Page 34 of Worthy Promises
“So, who was the blond?” Kitchi asked.
“You know, I can’t recall,” Worth lied. “I spoke to a great many people last night.”
Lex handed a plate to Rutledge, then grabbed one for himself. “Did the Duke Argent disappear at any point with this hot blond?”
“Sadly, no,” Kitchi replied.
“The event was in a garden,” Worth remarked. “Do you honestly think I’d jump into a rosebush with the first handsome man who showed any interest in me?”
“Roses have thorns,” Rutledge commented as he carefully added eggs to his plate. Although Rutledge had a healthy appetite and a beast who burned through many calories, he was so kind that he feared taking more than his share of food. He’d improved at filling his belly since his arrival at D’Vaire, but it still annoyed Worth that his shitty birth family had misused him to the point where Rutledge overthought something so simple as satisfying his hunger when there was ample food available. “I don’t think you’d want to choose a rosebush.”
“As usual, fair Rutledge, you are correct,” Worth replied to the dark-haired gargoyle, adding a second scoop of eggs to Rutledge’s dish.
Worth helped himself to a plate—once he’d ensured Kitchi had one of his own—and grabbed a piece of bacon, which he gave to Asteria. As soon as his pet was happily crunching on it, Worth heaped hash browns, bacon, sausage, and a few pancakes on his dish and followed Lex and Rutledge to a table with their usual dining companions.
“How’d you wind up being one of the last people to eat this morning?” Aleksander asked before Worth even had his ass in his chair.
“Apparently he was up late flirting with some hot blond at the party last night,” Lex replied.
“You were as late as me this morning, and no one said I was flirting with anyone,” Worth retorted as he sat.
Rutledge’s cheeks went pink as Lex gave him an intimate smile. “I was helping Rutledge with a list this morning,” Lex murmured without taking his brown eyes off his mate.
The normal envy of any loving couple swept through Worth, but the disappointment of not having his own other half was gone. Oliver was in his life now. Before anyone could respond, Noirin rested a hand on Worth’s free shoulder.
“Can you get everyone’s attention?” Noirin asked him.
Worth was confused—he hadn’t yet mentioned to anyone that he had an announcement to make. Sticking his fingers in his mouth, Worth whistled loud enough to have Aleksander scowl at him. Thankfully, it did the trick, and every D’Vaire quieted.
“Sorry to interrupt everyone’s breakfast, but…well, Kendrick and I have something we’d like to tell everyone,” Noirin said. Because she was behind him, Worth couldn’t see her face, but she was soon joined by Kendrick. “In about four and a half months, we’ll be adding a new D’Vaire to the household. We’re having a baby, and it’s a little boy.”
Saura was out of her chair so fast it clattered to the ground as she raced to the couple to embrace them. “Congratulations!” she exclaimed. “How are feeling? Do you have the ultrasounds to show us? Oh, it must be so nice to be tall and not be showing yet. I swear I was showing the day after I got pregnant.”
“That’s wonderful,” Rafe enthused, rising to hug his brother and Noirin.
Without an ounce of sadness, Worth set aside his intention to announce that he’d found his mate. It could wait a day. Today was about Noirin, Kendrick, and their baby. The couple had been trying for many years, and he was ecstatic for them.
Worth stood and waited for his opportunity to add his well-wishes, as a cluster of D’Vaires had beaten him tocongratulate Noirin and Kendrick. A few minutes later, his cousin was in his arms, and her lovely deep violet eyes were wet with tears.
“I can hardly wait to see you and Kendrick with your beautiful little boy,” Worth told her as he kissed her cheek. “I’m so happy for you both, congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Noirin replied. “I hope you’re ready to change diapers and babysit.”
Worth laughed. “I wonder if I can teach Asteria to handle diaper duty.”
“As long as no one teaches the wolves,” Kendrick remarked from Noirin’s side.
“How in the hell are we going to babyproof this whole damn house?” Rafe demanded as Worth released Noirin and embraced Kendrick.
“We’ll need a list of everything we have to do,” Rutledge murmured.
Noirin blew out a breath and wrapped an arm around Rafe. “We’ll figure it out.”
“This is why we waited so long to tell anyone,” Kendrick said. “We knew there would be some freaking out.”
“Are you not scared yourself?” Worth asked.
“Are you kidding? I’m fucking terrified. Happy, but you know, frightened. What the hell do I know about being a dad?”
