Page 33 of As The Shifter World Turns

33

OVERCROWDED

Archer

“Ready?” Micah asked.

“I guess.”

“Wait, you don’t seem very excited. Don’t you want to look at baby stuff.” He held up the phone and scrolled down the long list he’d made. “We don’t have much time.”

While a shifter pregnancy wasn't as long as a human’s but with Micah’s unicorn genes being in the mix, we weren’t 100% sure how long the gestation period would be. Micah wanted one half of our bedroom—which would be for the baby—decorated and all equipment purchased so we weren't doing it at the last minute.

“No, I am, but are you sure we need all this?”

“Oh, yes, I’ve been on the Daddy and Baby blog and I’m convinced the baby needs each item here.”

If it made my mate happy, I was happy. I’d been prepared to buy a crib and stroller, diapers and diaper cream and call it a day. But Micah’s list had things on there I’d never heard of. “What’s a diaper genie?” I asked as I scanned the items. “Does it make the dirty diapers disappear?” I hoped so.

“Very funny,” he replied. “Though in a way it does.”

My mate helped me down the stairs and we dropped off Patch with Ivor. My unicorn shifter was so protective of me though I was well and not showing. And having a beast inside him had changed his outlook on life. He was actually chirpy some days. Who knew my unicorn mate could be so cheerful ?

Daire and Neil were waiting by the van. “What’s this? I asked.

“Your chariot awaits, M’lord.” Daire bowed.

“And I’m here to help you choose the—” Neil scanned his phone. “The baby lasso and the poop alarm.”

“The what now?” The word lasso had me imagining Micah swinging our little one over his head while a siren sounded in the baby’s butt.

“He insists you need all of this.” Judging by Neil’s face, he was having doubts.

I needed to get my hands on that stupid list but Micah snatched his hand away when I tried to grab the device.

“Send it to me,” I mouthed to Neil but he shook his head.

“Secret,” he mouthed back.

“Drive slowly,” my mate instructed Daire as we buckled up.

Him saying that I didn’t mind because the grizzly shifter was kinda reckless when he got behind the wheel.

“Here we are,” Daire announced when he pulled up in front of an upmarket baby store.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked as I checked the place out online. “It’s really expensive. I was thinking we could buy some of the big items secondhand. You know, at an online marketplace.”

Micah screwed up his face and so did Daire. “Unicorns prefer to buy everything new.” He cupped his ear. That was my mate’s new, really irritating habit he’d developed whenever his beast spoke to him. But I couldn't be mad at him, no matter how annoying it was because he’d lived his life until now with no animal inside him. It didn’t mean we couldn’t tease him about it.

Daire and Neil cupped their ears. “Hello, hello. Anybody there?” Daire giggled and snorted.

“Why yes. This is the diaper genie,” Neil replied.

“And what say you, diaper genie?” Daire asked.

“You’re full of crap.” Neil bent over, his shoulders shaking.

“Shouldn’t that be you who are full of crap?”

The three of us laughed until I glanced at Micah who had his arms folded. “My unicorn thinks you’re buttheads!”

Daire clutched his chest. “Oh, no, I’m wounded,” and I was reminded of the day I moved into Sunshine Manor when Kellan was trying and failing to insult Daire.

“Come on. We’re here to shop.” Micah helped me out of the van and then took over. I was happy to wander around the store while Neil and my mate argued over ten different wallpapers and when they’d narrowed it to three, I chose the one I liked.

I wanted our healthy baby in my arms with Micah beside me and Patch at my feet. All the other things, they were just noise. But Micah was having fun.

When I wandered past a bunk bed, Daire was curled up on the bottom one, yawning .

“Here you lie down,” he said.

“I’m okay. I sat on a rocker and put a cushion behind my back.” It seemed with the running of Sunshine Manor, his community college classes and working at the nursery, plus all the hassle with his stolen identity, Daire was doing too much. But when I broached the subject, he said, “I didn’t do much for the past couple of years, sort of coasted along. I’m young. I can cope.”

I avoided the subject of the guy he was sleeping with. I’d leave that mess to Neil who knew details which I didn’t.

“There you are.” Micah strolled up followed by Neil. “Everything’s going to be delivered this afternoon.” But when we reached the cashier, there were at least ten bags that Micah and Daire carried to the car. “How much did you buy?”

“You’ll be pleased to know we didn’t get the lasso but the poop alarm is here somewhere,” Neil told me. He mouthed, “Sorry.”

We took Daire and Neil out to lunch to thank them and when we made it home, a huge delivery van was out front. “Please tell me that’s just the crib and not full of everything you bought.”

“You’ll love it, Micah told me. “Stay with Ivor and Patch while I direct the delivery guys.”

Every so often I stuck my head out of 1A as burly guys grunted and yelled, “Watch out,” while they carried furniture up the stairs. And when Micah walked in, his excitement was tamped down a little.

“All done?”

“Mmmm. But it’s a little crowded. Might need to rearrange a few things.”

I raced up the stairs, two at a time and opened the door. Or tried to. I managed to squeeze in and was surrounded by boxes and flatpacks and ready made furniture.

“Micah.”

“I know. I know. You were right. I went overboard.”

“You have to return most of this.” I took his hand but there was nowhere to sit. “I get that you’re excited by our baby.” I put his hand on my belly. “But our child needs us.”

“And a diaper genie?” he asked. I rested my head on his chest as my butt knocked off a package onto the floor.

“But if we had a bigger place, we wouldn’t be so cramped.”

“Please don’t tell me you want to move so we can accommodate all this stuff.”

“No. I agree with you. Most of this is going back.” He took my hand. “Come with me.”

He led me onto the roof. It’s what I loved about this place. And the people. Micah extended his arm. “What do you see?”

“A bunch of houses.” Most were new builds but there was one on the next street over that was from a similar era as Sunshine Manor .

“Notice anything about that one?” He pointed to the older house I’d been looking at.

“Yeah. Was it built at the same time as this place?

“It was. And it’s going on the market soon because I’ve been asked to stage it.”

“It’s beautiful but there’s no way we can afford that house,” I told him.

“Hear me out.” He sat me on the bench. “Most of my savings ended up in my ex’s bank account but since then I’ve been putting away as much as I can.”

“Even so. The deposit alone on that house would be more than we could afford.” I did have money saved but that was for my parents.

“This is where we need to be creative. That house has a basement apartment.”

“Ewww. An old smelly basement that we’d have to renovate.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. It’s on a slope, so the basement looks out onto the garden. And the current owner had a tenant there until last month. The basement was done up a couple of years ago.”

I saw where he was going. “My parents could live in the basement apartment.” He nodded. We’d called my folk about the baby and our being mated and promised to visit them in the coming weeks.

“This is hard for me to say. Unicorn pride and all. And while I don’t expect them to help out?—”

“They would, of course.” If they sold their house, they’d put some of that toward the new place. I’d discussed something similar with them before I left to start my current job.

“Do you think it’s possible?” I loved Sunshine Manor and my friends. But the apartment would be cramped with a baby and a dog. It was close enough to the manor that we’d still be neighbors with my best friends. And we could walk over and enjoy Friday nights on the roof with everyone.

“I do.”

Ivor

Working from home was perfect. No commute. And not getting caught in the rain while waiting for the bus.

But I missed Ryder. Him rearranging everything on his desk so it was just so. That might irritate some people—people like Kellan—but it was part of who Ryder was. He couldn’t function if his stapler was in the wrong place. That had me giggling which led to tears ‘cause he was a butthead. Damn that stag shifter for touching my heart.

Run? Ryder? My wolf asked hopefully .

Not happening buddy. Work. Study. Remember?

I put my head on the desk and closed my eyes, trying to shut out memories of Ryder didn’t work though. There were days I thought I was over him, and other times, he was in my head. Didn’t help that we lived in the same building.

The phone dinged. I didn’t look up. It was a video call not a message as I recognized the ping. Neil or Archer? Or both of them. I took a peek. My boss. The man who’d had his cock in me. The same alpha who couldn’t let go of his maybe-ex.

As Ryder was my boss and paid my salary, and I refused to be in the same room as him and worked from home, I couldn’t ignore the call. Well, I could but if I wanted to keep my job, it was best to answer it.

“Yeah.” There I’d answered. There was no law saying I had to be pleased about it but I was inspecting my hands and refusing to stare at the screen.

“Hi.”

“Is this about the invoices you wanted me to send?” I asked. “All done.”

“Nope.”

“Have you signed the contract I forwarded?”

“Yes.”

I could run down my to-do list and not get into anything personal.

“Can we talk?”

“Fuck no.” That wasn’t the way to talk to your boss but his question had veered into the personal arena.

“I kicked Kellan to the curb.”

“Hope he has bruises,” I blurted out.

“Not literally.”

“Shame.” I wasn’t giving an inch.

His sharp intake of breath had me glance up at him. “It was a couple of weeks ago. I told him I had found someone else and had moved on. That there was to be no more communication between us.”

That was a huge admission. “Doesn’t mean he’ll pay attention. He never does.”

“I’ve blocked his number and email, changed the locks at the office, and told him Daire had installed a security camera on the Sunshine Manor porch.

Except Daire rarely checked the footage but it was something.

“And,” Ryder continued. “I heard from a friend of a friend that Kellan is seeing someone else.”

That asshat had seen a lot of someones while living with Ryder but I didn’t point that out. “Okay, that shows me he’s moved on, but what about you?”

“I’ve done a lot of thinking lately. Me not wanting to admit to making a mistake has been a big hurdle to overcome. But I think I’ve done it.”

“Been doing a lot of jogging, have you?” His blank expression had me clarifying, “Hurdles. So hurdles and jogging. Never mind.” My voice trailed away.

“Would you consider?—? ”

“A date? A night at your place? Nope. I need more than empty words. But as Kellan can no longer waltz into the office, I’ll work there again as long as you pay for a rideshare. I don’t have time to hang around at the bus stop.”

“Of course. See you tomorrow.”

I cut the call. Not sure being in the same room as him was a good idea.