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Chapter

Twenty-Four

S ebastian was just starting over to his little office nook with his cup of coffee when the nausea hit him.

Oh. Ugh. He set his coffee aside before he dropped it, and he headed for the powder room tucked between the kitchen and the dining room. He was stepping quick by the time he got there, and he surprised himself with a violent voiding of everything in his stomach.

That was—wow.

“Daddy? Are you okay?” Abby came and tapped at the door like he’d taught her when Colton had moved in, and he turned to put the toilet seat down and sit on it. His hands shook. Bad.

“Uh-huh. Come on in, sweetie.”

She slid through the cracked door and came to hold her arms up. He lifted her, and she frowned, patting his cheeks. “You’s sick?”

“Mmmhmm. I don’t think my tummy liked those Thanksgiving leftovers I had for lunch. Maybe we ought to let the rest go, huh?”

Thanksgiving had been…a revelation. Gent had bought the bill of groceries. The guys had all cooked with him. Even Xavi and Xander had come down after any guests at the hotel had been fed.

And Abby had been a little queen, spreading her cheer and love to all the uncles and aunties. A real family.

But that had been just over a week ago, and maybe he needed to put health over fond memories and pitch the leftovers.

“Call Papa?”

“Hmm? Oh, no. You know he’s in Secret Springs today.”

“Looking ghosts.”

Looking for places to look for ghosts, actually, but that was too fine a point for her little brain.

“Watch tooners?”

“Sure, baby.” He didn’t have a call to do or anything. “Let Daddy get his coffee.” He washed up, then headed back to the kitchen, intent on doing his daily three-card reading, if nothing else.

The coffee made his stomach roil again, though, so he set it aside, laid out the reading, then poured a glass of Sprite before going back to look.

The question was, how will my day go? The cards were theSeven of Swords, the Two of Wands, and the Empress …

Huh.

He ran back to the bathroom, really horking it all up. Then he texted Colton.

Can you bring home ginger ale and saltines? I think leftovers have gone off.

Do you think so? They tasted good to me. But sure, no problem.

There was a pause and three little dots, then,

Should I bring home a pregnancy test? We can pick one up.

Sebastian stopped.

Blinked.

Oh, damn it. Now he felt like a dork. Wow. Pregnant. He could be…sure. He’d had two heat cycles. He was definitely having sex. A lot of sex, even.

A little buzz of excitement filled in. Oh. Oh, how exciting would that be? Of course, it would also be incredibly disappointing if he wasn’t, but. If he was…

Do you mind??

Are you kidding??

His phone rang almost immediately. “So… It’s cool if I do pick one up, I mean?”

“Yeah. I—wouldn’t that be exciting? It wouldn’t take long, if that’s what it is, and then I wouldn’t lose all those mashed potatoes.”

Colton chuckled at him. “And now I just want to come home.”

He nodded and grinned, shaking his head at both of them.

“I understand that, but you’ve got plans today.

Also, I have to work. I’ve got to do some recording for my podcast, my daily readings for the week, that sort of thing.

” Normal things on a not-so-normal day, he supposed.

It was how it worked. “What all have you been doing? Are you having fun?”

“It’s been all right. Right now, I’m outside of the Marchette building.

I’ve been at Hank’s, at the historical society, going over maps.

I’m on my way to the library. Tim is gathering me some information, so that I can make copies.

It’s really pretty out here. They’re really decorated for Christmas. ”

“Yeah, we’re going to have to start thinking about that.” He glanced at Abby, who was ‘exercising’ with a yellow puppet on the television. “Someone’s getting a little excited to decorate the hoho tree with her Papa.”

“I know I’m excited. My first Christmas with her, with both of you. Maybe with all three of you.”

“Yes, Abby loves Christmas.” He was so tickled about firsts.

“Yep, then yours, then mine.” Colton chuckled. “I’m so excited. I’m going to go pick up these things from the library, stop by and grab some things up from the store, and then I’ll head home to you.”

“I appreciate it. I’m gonna do my recordings and then—” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll take Abby out to play in the snow. She likes that. She needs to get out and run out some energy.”

“Yeah, it’s not quite as deep here. It’s pretty clear. I’m surprised at how much more snow we get up there.”

It was amazing what another fifteen hundred feet in elevation would do. “Yeah, wait until they close the road, and they’re bringing things in by Snowcat.”

“Yeah, that’s not worrisome…”

Sebastian shrugged. He wasn’t worried. He’d grown up here.

He had a snowmobile that was well maintained, and he always kept supplies.

They had a generator, and when the roads did close, it usually wasn’t but a week, maybe two.

“That part will be fine. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be a bad winter anyway, so don’t stress it until we have to.

We have fun in the winter. You wait, we can get you some…

Well, whatever you’re comfortable with.” He didn’t know what Colton was going to be able to do, honestly.

He wasn’t like an extreme winter sports guy, but he did cross-country skiing and he had snowshoes.

It was good exercise, and he couldn’t remember not doing it so he guessed it was what it was.

“It’s not too cold on your leg, is it? I mean, being up here? ”

Sebastian personally thought it would suck to be stuck inside all winter long.

He couldn’t see Mason and Iago and even Law being stuck inside all winter long either. Still…

“Well, I do have an injury, but it’s getting stronger every day. We’re really going to be fine.”

“If you’re sure, I mean…” He had no idea what he was going to do if Colton wasn’t sure.

“Hey, I live in a house that’s three stories. I’m working this leg.”

“Fair, all right. No worrying, right?”

“Not about my leg,” Colton answered. “It is what it is. You worry about…look, why don’t you worry about doing your podcast. I’ll see you this afternoon early. Do you want me to bring you all something home for lunch? Anything sound good?”

Sebastian shook his head, even though Colton couldn’t see him. “Call me before you leave, and I’ll see how everything’s settling. Then I’ll put in an order.”

“All right. That’s perfectly fair.” Colton chuckled softly. “Okay, I’m really going to go so that I can come home. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They hung up, and he looked at Abby. Could he really be pregnant?

It seemed maybe a little early to know, but at the same time, he’d known really fast the last time.

If this pregnancy ran true to the one before, he would be really sick for maybe a month, perhaps a month and a half, and then it would stop. So he could totally see it.

He had to laugh a little bit because disbelief was warring with joy.

This was such a great time for Abby. He and Colton had talked to her, and she was totally on board with having a little sibling.

Admittedly, she would also have liked to have had a dog, but there was no saying that they couldn’t do both.

He was over the moon at the idea of giving Colton all the things that he had missed with Abby, but it also kind of made him sad to think that neither Abby nor Colton would get those years back.

Still, how bad could it be? They were going to have so much fun together. And most of his financial woes were gone now. Colton certainly wasn’t at all poor. In fact, they had a new roof on the house for winter. It had happened just that fast, Colton just writing the check. Boom.

He sat down to look at his tarot spread, and now it totally made sense.

The Tower meant change, not necessarily bad change, but certainly quick change.

The middle card meant professional advancement, maybe for Colton.

Or it could mean family advancement. And then there was the Empress, and she was the epitome of pregnancy and fertility.

Yeah, he was totally pregnant. With Colton. Again. And it was really gonna be something else.

Colton stared at the plus on the pregnancy test somewhat stunned and starting to grin. He glanced at Sebastian, who was also staring at it. “So, you’re totally pregnant, baby.”

Sebastian looked up at him, green eyes glistening. “I am. Are you—Is this okay?”

“Baby. I already told you this is so okay I can’t even express it.” His chest was blowing up with pride and nerves and wonder.

“Yeah.” The worry left Sebastian’s expression. “I just want to check in periodically and make sure that it’s still a good thing.”

“It’s perfect. The timing couldn’t be better, right?” he said. “We said that before. I’m in a really good place for it professionally and personally both. Are you good with it all?”

“I am. I think Abby’s ready. I think we’re ready.”

Colton was glad they were on the same page.

They worked to get the house ready, fixing up some of the bedrooms that hadn’t been used in years except for storage or whatever, and Gent was right next door.

That was going to be a huge thing, because the guys could stay there if they needed to, even though they were only a few blocks away right now.

So if they needed a babysitter but they didn’t have room for all the guys, Gent would.

“I guess we just need to talk to Abby again, huh?” Colton asked.

Sebastian nodded at him. “Yeah, I’m curious to see what she says. You know how she makes everything into an adventure.”

Abby was napping right now, lunch having knocked her right out. Colton had gone to David’s pizza, and Dave had sent her the most adorable kid’s meal. She’d gotten a wee calzone, a tiny half and half salad, and a brownie.

Sebastian had gotten a half and half salad and some fresh baked bread, no garlic. Colton had gotten a pan pizza with the works, but luckily, smell didn’t seem to set Sebastian’s tummy off. Just eating things that made him acidy.

Colton was seriously feeling a sense of community in both Hot Springs Junction and Secret Springs.

Everyone was just super open and friendly.

Or if they weren’t, they kept it to themselves.

Hank had told him that Secret Springs had really gone through a renaissance when an old guard, corrupt mayor had been given the oust. Now the local politicians were all about a happy, welcoming town.

It was pretty much made of awesome.

And he was a part of it. Not just a visiting outsider, but a part.

“Do you want to go snuggle on the couch while we wait for Abby?”

Sebastian yawned. “Oh my God, I am so tired. I would absolutely doze with you on the couch.”

“Don’t throw that away.” He jerked his chin at the pregnancy test.

“I won’t. I promise.” Sebastian set it carefully on the shelf by the sink, where it wouldn’t get wet. “Come on, big guy. Let’s go have a nice after-lunch siesta.”

They grabbed each other’s hands, and they walked out to the front room, both of them grinning like idiots.

First Halloween and Thanksgiving. Now he was going to get Christmas. And then all the other things, plus a baby.

His life? Was amazing.