Page 19 of A Pact for Porter

“This looks great, but why don’t you work on it later? Because I made you dinner.”

“Well, what did my sexy mate cook for me?” I was starving.

“What do you think?” He took my hand and dragged me into the kitchen.

I was very much showing. Like, my belly was in a different time zone showing. Most people who looked at me thought I was already past my due date, and if it had been one child, that would’ve been a good guess. But with five, I was looking ready to pop pretty much from partway through the second trimester. And now it was just getting ridiculous.

I got such looks of pity from people in the grocery store. And physically, it wasn’t fun, but the secret toy surprises inside made every second of my discomfort worth it. Now that I was no longer puking, I was quite happy with the way I was feeling, despite the cankles and the sore back. Such minor inconveniences, given the full picture.

“So tell me, what did you make?” I asked.

“Tacos, obviously.”

I tried to school my face and failed miserably.

“Don’t tell me. Tacos are so over?”

I gave a single nod. “It’s eggs now.”

This part of my cravings had been inconsistent throughout my pregnancy. The first part, I was all about toast. Then I no longer wanted to see another piece of toast again, and it was all rotisserie chicken—but not any rotisserie chicken. It had to be lemon pepper rotisserie chicken. And then suddenly, I never wanted to see one of those again. For a while, it was sandwiches and then pot roast. Tacos had only lasted two days, and now, now it was eggs.

“Eggs, it is.”

“You wonderful, wonderful wolf.”

I was starving, but thanks to the babies, I never got to eat a whole meal. They were pressing on my stomach, so instead, I nibbled little bits throughout the day. In some ways, I was like a hobbit.

He made an omelet for me and plated the tacos for himself, and we sat around the table eating and talking about the plans for the courtyard.

The one area I struggled with was wanting water and knowing it was a bad idea. Watching five little ones around water was kind of a big deal. In the end, we decided to plan something simple where we would eventually put a little lake when the kids were older. For now, we were leaving it the way it was. It wasn’t like we didn’t have an open invitation to go back to Animals and enjoy the facilities there. We didn’t need to be spoiled enough to have it at home too.

“I have an idea, not for the courtyard, but the backyard.” Porter set his fork down, took out his phone, and tapped away. “There’s a guy in town who makes these.”

He handed me his phone. They were raised planters. Really, really cool raised beds.

“I was thinking it would be a more efficient way to grow food.”

That sounded wonderful.

“Imagine if you attempted that at your old place.”

“There was no room in the back for very much, although I tried. And in the front, they’d have been slapping fines on me every day.”

He didn’t miss the old townhouse. It had been cheap and near his work more than anything else, and we both were madly in love with this place.

I grabbed my stomach.

“What’s wrong? Are you in labor?”

“No. There are months to go for that. Just our little ones are squirming around. And because there are so many, it probably looks like a kickboxing match in there.”

Porter put my hands on my belly. “Hey, little ones. Be nice to each other. Siblings are forever.”

By the time we were done talking at lunch, I needed a nap. It was pretty impressive I’d stayed awake the entire discussion.

“Do you want company for your nap?” He winked.

“Not that kind of nap. But, yeah, company would be nice.”