Libby pulled him close to her body and pressed her nose to his chest, inhaling the scent that was uniquely his. She gave a little satisfied moan when he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. She was nervous, very nervous, still afraid that when she delivered her news Travis would freak. It’d taken years for him to be convinced that he could take care of her properly. When he found out a baby was being added to the mix, she fully expected him to bolt.
“Ya’ll coming in or not?” Riley asked, still standing in the doorway with a mug of eggnog in his hand.
“Yeah, we’re coming,” Travis said. “You could give a male some privacy though,” Travis muttered under his breath.
“Could. But I’m not,” Riley teased, still standing in the wide open doorway, one hand in his pocket, the other holding his eggnog.
Travis opened the back door and took out so many casserole dishes even he had trouble carrying them all. “We’re coming,” Travis said, waiting until Libby closed the door. Be careful, love. Don’t want you to fall,” he said.
“Give me a couple of those dishes so you don’t fall,” Libby insisted.
“I got this, you just be careful,” Travis insisted, watching his mate navigate the cement steps that led up to Riley’s home.
Riley moved aside to let them enter, and closed the door behind them. “Want some help?” Riley asked Travis.
“Better you point me where you want them, they’re balanced at the moment,” Travis answered.
“Kitchen!” Riley said.
“On it,” Travis answered. Libby went with him to help him put everything down, then together they returned to the living room, hand in hand.
“Hey!” Richie called out, getting up to welcome Travis and Libby.
“Glad to see ya’ll made it,” Scotty snarked. “I been here for like, hours.”
“Yeah, you been here for about twenty minutes,” Travis said.
“What took so long?” Scotty asked, sitting down in one of the chairs nearest the tree.
Libby grinned at him and lifted her left hand, wiggling her fingers at him.
Scotty zeroed in on the large diamond ring on her hand. “Yes!” he shouted, getting to his feet, and rushing over to her. “Let me see!” he said, grinning from ear-to-ear.
“Travis, you did good,” Scotty said, hugging first Libby and then Travis.
“Let me see, too!” Yvette said, struggling to stand up from the sofa.
“I’ll come to you,” Libby said, chuckling at Yvette trying to get her balance to stand up. Libby walked over and held her hand out for Yvette to look at.
“Oh my gosh! It’s beautiful!” Yvette said. “Travis has excellent taste!” she declared.
“What is everyone wanting to see?” Maia asked, walking into the living room with everybody else that had been in the kitchen with her.
“She said yes,” Travis announced.
“She did?” Maia asked, getting excited. “You asked? Finally?” Maia added.
“Yeah, to all of the above,” Travis answered, grinning while he shook his head.
“About damn time,” Riley said, patting Travis on the back.
“Past time,” Travis agreed.
Everyone took a turn to admire Libby’s ring before turning their attention to dinner. Once everyone else had moved to the table to eat, Constance walked up beside Libby who’d just come out of the bathroom. “Have you told him?” she said softly.
Libby shook her head.
“Do you intend to?” she asked with sarcasm in her tone.
“Yes. I took your advice. You said to trust what I see in him, not just his words, but his behavior. And I’m planning to do that, but I’m terrified. I know how hard it was for him to accept being responsible for my safety, now I’m adding a baby,” Libby said.
“It’ll be fine. And if it’s not, there will be more than one male waiting in line to whip his ass,” Constance said, hugging Libby to her.
Libby smiled and nodded.
“When are you going to tell him?” Constance asked.
“Tonight. One of his gifts is a shirt that says ‘World’s Greatest Dad’.”
“That’s a good idea. Plus, you’re surrounded by your Pride when he finds out,” Constance said.
Libby nodded. “It’s a good thing. A happy thing, and I want to be happy and excited and giddy over it. I hate that I’m apprehensive about telling him. I hate it. But it’s not my fault I’m hesitant to tell him.”
“No, it’s not. He created his doubt with his behavior of the recent past, but he’s grown a lot. I think he’s going to surprise you with his response. I mean, look at this ring! He wouldn’t have given you this ring if he wasn’t all in.”
Libby nodded. “He did say once that he wanted a family with me, but that was a while ago. He hasn’t brought it up again.”
“What was your response when he did?” Constance asked.
“I told him that I wasn’t ready for anything he was offering and left him sitting in the diner,” Libby answered.
“Ohhh, I remember that day,” Constance said.
“Me, too,” Libby said regretfully.
“Maybe he hasn’t brought it up again because he considers himself lucky that you agreed to this much and doesn’t want to press his luck,” Constance said.
Libby smiled at Constance. “Let’s hope so.”
“Yes, I’m sure that’s it. Let’s join everyone else and have our dinner. Then we can exchange gifts and begin celebrating your little one,” Constance said.
Together they walked into the kitchen/dining room and each found a seat beside their males. “Have a seat here, love,” Travis said, standing and pulling Libby’s chair out for her.
“Thank you,” Libby answered, lightly kissing his lips before sitting down and allowing him to scoot her seat closer to the table.
Constance took the seat next to Moe who mimicked Travis’s behavior and helped her get seated comfortably.
It did not go unnoticed that there was still an empty seat beside Lazarus. He did his best to ignore it, but every time someone had arrived so far tonight, he’d hoped it was Alex, but it hadn’t been. He’d stopped hoping. It was pretty apparent that he’d blown it. She was probably with her boyfriend — her new assistant.
“Let me just say that I’m so happy, and so humbled to have all of you here tonight celebrating Christmas with us. My life, our lives, have taken such an unexpected path because of all you who have blessed us with your friendship, your trust, and your love. Our Pride wouldn’t be what it is without every single one of you. Each of you is here because you are family. Here’s to many more happy Christmases together. Endless years of happiness, and more and more babies to keep us growing every year,” Riley said, holding his wine glass up in the air to toast his Pride and family.
“Here-here!” was echoed all around the table.
Riley looked around the table again. They’d placed both the expansion pieces in the table top for this evening’s meal, and they all just barely fit. “I think we’re going to have to employ the use of the proverbial kids’ tables after this,” he said, smiling happily.