“Hope you’re hungry, Laura, because David’s made a meal,” I said when I got back. Colt had come in and he stood talking to Maddox and Laura.
“Are you kidding? All I got was a pack of peanuts on the plane,” Laura said, smiling.
David called us into the kitchen, and while we ate, we took turns holding little Oliver, who was wide awake but thankfully not fussy. Colt seemed nervous to talk to Laura later about usand Ben. I shot him a wink when no one else was looking, hoping to convey that everything would be fine. For some reason, I wasn’t nervous at all. As I’d noticed the night before, it all felt right to me.
“David, why don’t you, Maddox, and I go into your bedroom so I can examine you?” Laura suggested after the meal. “Have you been feeling all right?”
“I feel great,” David said as the three of them left the kitchen. Alone at the table with Ben, Colt and I became ridiculously shy for two big alphas.
“Is something wrong?” Ben asked, looking at each of us in turn.
“Wrong? No. What would be wrong?” I asked.
“Do you think Dr. Turner’s going to tell me something bad about not having heats?” Ben’s big brown eyes searched mine.
“Nothing is wrong with you!” Colt said a little too loudly, and I shot him a look.
“Sorry,” Colt said more softly. “I just mean, you’re healthy, Ben. I’m sure of it.”
“How can you be sure?” Ben asked.
I sighed. “Um, as alphas, we can sense problems with omegas.” It was a half-truth. An alpha could sense a problem withhisomega. But it made Ben relax, so I was happy I’d said it.
I hadn’t seen much of Ben since Colt and I had made the decision the night before to clue him in on our feelings. What could I do now? Looking around, I spotted a prairie crocus in a glass jar on the windowsill over the kitchen sink. Getting up from the table, I plucked it out and handed it to Ben.
“What’s this for?” he asked, looking up at me.
Damn.I hurried to think of something. “I, uh, it reminded me of your eyes.”
Ben looked down at the flower in his hand. “Purple?” he asked, frowning.
Colt burst out laughing, and I shot him a look as sharp as the steak knife he had in his hand.
Putting it down, he cleared his throat. “I think Angus means your eyes are pretty.”
Ben looked like he didn’t know what to do with that statement. “Oh, uh. Well, they’re just plain brown.”
“They aren’t plain anything,” I said testily, embarrassed that I’d mucked up my romantic overture.
“Angus is right,” Colt said. “They’re lovely. The color of a newborn fawn.”
Ben’s cheeks grew red, along with the tips of his ears. When he looked at me, I nodded once, then started clearing the dishes.
About half an hour later, Laura, David, and Maddox joined us in the living room after having put Ollie to bed.
“Everything okay?” I asked David, concerned that he might have some post-pregnancy issue none of us was aware of. Maddox adored that young man, and so did Ollie. And maybe I was a little fond of him, too.
“Yeah. Dr. Turner says I’m healthy and so is Ollie and she sees no signs of him being an omega.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” I said.
“If you all don’t mind, I’m going to take a short nap. Flying always wears me out,” Laura said. “Ben, we’ll talk after dinner, all right?”
Ben nodded, and Laura headed for the guest room.
Maddox and David looked at Ben, Colt, and me. “What are you three up to?”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.