Homerun Daddy, page 21
part #1 of Timberwood Cove Series
“Oh yeah?” Jaxon, the retired baseball champion, chuckled. “Just keep practicing champ.”
“Sure thing, coach,” I said as I balanced the phone between my ear and shoulder and gathered a day's worth of wood in my arms. “Everything all good at the hospital?”
“Perfect,” he said, sounding incredibly proud. “It’s all done. Bryce did an amazing job. We've got ourselves a baby girl.”
“Whoo!” I threw my head back and let out a high-pitched howl. “Yeah, boy! Congratulations!”
“Thanks, Linc,” Jaxon laughed, and then his voice took on a serious tone. “Hey... Is Liam doing alright? Think he'll be okay with a new baby sister?”
I moved the wood to one arm and started hobbling towards the door. “Are you joking? That kid is the most well-balanced creature on the planet. He's ecstatic about the new addition to your family. It's Cole we should be worried about, he's jealous as hell.”
“Your boy loves a playmate,” Jaxon chuckled. “Hey, I have to go in. Bryce is ready for visitors, so can you bring Liam by?”
“Of course. We'll see you soon.”
I stopped at the back door and let out an ear-piercing whistle and watched the treeline. In an instant, the boys came tumbling through the scrub, fur matted and stuck with twigs, mud, and leaves. They shifted back into their lanky human forms as they ran up to the porch.
“Inside!” I said, holding the door open. “Showers! Clean clothes! Make it snappy – it's time to hit the hospital!”
Liam's face lit up and he looked at me excitedly. “Did Bryce...?”
“Yep, you've got a baby sister, kiddo,” I said and he laughed happily before sprinting inside.
“And you,” I said, grabbing Cole's sleeve as he tried to slink past. “You have a new friend. She's going to need you to look after her for the rest of her life. That's nothing to turn your nose up at.”
“It's not the same as having a sister,” he grumbled.
“How would you know?” I smirked.
He gave me a stink-eye and stomped into the house. I rolled my eyes and followed him in, dropping the wood by the fireplace before helping the kids to get ready. We left the house to grow cold, with the embers of last night's fire smouldering into nothing.
The drive to the hospital wasn't long, but Cole managed to pack in so much awkward conversation that it seemed like it took a thousand years to get there.
“If Jaxon and Bryce have just had a baby,” he mused. “Wouldn't it be the best time for you to have another baby? Then they could grow up together and be best friends like me and Liam. Right Liam?”
I glanced in the rearview mirror and raised my eyebrows at him.
“Uh, yeah probably,” Liam said with a shrug, clearly not wanting to be pulled into Cole's plot.
“See, Dad?” Cole said, gesturing to Liam like he was scientific evidence.
“Uh huh,” I nodded. “Unfortunately, I can't just have a baby – procreation doesn't work like that.”
“So? Get a mate.”
“Uh, that's not as simple as it sounds either,” I said, and felt my heart sink a little, deeply wishing that it was that easy.
“Why don't you just get back with Mom then?” he asked as we pulled up to a red light.
“Oh shit, that reminds me -,” I said, reaching for my phone.
“Dad! Don't text and drive!” he reached over and slapped my hand. I pushed his shoulder and smooshed him against his door as he laughed and squealed until the lights switched to green and I turned back to drive.
“You text her for me then,” I said, tossing the phone into his lap.
“Okay, what do you want me to say?” he asked.
“Tell her that Bryce has given birth and ask her to spread the news.”
“Here's what I've got,” he said, clearing his throat. “Dear Nicole, Our son is so awesome. Let's have another awesome baby –.”
I growled and snatched blindly at the phone, and he broke out into a fit of hysterics. As we pulled into the hospital, I searched for a parking spot as Liam threw off his seatbelt and body slammed Cole.
“Hey!” Cole yelled and laughed as he kicked his legs. “Traitor!”
Liam laughed and elbowed him in the ribs until he was able to snatch the phone out of Cole's grip. They were an even match in size and weight, but Liam had a bit of a speed advantage. The fight was over by the time I pulled us into a park.
“Here, Linc,” Liam said, handing the phone to me over my shoulder.
“Traitor!” Cole squealed again, making a last-effort grab for it before I snatched it and shoved it in my jeans pocket.
“Alright, cubs. Where are we?” I asked in my “serious alpha” voice as I turned to face them.
“The hospital?” they asked in unison.
“Right. And there are rules when we're in the hospital. What are they?”
“Touch everything,” Cole snickered.
“Talk super loudly about everything!” Liam suggested.
“Shift into wolves and –,” Cole laughed and couldn't continue because he was laughing too hard. I waited patiently.
“Shift into wolves and run through the halls at top speed!” Liam finished and joined Cole's hysterics. I took a deep breath and let out a quiet but serious growl. They immediately pulled it together and sat upright.
“Touch nothing,” I growled. “Stay quiet. And there are no wolves in Timberwood Cove.”
“There are no wolves in Timberwood Cove,” they repeated the credo at the same time.
“One more time,” I insisted, coaxing them with my hands.
“There are no wolves in Timberwood Cove!” they said louder.
“Duh, of course there are no wolves in Timberwood Coves! Are you crazy?” I smirked. “Alright, good job. Let's go and meet this new addition to the pack. I mean, family.”
Cole and Liam giggled and we clambered out of the car.
The minute we stepped into the hospital, I was hit with the smell of blood, bodies, and anaesthetic. My stomach turned. It wasn't often that I cursed my heightened senses, but this was one place I'd rather not be able to distinguish between the scent of every person who'd set foot there in the last week... let alone be able to tell the difference between their different body fluids. I choked back a gag and glanced down at the boys. They seemed completely un-phased and I wondered if their senses hadn't fully developed, or if they just didn't yet know to associate the smell of iron with blood, guts, and gore. I held back another surge of nausea and was about to walk quickly down the halls to Bryce's room before I felt Liam tug at my sleeve.
“Linc... Can we go in there?” he asked me quietly as he pointed to the gift shop.
“Balloons!” Cole yelled. A nurse and a woman in a wheelchair craned their necks to see what the fuss was about and I gave them an apologetic smile. “We have to get balloons, Dad!”
“Uh,” I hesitated. I wanted to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible but Liam's face was beaming up at me with pleading eyes and Cole was already racing across the linoleum floor to a huge stand of helium-filled balloons.
“Well, sure,” I resigned. “But let's keep it snappy.”
I stood deep in a flower-filled corner of the gift shop while the boys debated about which balloons were best, and took the opportunity to call Nicole.
“Hey good lookin',” she answered. “You feeling clucky?”
I cleared my throat and croaked, “Uh, me?”
“Your texts sounded like you were hot for momma,” she cackled.
“Oh shit,” I laughed, and ran a hand over my face. “Uh, sorry about that. Cole is impatient for a baby brother or sister... We're at the hospital.”
“Wow, you move fast! A new baby already?” she laughed. “Who's the lucky omega?”
“Bryce!” I laughed.
I heard a heartfelt smile in her words, “Ah, wow. Send my congratulations to him and Jax. Everything went okay, right?”
“Yeah, it sounded like it when I spoke to Jax. We haven't met the little girl yet — in fact... we haven't made it further than the gift shop,” I said as I watched Cole shaking his head at Liam’s suggestion of a Batman themed balloon. “That's what I called about though. Could you spread the word about our newest pack member?”
“Yeah honey, you know my finger is ready to speed dial my girls the moment you hang up.”
“I'm counting on it,” I smiled.
“Hey, get down from there!” she shouted. “Oh my god, Linc. This dog is out of control. Hey, tell Cole he can have a new sibling after he trains Paco to stay off the breakfast table.”
“So, never?” I chuckled.
“Right. Oh man, now he's eating my cereal. No, Paco!”
“Dad! Look at this!” Cole called across the shop at me, holding up a balloon covered in stars and galaxies.
“Gotta go, we've made a balloon choice,” I said to Nicole.
“Gotta go, I need to research doggy obedience schools,” she grumbled.
“Dad!” Cole yelled. I hung up the phone, grabbed an oversized bouquet of roses from the flower corner and made my way over to where the kids were holding way too many balloons. It looked like they could float up to the ceiling at any minute.
“Cool,” I said, nodding to Cole's selection of space-themed balloons. They weren't exactly appropriate to congratulate a new baby or her dads, but Cole was so obsessed with astronomy that I knew there was no arguing with him. Liam held more appropriately themed balloons – one shaped like a teddy bear, another one with bright sparkles reading “CONGRATULATIONS!” and a few that were filled with confetti.
“Which ones are your favorites?” I asked.
“All of them,” Cole shrugged.
“All of them,” Liam echoed.
“Alright,” I resigned, and paid for all of them — as well as the huge bouquet in my arms. I kept my nose pressed close to the flowers as we hurried down the halls to the Bryce's room, and was pleased by how well the roses blocked out the smell of the hospital.
“We come bearing gifts!” I announced as we paraded into the patient's room. “Now let me see that baby girl!”
Jaxon's face lit up as we came in, and a huge smile broke across my face as my eyes fell on the tiny bundle in his arms.
“Here she is,” he said as he gently moved his arms so we could see her sweet little sleeping face. “Her name's Lori.”
“Wow,” I said softly. I felt my wolf whining in my chest, and a strong paternal energy moved through me. I heard Liam gasp, and for once, Cole was quiet. I took the balloons from Liam’s hands and guided him to step in front of me, to get the first real look at his baby sister.
“Hi,” he whispered softly as he peered at the cute little bundle.
“Hey guys,” Bryce said from the bed, waving to us weakly. Liam rushed over to his omega dad for a hug, and I felt Cole pressing himself against my hip as he gazed at Lori.
As I wrapped my arm around Cole's shoulders, I heard a soft voice mutter, “I'll get out of your way in a moment,” and I looked up to find a nurse standing by Bryce's bed, writing on a chart.
My eyes locked on the angle of his cheekbones, the smooth freckled skin of his cheeks, and the slightest hint of golden stubble on his jaw just behind his ear where he must have missed shaving that morning. Everything else disappeared. I felt lightheaded. My wolf wanted me to sniff harder at the air, but I resisted. No way was I going to take a deep inhale of that hospital smell. And besides, it was probably nothing but the surging hormones of everyone in the Labor and Delivery ward that was making me feel so damn attracted to this human omega...
But as the nurse moved past me on his way out of the room, I couldn't help but catch a whiff of something unique, something I'd never smelled before. My wolf's attention was sharp and I felt it surge forward in my chest. I turned to watch him walk away.
Get ready for Timberwood Cove book 2, Surprised Daddy!
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Homerun Daddy
Timberwood Cove: Book 1
Liam Kingsley
© 2019
Disclaimer
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.
This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).
Liam Kingsley, Homerun Daddy
