Page 18 of Wrong Number, Right Grizzly (Dial M For Mates #7)

RONAN

As beautifully as all the pieces had fallen together, growing a baby was hard.

And not in the ways I expected. Getting pukey, sure, everybody knew about that.

Being uncomfortable as my body morphed to accommodate my growing baby?

Yeah, that was expected too. The bloating was no surprise, either.

The exhaustion, though? I thought it was bad in the beginning, but it was almost debilitating on some days.

Nix never once made me feel bad about it. Quite the opposite, actually. He praised me for sacrificing so much to grow our young. He constantly thanked me for doing what all expecting omegas did, and slowly over my pregnancy, I began to see it that way too.

And that was why when the weekend rolled around, I didn’t spend it doing chores or errands that didn’t need to be done just yet. Instead, I embraced what I now called “lazy Saturday.” It was exactly what I needed, and the weather was perfect for it.

I grabbed my new book and went outside and laid on the blanket my mate had set up for me.

And calling it a blanket was a misjustice.

First he laid a mat then a foam egg crate, and on top of that, the blanket.

I understood the necessity of the mat. It was to keep bugs away.

The egg crate, however, was over-the-top pampering, and while I didn’t need it, knowing my mate had special-ordered it just for times like these always felt like a hug.

And the vast quantity of pillows that were there, they just made me smile.

I set out with the plans to read until I fell asleep.

Nix had set up a huge umbrella to block the sun, and with the slight breeze, it was the ideal temperature for a nap.

Nix, being extra, also put a little table beside me with a travel cup of tea, a Ziploc bag of cookies that I had made to sate a craving, and my phone in case I wanted to listen to music or doom scroll.

I’d never been cared for like this before. Sure, I’d had dates who put their best forward for the first couple of times. This was different, though. He wasn’t trying to show me who he could be. He was showing me who he was. And that person exceeded all of my dreams.

“You don’t have to wait on me. I can grab my own cookies.”

He squatted down and rubbed his nose against mine. “I don’t have to, but I want to.”

“I can see your bear in your eyes. He’s right there.

” The first time I’d noticed his beast, it’d startled me.

I hadn’t really understood that they were both present at all times then, and seeing him looking back at me caught me off guard.

Not once did it scare me. His bear loved me as much as Nix did.

“He wants me to run.” He blinked his bear back, and suddenly, I was looking in his own eyes once again.

“Why don’t you do that while I read, or probably nap?” I never wanted him to hold back his beast for me.

“You don’t mind?”

“No, I love seeing him. And besides, before you shift, I get to see you naked.” I was always down for that.

“If you look too carefully, we’re not going to have any shifting.” Nix kissed my cheek.

If I hadn’t been so exhausted, I’d have called his bluff on that and we’d both be naked by now.

“Hurry up, show me your fur.”

And because Nix was awesome, he did a slow little dance as he undressed, leaving his clothes in a neat pile on one of the chairs, and then became his gorgeous bear self.

“Hey, you.” I got up and walked over to him, weaving my fingers in his fur on the side of his head the way he liked. “It’s good to see you.”

If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was purring.

“Now, go have fun. I’m going to take a nap. I mean, read. No, I mean take a nap.”

He finally conceded, and I went back to the blanket. I didn’t even get two pages in before I gave up. There was something so relaxing about sleeping outside.

I wasn’t sure how long I slept, but when I woke up, my bear was lying beside me on the grass. Between us was a pile of berries, some leaves I didn’t recognize, some pinecones, and a rock. I was impressed that the berries weren’t a pile of mush.

“Did you give me presents?”

My mate rolled onto his back.

“I suppose you want belly rubs.” I hadn’t been sure exactly what Nix’s bear was like when I first met him, but we’d talked about what he liked and didn’t like a few times.

I’d created a little cheat sheet of how to be with him, but now I’d spent enough time with his beast to know that in some ways, he was like a big old dog—only way cuter.

He wasn’t that way to everyone, of course. Grizzly bears were hardly what you called house pets. I was sure if a neighbor came across him wandering in their backyard, they might not think of it as cute so much as terrifying. But I was the one person I knew he would for sure never hurt.

I placed my hand on my belly. Make that two people.

We snuggled for a minute before I had no choice but to get up. “I hate to do this, but I gotta go to the bathroom. The joy of waking up when you’re pregnant.”

I wasn’t sure how bad that part of pregnancy was going to get when the baby actually got big. I was still in the first trimester, and there were days it felt like I was walking to and from the bathroom most of the day.

When I came out, my bear was gone, and Nix was in his place… unfortunately, fully dressed.

“Can you explain the pile?” I knew it was a gift, but it was so arbitrary.

“Well, these leaves are a wild kind of mint, and these berries are his favorite, and he thought you could use both of those for your tea. And the pinecone and rock were pretty.”

“Your bear brought me presents. He loves me.” I twirled in a slow circle, which didn’t quite have the impact as when a little kid twirled and twirled with glee, but also, it was far better for my nausea.

“He’s not the only one.” Nix wrapped his arms around me. “I love you too.”

“So I guess we have to figure out what to do with my presents.” If he’d carefully collected them, I planned to honor them.

The berries and mint were easy, but the pinecone and rock had me wanting to be really creative. “Up for a road trip?” I asked.

“Tell me where to go, and we’re there.” Nix held his hand out for mine.

We headed to our destination, the closest craft store, which ended up being farther than I realized. I got a small box of paints and brushes and some glitter. The pinecones would wait in a small basket until Christmas time.

But the rock? I know exactly what I was doing with that.

I’d seen a book as a kid on how to paint rocks, with a focus on different animals, including a bear.

It had always fascinated me, but I could never decide on what animal and then ended up forgetting about it.

But now that I saw this rock, the one given to me by my bear, it was time to get some crafting on.

We grabbed a quick dinner and came home, where I spent hours painting that rock, making it look as close to a grizzly bear as I could. I stayed up far too late, and when morning came, I was grumpy about it. But if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t change a thing.

In all honesty, it looked nothing like my bear…

more like an abstract version of him, and that was only if you squinted and it wasn’t too bright out.

And that was where the glitter part of my plan came in.

I added it to the fur to mimic where his fur sparkled in the sun when the light hit it just right.

“Do you think he’ll like it?”

“I know he does.” Nix held it in front of him, staring at it in wonder, as if it were a masterpiece. “And I do too.”