“Home?” I asked as we got back in the car.

    “Nope.” Alexander directed Gabriel to drive toward the shopping district. When the Beta parked outside of the biggest baby supply store in the territory, I turned to stare at Alexander.

    “Alexander, what are we doing here?”

    “Shopping for the baby.” He was already getting out of the car, and when he opened my door, he was in such a rush that I practically had to jog to catch up with him.

    “Isn’t it a little early for that? I’m barely three months along.”

    “It’s never too early to be prepared. I’m just being practical.” Rigl. Practical. As if I couldn’t see the excitement in his green eyes. “Besides, the good stuff takes time to order.”

    The store was massive, with different sections for furniture, clothes, toys, and feeding supplies. Everything was disyed in little mock nurseries that made my heart leap and my mind race with all kinds of ideas for our future baby’s room.

    “Alpha Alexander! Luna E!” A cheerful woman in her fifties approached us with a clipboard. “I’m so honored that you’re considering my humble shop for your little heir.”

    “Hardly humble,” Iughed, gesturing around at the massive space and making the woman blush.

    Alexander ced his arm around my shoulders, and now I was the one who was blushing. “We’re just looking for the essentials for now. Crib, changing table, that sort of thing. But I only want the best.”

    “Wonderful! Congrattions. When are you due?”

    “January,” I said.

    “Perfect timing for our holiday sales.” She gestured for us to follow her toward the furniture section. “Let me show you some of our most popr pieces.”

    For the next hour, we wandered through disys of cribs and dressers and rocking chairs. Alexander was surprisingly opinionated about everything, rejecting anything that looked “flimsy” or “impractical.”

    He spent twenty minutes examining the safety features on one crib before finally approving of the locking mechanism.

    “This onei,/i” he said decisively, running his hand along the smooth wood of a beautiful cherry crib. “What do you think?”

    I had to admit it was gorgeous. ssic but not fussy, with clean lines and expert woodworking. “I love it.”

    i“/iiWe’ll /itake it. And we’ll need the matching changing table,” Alexander told the sales associate without hesitation, “When can you deliver?”

    “For the full set? About six weeks.”

    “Perfect.”

    I was starting to understand why people said pregnant women nested. There was something deeply satisfying about picking out furniture for our baby, even if we wouldn’t need it for months.

    There was also something deeply satisfying about seeing Alexander in such a state of glee.

    We were debating the merits of different rocking chairs when I heard amotion near the front of the store. Voices, car doors mming, the sound of running feet.

    “Oh my Goddess, is that really them?”

    b“/bI told you they were here!”

    “They’re buying baby stuff! This is so cute!”

    Alexander and I exchanged a look of horror as a group of about ten people burst through the store entrance, phones already out and recording.

    “Luna E! Alpha Alexander! Can you tell us about the baby?”

    “When are you due?”

    “What are you hoping for, a boy or a girl?”

    The sales associate looked panicked as the fans swarmed toward us, knocking over a disy of stuffed animals in their

    excitement.

    “Fuck,” Alexander muttered under his breath. He grabbed my hand and steered me toward the back of the store. “Is there another exit?” he whispered to the associate.

    “Service entrance,” the woman stammered. “Through the stockroom.”

    We hurried through a door marked “Employees Onlyi” /ias the crowd grew louder behind us. I could hear the store manager trying to restore order, but it wasn’t working.

    The service entrance led to an alley behind the building where Gabriel was already waiting with the car running.

    How did they know we were here?” I asked as we climbed into the backseat.

    “Social media,” Gabriel said grimly, pulling out of the alley. “Someone posted about seeing you at the doctor’s office, and it spread from there.”

    “Goddess.” Alexander’s serene smile had been reced by a look of utter disappointment. “Can’t we buy baby furniture without it bing a spectacle?”

    “Apparently not.” Gabriel nced at us in the rearview mirror, eyes briefly meeting mine. “Maybe from now on you should just order everything from a catalog.”

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!