Page 29 of Briggs (Paranormal Council Enforcers #16)

Briggs

O ne thing I’d learned about pregnancy firsthand was that one minute, your mate could be feeling perfectly fine, and the next, he could or would be bawling because, for whatever reason, he didn’t like the color of the shirt he picked out to wear.

I had offered several others, but Todd seemed distraught no matter which shirt I offered.

Why, you ask? Because we were supposed to be having dinner with Alpha Babak and Alpha Mate Mina, as well as Alpha Dane and Alpha Mate Victoria.

At this point though, I was about to message all of them and say that Todd simply wasn’t feeling the best and perhaps we could do it another time.

He was still experiencing pregnancy sickness every so often, and obviously, there was something else going on because Todd was sitting on the floor of our closet, surrounded by a pile of discarded shirts.

Gray? No. Black? Nope. Red. Blah. Green.

Eww. I even tried offering one of my smaller shirts, thinking that perhaps the scent of me would help calm him. Yeah, no.

I slowly backed toward the door while Todd basically had a meltdown on the floor, until I could safely step out into the bedroom and rush to the nightstand and grab my phone. This was beyond what I could figure out how to handle, so I quickly found Dr. King’s number and sent an SOS text to him.

Me: Help! Todd is having a meltdown on the floor about shirts. I can’t seem to calm him. What do I do?

The message changed from sent to delivered and then quickly said read.

I had thought that Dr. King would message back, but instead, he simply appeared in front of me.

“Where…oh,” Dr. King said when he heard the crying and babbling.

I truly did not know what was going on with my mate.

How could he be so upset about dinner and a shirt? “What were you doing?”

“Nothing,” I said as we walked toward the closet. “We were getting dressed to go have dinner with Alpha Babak and Alpha Dane. But he started crying over the color of his shirt. Then it was the next color, and then the next. It just spiraled from there, and now I’m really concerned.”

“Can you pick him up and bring him out to the bedroom?”

I nodded. We were standing at the doorway, but Todd didn’t seem to acknowledge that we were there. I crossed to him and effortlessly picked him up. He looked up at me, and my heart melted in that moment at the obvious distress that my mate was under.

“Hey, sweetheart. Let’s forget dinner and have you lie down. How does that sound? We can get pizza or Chinese. How does that sound?”

“Yeah?”

I nodded and carefully exited the closet and crossed the room, where I gently placed Todd on his side of the bed. I pulled several tissues for him and helped wipe his face.

“Hey, Todd. How are you feeling?” Dr. King asked as he sat on the edge of the bed by Todd’s lower legs.

“I can’t decide on shirts, Dr. King,” Todd said and started to cry again. “Yesterday, I was crying because I couldn’t decide which juice I wanted. Make it stop, Dr. King. I don’t like this. I don’t want to be pregnant if I’m going to be an overly emotional mess.”

Dr. King slowly nodded. “Will you drink this tea for me? It’ll help you feel more relaxed.” Dr. King held out his hand that had a mug of tea that wasn’t there just a second ago.

Todd took it, sniffling and trying to wipe his nose with the tissues while bringing the mug to his mouth.

I grabbed several more tissues and wiped at my mate’s eyes again, let him get a drink, then held the tissues around his nose.

“Blow,” I said. Todd did—well, he tried, but it ended up being a complete mess that I helped him wipe up.

I took the tea, dropped the tissues on his lap, grabbed several more, and handed them to him. “Try again?”

Todd nodded, and after he blew his nose more than I thought could be possible, he dropped the soggy tissues in his lap with the others before he reached for the mug. I watched, completely fascinated, as Todd chugged the tea and handed the empty mug back.

“Are you truly upset about a shirt color, Todd? Or is it something else?” Dr. King asked.

I could swear Todd was going to start crying again, but instead, he took a broken, deep breath and let it out before he lay back against the pillow.

“I feel terrible. My stomach hurts, there are twinges, and I’m afraid I’m losing the baby,” Todd said.

“I feel bloated, but I’m barely pregnant.

My jeans are mostly too tight, and I hate how I look in all of my shirts because they’re snug on my stomach.

” Todd yawned and then simply went to sleep.

When he did, our bond opened up more, and it was then that I realized he’d been keeping things from me.

I scowled as I turned to the doctor. “I didn’t know,” I told him.

“He had those things blocked in our bond. I’ve been trying for days to figure out how to help him with things.

Today, it’s shirt colors. Yesterday, it was which juice.

A few days ago, it was where the furniture was in the back room.

” I shook my head. “How do I help my mate?”

“By being understanding.”

I glared. “I am. I only messaged you in desperation. Next time, I’ll message someone else who won’t accuse me of not being understanding. I’ve been very understanding about everything that comes with being mated to Todd.”

Dr. King stood and shook his head. “I apologize. I did not mean to upset you, nor was I implying that you weren’t being patient with your mate.

I know you are. It’s obvious that Todd is having extreme hormonal fluctuations while pregnant.

” Dr. King made a face. “I normally wouldn’t do this, but I believe that because he’s carrying twins.

His body is struggling with all of the extra hormones. ”

I suddenly felt light-headed and simply crossed my legs and sat down on the floor beside the bed. “Did you say twins?” I asked quietly. I looked up at my mate, who was sleeping soundly as if he hadn’t just spent ten minutes bawling in the middle of the closet floor.

“Yes. As I said, I wouldn’t normally disclose that to the alpha without the omega knowing.

But there are special circumstances where Todd is concerned.

He’s doing better, but he’s putting himself under a lot of unwarranted stress for simple things in life.

” Dr. King sighed. “He’s stressed about his job.

It’s not going anywhere if he wants to keep it.

I enjoy having him in the clinic. He’s always cheerful, and the patients like him. ”

“Twins?” I said again. Dr. King chuckled. “Whoa. Okay. So we’re going to need…a lot of diapers.” The chuckle turned into quiet laughter.

“Yes, you are. And lots of bottles and formula. But the council takes care of their own, and I have no doubt that you will have more than everything that you need before they arrive.”

I nodded. “How can I help him?” I asked. I loved my mate so much. I had tried to tell him multiple times, but he’d been so emotional lately that I was afraid I’d upset him because he didn’t feel the same for me yet. “I’ll do anything to help him heal.”

“It just takes time. Show him understanding, patience, love, acceptance. And we’re going to have to get him in to see Dr. Swift weekly again.

I’ll see if I can get Pierce to come up here since Todd is so stressed.

He’s worried about his siblings not living with him, about little Maggie still being missing.

” Dr. King shook his head. “I’m not sure if there is an update on her, but I do know that more children were located in the area. ”

That was news to me. But I was still on leave, and we had been doing our best trying to figure out each other.

“I won’t say anything to Todd. He has enough stress, and although it’s sad and tragic, I don’t think he needs to know anything about Maggie unless it’s something that gives closure.

Either she’s found or it’s confirmed she’s no longer with us.

” I didn’t want that. I truly didn’t. She had been a baby, a newborn, when she went missing.

There was no reason for her to be harmed, and I hoped that she somehow found her life in the hands of someone who would have mercy on a helpless, innocent child.

Dr. King nodded. “I’d like to have Pierce come and have a session with Todd. I’m concerned for him, as the stress he’s obviously experiencing is not good for him or the babies.”

“I can agree with that. I’m open for whenever. I just want my mate to feel a bit of peace and not stress so much about everything.”

“We’ll work on that.” Dr. King stood up. “I’m leaving some of the other tea with you. It’s in the blue tin, and the other tea is in a gray tin. The blue one will make him sleepy. It has a bit of extra relaxant in it that will help calm his anxiety that he’s obviously experiencing.”

“Will that harm him or the babies?”

“No. Pierce will be in contact today because I’ll make sure of it. If he can’t make it up, I know Garin can. Todd has a fondness for him, and they seemed to have connected on some level.”

“Thank you.” I stood, and after glancing at Todd, I started to follow Dr. King. “Can you maybe label the tea for me? At least the normal one? I’m going to try to remember, but I really don’t want to mix it up and give him the wrong one.”

“Consider it done,” Dr. King said. “Tell your mate you love him. I’m sure it will help calm at least a bit of his fears. He’s worried that his mate wouldn’t be able to love him after everything he’s been forced to do.”

“I…”