"Raindrop, if you add anything else to your nest there won't be room for you and your baby, much less Phayu." Mama tells him.
Phayu smiles, Rain's mama is the only one of them that could have gotten away with even this small criticism of Rain's nest. If he or Saifah had dared say anything, Rain would have angrily rounded on them, waddling up to tell them off. A reaction Saifah laughingly called "the angry waddles", but only when he was sure Rain couldn't hear him.
He only dares to slightly pout at his mama. "I just want it to be perfect. I feel like it's missing something."
Then suddenly he realizes. "Where is bunny?" Bunny is the stuffed animal Rain had gotten when they had visited Phayu's parents in Korat. Phayu had scented it for him, and he sleeps with it anytime he and the alpha had to be apart for any reason. "I have to have bunny in the nest. I can't do this without bunny."
Rain looks around in panic, but he can't find the stuffed animal anywhere.
"Where is my bunny? Has anyone seen her?" Rain asks the others.
Phayu thinks back, "Didn't you have her when you stayed with Sky last week?"
"Oh, I did. I must have left her at Sky's place." Rain says. "I need to go get her."
"It's late, why don't we get her tomorrow?" Phayu asks. To his horror he sees tears fill Rain's eyes at this suggestion.
Sky frowns at the ringing of his doorbell. He's not expecting anyone, P'Pai has to work late tonight, he has a video call with one of his dad's clients in the US. Because of the time difference it was scheduled at 11 pm. Rain is in full nesting mode since his baby is due in less than two weeks. Plus, he wouldn't be out this late, P'Phayu wouldn't let him.
Maybe P'Pai had gotten off work early. Sky decides that must be it and hurries to the door.
His smile dies on his face as he sees who is standing there. He tries to slam the door in Gun's and Petch's face but Gun sticks his foot in before he can.
"Sky," Gun says in his sickening sweet voice. "Is that anyway to greet an old friend?"
"We are not friends, get out or I will call the police." Sky says trying to sound braver than he feels.
Gun sighs, "I guess we aren't welcome here. Petch didn't you say you wanted to visit that pretty little omega P'Phayu married? We could even bring him a gift for the baby."
Sky feels sick at the thought of this monster anywhere near sweet innocent Rain. Rain who could pretty much have a baby any day now. No, he couldn't let that happen no matter what.
Pai looks at his watch and sighs. What a waste of a night it has been, the client had canceled their video call last minute. He could have spent the night with his Sky instead of waiting on a call that had never taken place.
"Since you were planning on staying anyway, you could catch up on some paperwork," Namtan, his assistant, suggests.
Pai gives an obviously fake cough, and says, "Sorry, I am sick."
This causes Namtan to roll her eyes. "Tell Sky I said hello." She says.
"I will," he says, grabbing his suit jacket and bag before almost running out of the office.
"I'll be right back." Rain tells P'Phayu.
"I can go get it." His husband volunteers.
"No, I know exactly where I left her now. Besides," he admits, "I really have to pee."
This isn't unusual, Rain thinks their kid enjoys pressing into his bladder at the worst times.
Sky doesn't answer the door. After a few minutes and uncomfortably shifting foot to foot, Rain decides Sky must be with P'Pai. He'll just let himself in, use Sky's bathroom, and grab bunny.
He frowns at the strange smell in the air. It's an alpha and one Rain doesn't recognize. Sky must have had a visitor earlier. The smell is faint, but Rain doesn't like it, it makes him a little queasy. He wonders who it could have been. Maybe a repairman or someone.
Rain is just leaving the house with his stuffed animal when P'Pai pulls up alone. Rain feels a stab of unease.
"P'Pai, Sky's not with you?" Rain asks.
"He's not home?" P'Pai asks sharply.
Rain shakes his head, and there was a strange smell. An alpha I didn't recognize. I didn't like the way they smelled but I thought Sky was with you."
Pai looks up and sees Sky's neighbor watching them through her window. He knows from their conversations while he was courting Sky that she doesn't sleep and often just sits and watches out her window. He goes and knocks on her door.
"Have you seen Sky tonight?" He asks her.
"He left earlier with two men. To be honest, I didn't like the look of them, but Sky seemed to be with them willingly." She says, "They were driving one of those fancy red sports cars the kids all go wild for. I wrote down their license plate just in case." Pai takes the license number silently blessing nosy neighbors.
Phayu suggests they check the cameras from the convenience store across the street. The owner immediately gives them access, since they are P'Pakin's men.
They see the red sports car pull up in front of Sky's house and two men get out. They are too far away to get a good look at them. They talk with Sky at his door, then Sky goes with them.
While they are watching the video Phayu calls P'Chai. He runs the license plate through their system which has direct access to the department of land transport.
"You will never believe who the car belongs to, remember Gun from the races?" Phayu says.
Pai starts to say something but before he can Rain says, "Gun, Sky's ex?"
They both turn to stare at Rain.
"Gun is Sky's ex?" Pai asks. He feels his blood run cold. Things are starting to fall into place. Sky's story of his ex, the things he made Sky do. Gun who was banned from the races for making back-alley bets and bypassing the rule that all participants in the betting of lovers had to be willing.
"He mentioned his name once," Rain says, "he seemed scared of being found by him."
"P'Chai is going to monitor the security cameras in the direction they were going and let us know if they turned off anywhere." Phayu says.
"We'll take my car." Pai says.
Rain climbs in the backseat of Pai's car before they can tell him to wait there. "I'm going," he says stubbornly. "We better hurry. Sky is in danger."
"You're waiting in the car when we get there if I have to lock you in." Phayu growls, but he gets in the passenger seat.
"P'Chai is going to send men to meet us." Phayu says. He is reading the text from P'Chai as they go. "It looks like they could have been heading for those abandoned warehouses near the railroad tracks." Pai puts on the gas and heads in that same direction.
They find the sports car parked behind one of the warehouses, now the only problem is which warehouse they are in, there isn't time to search them all. Rain ends up having to get out of the car after all, because although they can all smell the alpha and his friend, Rain is the only one who can smell them well enough to tell which direction they went.
"I'm pretty sure it's that one." Rain says pointing to the warehouse on the right.
"Wait here." Phayu tells Rain firmly. Rain starts to protest but Phayu says, "You can tell P'Chai where to go when he gets here."
Now that Rain has a purpose, he lets Phayu and Pai go in alone. "Be careful," he hisses, "You too P'Pai."
The interior of the warehouse is dimly lit. Pai looks around for the most likely space and sees a small office on the other side with light streaming out from under the door. He inclines his head in that direction.
Inside Gun has Sky pinned to a dirty mattress while Petch films them. Sky is still dressed, but Gun has already removed his shirt. It's obvious what the alpha intends to do. Pai sees red, he bowls into Gun with a fierce growl.
He is vaguely aware that Phayu has knocked the camera out of Petch's hands and is holding the man back.
"P'Pai," Gun says, "You don't understand, Sky wanted to come with us. He called me and asked me to come get him."
"Liar!" Pai says. "I know you are the one that hurt my Sky before." He punches Gun in the mouth effectively shutting him up and breaking two of his teeth at the same time. Things after that are a bit hazy but when P'Chai arrives followed by several men and a concerned looking Rain, Gun is unconscious.
Rain immediately goes to check on Sky, who seems to be in shock.
"We'll take care of this trash from here." P'Chai says. "P'Pakin gave him one chance and he does this, my employer isn't in the habit of giving people multiple chances. I don't think you will have to worry about these two again."
Pai goes to check on Sky and Rain goes over to where Gun is just starting to come around, groaning loudly. Rain kicks him hard, right in the groin. "That's for hurting my friend," he says.
P'Chai looks at Rain in amazement, "He's a bit scary," he tells Phayu.
"Tell me about it," Phayu says fondly. Rain gives his husband a sweet grin like he just received the best compliment.
"You should probably take the omegas home." P'Chai says. Phayu nods at this and Pai helps Sky up, putting a protective arm around him.
Rain sits in the backseat with Sky holding him close while Pai drives them to Sky's house.
"Should we stay?" Rain asks.
"Rain?" Sky seems to be coming round.
"I'm here." Rain says.
"You're safe?" Sky asks, "Gun said if I didn't go with him, he was going to pay you a visit. He knew you were married to P'Phayu."
Phayu growls at this and sends a text. They both know that Gun and Petch won't survive the night, but he is sure that Phayu just made sure their last hours wouldn't be pleasant ones.
"I'm safe," Rain says. "You don't have to worry about those guys anymore. P'Chai and P'Pakin will make sure they never bother you again."
"How did you get there? To the warehouse I mean." Sky asks.
"It's a long story involving Rain's stuffed bunny and your elderly neighbor." Phayu tells him. "I am sure Pai will tell you all about it, but I should probably get Rain home. Too much stress could cause him to go into labor."
"Oh," Sky says, "You're not..."
"My alpha is just being overprotective, I'm not about to drop this baby right this instant." Rain grins. "I am tired though and I want to add bunny to my nest. Will you be okay?"
"I'm fine." Sky says. "I have P'Pai here. You aren't the only one with a handsome protective alpha."
Rain smiles and gives him a hug, "Call me tomorrow, promise?" Sky promises.
Phayu takes Rain home and they give the bunny the place of honor in the nest. "Just think," Rain says, "If I hadn't wanted my bunny, P'Pai might have assumed Sky was with me and those men would have had time to hurt him or worse." Rain says. "Bunny could have saved Sky's life."
"Sky is safe thanks to you and bunny." Phayu agrees. "Now I think you should go to bed. It's late and it has been a long day to say the least. Do you want me to rub you back?"
Rain almost groans a yes, his back seems to hurt constantly these days. He changes into a pair of shorts and a smock top that he uses to sleep in and lays down on his side so Phayu can massage his back. It's been hard to sleep lately but tonight Rain falls asleep quickly. Making Phayu smile at how cute he looks with his extended belly. Phayu lays down beside him and wraps his arms around him, cuddling him and their soon to be born pup close.