My Match (Watty Awards 2013)

Chapter 27

"Told ya." Then my mouth stretched wide open in an enormous yawn.

Max cursed. "We have to go to school in a few hours! Let's get some sleep," and with that he picked me up and breezed back to the house.

We got there in record time, and I think I was already half-asleep by the time he hopped up onto the balcony, picking his way through the pieces of wood.

I yawned again. "Where-" yawn, "are we going to-" yawn, "sleep?"

He cradled me against his chest with one hand while he used the other one to scratch his head. "I really don't know...theater room?"

I nodded sleepily. "Fine with me." I noticed that he carried me there, still only using one arm. Max made me feel weightless. I kind of liked that feeling.

And that's how we ended up sleeping together on the couch with blankets draped over us, even though his body heat was more than enough to keep me warm. I blushed when I realized that I'd have to sleep on top of him; the couch simply couldn't fit me, seeing as Max had pretty broad shoulders and fit body. 

Of course, he read my mind at that time and pulled me down for a kiss. Then we drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Juliette's POV

I was pacing up and down inside our cottage; we had actually built it together three years ago when we found out we were mates, with the help of our family and friends. Sure, we had a room in the pack house, but this was our little private place. It was in the middle of the woods, not too close to any other civilization, but I liked it that way. It was mostly built of wood, and elevated slightly above the ground. We had a small pond nearby and the towering trees that grew here provided ample shade, but still let in just enough sunlight.

Brandon put a hand on my arm. "Jewel."

I stopped and turned to face him. "I feel awful! Those rogues could've just taken Hanna right out from under everyone's noses! We should've stayed!"

"I know, I feel bad too, but what's done is done. We can't just go back in time and fix it," he replied.

I hesitantly agreed, knowing that he had a point. "Okay."

He chuckled. "And from what Max just told me, I think she handled herself pretty well."

I cocked an eyebrow, then tapped into his mind. When I was done looking at the memory, I burst out laughing. "Only Hanna."

Brandon grinned. "I feel bad for that guy she stabbed with her shoe."

I giggled. "She's ver-" I bent over, clutching at my side. "Ow, ow," I panted.

"Sh*t," he mumbled, and then the next thing I knew, I was sitting on our bed. "I'll go get some hot chocolate," Brandon kissed my cheek and headed for the kitchen.

The pain in my side suddenly evaporated, leaving a slight sheen of sweat on my forehead. Jesus Christ, those were f*cking intense. I wasn't even due till at least two months later, and then I'd have to go through contractions. Just great. 

I swear, being pregnant is one of the best, and worst things that's ever happened to me.

I glanced at the full length mirror in the corner of the room and sat up straight. I still couldn't believe that I hadn't noticed it before. If you looked closely, you could definitely see a baby bump. Was I that blind?

I sure hope I don't pass my apparent blindness onto my pup.

Brandon and I had decided to wait to find out the gender of the baby. We wanted to be surprised, and we hadn't really given much thought about names yet. I already decided that when the baby's born, he or she will have Brandon's last name instead of mine. In my opinion, 'Hayes' sounded a lot better than 'Hall'.