Their Mistake

Chapter Eight

CALDER

Remi was happily humming as we drove into the Ordinary Realm. She seemed sated and content after that morning. Cullen finally calmed down after she placated him more in the shower with kisses and sweet touches. He hated being distracted during training, and she was always a distraction.

I squeezed her leg gently, and she looked at me with a sweet smile. “So, how long are we going for?” she asked.

“A couple of days,” I said.

“Mother will have the baby shower on Saturday afternoon. We should return then,” Cullen said from the back seat. He sat back there, engrossed in his tablet, probably still pouting about Ryker putting him on his ass this morning.

“Alright,” she said. It always amazed me how easy-going and accepting she was. When she was acting cagey or nervous, we knew something had to be wrong.

“Are you really okay with the baby shower this weekend?” I asked her to be sure. She gave me a warm smile.

“Yea, it’ll be fine,” she said. Her face was calm and happy, making me the same.

“So, what is on the schedule for today?” she asked.

“Calder and I need to go into the office,” Cullen told her from the back seat.

“You can come with us,” I offered. She laughed and shook her head.

“I can stay at the apartment,” she said. Although we got no judgment from residents of the Supernatural Realm about our mated situation, the Ordinary Realm was different. We had yet to bring Remi to work with us. Now she was pregnant, and no discussion was yet had about how we would handle things in the Ordinary Realm. We paid our assistants enough to keep their opinions to themselves, but that wouldn’t stop the office gossip.

“I arranged something to keep you busy today,” Cullen said. Remi turned to look at him. I could see his little smirk in the rearview mirror.

“What?” she asked. He shook his head at her.

“You will see,” he told her, going back to his tablet.

-

When we got to the apartment, we took Remi upstairs with our bags to settle her before we left. She threaded her arms around Cullen as we rode the elevator upstairs.

When we stepped inside, Lola was on her way out. I called to give her the next few days off so that we could all enjoy some privacy. It was rare that we were ever truly alone outside of our bedroom at the packhouse. I also knew Remi would cook and clean if given downtime just because it kept her occupied.

Remi went to sit on the couch in the living room, but Cullen pulled her to the stairs. We both gave him curious looks as we followed him upstairs.

We headed to our room, where he stopped outside the door. “You need some new maternity clothes, and I knew I couldn’t get you to go shopping even with Pip,” he started. I started to laugh, knowing exactly what he had done.

He opened the door and continued, “I had my assistant get you some things. While we are gone, you can try everything on and decide what to keep.”

Her eyes went wide. “Don’t try to tell us no, baby,” I said, wrapping my arms around her from behind. “Everything you have is tight.”

“You two are too much sometimes,” she sighed.

“We will always be that way,” Cullen said, pecking the side of her face. He pushed her into the room. “Now go on. Two piles when we get back. Keep and return.”

She rolled her eyes at him but then blew us each a kiss. I smiled, blowing one right back. “That was smooth thinking,” I linked him as we left our mate.

“She looks uncomfortable in everything she has. Even our shirts are getting to be tight around her center,” he defended. “Clear your morning tomorrow, by the way.”

“Why?” I asked.

“We need four cribs now,” he shrugged.

CULLEN

When we got back from the office, Remi was curled up on the couch with a blanket on her lap. There was a book discarded on the floor, so I guessed what she had been doing. She was wearing one of the new dresses my assistant had sent over to my delight.

“You win,” Calder laughed. He bet that she would put everything in the return pile she was instructed to make. “Should we wake her?”

“Let’s let her sleep a little longer. We can go out for dinner tonight,” I told him. She looked too peaceful to disturb just yet.

My brother and I headed upstairs to change out of our office clothes. On the bed in our room was a neatly folded pile of clothes with a piece of paper saying ‘RETURN’ in Remi’s swirling handwriting. Calder let out a laugh, and I was pleasantly surprised that the pile was not more significant. I made a mental note to have my assistant come by tomorrow after we left to gather them.

Calder went to the closet. “She even hung everything up and packed away the things that don’t fit,” he called. I smiled; our sweet mate was too perfect.

I loosened my tie around my neck as my phone rang in my pocket. I pulled it out, checking the caller ID. “Hmmm,” I said.

“Who is it?” Calder asked, exiting the closet, pulling a shirt over his head.

“Our favorite Alpha,” I smirked, answering the call.

“Carlisle,” Zeus spat.

“To what do I owe the displeasure?” I asked. Calder lifted an eyebrow.

“Do not encourage the frump from Somber Plains. My sister will be rejecting him,” he said disdainfully.

“Oh? And has Maya told her mate this?” I poked. Zeus growled, making me chuckle. “You don’t get to control your sister’s life just because you messed up with your own mate. Don’t forget we know that your father begged you to reconsider your abdication. ”

“What happened before I took the title makes no difference. Tell Remington and Thorin to back off, or there will be consequences,” Zeus said. The line cut off before I could say anything more. I looked at Calder, who was giving me a knowing look.

“I wonder how he found out about Remington meeting with us,” Calder said.

“Who found out?” a voice came from the door. We both turned to see Remi padding into the room.

“Hey there,” Calder said. Remi moved to my side, and I put my arm around her. I placed a kiss on top of her head, breathing in her mouthwatering apple scent. I paused, realizing I could smell something more. Her scent was changing with her pregnancy.

“What are you talking about?” Remi asked, looking up at me.

“Zeus knows that we are aware of the Thorin and Maya situation,” I told her. She frowned.

“I feel sorry for him,” she sighed.

“I do not,” I said, pulling her to me. Her hair was mussy from her nap. I pushed it away from her face. “I missed you.”

She brought her hand up to caress my cheek. “I missed you both, too,” she smiled.

“How was your nap?” I asked her.

“Fine,” she mumbled. “Would have been better with you.”

I kissed her forehead. “How about we take you to dinner to make up for it?” Calder asked her, joining us.

“Alright,” she said. “Do I need to change?” She had a short sleeve dress that came down in a V over her cleavage. It had a little sash tied right above her belly and swung freely down to her knees. The maroon color looked beautiful against her skin.

“No,” I said. “You are perfect. Just let me get out of my tie.”

She nodded, and Calder grabbed her by the waist, pulling her close to him. She giggled, letting herself be led away. I undid the buttons of my shirt as I headed to the closet to change. After pulling on something more casual and discarding my clothes in the hamper, I reentered our room to find Calder and Remi sitting on the couch. Her legs were over his lap as they talked.

I joined them, pulling Remi onto my lap. “Are you hungry, love?” I asked, nuzzling my nose into her neck.

“Ravenous,” she said breathily. The way she said it stirred my c**k. She gave me a mischievous smile, and I knew what she was trying to do.

Calder laughed. “We were instructed to make sure you got plenty of food and rest,” he said. She looked at him, pouting. “Dinner first, then we can decide how to spend the rest of the night.”

My mind was almost made up to toss her on the bed and forget dinner for the evening, but Calder stood up, pulling our mate with him. I followed them, leaning over to whisper in her ear, “Desert can be arranged when we return.” Her breath hitched, and she slowly nodded as she followed Calder from our bedroom.

REMI

I clutched both Calder and Cullen’s hands tightly as we walked into the baby store. Last night they had taken me to dinner then we returned to the apartment for the desert Cullen promised. Taking a break from everything was exactly what we needed.

The bell over the door rang as we entered. I looked around at the store; of course, everything looked very high-end. I sighed as we went over to a counter. We were greeted by a woman who could be described as nothing other than perfect. Her shiny black hair fell in the slightest wave just past her shoulder, clipped back on one side. Her blouse showed just the right amount of cleavage, and her pencil skirt hugged her slightly curvy frame perfectly. Her immaculately white teeth were set in a practiced smile.

“Good morning. I am Teagan. What are we here for today?” she said, looking between the three of us. Her eyes momentarily darted down to our joined hands, and I could see the smallest amount of judgment in her eyes.

“Cribs,” Cullen said in a flat tone.

“We have two residences,” Calder clarified.

“How lovely,” she said, directing her smile at me. It didn’t quite meet her eyes. “When are you due?”

“Ten more weeks,” I told her, trying to ignore her judgment.

“Oh wow!” she said. “Exciting! Well, we have a beautiful selection of cribs, and we also offer delivery and installation.”

“We can put them together,” I said quickly. Calder looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

“Gentry can put a crib together, and you can’t?” I teased him silently. His mouth twitched up into a smirk.

“Let’s look before we make any decisions,” Cullen said. I looked at him, smiling and nodding. Teagan showed us around the store, talking about all the furniture we should consider for the babies. Her voice was high and annoying. Halfway through the store, I wanted her to just leave us be. Every time she turned to look at us, her eyes went to our hands as Calder and Cullen hadn’t let me go. A couple of times, she ran her perfectly manicured finger down one of my mates’ arms, and it made me want to rip her throat out.

“Excuse me,” Calder finally interrupted her. “We appreciate your help, but I think we would like to look around with our wife for a moment.”

“Oh,” the woman said. “Of course.” She gave us another practiced smile. “Please let me know if you have any questions. I will be right upfront when you make a decision.” We watched her walk away before anyone said anything.

“Is someone jealous?” Calder teased me now.

“No!” I said quickly. “She just didn’t need to touch you.”

He laughed, pulling me close. “She is being friendly, trying to make sure she gets our sale. That’s what a salesperson does,” he said. I rolled my eyes.

“The touching is unnecessary,” Cullen commented. I smiled up at Calder victoriously; I knew Cullen would be on my side about it. He sighed before leaning in to peck my lips.

“So, do you see anything you like?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I was a bit distracted,” I said. Cullen chuckled at that, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from Calder.

“We can look elsewhere,” he told me.

“Do you like anything?” I asked, looking from Cullen to Calder. Cullen clicked his tongue. “They are your babies, too,” I pointed out.

“We want to get you whatever makes you happy, love,” Cullen said softly.

I bit my lip, debating if it was a good idea to bring this up. “Do you think your parents kept your things?” I asked them. Cullen blinked in surprise; I looked at Calder, who started to smile.

“You know, I bet Mom did,” Calder laughed. “She may have let it slip about some baby clothes she wanted to give you later.”

“You really want our old things?” Cullen asked. I nodded my head.

“It would be fitting, wouldn’t it?” I reasoned. “Plus, they would be loved once again.”

“And we don’t have to do all this,” I added silently to myself. Calli snickered in my head.

“We will still need something for the nursery at the apartment,” Cullen said.

“Then let’s get something simple. They are just cribs; they don’t need to be fancy,” I requested. Cullen leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

“Okay,” he said.

Calder chuckled. “Should we go get Teagan? She has been staring at us since she left. I am sure she is just dying to know more,” he said. I rolled my eyes; humans made everything so dramatic.