He made sure to remind Ulric that it didn’t matter what he looked like. The most important part was that Gage wanted him to be healthy, because Gage was selfish. Because Gage wanted his alpha with him for decades to come.
He snuggled sleepily against Ulric. “Nap first? After that, we’ll try this impregnating thing again. Just because.”
Ulric laughed. “With the lace panties? I’ll wear them for you.”
He felt good enough about himself to do that. And that made all the difference in the world. “Fuck yeah, babe. You’ll look gorgeous in them.”
Ulric flushed, and Gage thought... maybe he should propose, too. Just because.
32
Pregnancy
Ulric stepped into the kitchen and immediately wished he hadn’t. Somehow, the smell of mushroom soup made him need to throw up. “Why are you making that?”
“Craving it,” Gage answered. “You want some?”
“I’m going to puke.”
Ulric hurried into the bathroom and crouched, emptying his stomach—some crackers he’d eaten earlier today. That had been all he could swallow; Gage’s mushroom soup had undone all his efforts. How did omegas deal with this?
Granted, most omegas probably weren’t living with another pregnant person, who also had very specific foods that they could keep down.
“Sorry.” Gage followed him into the bathroom. “You okay?”
“Not a fan of mushroom soup right now.” Ulric heaved again.
Gage crowded close, rubbing Ulric’s back. Then he grabbed a mug and filled it with water—it had since been dubbed the Vomit Washer. Ulric took it with a murmur of thanks, rinsing out his mouth.
“I’ll air out the kitchen as soon as I can,” Gage said.
“It’s fine.” Ulric sniffed at him—Gage smelled like the honey of his pregnancy, and also faintly like his soup, but at least that was tolerable now. “Remember last week, when I made leek stir-fry and you threw up?”
Gage snorted. “Yeah. Definitely do. But the one we’ll tell our kids about is the time both of us had to share the toilet.”
Ulric snorted. That... had been a memorable experience. One he wasn’t so keen on repeating. “I’ll use a different bathroom the next time.”
“Yeah? You don’t like the thought of my puking making you puke more?” Gage wriggled his eyebrows.
Ulric elbowed him in the stomach. “Shut up.”
Gage grinned and hugged him around the waist. Ulric leaned in to nuzzle him, except he caught a whiff of mushroom soup on Gage’s breath.
On any other month, that would’ve been fine. Ulric barely got his puke in the toilet instead of on his alpha’s face. “Can’t kiss you right now. You need to wash your mouth with soap.”
Gage covered his mouth, his words coming out muffled. “Got it.”
He stuck around, though, rubbing Ulric’s back until Ulric’s nausea faded. Then he brushed Ulric’s hair out of his face, even though Ulric’s hair wasn’t all that long. Ulric’s heart pattered.
Gage loved him. And every day, he showed it with all the little gestures that said Ulric was important, that it didn’t matter what Ulric looked like. Gage made Ulric feel as though he was a good person. Worthy of love.
“I love you,” Ulric blurted.
Gage smiled and nuzzled Ulric’s shoulder. “Love you. This may be the new way of kissing, though. At least, until this morning sickness thing goes away.”
Ulric laughed.
Three months into their pregnancy, Gage’s baby bump had become obvious. His abs had lost a bit of definition on the surface; he’d said that he could feel the uterus pressing lightly against his insides. Ulric felt the same in his own body.
“It won’t be long until we can’t hug each other this way,” Gage said, pulling Ulric against his chest.
Ulric looked down at his own abdomen—his curves made it hard to tell that he was even pregnant at all. At least the morning sickness had faded. “Has anyone at the gym noticed?”
Gage shrugged. “Kinda. They’ve been starting to joke about my beer belly.”
Ulric winced. “What did you tell them?”
“That it was gonna be a surprise. My boss knows, though.”
Ulric could only imagine Gage telling his boss, and the increasing disbelief on Gage’s boss’s face. But Gage had gotten permission to take a couple months off work after the birth, so Ulric wasn’t too worried about that.
“You didn’t show off your belly?” Ulric asked.
“Babe, the only person I show off to is you.” Gage pressed his baby bump against Ulric’s belly. “Think they can hear each other? I mean, if we hug like that, they’re practically side-by-side.”
“That’s a really weird way to say hi.”
“You know what, we haven’t tried something. I can’t believe it.” Gage dragged Ulric into the bedroom, nudging him onto the mattress. Then he lay down in the opposite direction—a little too high for a proper 69.
He was in the perfect position to kiss Ulric’s belly, though. Gage peeled Ulric’s shirt up, pressing his face against Ulric’s skin. “Hey,” Gage murmured. “I think both of you can hear me at the same time.”
Ulric’s heart swelled. “That’s brilliant.”
Gage pulled up his own shirt in invitation; Ulric leaned in and blew a raspberry against Gage’s baby bump. “Hey! Damn you, babe.”
Ulric laughed. “Don’t set a bad example for the children, Gage.”
Gage flipped him off, but he was grinning. “I’ll show you bad example,” he growled.
Ulric tingled all over. “Let me say hi first.” He kissed Gage’s abdomen, breathing in Gage’s clove scent—he was finally getting used to it. “Hey there,” Ulric said, letting his voice rumble into Gage’s body. “It’s your other dad and me. I don’t think you know it yet; there isn’t just one of you, but two. Right now, one of you is with me, and the other is with your other dad. You’ll meet when you’re born. I think you’ll have lots of fun growing up together.”
Gage found Ulric’s hand, entwining their fingers. “Looking forward to bringing you both into our family.”
Ulric couldn’t wait for that day. He pulled Gage’s knee up and rested his head on Gage’s thigh, kissing Gage’s baby bump. “I love that we can talk to both of them at the same time.”
“Pretty
