Page 13 of Highland Heat

I’d known it was a possibility. We’d definitely been doing the things one does when wanting to make a baby. Heck, we’d had sex during his heat. Still, it never crossed my mind that we would be starting a family so soon. Now that I knew we had, I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more.

I was going to be a dad with the person who made me feel whole. What could be better than that?

“Well, not a hundred percent certain, but all signs are pointing that way. Passing out, being tired—”

“That’s amazing,” I said. I ignored the part about there being a possibility he could be wrong. He was pregnant. Not only had he passed out, but he’d been wanting to sleep earlier, and yesterday when he asked me to take a nap, he meant to actually sleep, not have bedroom fun.

“Yeah, you think so?” He squinted up at me. Sweat beaded on his forehead, but his eyes shone with happiness. I helped him to his feet and hugged him against me.

“Yeah. This is…” I kissed him soundly on the lips. “Yes, that’s—I’m so happy!” I wanted to twirl him in the air, but I was afraid to hurt him.

“Me too. I’m going to text Micah to ask him if he’ll bring us out a test. Is that all right?” And once he did, his entire family would know. I was okay with that. Having so many people in our lives supporting us was everything.

“It saves us a trip into town, and they’re always coming out here anyway.” I kissed his cheek. “Let’s get you inside, you should rest.”

“No, I can finish this.” Stubborn bull.

“Not on my watch,” I said. “You should be resting.”

“I can still help with the garden.” Ewan put his hands on his hips and planted his feet. My mate could be a little bull-headed at times. This was one of them.

“You can, but you won’t now. You can help tonight when it’s cooler out and you’ve had time to rest.” I could be just as stubborn as he was.

He sighed but finally listened to what I said. I helped him into the house, even though he could definitely walk there on his own. I wasn’t willing to risk it.

I watched as he drank down two glasses of water. Then I made him sit. Was I being overprotective? Probably. But how could I not be? He was carrying our baby. Maybe. Probably.

“Do you need anything? Are you hungry at all?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I promise I’m fine, mate. Really, I am.” He yawned, holding his hand over his mouth. “Not going to lie, I might nap, though. Snuggle me until I sleep?”

“I’ll do one better. I’ll snuggle you until you wake up.”

The rest of the chores could wait.

Chapter 10

Ewan

I came awake slowly, knowing that I was probably in bed. The past few days I’d been falling asleep all the time. I’d be watching TV or reading a book or sitting on the porch and then off to sleep land. There were very few places I hadn’t fallen asleep. We hadn’t confirmed my pregnancy yet, but this exhaustion had been my first hint that we were going to be dads.

Blinking my eyes to clear them, I tried to remember where I was and how I’d gotten here and why I was sleeping in the middle of the day. I was still half asleep, which wasn’t helping very much. I pushed myself to sit and my sleepy fog cleared.

Graham had carried me in here because I passed out while working in the garden. Had I not already been fairly confident I was pregnant, that would’ve worried me a lot more than it had. Passing out was far from my norm. But I remembered my grandfather talking about my father passing out when he was pregnant and breaking his favorite mug in the process.

You’d have thought my father had committed the crime of the century the way my grandfather brought up that broken mug nearly every time he had coffee. But now that I was in this situation, I was glad that he had. It helped me avoid freaking out over what had happened when working with my mate.

The past two days my stomach hadn’t been right, and I brushed it off as possibly eating something that hadn’t settled well. Then there was the fact that I was beyond tired. Again, I brushed it off as overdoing it. But adding passing out to the mix—I was confident that I was carrying my mate’s child and I couldn’t be happier about it.

There were some shifters who could scent their pregnancy from conception and others who could hear their heartbeat before a doppler could. Highland bulls were not able to do either. We traded enhanced senses for fabulous hair.

My mate had jumped into action the second I started to drop to the ground. If it hadn’t been for him, I’d have landed with a thud. No doubt my mate would be overprotective throughout the course of my pregnancy. It was the way of things for alphas, and he showed me he was no exception already.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going to soak up every second of it. I loved nothing more than to have my mate’s attention focused on me.

The sound of the door opening and closing told me my mate was back inside. Normally, we let it shut with a thwack. Not this time. It closed so gently, I barely heard it latch. My mate was trying not to wake me up.

I smiled. Graham was incredibly considerate. A true gentleman… except in bed. Exactly how I liked my alpha.