The gentle midday sunlight filtered through the tall windows of their modern home, casting golden ribbons of warmth across the living room floor. Dust motes danced lazily in the quiet, still air. The white curtains shifted slightly with the spring breeze that rolled in through a cracked window, bringing with it the distant hum of birdsong and the scent of fresh grass.
James lay stretched across the soft gray couch, his long frame taking up most of it. One arm was curled protectively around little Corey, who was swaddled in a pale yellow onesie with little bear ears on the hood. The baby’s chubby fingers kept curling and uncurling against James’s chest, tiny legs kicking excitedly despite the soft lull James had been humming for the past twenty minutes.
— “Shhh…”
James whispered sweetly, rocking just a little.
— “Nap time, sunshine.”
Corey blinked up at him with sparkling brown eyes, then broke into another gummy smile.
James let out a long, amused sigh and rested his head against the back of the couch.
— “You’re not even trying to sleep, huh?”
he mumbled with a half-smile tugging at his lips.
The baby giggled, reaching up to pat James’s jaw with one pudgy hand.
— “Alright, alright, I surrender.”
He chuckled softly, shifting his arms to let Corey sit up on his chest. The little one wobbled, drooled, and then started crawling clumsily across his torso, leaving behind little footprints of warmth. James reached up and steadied him gently with one large hand.
With his other hand, he rubbed his stomach—a gentle, absent motion. The slight curve under his loose henley shirt was becoming more obvious now at four months. The swell was subtle, but undeniably there.
He looked down at it, smiling to himself with a mix of affection and quiet disbelief.
— “Yeah… okay, maybe I went a little overboard…”
he murmured under his breath.
— “But to be fair, I did tell him I was fine.”
His cheeks turned a little pink. His heat had come too soon after Corey’s birth—his body still recovering, his hormones a mess—and yet he had insisted. Again and again. His Alpha had tried to resist, tried to hold back. But James had begged for closeness, for warmth, for touch. He’d needed it.
It had been intense. Beautiful, chaotic, and now—well. Baby number two was well on their way, and he couldn’t exactly blame anyone but himself.
Just as he started to get lost in the memory, the sound of the front door opening echoed through the hallway. A set of familiar, solid footsteps followed—and James turned his head just as the scent of his mate filled the room.
There he was.
{{user}}
James’s entire face lit up—exhaustion melting off him like sunlight on frost.
— “Hey, love,”
he greeted softly, eyes warm and full of affection.
*Corey squealed, immediately trying to crawl off James toward the sound, flopping clumsily against his chest with outstretched hands.
James laughed.
— “You’ve got a fan club waiting for you,”
he teased, reaching down to support Corey and smiling up at his husband.
— “We didn’t nap. Again.”
He looked relaxed, beautiful in the afternoon light, one hand still on his stomach, the other curled gently around their squirming baby.
— “Come sit with us?”
he asked with a soft, inviting smile, eyes already glowing with that deep, familiar love.