“Okay, we obviously need to have a conversation about this. As far as we are concerned, we want to help and provide for you. I would happily hand you as much cash as you want so you don’t have to work. Hell, we could hire someone else to look after Joey, though I think she may riot.”

“No one else is looking after that little girl but me,” I grumbled. “But I can’t let you pay me anymore. It doesn’t feel right.”

Up close, his scent was so strong, I wanted nothing more than to lean forward and rub my cheek against his, scenting him.

Maybe it was the hormones, but I didn’t stop myself, rubbing myself gently against him while he spoke.

“Bethany.” Jensen raised an eyebrow. “We’re alphas.

You are pregnant. I’m pretty sure that if we aren’t providing and supporting you and our baby, we are going to lose our fucking minds.

You know what? Why don’t you tell Gideon that you don’t want to accept money from us?

I’m sure his grumpiness will be heard throughout the entire state. ”

“I’m stubborn, not an idiot. I won’t go toe-to-toe with Gideon. I’ll be more subtle with him.”

Jensen laughed loudly, throwing his head back. “Oh, I would love to see that.”

I glowered playfully at him. “Hush.”

Once he regained control of himself, Jensen straightened. “Come with me,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the kitchen. As we walked toward the stairs, he shouted in the general direction of Gideon’s office, “I’m showing Bethany our little project!”

Little project? What on earth had these men been up to?

Gideon joined us as we made our way up the stairs, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Cullen is going to be pissed you didn’t wait for him.”

Jensen shrugged as we reached the landing. “This one is stressing about money, so it felt like the right moment.”

“Right moment for what?” I asked, exasperated. It was like they were silently communicating, and it was driving me insane.

“Come here,” Gideon commanded softly, pulling me toward him so I was lost in a cloud of fruity parchment scent. “We wanted you to know you have a place here…so we’ve been getting the nest room set up.”

I cocked my head at him. “A nest room?” I asked lamely. Many larger houses came with nests for an omega, but I had no idea this house even had one.

“We’ve been using the room mainly for storage, so we’ve been slowly emptying and getting it ready for you,” Jensen explained.

“But I’m fine in the guest room,” I insisted. The room was beautiful, and I was actually getting quite comfortable there.

“You are not a guest. You are a member of our family, and we want you to stay here, especially once the baby is here. Let us show you,” he said, gesturing to one of the doors.

Following him through, I took in the large space with awe.

It was beautiful, if a bit plain. A gigantic circular bed stood on the far wall, easily big enough to hold six or seven people. There was plenty of floor space, a walk-in closet, and large bay windows that let in a lot of natural daylight.

It was easily twice the size of the guest room, designed to accommodate an entire pack. I had dreamed about a room like this as a teenager; I’d wanted a space that was all mine to decorate that wasn’t a tiny alcove or an afterthought.

My family hadn’t exactly been supportive when my omega instincts flared up, claiming they didn’t understand what to do. Even I knew that was bullshit, because they had been mated to an omega…or had they treated my mother just as badly?

“We didn’t want to choose any colors or decorate anything until you could have a say,” Jensen admitted. “So it’s a little plain, but we wanted to have a good base so you could do whatever you wanted.”

“There’s plenty of space for a crib in here as well, or there’s a little connecting room for when the baby is a bit older,” Gideon explained.

I hadn’t really thought about what I was going to do once the baby arrived. Of course I was going to need their help. In the back of my mind, I had assumed that I would stay in the guest room for a bit once the baby was born.

The nest…it was beautiful. My omega instincts were already itching to decorate it. I could imagine some soft, blush pink curtains, a wall of delicate fairy lights, some pastel throw pillows.

“You want me to move in?” I asked quietly.

“We do,” Jensen confirmed. “Cullen’s also been part of this project, so he’s all in too. Gideon wanted to be bossy and insist that you move in immediately, but we talked him down.”

The alpha in question crossed his arms and glowered at his pack mate. “She should be here, where we can care for her!”

Jensen chuckled. “Why don’t we start with staying a night or two here or there? Ease Joey into it? She’ll love having sleepovers.”

She would; there was no doubt about that.

The room was certainly nicer than my run-down little dorm room, and getting more of Cullen’s cooking certainly sounded appealing. Part of me was concerned that I would be letting go of my last shred of independence, but I wasn’t too worried for some reason…

My hand rested on my stomach, thinking about the baby inside me. They would need to be around their fathers. Having seen just how amazing parents these guys were, I wanted that for my baby more than anything.

“I suppose staying a few days a week wouldn’t hurt,” I said, looking around the room with awe.

Jensen beamed. “I think that’s an excellent start.”

Something told me that they were going to be stubborn when it came to me sticking around more and more until the baby was born.

It was kind of nice, to feel so wanted.