Page 49 of As The Shifter World Turns

49

A SURPRISE

Ivor

“Ivor, are you all right? You’ve been in there a while?” Daire banged on the door.

“I’m fine. Be out in a minute.” I was anything but fine and I’d been leaning over the toilet throwing up for twenty minutes. My mouth felt like the bottom of a birdcage and my belly ached from heaving.

After rinsing with mouthwash and throwing water on my face, I opened the door to find Daire leaning against the wall. “Please tell me this isn't a hangover because of what happened with you and Ryder?”

“No, it’s a stomach bug.”

“You need to call your boss and say you’re not coming in today. He’d probably take one look at you and send you home anyway.”

“I’m fine.” I closed the bathroom door again and turned on the shower. “I love that you’re worried about me but I haven’t had this job long enough to take a day off.”

“Please tell me they have paid sick leave and wouldn’t dock your pay for missing a day.”

“No.” I climbed in the shower and let the water wash over me, not having the energy to do much else. “I’m still on probation and need to prove myself.”

“Fine. But call me if you need a ride home.”

“I will.” I wouldn’t. If I could make it through to the weekend, I could sleep for two days but the time until Friday night seemed like an eternity.

“And I don’t think it’s a stomach bug,” he added. “You’ve been looking like shit for a few days now. ”

“Gee thanks, Dr. Daire. You sure do know how to make me feel better.”

“I detect sarcasm,” he shouted.

The hours at work crawled by and people commented on me looking pale. I should have borrowed some of Neil’s make up. But by lunch time, the nausea had disappeared and while I was tired, I wasn’t sick.

When I got back to Sunshine Manor, I heated up some soup and took a nap on the couch. Luckily, Daire wasn’t home or he might have been trying to feed me a three-course meal. Neil messaged saying he’d bought new dresses for work but thought he’d send two back and needed my opinion.

This was our thing. Him, me and Archer checking out his new makeup, dresses and wigs. If I refused, he’d know something was up ‘cause I didn’t have to do anything except lie on his bed and say yay or nay.

Sure , I texted. One flight of stairs won’t be a problem and while Neil wasn’t looking, I could put some of his blush on my cheeks to give me color.

The door was open when I reached 2B and I avoided glancing at 2A. It was getting easier seeing Ryder and even saying hello if we met on the porch or when we were all together on the roof. Really it was.

Nope , my wolf called me on my lie.

Luckily, Neil was in the kitchen when I arrived and I went straight to his bedroom and collapsed on his mattress, but not before plopping a brushful of blush on each cheek. Too much . And then I rubbed it off. Now I resembled a clown.

“I got you a treat,” Neil announced as he walked in with a huge plate of—oh Gods no! “Nachos. I know how much you love them.” The melted cheese shimmering under the light, the globs of guacamole, olives and?—

“No,” I yelled and raced into the bathroom.

Neil came in after me and wet a facecloth, wiping the sweat from my brow as I hurled the contents of my stomach into the toilet. And he helped me to his bed afterward and tucked me in. “Daire told me you weren’t well.”

“You’ve been talking about me.”

“Of course,” he grinned. “He’s worried about you. Says you’re working too hard and still not over Ryder.”

“Maybe you pair should work as counsellors though Daire doesn’t have much luck with love either,” I grumbled.

“I’m going to ask you something and I don’t want you to freak out.”

“Well, saying that is guaranteed to make me freak out.”

Neil sighed. “Do you remember when Archer was throwing up?”

I rubbed a hand over my eyes. “I can barely recall what happened this morning. Remind me.”

The expression on Neil’s face was one of “You won’t like this” as he nibbled his bottom lip. “Ummm it was a while ago. Months before he had Elune.”

My fuzzy memory was similar to brain fog and I didn’t remember him being sick. “What about it? Did he have stomach flu too?”

“Nope.” He hesitated and it occurred to me maybe the conversation was about Archer and he was seriously ill. Perhaps that’s why he hadn’t turned up. “He was pregnant.”

“Oh, right. It’s coming back to me. He had morning sickness or maybe all day sickness.”

Neil nodded. “That’s because he was preg-nant.”

His words finally penetrated my brain. Morning sickness. Pregnant. Baby. Sex with Ryder. All the emotions that I’d tried to keep bundled up inside me erupted and I burst into tears. Neil climbed into bed and held me as I sobbed. “No, why me. Being a single father was not on my bucket list.”

“There, there. We don’t know for certain if you are.”

But I was. It fit. The timing of when Ryder and I had last had sex which seemed a lifetime ago. Not being able to keep food in my belly. The exhaustion which I put down to the new job. “A baby, Neil.”

He kissed my head. “I’ll call Archer and see if he’s still got some unused pregnancy tests.”

“Why isn’t he here tonight?”

“Oh, his dad broke a hip yesterday and is in the hospital. Looks like he might have to move into an assisted-living facility.”

“Which father? The disabled one?” Had I been so out of it that one of my best friends was going through a crisis and I had no idea?

“No, his omega dad. And his alpha father can’t look after his mate so they’ll probably both have to move from Archer and Micah’s basement apartment.”

“That’s so sad. They were so happy there.” We sat in silence for a few minutes before I continued. “We can’t ask Archer about getting the tests. He’s got enough to deal with.”

“If he’s got any in a drawer, I’ll race over and get them rather than going to a pharmacy.”

Archer picked up on the first ring. “Hey.” Neil had him on speaker phone. “I miss you guys.”

We asked him about his dad and were told he was resting comfortably.

“Is Micah within earshot?”

“No. He and Daire are still at work.”

Neil filled him in and I hid under the covers, thinking if I blocked out their conversation, maybe it wasn’t real. Archer squealed when he heard, but Neil said, “Ryder,” and he shut up. Turned out he did have a drawer full of tests, but he couldn’t leave the house because his other dad needed him there. He was upset about his mate and their situation, obviously. And also Elune was asleep so Neil went over and got them.

Neil was on the phone when I shuffled out of the bathroom and I held up the test showing two pink lines. I tossed it in the garbage and crawled back into Neil’s bed, wanting to block out the world and sleep.

“He is,” Neil whispered.

“Don’t tell anyone. Not Micah. Not Daire. And especially not Ryder.”

Daire

It was so cool working for a company that Micah and I owned, creating gardens for clients to make their houses more attractive to buyers. And now with my gardening tips videos taking off, I had to pinch myself that it was real. Doing what I loved and making money from it.

Of course, I had a lot of engagement on social media. People giving me likes and thumbs up, others asking questions. And along with the positive reactions, there were people saying I was an idiot and didn’t know what I was talking about. And I had quite a few requests for dates.

Old Daire would have accepted one, two or maybe more. I was young and had nothing to lose. But the new Daire either ignored or rejected them. My experience with Wesley had scarred me. I was so sure he was a good guy. Should have listened to Neil.

But there was one guy who’d watched all of my videos. Nate. He had a small balcony he said and wanted to grow herbs. We chatted a few times, and gradually the professional talk led to more personal questions. I was cool with that.

Until Nate asked if I’d like to meet up. This was déjà vu and memories of that dick Wesley came flooding back. He’d seen me as an easy mark and had already stolen my identity when I met him. And that wasn’t all he stole.

It’d seemed so right at the time and ended up being so wrong. And then there was the guy from college who met and mated another omega the day he met him. I had lousy luck in the romance department.

Sorry , I texted Nate. I’ve just come out of a bad relationship and I’m not ready to date again.