Page 67 of As The Shifter World Turns

67

MOVING DAY

Ivor

Why did I agree to this? I asked myself for the hundredth time. Ryder and I could have stayed in what used to be his apartment, and was now ours. It was small, easy to keep clean and the baby could have shared our room. Sure, we’d be tripping over each other but whatever.

The bedroom door was open and I eyed the pile of baby paraphernalia lined up against the wall in the living room, plus caught a glimpse of the boxes Ryder had packed for the move. It was only down one flight of stairs but it could have been at the ends of the Earth.

If I didn’t get out of bed soon, Daire would be huffing and puffing up the stairs to 3B. He’d moved the furniture he wanted from 1A in the past few days and sold us a few pieces which wouldn’t fit into the smaller apartment, but he’d been busy with work and left the rest until today, which was our moving day.

1A had been painted last week and Daire paid for cleaners to come in. They’d had to maneuver around his stuff but had done a good job. New curtains were arriving some time today as well as additional furniture we’d bought.

“Tea and toast.” Ryder appeared with a tray, his damp hair suggesting he’d already showered. Being pregnant prevented me from doing some tasks, like lifting heavy boxes, but Ryder had really taken the lead and I was so grateful. My anxiety levels would have seen me hiding under the bed covers if he hadn’t stepped up.

“I’m heading downstairs to see if I can give Daire a hand. Anything you need, just yell. ”

“As soon as I’ve eaten breakfast, I’ll get up. Promise.”

“No hurry.” He headed out the door and even though his stomping down the stairs was hardly a pleasant sound, it was one I recognized as my mate.

Sipping tea and nibbling on the toast had my mind wandering to the Moving List on my phone. But I was reminded of what Joy suggested, which was to enjoy what I was doing without checking social media or my messages.

Except the phone pinged. I ignored it for a minute and then the familiar pounding of Ryder’s feet on the stairs had me cursing. Damn. It was him messaging me.

He stuck his head into the bedroom. “Daire says we bought the armchair that was in your old room. Is that right?”

Pregnancy brain was bad with me wandering around in a fog most days. I had so many reminders set for work events, worried I’d forget something important. “I don’t think so.” That chair needed to be tossed or donated.

“Okay. I’ll tell him.”

Staying in bed was no longer an option, so I took a quick shower and gazed longingly at the bed, wishing I could climb back in.

“Ivor, what do you need me to do?” Neil was at the open door as Daire stalked past carrying two huge boxes. My friend narrowed his eyes at the grizzly shifter and said, “Why didn’t he move his stuff earlier. 3B has been vacant forever.”

I shrugged. “Busy, I guess.”

The phone dinged and this time I snatched it up, not wanting Ryder to come upstairs again. Though it occurred to me he’d be going up and down taking our stuff all morning.

It was Archer saying he was in 1A and ready to help. He could have shouted up but Ryder might have told him I was still in bed. “Archer,” I told Neil.

But Daire must have heard me and his voice drifted down from 3B. “Archer, can you bring the blue bag up here? It's on my bed.”

“Thought I was here to help you,” Archer panted to me as he hefted the bag up to Daire’s new place. “And why are you doing this today, Daire?”

I couldn’t make out his mumbled reply.

“Neil, just the person I need.” Ryder charged through the door, a smudge of dirt on one cheek. “We can move the baby stuff.” He pointed to the flat packed crib lying against the wall. “But we have to wait for Daire to move his things before we can do anything else. I don’t know why he didn’t do this earlier.”

“Busy,” our grizzly shifter friend growled from the landing.

“That’s a lot of diapers,” Neil noted as he peered into boxes.

The front door bell rang. “That’ll be the new shelves,” I told my mate. “I’ll go.”

“No, I can do it,” Neil said.

He disappeared and Ryder picked up more baby things and left. He must have given up on the messaging because a few seconds later as I surveyed the stuff in our living room, he shouted, “Where do the shelves go, Ivor?”

I walked onto the landing, wishing I could say, “I don’t care,” but instead, I waddled down the stairs, making sure to hold the railing so I didn’t trip. “The baby’s room.”

The blank expression on my mate’s face told me all I needed to know. “My old room.” We now had three bedrooms and the third would be a home office.

“Okay.”

“Wait.” That was Archer who emerged from the kitchen. “The cleaners either didn’t do a great job or Daire had too many boxes piled on the floor in the second bedroom. It needs vacuuming and mopping before the curtains arrive and we put any furniture in there.

He must have noticed my trembling lip as I figured out where our vacuum cleaner was. “This is what we’ll do.”

Martin poked his head in the door and asked, “How can I help?”

“Good timing,” Archer told him. “Help Daire get the rest of his stuff out of here. Neil, can you clean the room? Ryder, take Ivor back to bed and make sure he’s got food and then you and I will arrange the furniture.”

“Why did Daire leave it so late to do this?” Martin scratched his head.

“Busy,” we all yelled.

“I feel bad not helping,” I said.

“Oh really?” Ryder tapped his lips. “Who organized the painters, cleaners, curtains, wallpaper for the baby’s room, and most of the new furniture?” He wrapped his arms around me. “That would be you.”

“I’ll order food as there’s not much in the fridge,” my mate admitted as we walked into 2A. We were selling our current fridge and had bought one twice the size for our new place.

“Yes, please. Thai food. And remember when you’re done, buy food and drinks for everyone.”

“I will.” He glanced around. “Can’t quite believe we’ll sleep in 1A tonight. Our new home.”

“Mmmm. What are we going to do with all that space?”

He winked and patted my ass. “We’ll think of something. Now get into bed and I’ll bring the food up when it arrives.”

The bed was also staying in the apartment for the moment until we sold it because we finally had a room big enough for a king. I’d joked to Ryder when we bought the new one that it was my bed and where would he be sleeping?

The rest of the day was spent eating, reading, napping and listening to Daire yell, “Where are my kitchen utensils?” and “I can’t find my pillows.” But with Martin’s help, he must have sorted it out, because by mid-afternoon Martin and Toby went shopping, the fox shifter having asked me if I needed anything before they left.

As the sun sunk lower, I got up and showered, thankful I had a mate and friends who were doing what I couldn’t .

Ryder came in as I was getting dressed and he was wearing clean clothes. Not a trace of dust or dirt. “I showered in our new place.” He stood behind me and rubbed his hands over the bump. “That shower in 1A is so big and I can’t wait to get you in there and soap you up.”

“Me too.” I nuzzled his throat.

“Come down and see what we’ve done and then we’ll go onto the roof and thank everyone.”

When we reached 1A, memories came flooding back of me sharing the apartment with Daire. Me not having much money, juggling work and college, working for Ryder, sleeping with him, breaking up and getting pregnant. It was a lot but we were going to make new memories.

“Close your eyes.” He led me inside and I sniffed the new furniture aroma. “Now open.”

Ryder, Archer, and Neil had done an amazing job. The boxes had been unpacked, clothes put away and the baby’s room was ready for our new arrival. Tears filled my eyes. “This is where we’ll bring our daughter. It’s where we’ll become a family.”