When I woke, I was alone in bed, but I could feel that Nick hadn't gone far. Even not far felt too far right now, though. I threw on some pants and padded out into the hallway. The TV was playing something in the living room, but Nick was closer than that. I slipped into the bathroom as silently as I could and peeked my head past the shower curtain. 

Nick smiled. "I sensed you approaching." He scrubbed his hands through his hair, rinsing away the suds and I admired the long, slender stretch of his body.

"Am I too late to join?"

"Never."

I shucked my pants and pushed Nick out of the water for just a moment to rinse my body and then I pulled him back into the spray, pressing his back to my front and kneading his neck and shoulders with my hands.

He groaned. "That feels amazing."

"Just wait until you see what I can do with feet. You'll appreciate that in a few months." I moved down his back, hitting all the tight spots.

"I'd appreciate it now."

I leaned forward to kiss the tender skin right behind his ear and he shivered. "Tonight, maybe. We can watch a movie, you can kick back, and I'll work on your feet."

Nick moaned again as I hit a particularly tender spot. "If that's the kind of treatment I can expect here, I'm never leaving." 

That was kind of the point.

Nick turned in my arms, but blinked and flinched as the water spattered up into his face. I stepped through the water and let it fall down my back instead. 

"What's the plan for the rest of the day?" Nick asked. "I've already been harassed by my cousin for being too loud, so we can check that off the list."

"That might not be the end of the harassment," I warned him. "We might get past Kurt with just a look, but Simon doesn't know how to let things go."

Nick made fists and pumped his arms a little, flexing his muscles. "I'm tough. I can handle it."

I ran my hands up his back and down his sides, feeling the dips and ridges of his muscles. "You are strong. Strong of will. Strong of body.  Strong of personality. Just... don't be so strong you don't let me protect you a little, okay?"

If I hadn't arrived at his apartment when I had, I knew he would have pushed through, raised our cub on his own. But he didn't have to, and I wanted him to know that. I wanted to stand between him and whatever ugliness the world could throw at him.

"Okay, I'll let you protect me from your scary pack mates." Nick turned it around into a joke, but he leaned into my body, accepting the protection I offered. I wrapped my arms around him and let the hot water pour over us.

"As for the rest of today, I need to talk with Asher for a bit. Do you mind just hanging out here?"

Nick rolled his neck. "That's fine. Are we eating dinner here or there?"

"Here, probably. But I'll check."

We finished showering without too much handsiness. I could tell Nick was willing, but my mind was focused on talking to Asher and Jesse. If I was going to entice Nick to stay here for true long term, I needed to be able to offer him more than a room in a shared house, especially with a cub on the way. 

Is now a good time to talk? I asked Asher as Nick and I got dressed.

Come on over. We're just playing with Aspen.

It was good to see Asher enjoying life. Before Jesse had come into his life, I'd often thought that he seemed like a man in stasis. Doing what he needed to get through the day, the month, the year, but no real goals or aspirations. No joy. He was a man come alive with Jesse and Aspen in his life. 

Nick decided to check out what was on TV, and I was grateful it was just Kurt there. I could trust him to not harass Nick much... Of course he might just sit there and ignore him, but that was Kurt. Half the time, I don't think he even saw what was on the television in front of him, his mind always wrapped up with whatever new gadget he was working on.

Aspen's giggles reached me before I opened the door. We all called her our princess, because it was too true. She was definitely the princess of the pack. 

Just come in, Asher said before I knocked on the door.

The house smelled like apple pie and cinnamon, the scent practically washing over me as I hurried to shut the door against the cold. 

"Dallas, do you want mulled cider?" Jessie called from the kitchen. 

"Is it child friendly or adult friendly?" I asked.

Jesse leaned through the breakfast bar. "Child friendly by default, but we have bourbon."

"One adult friendly mulled cider, then."

"And one for me," Asher added. 

Aspen had turned at the sound of my voice and gave me her trademark Aspen grin. 

I scooped her up for a kiss and she shrieked in laughter at the brush of my beard. I held her with new wonder. "I can't believe I'm going to have one of these in a few months.

"The world is different now, isn't it?"

Aspen turned and tried to lurch toward her father. He put his hands up and I handed her over. 

"Completely different."

We silently watched Aspen play with the buttons on Asher's shirt until Jesse brought the tray of drinks into the room. "Two adult ciders, one kid friendly one, and one bottle of milk."

I looked at Jesse questioningly, but kept my mouth shut. Asher caught the glance anyway and reached out to take his mate's hand. "We didn't want to overshadow your good news, and Caspar only told us yesterday. We're expecting again!"

"That's amazing!" That meant Nick wouldn't be pregnant alone. Our baby would have playmates their own age—I was getting ahead of myself. I had no idea if Nick would stay to the end of his pregnancy, let alone after.

"We're planning on telling everyone at Christmas, if it isn't obvious by scent before then," Jesse said with a smile of joy. 

The rest of Asher's statement caught up to me. "Wait, Caspar told you?" We'd all been there when he'd announced they were pregnant with Aspen. "What is it with that guy? Does he have a super nose or something?"

Asher coughed into his cider, which splashed it onto his face and the floor. Jesse handed him a napkin with a concerned look. "Or something... He's never told me not to tell you all... but he's never told me to tell you either."

I waited patiently for Asher to sort through his thoughts. He hadn't been brought up to lead, though he had certainly been born to it. Judging the correct approach wasn't easy for him, though, outside of our job and logistics. When it came to the relationships between pack members, he approached with heavy consideration.

"All I feel comfortable saying right now is that Caspar has a greater awareness of the world than anyone I've ever met. Now, how are Nick and Kit settling in?"

"They seem fine," I said, though I hadn't seen Kit since disappearing into my room with Nick. "I'm sorry I wasn't more communicative about their visit. I was slightly overwhelmed at the knowledge that I was going to have a child."

"It must have come as a shock," Jesse said gently. Aspen had lost interest in us and had crawled over to her brightly colored play mat. "It doesn't seem like Nick was... upset... that you found out?"

I shook my head. "I haven't gotten that sense. He said he wanted to tell me, but that he'd thrown out my number." Asher and Jesse were clearly confused, but Jesse was too polite to dig further. Asher was not, and I was grateful. I needed the guidance on what to tell them, my head so wound up with the weight of the changes the last twenty-four hours had wrought in my life.

"Why did he throw out your number?"

"We met when I was checking out that bar up in Nashville where we had a lead that Earnest Wamp might be. It was a one night thing, and I left him my card for if he saw Wamp again. It wasn't meant to be anything serious, and I'm not surprised he threw it out. I'm just grateful I stopped by again."

"Tell us what happened."

I gave them the run down of discovering that I was suddenly a father, and inviting Nick and Kit to stay for the week. When I got to that part, Jesse's mouth dropped open in dismay. "They're only here for a week? But I was looking forward to—" Jesse bit his lip. "I'm sorry. That is selfish of me. I am looking forward to having more omegas, and someday betas, in the pack, but that isn't Nick's responsibility. Or yours."

"Well, Nick said he doesn't want to be held to only a week."

Jesse looked cautiously excited. "Then how long is he staying?"

I shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. That's one of the things I wanted to talk to you two about. I know last time we talked about it, I wasn't interested in building my own home, but now, I feel as though I need to make that a priority. Show Nick that I can really provide for him and the cub."

Jesse reached out and took his hand, and I noticed the pride in Asher's eyes as his mate stepped up, shouldering an equal share of the responsibility of the pack's happiness and health. Of my happiness and health. "Dallas, I doubt Nick needs a house to see what a prize you are."

"You don't understand." My voice was deep and rough. "I need him to want to stay. I need him."

"Do you really think we don't understand?" Asher asked, his mouth twisted in a wry smile. "After I put you all to work fixing up the tiny house and then building an actual one?"

"You didn't put us to work," I grumbled, but I got his point.

"How soon can we break ground?" Asher asked.

"What, really? That fast?"

"This is important to you," Jesse answered. "And that means it is important to us."

I cleared my throat. "Thank you, Alpha. Omega." Aspen crawled back to us and pushed her little hands against my leg, so I picked her up. "If we follow the same plans as this house, we can probably break ground in a week or two, and building should go faster this time, since we're more familiar with the process. I think I'd like to wait until just after New Year's, though. I have an idea for Nick’s Christmas present."

When I didn’t say anymore, Asher simply nodded. “Now, let’s talk about this arsonist…”