The Quiet One

38

Three weeks later Regal helped Harper packed up a selection of books to sell at the convention. Christmas dinner with his parents had been uneventful other than his mother giving them some of his baby clothes.

"Does your mom know something I don't?" Harper asked Regal, and he shrugged.

"She has always pinpointed the next baby to be born into our group. I am sure she is just being hopeful," he'd told her. A week later they found out Harper was expecting their first cub.

"Regal!" Harper called from their bathroom. It was early in the morning, and he wondered what she needed him for. Getting out of bed he tossed on a pair of pajama bottoms and scratched his chest as he walked into the bathroom. He paused when he caught sight of Harper holding a stick in her hand and tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked rushing to her side.

"I'm pregnant," she announced and he stared at her in shock. They'd only been together a month and already he was to become a father.

"That is amazing!" He crushed her to his body and kissed her hard on the mouth.

"Thank you for being the mother of our child," he told her once he let her go.

"I didn't think we'd be expecting a baby so quickly," she replied.

"Me either, but I'm not surprised," he answered and kissed her forehead. She leaned into his body and he scooped her up to make love to her in their bed.

Now he was packing away some of the rare books she had duplicates of from George and her grandfather's collections.

"Did you pack the first editions?" Harper asked marching into the back room of her store.

"I am doing that now. Baby please sit down," he begged, wanting her to conserve her strength. She laughed and said,

"I am having a baby. I'm not dying." Bending over, she lifted a box of books and took them out onto the floor. He winced but wisely kept his mouth shut, she was only a month along. After speaking with his mom, he knew they needed to wait until she was at least eight weeks before they could see the doctor and get any testing done. He hoped that by that point they had taken care of Joseph King and his threat to her bookstore.

"Harper," he called and her head popped in the backroom, her blond hair swinging over one shoulder.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You and Julie finished cataloging your books, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Did you find anything more rare than the book Poems of the Forest by Gerard Berlin 1st edition?"

"No. I was thinking I should donate the book, anyway. I don't like having it locked away in our home. It makes me feel like I have a forbidden treasure," she replied.

"Do you know how to go about donating the book?" he asked standing and lifting a heavy box full of books.

"Yes. I will look into it after we get back. Is that the last of the books?"

"We need to load up the truck and then we can head out. Who is driving the truck?"

"Julie is going in the truck with Michael her shifter she is hoping will turn into more than a friend. He owns a moving company and was happy to let us use his truck for a low price," she explained. He smiled and took in her petite body, she wore jeans and a flowy top of light blue which brought out her blue eyes. He loved her and couldn't get enough of her.