Page 20 of The Alpha: Part Three
Ben
“That's ridiculous, Seth,” Desie fumes.
Seth sighs heavily and drags his hands down his face. “It is not ridiculous, Desir'ee. You're lucky I'm even letting you go in anymore at all.”
She puts her hands on her hips. “Letme? You'veletme go to my shifts since my heat lifted without making a fuss. The only difference now is that I know that I'm pregnant.”
Oh boy. This is going to be a fun one. Desie and Seth have been going back and forth about this for a couple days. She just doesn't realize that the only thing that's kept Seth from camping out at the hospital when she's at work this whole time is me and Michael aggressively talking him out of it. The main argument was that she'd know something was up if we started keeping watch over her at work, and that wouldn't go along with letting her figure out she's pregnant on her own. We all wanted that for her so much, so he allowed himself to be convinced. He still put a new tracker on her phone. And another one on her car.
Seth rubs his jaw, then his neck. “Desir'ee. The only reason we haven't been taking turns sitting in the hallway for the past two and a half weeks is because we love you and we knew it would make you happy to realize you were pregnant without us telling you. At least one of us will be with you every minute of the day from now on. I'm sorry. I know you're angry. But it's happening.”
The glare she levels him with is icy and I'm glad it's not directed at me. Maybe she's too pissed off to feel the sour combination of Seth's fear and his own anger trembling along our bond, but I can feel it loud and clear. If she keeps fighting, he'll force her to listen with a command and that might mess both of them up.
“Listen, baby,” I say gently. “Just listen for a minute. Try to understand. Flores took you. He took you from the hospital with me and Michael both there. Then he took us. Do you have any idea what it would do to us if something like that happened again? Can't you feel how afraid Seth is? How worried I am? We know you're strong. We know you're careful. But you're still ours, and we need to protect you. Especially now.”
She turns that glare on me, but it's lost most of its sharpness. “You can't keep me in a bubble for the next twenty-seven weeks. I have a job. I have responsibilities.”
“You have the same responsibility we do, which is to keep that baby safe,” Michael says. “You and that baby are all that matters. If I knew how to put you in a bubble, I fucking would. But the best we can do is stay with you.”
She sighs and drops her hands from her hips. “You can't just sit at the hospital all day. My shifts are long.”
Seth tilts his head and licks his lips. “Not anymore. You cannot be on your feet and running around for that long. It will put too much strain on you.”
“You can't take my job from me, Seth Pratchett. I worked too hard for it.”
I reach over and wrap my fingers around her wrist and pull her to me, wrapping my arms around her. “Nobody is taking your job. Nobody is forcing you to stop working. All we're doing is taking care of you.” We didn't decide that Desie couldn't work ten to twelve hour shifts, Seth decided that. But it's the right decision.
Seth pushes away from the kitchen table and comes to stand in front of her. He puts his hands on either side of her face and presses his forehead against hers. “I know your work is important. What you do is the most important thing. And I can't express how proud I am of you. But I won't back down from this. I can't. We have to keep you safe and healthy.”
“What about after the baby comes?” she asks. “What will we do then? Because I am going back to work once he's old enough.”
“When she's old enough for you to go back to work, she'll stay with one of us,” Michael answers. “Or one of us will be home with her. Besides, we'll be on the East Coast by then. Talia and Jasper will help. And Brandon will be there. She'll get to grow up with their kids, and with Amber's when we come back here. We won't be alone. But until she's here, we're keeping you safe every second of the day.”
“The baby can't go to council meetings, Michael.”
“Why not?” Seth counters. “I have already been looking at those baby wrap sling things. I can take her with me. Marcus loves it when kids are in his suite.”
“Who is Marcus?” she asks, curiosity winning out over outrage.
Seth smiles and runs his thumb across her bottom lip. “Marcus is Talia's father. He's crazy. And he has the foulest mouth I've ever heard. All kids love him. When I was a kid, I used to wish he was my dad. He's going to love you.”
“Why?”
He smiles again. “A million reasons. One of them being the way you donothave a filthy vocabulary. He'll try to corrupt you.”
I laugh. “He can't. We've been trying for years.”
Desie sighs again. “We really will be on the East Coast when he's born, won't we? In a farmhouse? Is there actually a farm?”
Seth kisses her and goes back to his seat at the table. “I don't think there's a farm. There could be if you wanted one. I don't think we'll be there long, though. Corso already has a team fixing the house at the back of his property. You can have a farm there, too. I don't care. Whatever you want. He'd say the same thing.”
“I might like a small garden,” she hums. “Maybe grow some tomatoes and squash,” she smiles back at me at the mention of squash. Then she huffs. “Are all three of you really going to go everywhere with me?”
“Every minute of the day, darlin,” Seth answers. “There's no way around it.”
She huffs again. “Fine.”
She understands. I can feel it. She just doesn't like being told what to do. Any other time, we'd give her her way about it, but not about this. We'll keep her safe before we keep her happy.
