Page 36 of The Alpha: Part Three
“Will do. Actually, I am going to go. Trent is cooking back at the manor. He does fine, but I get nervous when he starts pulling out metal spoons and the fancy equipment. I'll keep you updated.”
She ends the call and I open her text to get Obi's number. “I'm going to talk to Obi about birth registry and things like that. Are you guys sticking around for the baby conversation or do you want me to catch you up after?”
“Sticking around,” Ben answers. “We need to know all the baby stuff.”
As it turns out, the conversation never gets around to baby stuff.
“A job?” I ask, almost in disbelief. “You've only witnessed one birth assist. I haven't even submitted my resume and records.”
“That one birth assist was my nephew. And after everything Talia has told me, it would be very silly of me not to try to get you on my team. We will obviously be doing a lot of work at the hospital, but there is another project in the works that will need my expertise and I'll need people I can trust. Can I count you in? We'll get you set up with registration and orientation when you get here, then you'll be with my team as soon as you're ready to work.”
“What if she doesn't want to go back to work?” Ben asks. “What if she wants to stay home?”
“Benjamin. I have worked too long and too hard to just stay home. I will be going back to work even if it's in a part-time capacity. And you won't give me a hard time about it.”
Ben holds up his hands. “I didn't mean it like that, Des. I just didn't want you to feel like you had to. That's all.”
Seth runs his fingertips down my arm and tugs on the tip of my finger. “We won't ever tell you that you can't work if that's what you want to do.”
“We'll just go with you,” Michael adds.
I roll my eyes. “As far as I know right now, I'd love to join your team, Obi. I look forward to working with you and learning how things work in your territory. Thank you for the opportunity.”
“It's my pleasure and honor,” Obi says. “I'll be glad to have another level-headed person in the family to help deal with these lunatics. I'm very happy Seth found you. Do you have a timeline for when you'll be arriving?”
“Not yet, but Talia just took us on a tour of the renovated house so it's looking like it will be sooner than later. Do you have any questions for me?”
“I do actually, but not about the job.” We haven't told Talia's pack that I'm pregnant yet. I'm honestly surprised she didn't realize it when we were on the video call. I'm fairly confident that as soon as Obi knows Talia will know.
“What do you need?” Obi asks.
I bite the corner of my lip and look between Seth and the twins. They give me a nod and I push on. “I hope this won't affect the job offer, but I need to know what the process is for registering at a birthing center in your territory, preferably yours. I'll be due shortly after relocating.”
There's silence on the other line for a long, stressful string of moments and then Obi lets out a laugh. “Congratulations! I'll walk you through everything. I can get some things set up before you get here so it won't be as stressful for you. Of course you'll be at my center. You'll just have a start date when you're ready to come back to work. How many weeks are you?”
“Eighteen.”
Obi lets out a whistle. “Only twelve to go. How finished is the house?”
“It looks like all it needs is furniture,” Seth answers.
“Good. I don't want to rush you, Desir'ee, but I'd be a lot more comfortable if we could go ahead and get you over here. I don't like the idea of you traveling when you're much farther along. Is everything going well? No troubles?”
“We'll do our best,” I say, smiling at his worry. “And no troubles. Everything has gone smoothly.”
Before he can say anything else, Seth's phone rings. It's Talia, and when he answers the call she immediately lets him have it. It doesn't even need to be on speaker for me to hear her.
“You are an asshole, Seth Pratchett. You should have told me weeks ago. We'll have to build a nursery before you can move in. Why didn't you tell me?”
“Did you text Talia while we were talking?” I ask Obi.
“Informing people of your pregnancy is not my business, family or not. I did assume she knew, however. Why?”
I bite my lip again, this time to keep from smiling at Seth's pinched expression as he holds the phone to his ear. “Talia just called Seth to let him know how unhappy she is that she isn't the first to know.”
“Ah,” Obi chuckles. “Well, I'll leave you to that. Good luck, and keep me posted.”
Chapter fifteen
