95- I think is important

“Okay… where are you going?”

“I'm picking up food for my mate, who was craving Chinese in the middle of the night.” “Your mate!” he gasped. “You met your true mate? You're kidding!”

I didn't answer, I was grinning too broadly. A moment later, Hobie put it all together. “Wait, your mate had a craving in the middle of the night? Don't tell me…”

“Yeah,” I said. A happy laugh bubbled out of me. “He's pregnant.”

“Oh, Eron!” Hobie cried. “That's amazing. I’m so happy for you. Tell me everything!”

So, I did. The drive flew by as I told Hobie all about the shop, and how we met, nd how the pregnancy was going. At last, I pulled into the parking lot of Panda Palace, and turned off the car, sitting back with a sigh.

“That's amazing,” Hobie said. “Damn, I can't believe he agreed to turn so quickly. We should all be so lucky.”

“Yeah,” I said softly. “Anyway, I'm here, so I should probably get going.” “Yeah, absolutely. Gotta get your mate his Chinese,” Hobie said with a chuckle.

“Hey, Hobie? You're not going to tell anyone, right?” I asked. “I really want to surprise the family. Especially Carrick.”

“My lips are sealed,” Hobie said. “But you should know, they're all worried about you. So, you do probably want to at least check in now and again.”

“Absolutely,” I said solemnly. “But just as long as you won't tell them, or even hint to them about my mate.”

“I'm not going to tell. I swear, I'm the only one on the island who knows, until you say otherwise,” he said firmly.

“Thanks, Hobie. Oh hey, I didn't even ask, how's the shop?” “Oh, it's fine. You left it in good hands.”

I chuckled. “I know I did. I'll talk to you later.” “Bye, Eron.”

I hung up and sat for another minute, still grinning.

I had left the shop in Hobie’s capable hands, and wasn’t at all worried about it while I was gone. I was confident my ability to turn around Milan's café, and save it but I wondered, if I did successfully do it, whether or not he’d want to stay in Maine or move down to Half Moon. I’d certainly miss my family, but there was no way I could begrudge him wanting to stay in the shop that his mother had worked so hard to build. If that did happen, Hobie would make an excellent manager in my place. I filed the idea away for future reference, and headed into the restaurant.

It never even occurred to me to check the hours, and I was relieved to see it was open all night. It was a little hole-in-the-wall joint, but smelled absolutely delicious. I ended up getting a double order of lo mein, so that I could have some too.

Once I had it all wrapped up to go, I got back in the car and headed home to my mate.

I didn’t think there was a better feeling in the world than opening a door to announce, “I’m home,” and seeing Milan there to greet me.

“That smells amazing. I can’t believe you went all that way for me,” he said. “Here, I set out plates…”

“You didn’t have to do that,” I scolded, secretly pleased by my omega taking care of me. I set out the food on the plates and sat down. “Ready?”

“Starving! Thank you again, Eron. I’ve been thinking about this food for a week.” “I’ll get it every night if you want.”

Milan blew me a kiss, then took a bite of crab rangoon and moaned. “Oh yes, this is delicious!” He snapped open a set of chopsticks and twisted up a big bite of lo mein. “This sauce, is incredible, Eron. Wait ‘til you try it.” He slurped it up eagerly. Then, his eyes widened and he clapped a hand

over his mouth.

“Milan?”

He jumped up from the table and raced for the bathroom. I came down the stairs after another of my increasingly frequent naps. As I went, I rested my hand on my massive stomach. I felt absolutely huge, even though I had another month to go. The baby kicked where my hand was. I moved my palm around, trying to figure out which direction he or she was facing. Like always, I couldn't quite figure it out. Was I feeling a head or a butt? And when I was pretty sure I was being kicked by feet on one side, the exact same feeling would happen on the other. So, either the baby was punching and kicking or he was rolling all around. It really was quite wild to feel him inside me, wiggling and moving.

I reached the main level and spotted Eron sitting in the chair by the fireplace, scribbling intently in a notebook. Even though we'd spent just about every single day together for the last two months, my heart still fluttered when I saw him. I paused on the stairway, just watching him, feeling an almost overwhelming sense of love for the man I still hardly knew. Grinning, I went the rest of the way down and caught sight of myself in the bathroom mirror as I did. Once again I paused, this time to take in my new and improved, younger reflection.

Eron either heard or sensed me, because he looked up and smiled. “How was your nap?” “It was good,” I said. “I’m still tired or maybe hungry.”

He laughed. “Can I get you anything?” “No, no, I’m fine. What are you up to?”

“I was coming up with some plans for the café. I think I've got a pretty good one in place. But, of course, I want to run it by you first.” He stood as I joined him and gestured for me to take over the chair. I sank gratefully down, in spite of having just gotten up from a nap, and smiled.

“Okay,” I said. “What's the plan?”

“Well,” he said, settling onto the arm of the chair. “Unfortunately, the baby is going to be born pretty much right as tourist season starts for the spring”

I nodded. I had noticed that.

“Which means,” continued Eron, “that if we want to get things open again in time for the season, we're basically going to be scrambling to turn everything around during your last month of pregnancy. And while the baby is still a newborn.” I nodded again. “So, I was thinking, we close for the season.”

That was something I hadn't thought of. Then again, I could never have afforded to close before. “Hmm, okay. Go on.”

“Well,” he said, “if we close for the season, it gives us a chance to focus on just you and the baby for a few months, which I think is important.” I nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. “And it gives us plenty of time to make plans and arrangements, and start changing things up. Now, I'm not going to change your mother's aesthetic, but a fresh coat of paint, some new menu boards. A little touch here and there, just to shake things up, and make it look nice and new.”

“Yeah, it definitely could use that,” I said, glancing at the peeling paint on the walls. Frankly, I was embarrassed by the state of the outside. The salty sea air didn't help when it came to paint, and the shop was in desperate need of a few coats of it.