadly and showing off his two missing front teeth. He had finally lost them a week ago, and he looked absolutely adorable every time he smiled. “It’s the ‘versary!”
“Anniversary,” Shay corrected him, sitting gingerly on the bed by my legs, so he didn’t jostle the tray of hot food too much. While I had always thought the idea of breakfast in bed was romantic, I was quickly seeing the pitfalls and dangers of it becoming a right pain in the ass.
My brow furrowed, feeling lost.Anniversary?I mouthed. Maybe it was new baby fog, but I really had no idea what they were talking about.
“It was one year ago that you brought us home!” Lucas declared proudly.
Thinking about what the date was, I realized they were right. Smiling, I picked up a piece of bacon and bit into it. “You’re right, I did.”
