Yup, Astra was letting herself be carried away with the mate sense magic that Blaze had described.
He parked in front of the grocery store, and ran around the truck to open Astra’s door for her. He helped her out and kept her hand in his as they walked into the store. They took a cart and began to stock up on necessities.
They were mostly quiet, and Astra had the feeling that Blaze was letting her process everything he had shared with her earlier.
“Oh,” she said excitedly. “I love the cereal aisle.” She turned the cart down that very aisle.
Blaze shook his head, but he was smiling, nonetheless. “Any particular reason why you like this aisle so much?”
“Oh, yeah. I love cereal. I love the weird shit they come up with. Look! Chocolate chip cookies cereal.” She took a box and dropped it into the cart.
“You can’t be serious,” Blaze laughed. “You’re really going to eat that?”
“Umm, yeah. Why not? Think about it. Dipping chocolate chips cookies in milk is one of the best snacks out there. Obviously, this is a great idea. You’re basically just eating a bowl of cookies already dipped in milk. It’s perfect.”
Blaze reached out and took a box of healthy granola type cereal and Astra couldn’t even contain her sight.
“You shop like an old man.”
“And you, love,” he chuckled, “you shop like a kid who got free rein and access to cash.”
“That’s exactly what I am doing. Selene doesn’t let me keep too much fun food in the house. She says that we need balance. She isn’t wrong, but if she thinks I don’t know about her daily cheese Danish, she is high.”
“What the hell is a daily cheese Danish?”
“My twin has an addiction to these pastries that a local coffee shop makes in Salem. She sneaks out of the center every morning to grab one. She says she doesn’t eat breakfast, but she’s a liar. She just waits for her pastry.”
“The fascinating lives of the Bishop twins.”
“You have no idea. I can’t even keep my good shampoo in the shower. Selene steals it all. Even though it’s made for my kind of hair. Blondie should get her own, but no. She steals mine.”
“I wonder what she would gripe about if she were here to defend herself.”
Astra put a hand to her chest in mock shock. “I am the perfect sister, and the perfect roommate. I always do the dishes, and I always remember to buy milk.”
“How about the trash?” he asked, like he already knew.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t like taking out the trash. It grosses me out. When I was a kid, a garbage bag broke and hot garbage juice touched my foot.” She shuddered with the memory of it. “It traumatized me. I refuse to touch a garbage bag. I will buy Selene all the cheese Danishes she wants to keep from ever having to do that particular task.”
“Good to know.” He laughed.
They stepped out of the cereal aisle and into the one with all the sodas and candies.
“Geez, it’s like they want to torture parents with this layout.”
“I know, right?” Blaze said, eyeing a little boy who was crying while pointing at a bag of lollipops. “I guess this is the best time as any to ask you if you want kids.”
Astra stopped, her steps faltering. She couldn’t quite believe he had actually asked her if she wanted kids while they were grocery shopping. Could they be anymore domesticated? Could they look any more like a couple?
“Astra?” he asked, his face falling a bit.
“I do want kids. Of course. I can’t wait to have little ones to teach magic, too. Although, I bet that my kids will be a handful. Selene and I used to be quite the troublemakers. What about you?”
“Definitely. I can’t wait to have a little wolf to go around the woods with.”
Astra had to wonder what would happen if a witch and wolf had a child together. Would it be a toss-up between what particular creature the kid was? Or would there be a witch-wolf walking around able to do magic and shift?
She had a terrifying vision of a little wolf doing magic and she shook her head out. Blaze watched her carefully.
“Where did your mind go just then? You look seriously concerned, and I don’t think it’s because of that.” He pointed to the little boy who had torn open the bag of lollipops. The crafty little guy had managed to get one into his mouth while his mother tried to clean up the mess.
“I mean, as frustrating as that looks, I can’t even imagine would it would be like if…” Astra stopped herself.
“You’re picturing a wolf who can do magic, aren’t you?” he asked with a smirk.
“Yes,” she answered shyly.
“Oh, good. I was doing that, too. Imagine, a kid shifting right in the middle of a grocery store and becoming invisible. Only a packet of lollipops floating out of the store.”
“Fuck, don’t even think about that. Good thing we can’t be invisible.” Astra shook her head. “You went way more complicated than me.”
“Hmm,” Blaze licked his lips. “But we both thought about what it would be like to have a kid with both of our gifts.”
Astra looked down and she felt her cheeks heat. “Yeah, I guess we did.”
“I think that says something.” Blaze looked at her with a deep intensity.
She knew exactly what he was saying. She was an intelligent woman, and he had spent a fair amount of time explaining to her how she was the woman for him.
Obviously, being mated to him also meant they would have kids together. Astra tested her feelings to see how that knowledge landed on her heart.
It was fine.
She imagined a little boy with Blaze’s black curls, and her heart did a fluttering thing that it had never done before.
“What do you think it says?” she asked with a very soft whisper. She knew, but she wanted to hear the words.
“It says that we both see a future here.”
Before Astra could think of a response or wonder why Blaze hadn’t just told her that the mate sense had decided for them, he leaned down and kissed her softly.
“I do see a future with you, Astra. Just in case you were wondering. And it’s so much more than the mate sense. I really believe that even if I hadn’t known, I would have chosen you.”
“Oh.”
Wow.
She hadn’t been expecting him to say something as sweet and as deep as that. Blaze nudged her softly and took control of the cart and began walking down the aisle. His free hand went to take hers, and Astra looked down at their joined hands. She could almost see herself walking down this very aisle with a tiny little boy, begging for some chocolate. He would have her blue eyes and tight little black curls.
That was a future she could get behind.
“What are you thinking?” Blaze asked as he gave her hand a squeeze.
Astra shook her head to clear it. “Nothing, I got distracted with some thoughts.”
Blaze eyed her suspiciously. “You look like you’re thinking a lot, and that makes me very nervous. You’re not planning a candy bar heist, are you?”
That made her laugh. “No, I think you have all of the candy bars we’ll ever need.”
“Hey,” he said, coming to a stop. He spun her so she was in his arms. “I know this is a lot. We’re mates, but like I said earlier. That doesn’t mean we need to get married and have babies right away. We choose the pace. You choose the pace. If you want to wait a few years to have kids, fine. If you want to go back to the bar and make one right now? Also fine. Whatever you want, Astra.”