Ainsley placed her hand over mine, and for long seconds we just lay there in silence, basking in the fact that things were good. Really good.
I rubbed my hand over her belly for several long seconds, and then I answered, “I better start cleaning my shotgun for when boys come knocking for dates with her.”
Ainsley snorted. “That’s a ways off, and by then you’ll be too old to care.”
I grumbled out, “Never. I’ll be ninety, and in a wheelchair, and still expecting she’s a virgin and guys are smart enough to stay away.”
Ainsley laughed and snuggled in closer to me.
“One thing for certain is you’ll be the fiercest dad around.”
“Damn right,” I affirmed.
I kept my hand on my mate’s belly, felt our daughter kick again, and knew I’d protect what was mine at all costs.
Every day I loved her more. She was my mate, my wife, the very reason I breathed. I’d die for her if it meant she and our children were safe and happy.
“Do I make you happy?” I asked softly. It had been years since we’d mated, but even still I needed to hear her say it.
After a second she pushed herself up and braced her upper body on her elbow, staring at me. “Every day I’m happier than the last,” she whispered and leaned down to kiss me soundly. “You make me happy,” she said against my mouth. “You’re such a good husband, a wonderful father, and an incredible mate.” She pulled back and looked down at me. “I love you, Asher.”
“And I love you,” I growled out. I cupped the back of her head and pulled her an inch closer. For long seconds I just kissed her, pleased when she melted against me. “You and our children are my life. I’d do anything for you.”
I slid my hand down the back of her head and to her nape. Then I moved my palm to the side of her throat and ran my thumb along the mark on her neck. It would stay with her forever, a reminder, a warning to all others that she was taken. I pulled her closer and just held her. She was mine and nothing would take that away. It had been years since we’d mated, and things had changed for us so much in that time. But it had all been for the best. All of it.
“Momma.”
The sound of Max’s little voice had Ainsley stirring and then sitting up. Max stood by the doorway rubbing his eyes, his tiger-striped pajamas disarrayed because he’d probably been tossing and turning, something he’d been doing since he started shifting. It was normal, natural, and in time he’d come to understand he didn’t have to fight with his bear.
Parenting was hard, the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life if I were being honest, but damn, was it rewarding.
“Come here, baby.” She held her arms out to him and he ran to her, climbing up on the bed and snuggling in closer. Max was definitely a momma’s boy, bear shifter or not.
Our three-year-old rambunctious little bear shifter was the spitting image of me. Even right down to when he shifted into his bear. I admitted that made me proud, happy, and I felt like I was on the top of the fucking world. To look into the eyes of your child and see yourself was … well, it was pretty damn incredible.
I wrapped my arm around Ainsley when she rested back on the bed, and moved my fingers through Max’s dark blond hair. He was already falling asleep.
I had a beautiful family, a healthy son, a daughter on the way, and my mate was healthy, content, and cared for. That’s all I could ask for, hope for.
These two, soon to be three, people were my world, and nothing and no one would ever change that.
I was content, my bear was whole, and I knew as time passed my love for Ainsley and our children would grow exponentially. I felt it increase every day, so much so I didn’t even know how I could contain it all.
I held Ainsley, Max curled up beside her, and felt myself start to drift off to sleep. I kept my hand on her belly, rubbing it slowly, smiling softly.
This was what it meant to find your mate and finally be complete, finally have purpose.
I had that and I was never letting it go.
The End