“It will. Everything always works out in the end, even if we have to struggle to get there. Think about this, we get to find out if the baby is a boy or girl next Monday. That’s exciting, right?”
He nodded, but there was still a shadow clouding his face, and all I wanted to do was chase his storms away.
“I still know it’s Lucy,” he chuckled. “Call it a father’s intuition.”
I rolled my eyes. “I say it’s Beau.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Caeden smiled, “the baby’s going to take after me anyway.”
“Whatever,” I threw a pillow at him. “Get out of here so you can get home to me sooner.”
“I love you,” he said as he paused in the doorway.
“Love you too,” I smiled at him, waving weakly.
I sighed loudly and both dogs were quick to join me on the bed. I rubbed their heads and it helped to calm me. I knew Caeden had better things to do then sit here with me all day, heck I’d pushed him to leave me alone on many occasions, but I was spending more and more time by myself and to put it bluntly, it sucked.
“I’m sorry, baby,” I placed my hand against my stomach. “This may suck, but you’re definitely worth it. I can’t wait to hold you, baby. Mommy loves you.”
* * *
Caeden
Bentley spotted me as I lifted the heavy weight above my head. My arms strained and sweat soaked my body, but I didn’t care. I didn’t even know how much it weighed, but it was heavy, I could tell you that much. I lowered it and lifted it up again, pushing past the burn. My thoughts couldn’t wander when I did this. I had to focus entirely on lifting and lowering the weight.
“You should stop,” Bentley warned trying to take the weight from me and hook it on the bar.
“No,” I growled, tightening my grip.
“You’re going to wear yourself out,” he taunted, stepping back.
“I. Don’t. Care.” I huffed between breaths. I saw him shake his head out of my peripheral vision, but he said no more.
I lifted until my arms felt like limp noodles and I couldn’t continue. The metal bar clanked loudly and I sat up, my breathing was accelerated and my face was probably red. The muscles in my arms were twitching and burning, but I didn’t mind.
“You okay?” Bentley asked.
“Never better,” I reached for a towel to dry my damp face.
“Here,” he tossed me a bottle of water. “If you’re going to go all out you need to keep up your fluids.”
I shook my head at his tone. He was worried about me and Bentley was the kind of guy that never worried about anything, so that was saying something.
I guzzled down the bottle of water and held out my hand so he could toss me another one.
I threw the empty bottles in the recycling bin my mom kept in the basement and ran my fingers through my damp hair. “What’s up with you?” I asked Bentley. I needed to hear about someone else’s life for a change. I was so sick of talking about mine.
He shrugged. “Nothing much to talk about. Chris’ is driving me nuts decorating the apartment. She keeps asking me about coordinating colors. Do I look like I know anything about coordinating colors?” He shook his head. “I love her anyway, though, even when she’s driving me batshit crazy.”
“Yeah, they have that effect on you,” I shrugged.
“How’s Sophie? She didn’t look too good when I saw her on Thanksgiving,” he asked.
Shit. I didn’t avoid talking about my life for long.
“Yeah, she’s fine.”
Bentley gave me a doubtful look, but didn’t push me for more information. That was why we made such good friends. We knew when to leave the other person alone.
“Are you done?” Bentley asked.
I looked around the basement with my hands on my hips. I didn’t want to stop, and while being a shifter meant I’d recover quicker than a human from this amount of exertion, I knew I shouldn’t push it.
“Nah, I’m done,” I tossed the soiled towel into the hamper.
“Want to get something to eat before you head home?”
I thought about it for a moment. “Sure.”
I hadn’t spent much time with Bentley—any of the pack for that matter—in months. I had my reasons, but I did miss them. There was just so much I couldn’t say to them.
Bentley smiled, shaking his dark hair out of his eyes. “That was easier than I thought.”
“Yeah, well…”
“’Bout time we had a guys night. Although, you better shower before we do anything. You smell like a five day old tuna sandwich,” he pinched his nose in exaggeration.
“I was planning on it,” I started towards the showers.