The Bond

32

"So what does it feel like?"

I place the adorable little onesie I've been ogling inside the cart and look up at Vanessa with a quizzical expression.

"What does what feel like?"

"Being mated!" She exclaims in a quiet voice.

"Oh. I don't know." I say with a shrug as I try to find the right words to describe this to her. "It's like we're more connected than we were before. Like now, we're always finishing each other's sentences and this morning he wasn't even in bed but I sort of followed his scent all the way to the backyard where he was talking to the wolves about the baby and how to act around him. Not to mention, we can sense each other's emotions. It's pretty extraordinary." I tell her with a smile.

"Hm, so you can't talk to each other telepathically?"

"Um no, I think that's only in books." I say with a chuckle.

"Well then this whole mating thing is pretty dumb." She says before running off to a rack where she pulls out a really cute orange onesie that says I Did Nine Months Inside. "If we don't get this I will throw a tantrum."

"Well you won't have to because we are getting it." I say as she puts the little outfit inside the cart.

As Vanessa and I head towards the diaper section of the store, I feel a small, but strong pang of pain hit my stomach in the same place it's been attacking for the past two weeks ever since Sebastian and I got back. I grip the cart as I wait for the pain to subside.

"Are you okay?" Vanessa asks as she quickly comes to my side. The store worker that's near us gives me a worried look but I shake my head.

"I'm fine, just another fake contraction. I'm okay." I say, releasing the cart.

"Okay, this baby needs to come already cause this is all starting to freak me out."

"I know, but we got two more weeks left. Now let's get those diapers."

We grab two boxes of diapers for newborns and start to head towards the check out stations but Sebastian isn't there like he's supposed to be.

"Where is he?" I wonder out loud.

"Probably deciding which baby monitor is best." Vanessa says with a snort.

She's right though, Sebastian has been obsessing over every little thing when it comes to our baby's protection, he set up an entire new protocol for the wolves to follow, he baby proofed the entire house and made everybody else baby proof their own room. He got one of those fancy family vans with the cameras so that he could have eyes on the baby, on the road behind him and in front of him. As crazy it sounds, we all get it, Sebastian had to watch his entire family get slaughtered, it makes sense that he wants to make sure his son is protected at all times.

"Do you wanna go find him?" I ask as I lean against the wall and rub my gigantic stomach.

"Um no, I'm sure he'll get here soon. Plus, I wanna talk to you about something."

"What is it?" I ask seriously when I see the nervous expression on her face.

"It's about my mom." She says slowly.

I immediately stand up straighter and stare at her intently. "Your mom? What about her?" I ask, surprising both myself and Vanessa at how harsh my voice comes out.

"Sh-she wants to talk to me. To apologize. She wants to talk to you as well but I told her that you probably wouldn't want to and judging by your reaction I was right."

"And you're going to meet with her?"

"Look, I know you hate my family's guys, you have every right to. Hell, I hate them more than you probably do, but this is my mother we're talking about. I've known her my whole life and I never knew or even thought she would be capable of such things but she was. However, her wanting to talk and apologize must mean that she might not be the woman she was when her and my dad, you know. I have to at least hear her out. Imagine if you did something horrible and your son wouldn't let you even apologize for it, no matter how sorry you were."