I was in that downtime between projects that would normally have made me nervous, but I’d signed on for that action picture starting next month and, on the strength of that contract, I’d gone apartment hunting for me, Lew, and the baby. Also, obstetrician hunting and stroller hunting and crib hunting and a million other little things that I’d never considered.

But today was the big day—Lew and his parents would be showing up at some point with all his stuff and we’d be on our way to being a family. They were driving down—Lew had called me from the hotel last night to make sure everything was all right and give me an update on when they’d be here.

I flopped down on the new couch—thank God for credit—and opened up my copy of the script. Might as well learn a few lines while I waited.

Forty-five minutes later I’d closed the script and started pacing. Maybe they were lost? Lew knew how to Google things, though. I went to the window and peered out, then paced the living room again.

Food. Maybe I should get some food. Or should I call him? No, that was stalkery. And he wouldn’t be able to answer if he was driving anyway. I’d go get take-out and have it here, ready to feed them when they arrived. After all, how much stuff could one omega have?

Turned out, a lot. They arrived in two cars, with a trailer bumping along behind his parents’ sedan. I raced out of the apartment and down the single flight of stairs to meet them. “Lew!”

He bailed out of his car and threw himself into my arms. “Oh, God, I missed you!”

I kissed him like it hadn’t been just a month since I’d last flown home to see him. He was almost four months along now and I could feel that solid bump in his belly as I crushed him against me. When we finally broke off the kiss, my hands were shaking and I couldn’t bear to have him more than an arm’s length from me.

He seemed to feel the same way—he wrapped himself around my arm and dragged me over to his parents, standing beside their car.

“Mr. King,” I said, and held out a hand to shake his.

“Mike,” he said, his grip firm.

I held out my hand to Lew’s mom. “Mrs. King.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Mike.” She pulled me into a hug. “You’re going to be my son soon, too. It’s Ima.”

We’d had a long talk last month, when I’d taken one of those weekends and gone home to see Lew and hash things out with his parents. They hadn’t been terribly happy to see me, but they wanted Lew to be happy and luckily for me, he seemed happy to have me around. Happy enough that they’d come around to our engagement, for Lew’s sake. But it seemed like they were trying on their own behalf too, so I hugged her back and whispered, “Thank you. I mean to do this right.”

“I know,” she said and let go. “So, let’s see this new apartment.”

“Sure. This way.”

Lew was still hanging onto my arm, beaming like the sun, and I stole another kiss before I led them up the stairs.

“Second floor?” Lew’s mom asked. “What about the stroller? That’s going to be hard to get up and down once the baby comes.”

“Mom.” Lew said flatly. Just her name, nothing more, but it stopped her dead. I had to wonder what kinds of conversations she and Lew had been having about my ability to be a good alpha, husband, and father.

“It’s okay. There’s an elevator at the back, but only stairs here at the front.” I tapped Lew’s head. “Lew thinks of everything.”

He laughed and swatted at my hand. “Stop that. And we both thought of good things to look for.”

We stopped in front of our door and I dug a key out of my pocket. “Your key, sir,” I said in my snootiest British accent and held it out to him. “You might as well let us in.”

Lew grinned and snatched it out of my hand, laughing as he put it in the lock. “I can’t wait,” he said in an undertone, nearly blinding in his excitement. The door opened and he stepped inside and drew in a breath. “Oh, Mike. You did good.” He whirled and threw himself on me again. “It’s beautiful!” He kissed me somewhere in the region of my ear and spun away to wander around the living room, peeking out the windows, running his hand over the walls. He ducked out of sight into the little kitchen and moments later reappeared out the archway at the other end of the living room. “Mom! Dad! Come in! Isn’t it gorgeous?” He stopped by the dining room table tucked into the other end of the L-shaped living room. “When did you get this?”

“Same time as I got the couch. And look.” I grinned and pulled the cushions off to show him the mattress folded up inside it. “In case we have guests.”

Lew hugged me. “I thought you were joking.”

I shook my head. “I want our families to visit. And hotels are expensive.”

“You are going to make a very thoughtful husband,” he proclaimed and draped his arms around my neck.

“The view is lovely,” Lew’s mom said. She was looking out the window, the one that looked down the slope of the street.

“I wanted it to be sunny,” I explained, walking Lew over to peer out the window again. “But I ended up adding blackout curtains in the bedrooms because it just gets too sunny. It’s not bad in this room, but we get some shade from the building next to us.”

“Yes,” Lew said. “Show me the bedroom. I need to inspect these curtains.”

His mother shot him a sardonic look. “I think we should bring everything up, then your dad and I will go check into the hotel while you settle in.”

“We thought we’d take you out for dinner, if you know a good place,” Lew’s dad said.

“You don’t have to stay in a hotel,” I said with automatic courtesy. “We have a sofa bed.”

His mother gave me the sardonic look this time. “I think we’ll all be more comfortable if we stay at the hotel. Besides, they have a pool. I’d like to go swimming.”

“We can go to the beach tomorrow,” Lew put in. “Mike says we’re not far from a good one.”

“It’ll be crowded, but it’s well looked after.” I kissed Lew’s temple. “You stay here, you shouldn’t be hauling heavy things in your condition.”

“My condition?” Lew’s eyes narrowed at me. “I’m pregnant, not sick.”

“Lew,” I wheedled. “It’s my job to look after you.”

He opened his mouth, then shut it again. “I’ll carry light things.”

I took that for now, but I was pretty certain, Lew being Lew, this wasn’t the last I was going to hear of it. “Then let’s get you moved in.” I led the way back toward the door and, with a glance at Lew’s mom, toward the elevator at the back of the building.