Page 17

I left my mates and went up to our bedroom, climbed into bed, and fell sound asleep.

I woke, covered with sweat, to the sound of something crashing in the living room area. I shot out of bed as fast as my body would take me and into the room to find Mateo moving the couch. He’d knocked over a lamp in the process, and I had a feeling that was the cause of the noise.

“What are you doing?” I asked him, and he jumped. He mustn’t have heard me coming in.

“I don’t know. The room’s not ready for a baby, though. There are cords and sharp corners and no comfortable place to sit.” He didn’t even look up at me. He was completely frazzled.

“Mateo. It’s fine. Babies don’t even roll over for months.”

“I’ve been trying to tell him that.” Colton walked in with a pile of comforters and quilts from the storeroom.

“What’s with all the blankets?” Had I woken up in an alternate dimension? Or maybe I was still sleeping.

“Mateo asked for them.” He set them on the floor where the couch had been and picked up the lamp. “Why are you wet?”

“Me? I was sweating in my sleep.” But, come to think of it, I wasn’t hot, and not all of me was wet.

“I don’t think that’s it.” Colton rushed to me. “Did your water break?”

“Maybe?” Was it really baby time? If so, why wasn’t I in pain? Lots and lots of pain.

“Mateo, I’ll be back to help you in a bit,” Colton told him. “I’m going to help our mate shower and change the bed.”

Mateo didn’t even look up, his entire focus on rearranging the room.

Peeling off wet clothing was not easy, and I appreciated the help. He ran and changed the bedding as I stood under the warm water. It was there that, for the first time, I felt my belly tighten. It was no big deal. Had I not been focused on paying attention to my body I might not even have noticed.

The second one came as Colton returned. It was enough to notice. Everything I read said they shouldn’t be changing noticeably yet. The books were wrong.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, and maybe we can talk our mate into leaving things be. It’s like he got your nesting instincts.” He sudsed-up my hair, massaging the shampoo into my scalp.

“I wasn’t that bad, and I haven’t done much at all this week.” Last week I was dusting, glass cleaning, meal prepping, all the things. They said nesting came right before the baby, but, in my case, it came early.

“No. You have relaxed this week. Maybe that’s why Mateo took over.”

He washed me and helped me rinse off, wrapping me in soft towels as I climbed out.

“I made the bed. Did you want pj’s or a bathrobe?” He patted the bed for me to sit down.

“Just a robe, I guess. I want to check on Mateo.” Something in my gut told me this was more than just him being excited about the baby and worried about their safety. He made my nesting look like a normal quick tidy.

Shit.

He couldn’t…

But maybe…

I pushed myself up and headed into the other room, Colton still searching the closet. Mateo had moved everything and sure enough he had made a nest. He wasn’t nesting for me. He was nesting for him.

“Mateo, love?”

He looked up at me, his hairline sweaty and, unlike with me, with real sweat.

“Do you see what’s happening here?”

He gave a nod and rushed to me, hugging me the best he could with my belly in the way. “I’m not trying to be like this. This is your baby. I don’t know why suddenly I can’t help acting like I’m the one about to give birth. It must be all those false hopes or… I’m sorry, my love. Truly I am. This has nothing to do with you or my love for our child.” His tears wet my shoulder.

“Oh no, honey.” I cupped his cheeks and guided his face up to look at me. “This isn’t some manifestation or whatever you think this is. You’re about to lay an egg. This…the nest thing…bears don’t do that. Only sexy turtles about to lay an egg do.”