Page 14 of Pucking With My Head (Pucking Pregnant #4)

Gideon

I was the first one home, so I closed my car door and shuffled into the house.

Bethany had been working for us for a few weeks, and I didn’t know why she had agreed to nanny for us, but thank god she had.

Even though she was only at the house one or two days a week, the entire place was running a lot smoother.

Joey’s schedule, which had become somewhat chaotic, was running perfectly on time.

Some of the people we had paid to babysit would just be near Joey and not interact with her, whereas, from what I understood, Bethany had animated conversations with Joey as she drove her to various extracurricular activities, or when they were home together, they did an activity.

One night, I came home to find them making pizza from scratch, both of them giggling at the counter.

Cullen had been keeping his distance, but his food hadn’t. The fridge was always stocked with plenty of fresh pasta and meals for Bethany to take home. We insisted they were extras from the restaurant, but they were actually meals Cullen had made specifically for her.

Overall, things were feeling a lot easier.

The house was dark. It was late, so Joey would already be asleep. The omega’s sweet, crisp apple scent was now a permanent fixture in our home, and I still wasn’t completely used to it.

I wasn’t complaining about it, though.

Bethany was in the living room, curled up in a blanket, watching TV in the dark. Her brow was furrowed and there were dark circles under her eyes.

Were we working her too much? She needed to take care of herself. Even though it wasn’t my place, my hands itched to shake her and tell her off for not caring for herself properly.

“Hey,” she greeted me softly as she noticed me standing in the doorway, staring like a creeper.

“Sorry it’s so late. I got distracted drafting legal papers.” I mentally berated myself. I should have gotten back earlier so she could have gone home and rested. I could draft legal paperwork from home, but when I was in the office, sometimes I got distracted and time got away from me.

That was a habit I needed to correct.

“How was she?” I asked, nodding in the general direction of upstairs, to where my daughter slept.

“She was good as gold.” Bethany smiled as she slowly got up from the sofa.

“You got her to bed with no complaints?” I asked incredulously. I thought it was only us she did that with. Every day, Bethany amazed me.

“I told her if she was good, I would help her make cupcakes next week.” She smiled weakly.

“Ah, bribery. Works a treat. Hey—are you okay?”

Her eyes were hazy, and she winced and wobbled as she stood. Everything in me was alert in an instant. Her scent, as amazing as ever, was slightly off.

There was tired, and then there was this. She seemed physically unwell.

“Oh, yeah.” She waved off my concern, but I didn’t buy it for one moment.

“Come here,” I instructed, gently pulling her toward me, pressing my hand against her forehead. “You don’t feel warm…”

“It’s just a headache,” Bethany insisted, pulling away with a wince.

I cocked my head to the side. “You keep squinting every time you look at light.”

“My vision is a bit sensitive,” she admitted.

“Nausea?”

“A little. This happens every now and then, but it goes away after I sleep it off for a day or two.”

That made alarm bells ring in my head. How long had she been having these episodes? Why wasn’t she taking care of herself? “Beth, that’s not a normal headache.”

She shrugged. “It’s been happening for a while now—I just sleep it off.”

“Have you been to a doctor?” Anger was starting to swirl in my gut, and it was taking everything in me to keep it restrained.

“Nope.”

Anger simmered in my stomach at her cavalier attitude. “You need to see a doctor! These symptoms aren’t normal.”

“Like I can afford to go to a doctor right now. I’m working two jobs just to be able to afford to go to class,” she pointed out. “Look, I’ll be fine. I just need to get home.” As she spoke, her nose scrunched, and it was clear she was struggling to keep focused.

“Not happening,” I said, gently taking her by the arm and pulling her in the direction of the stairs.

She frowned and followed me. Her usual fight was missing, which was a surefire sign that she really wasn’t feeling well.

“It’s just a headache,” she muttered.

“It’s a migraine, at least. You mentioned that these last a few days—can you get out of bed during these episodes?”

“Not much, but I can handle a few days in bed.” She snorted lightly at the implication of her own words.

There was no way I was going to let my mind go there when she was sick.

The guest bedroom was decorated in cool green tones with dark wooden furniture. We didn’t use the room often, as we kept to ourselves and rarely had guests, but the cleaning lady kept it in good condition with clean sheets.

“Lie down,” I instructed, pulling back the duvet.

Bethany frowned at me. It was almost adorable how confused and belligerent she looked. “Just for a few minutes…if you’re sure.”

“In,” I said firmly.

“Bossy,” she grumbled, crawling under the covers.

She didn’t know the half of it.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I watched her burrow into the covers, groaning as she did. Pulling out my phone, I shot off a text in the group chat.

Gideon:

What do you recommend for migraines?

Jensen:

Good painkillers, a dark room, and plenty of rest and fluids. Why? You not feeling great?

Gideon:

It’s not me. It’s Bethany. I came home to relieve her, and she was wincing at the light and claimed she just had a headache. But she’s also nauseated and struggling to stay standing up.

Jensen:

Fuck, that does sound like a bad migraine. Has she had them before?

Gideon:

She mentioned she has a few times, but she just wanted to go home and sleep it off. She said they last for a few days.

Cullen:

Did you take her home?

Gideon:

Of course not. She’s in the guest bedroom. There was no way I was going to leave her on her own while she was sick. Joey is already in bed.

Cullen:

Good.

Jensen:

I’m leaving the hospital now. I’ll be home in fifteen minutes. She can stay with us until she’s better. I’ll even grab a few things from the hospital in case she needs them. Has she spoken about this with her primary care doctor?

Cullen:

If she’s got a nasty migraine, I doubt she’s talking to Gideon about her primary care doctor, dumbass.

Gideon:

Actually, I told her she needed a doctor, and she laughed at me and said there’s no way she could afford a doctor when she’s working two jobs just to afford tuition.

Cullen:

Fuck. Take her to the doctor. Now.

Jensen:

I am a doctor, remember? I’ll be there soon, and I can check on her and I’ll decide if she needs to go to the hospital. I can even bring IV fluids with me, and she’ll be more comfortable at the house.

Gideon:

See you soon.

Bethany was dozing lightly, her brow furrowed even as she rested.

I was a sucker when someone was sick—whenever Joey was sick, I would hover like a mother hen.

Sickness made my inner control freak extra itchy because illness was so unpredictable.

Bethany…Seeing her unwell tugged at a different emotion.

She came across as so collected and competent. Fiercely independent and able to do everything. Hell, she had gone toe-to-toe with Cullen and won. Seeing her vulnerable like this made me uneasy. An overwhelming desire to protect her was riding me hard.

Omegas were precious, Bethany even more so. By falling asleep in my house, she was trusting me, and I wouldn’t take that for granted. Gently brushing back a strand of hair that had fallen in her face, I watched her intently.

We all agreed that finding an omega wasn’t in the cards for us, but we were all tied in knots over this particular omega, and I didn’t think that was going to stop anytime soon.

Regardless, there was no way I would let her go home alone and suffer, especially after she had done so much for Joey when she’d been sick. At least, that was what I was telling myself as I scrolled through our group chat.

Bethany was younger than us by quite a bit, but somehow we fit into each other’s lives easily. There was no walking on eggshells around her, unlike with Joey’s mother. She had been an amazing influence on our daughter, and it was obvious we all had strong feelings for her.

Cullen had already slipped once, and despite his anger at his slip, I had never heard him say he regretted it.

“I’ve said it a million times. I’m fine!” Bethany whined as Jensen hovered over her.

My pack mate frowned down at her. “You’re dehydrated and can’t even look me in the eye without your vision swimming. Stop being so stubborn. I have some medication that may help…”

“I don’t need it,” Bethany grumbled, hiding her head under the covers.

Jensen glanced at me. The suffering look on his face was somewhat ruined by the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He was a caregiver through and through. Even with an unwilling patient, such as Bethany, he was gaining immense satisfaction from the verbal battle and his ultimate victory.

“If you’re fine, should I open the blinds and turn the overhead lights on?” Jensen asked, his voice hardly containing his chuckle.

“Fuck off!” came her scathing hiss from under the pile of bedding.

Jensen bit his lip, trying to restrain himself from laughing.

I, on the other hand, was lacking patience.

I wanted to tear that comforter away from Bethany and force her to take the medication for her own good.

The idea that she was being cavalier with her health made me irrationally angry.

Even though, as the father of a seven-year-old, I was well aware that a sick woman was not a rational creature.

So I let Jensen take the lead.

“In that case, take the medication, and then I’ll leave you to rest until we make some food for you. If you don’t eat or drink, then you’re getting an IV for some hydration.”

Bethany’s head popped up from the covers to glare at Jensen. “First, this one refuses to let me leave and manhandles me into this room, and now you’re threatening to stab me with a needle?” she asked incredulously.

Her eyes were hazy, hair mussed from rest. Rumpled and sleepy, she looked lovely. I wanted to pull her into my arms and keep her close.

I was accepting that I had strong feelings for Bethany—I was never going to act on those feelings, though.

Unlike Cullen, I had self-restraint.

Jensen nodded. “That sounds about right.”

Bewildered, Bethany looked between the two of us. “I give up,” she growled, burrowing back under the covers and ignoring us.

“So being sick makes you bratty,” I muttered.

That made her head pop up.

“Bratty?” she asked, her expression disbelieving. “You wouldn’t have to deal with this if you’d let me go home!”

“Medications!” Jensen said firmly, holding out the two pills and a glass of water with a pointed smile.

If looks could kill, Jensen would be six feet under. Glowering at him, Bethany snatched the pills and water out of his hand, quickly swallowing them and thrusting the glass back into his hand.

“Good girl.” Jensen beamed.

Bethany’s glare was impressive.