Page 23 of Cupid
I’d been working long hours for months, so being away from him wasn’t exactly the problem. The problem was that if he went into labor, I could be hours away from him. And it wasn’t like I could just ditch the sleigh and fly home. I wouldn’t even know if anything had happened until I got back home early on Christmas morning, after all our deliveries were made.
Jude slowly rolled over and placed his hand on my chest, resting it over my heart. “You’re gonna be late.”
I pulled him as close as he could get with his very large belly between us. “I know, but I don’t want to leave you.”
“It’s just for one more day. Then I’ll have you all to myself until this little guy finally decides to make an appearance.”
I nodded and swallowed back my emotion, my brain suddenly filling with a million worst-case-scenario thoughts. “How are you feeling?”
He shrugged and kissed my chest. “Fine, I guess. No different than yesterday.”
“Okay, good.” We still had almost four weeks before he was due to deliver. The baby was fully developed, so the doctor had warned that he might come early, but there was no reason to believe it would be today. “I’ll fly extra fast so we can get back as early as possible.”
He looked up at me and smiled. “I know you will, but I want you to be safe. Just get all those presents delivered and get back to me before I have a delivery of my own present.”
“I will.” I kissed him tenderly before finally slipping out of the bed. “Go back to sleep, sweetheart. You need the rest. I’ll be back before you miss me.”
“Too late for that,” he mumbled before pulling my pillow against his chest and closing his eyes. “And if you have any extra cookies, you know what to do with them.”
I laughed. “Yes, I already warned Santa that he was gonna have to share with you this year.”
“Good alpha.” He sighed and was quietly snoring before I was fully dressed.
“Good omega,” I whispered before I kissed his head goodbye. “I love you.”
Today was gonna be a great day. It was a day we’d all worked for the entire year, and bringing joy and happiness to so many people around the globe was what we lived for.
But the piece of my heart that was dedicated to my job had now been divided up.
Jude and our little beach bum—a nickname we’d started using when one of the ultrasound photos looked like he was throwing a hang ten sign from the top of a surfboard—they now owned the majority of my attention, devotion, and love.
My job was important, but it was no longer my whole identity.
I was also starting to really appreciate my Cupid gift. I had always thought it was kind of annoying to have to stop whatever I was doing in order to bring two people together just because the bond happened to connect right in front of me.
I did it because it was my duty, my family legacy, but there was always a bit of resentment inside me.
Now there wasn’t.
Now I could fully appreciate what I was doing for people and how important my work was. If I hadn’t recognized the bond between me and Jude, we might not be here today. And if he hadn’t had that accident on his ladder, I might not have ever even met him.
It hurt my heart just to imagine that reality.
So I pushed all those feelings to the back of my mind and focused on my work. Today was about Santa and his sleigh. We would go where we were needed and make sure every last gift was delivered to the children of the world.
And when I got home, my omega, my husband, would be waiting for me.
EIGHTEEN
JUDE
I tried to stay in bed as late as possible on Christmas Eve, preferring to sleep than to sit around missing Arrow all day.
He was doing his job, the job he’d trained his whole life for, but I still hated the idea of him being so far away from me. Not just because I missed him but because I’d been feeling some strange cramping all morning.
I’d spent months reading all the pregnancy books and had countless conversations with my doctor about the possibility of early labor, but Christmas seemed too early. My doctor said he was going to start monitoring me daily once the new year hit.
It wouldn’t be as much of an issue if I didn’t need surgical intervention. We’d determined months ago that it just wasn’t safe for me to attempt a natural delivery. Which meant the only way I could get Arrow to even leave for work each day was to promise that as soon as I felt any progression, I would tell him so we could head to the hospital immediately.
