Page 38 of A True Mate Bond

“It’s chocolate and I don’t like cereal.”

His smile brightened. “Well, I like strawberry ice cream and I prefer cereal with some kind of chocolate flavor. See? Now we know each other better.” He kissed her forehead and drove off.

“Was your father mad?”

“Of course, but I believe I made a pretty good point and hope he won’t bother us again.”

She sighed as she looked out of the window and watched the trees pass by. “I was hoping you could come with me to the store sometime soon.”

“I was just about to suggest it.” He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. “I know all of this, our whole relationship, hasn’t been like you probably would’ve pictured it. I hope we can slowly get to know each other like we normally would have.”

“I would like that very much. I’ve just been so emotional lately. Even the smallest things make me lose my mind. Of course, I know that we are still getting to know each other but still, when I stood in the store I felt so horrible.”

“And if it wasn’t for the pregnancy hormones you would have shrugged it off. You are going through a lot of changes and it’s alright to feel the way you do. You are safe with me to express your feelings and if you ask me, I think you are doing fantastic.”

His words made her heart flutter and butterflies tingle in her stomach. They meant so much more than just ‘I love you’ and knowing he spoke the truth with each sentence only intensified the warm feeling that spread through her soul.

“Thank you,” she whispered, having no other words.

After arriving at home, Blake carried the groceries inside for her and helped her unpack the little that they had. She was just unpacking the food belonging to the fridge when she heard him chuckle behind her.

“This is cute.”

She turned around and saw him holding up the baby clothes. “Lyliann thought it was cheesy, but I couldn’t help myself. I thought they were adorable.”

“I like them, and they are neutral–they could work for either a boy or a girl.”

“I thought the same.”

He walked over and pulled her into a hug. “Even though parenthood still scares me, I can’t wait to meet our babies.”

She laid her head against his chest and couldn’t help but fall for him even more—if that was even possible. “I’m excited too.”

It wasn’t long till they both made their way to the bed and cuddled up. Niev was exhausted and wanted to rest and Blake must have felt the same. He was out cold, snoring next to her before she could even close her eyes.

Baby Cuddles

The next few days flew by quickly. Niev spent her mornings with Christa, and the afternoons with Layla, while Blake was out all day working. Christa had started to show Niev how to do certain tasks, change bandages, heal different kinds of wounds, and realign broken bones and cast them–even letting her practice them herself. It was quite interesting and with a less stressful surrounding, it was fun to learn all these things.

Christa also introduced her to herbal remedies and medicines that she liked using. Since wolves healed much faster and even better, common diseases for humans such as cancer were less likely to appear in wolves. Niev also suspected that due to the limited, old-fashioned healthcare such things were often missed, but she kept that thought to herself. Most wolves died due to their old age.

Niev was reading a chapter on infected wounds when Christa sat next to her on the couch, which was highly unusual for her. “Niev, are you and Blake still wanting to find out the gender of your children?”

“We do.” Niev was a little taken aback by Christa’s question. She’d thought she’d given up or even forgotten about their request.

“I’ll be visiting two old friends for Selene’s celebration, and they might be able to help you and Blake. They have asked me to draw some of your blood and would like to analyze it.”

“Of course.” Niev was thrilled.

“Please don’t get your hopes up, they will try and help but are no experts.”

Niev nodded, yet she couldn’t dampen her excitement. “Thank you.”

Christa got up and walked over to the cabinets, pulling out everything needed to draw blood from Niev. “I’ll be leaving this afternoon so I would like to draw your blood now before you leave.”

Niev rolled up her sleeve and let Christa draw her blood. As before, it took Christa a few attempts before she was able to draw enough.

“Christa, please don’t tell Blake about this. I don’t want to get his hopes up only to have them shattered later on.”

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