Special Delivery Winter - Aria Grace Page 0,78

peed quite a bit the last couple of days. You think the almonds smell off. And…”

“And?” I prompted when he hesitated.

He looked down at the cookie in my hand. “How many cookies have you had?”

“These? This is my second one,” I said holding it up.

“Cody, honey,” he said, obviously fighting the urge to laugh. “You've been standing there for five minutes shoving gingerbread cookies in your mouth like that’s the last batch on Earth.”

“What?!” I looked down at the platter, and sure enough, the gingerbread cookies were decimated. “I ate them all!” I said, shocked.

“Most of them.”

“Maybe I am pregnant,” I said. Tears began to roll down my cheeks.

“Oh god,” Ryker gasped, rushing forward. “Were you not ready? I'm sorry! We should have been more careful, I should have used protection. I know I told you that omegas are pretty fertile, but…”

“No, no,” I said, waving my hand at him. “I'm happy! I'm…” I laughed and dropped the gingerbread cookie on the table. “I must be pregnant… I think I'm crying because I ate all the cookies,” I admitted.

“I'll buy you more,” Ryker promised.

“These?” I asked, picking up the gingerbread man.

“Those.”

“And no almonds.”

“Definitely no almonds! First thing in the morning.” Ryker laughed and kissed me. “As soon as the bakery opens.”

He was true to his word. When I rolled out of bed the next morning, he was nowhere to be seen. I went to the bathroom, then wandered down to the kitchen.

“Ryker?” I called.

I could tell somehow from our bond that he wasn't in the house, but at the same time, I just knew that he was safe. So rather than worry, I went to make myself a bowl of cereal. I ended up just eating it dry, straight out of the package. After a few handfuls I felt the urge to vomit. I stood over the toilet for a while, waiting, but it never came up.

I heard the door open and close.

“Ryker?”

“Oh, you're already up,” he said. “I assumed you would have slept in.”

I emerged from the bathroom, sheepishly. “I had to pee.”

Ryker chuckled. “So I see. Got you something.” He held up two bags, one in each hand. The scent of ginger filled the air and my mouth immediately watered.

“Yes!” I gasped. I crossed the room in a flash and practically tore the bag from his fingers as he laughed. I opened it to find the whole thing was packed with gingerbread cookies. “How many did you buy?” I asked, taking a bite of one. I moaned as the taste hit my tongue; it was still warm from the oven.

“Josh, heard me say I think you're craving these because you're pregnant, so he tripled my order, on the house. And I got you this too.” He extended the smaller plastic bag that I had ignored in favor of the cookies. “It’s a pregnancy test.” He pulled out the box and examined it. “It says you're supposed to take it early in the morning.”

“ Well, it's early,” I said. “I’ll just have a drink of water and I'll probably pee again.”

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before I felt the urge. I cried again, this time from joy when the pregnancy test came back positive.

“I guess I really am pregnant!” I gasped.

Ryker laughed in disbelief, then threw his arms around me. “We're having a baby!”

“This really was the best Christmas ever,” I said as he kissed me.

“You taste like gingerbread cookies,” he chuckled. “Guess I better have one if I want you to keep kissing me.” A wide grin crossed his face. “Right. I suppose I better call the doctor… and then… well, in the meantime I have a feeling you're going to be quite picky about what the nursery looks like. So, we better start planning now.”

He ushered me to the couch, sat me down, and then brought me a plate of gingerbread cookies and my sketchpad. I stared at the blank paper for a moment, feeling almost intimidated at the idea that I was about to sketch the nursery for my own child. What a whirlwind the last couple of weeks had been! What a wonderful, glorious whirlwind.

I knew exactly which room in the house would be the nursey, so I did a quick sketch of the dimensions, then paused and looked up a Ryker.

“Yes?” he said. settling down next to me with a cup of coffee.

“I'm glad my flight to Frostbourg got canceled.”

“We'll go next year,” he promised. He leaned forward and pressed his hand against gently