Page 56 of Emerald Waves
Raven walked across the pitch with us to their house. The second we opened the door, the noise levels hit us upside the head like a brick.
“Come on,” Caro waved to us as though it was nothing. Raven and I had paused, still on the front stoop, though my mate walked in like this was just another normal day for us. For a moment, I picked my brain trying to figure out when I’d last been over, though I don’t remember it being this intense.
“Unca Car, Unca M,” their only daughter Luna took our hands. “Pway.”
How do you refuse that?
“Ray-Ray too.”
Yeah, if we have a girl, she will so own Caro and me.
Into the massive playroom we went. Ionus junior, Griffin, their first born, was curled up with his Papa, while Baird soundly snored at the far end of the couch. Alex and Gramps were on the floor doing their best to teach the twins, Kane and Hunter, how to control their fire. Ionus and Griffin shook their heads.
“It’ll never work,” Ionus murmured to Griffin.
“Them’s bad.”
“Not bad, just a tad naughty,” Caro said as he tossed Luna into the air. Her giggles drowned out the twins’ cries.
“Welcome. Come to get a taste of your near future?” Alex teased.
“One,” I held up a single finger. “One egg is in this incubator. One.” I couldn’t stress that word enough, though my soon to be ex-bestie found it far too hilarious.
I sat on the ottoman, taking all the chaos in.
The wall of toys overwhelmed me. The twins’ cries overwhelmed me. Luna curled up on Caro and fell right to sleep. That act I was totally onboard with.
“Sweetheart,” Caro patted the seat beside them. “Slide up here.” I slid up beside them, basking in the calm I felt whenever Caro and I touched. “There you go. Now your head should clear.”
“Alright, what gives?” Alex pointedly asked. “You don’t just randomly come over.”
Silence.
Again.
All eyes were on me, and I hate, despise, detest —I hate being the center of attention.
And now my mind was blank.
“I um, have some questions?”
“Like the one you just asked?” Alex teased. “About?”
“Babies, being pregnant, giving birth, um laying the eggs I mean. Does it hurt?”
“It’s like no other pain you’ve ever felt.”
Gulp.
You’ll be okay, my love. I swear.Caro wrapped his free arm around me.
“It’s weird,” Alex cradled a fussy Kane, or was it Hunter? I can’t tell them apart. “As the pregnancy goes on and the morning sickness ends, it’s like this whole nesting thing takes over. Long gone is the worry of pain or being sick. It gets replaced with the need to get the nest and nursery done just right.”
“Omega instincts,” I whispered. My mind instantly scrolling through the archives for the excerpt I’d read. “Fascinating.”
“Your mind is a beautiful thing, Emerson. But I am here for you, every step of the way. Don’t let my full house scare you away. Even if this was your family, I guarantee you’d feel differently than you do now.”
“Please don’t think I hate any of this. I love you and your kids.”
