Page 115 of Down Knot Out
Then he checks with me. “If it’s s-still early enough?”
“It should still be okay.” I pass the basket to Nathaniel. “Chloe should be up from her nap soon.”
“Okay!” She grabs his hand and tugs him toward the stairs. “We’ll find something good!”
I turn to Blake. “Help me with the snacks I prepared. Chloe will be hungry when she wakes.”
His arms go around my shoulders in a quick squeeze. “Good Alpha.”
The simple words light me up from the inside.
We gather the finger foods I made, designed for easy consumption without the need for refrigeration, and we all troop upstairs.
Dominic meets us in the hall outside Chloe’s room, the shirt he’d been wearing stacked on top of a dusky-purple knit blanket.
He hesitates, then adds them both to the basket.
This is our first time offering nest-items to an Omega, and we’re all nervous.
Nathaniel goes to his room and returns with the scarf he wears when the weather gets cold. “Not sure what else we’re supposed to give her.”
“Whatever reminds you of home,” I say.
Blake ducks into his room and returns with the pillow from his bed, adding it to the offerings.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Quinn comes rushing out of her room with a notebook in her hands. “Don’t forget us!”
Grady trails after with a handful of the gel pens that Chloe and Quinn both love. I hold out the basket for them to add the items to the top.
When one of the pens rolls off, Quinn picks it up and tucks it into the side. “Aunt Choe likes the pink ones best.”
Blake ruffles Quinn’s hair. “Good job, princess.”
Outside Chloe’s door, I set the basket down and knock before gesturing for everyone to step back to give Chloe space.
After a moment, the door cracks open, and her head pokes out, her pink hair mussed from sleep.
She spots the basket and scoots out into the hall, cocooned in my hoodie. Grabbing the offering, she drags it into her room. The door remains open, but we all hold back, waiting.
Nathaniel’s throw pillow from earlier comes sailing out into the hall, along with Blake’s flannel. A second later, the dusky purple blanket joins the rejects.
Dominic’s shoulders fall. “She hates it.”
But Blake shakes his head. “Give her a minute.”
In a sudden burst, Chloe crawls back out into the hall, grabs Dominic’s blanket, and yanks it inside.
Nathaniel, who’s been observing the whole time, grins at Dominic. “Happy now?”
Dominic grins back, and we all relax.
When no new items join the rejects, we come closer to peek into Chloe’s bedroom.
The air inside holds the heavy fragrance of a garden in spring, thick with sweetness and a little wild. The nest has grown since this morning, and Chloe is a tangle of arms and legs in the center, her face buried in the folds of Dominic’s blanket.
“Are you up for company, sweet girl?” Blake rumbles.
Chloe’s head lifts, and she gives him a languid blink. “I’m hungry.”
