Leslie tried to pretend she hadn’t noticed the moment that passed between the two of them, that moment when he seemed to realize that he was responsible for a tiny person in his arms and appreciate how precious a gift that was.
When bedtime rolled around, she tried to rest so that she would be fresh for their trip. His pack wasn’t far away, only about an hour from his cabin. Hopefully, the girls would sleep. He had purchased a three-deep stroller for them. For humans, it might seem odd to see triplets, but at the gathering, they would be quite common as Omegas were known to have multiple births. It was what made them so popular with the Alpha males. What they lacked in strength, they made up for in adding numbers to the pack.
Centuries ago, that was important to keeping large armies to fight. Now, it was not so much about need as it was about status. Unfortunately, it also became a symbol of masculinity and power for Alphas to have large families, and many Alphas cared more about how many children they could create than helping with them or concerning themselves with the Omega’s thoughts on a large family. It wasn’t uncommon for them to be little more than incubators for the pack. The fact that Tucker was childless spoke volumes to her. He was not inclined to just procreate for the sake of appearance or prowess, which is why he had needed her.
After some tossing and turning, she finally drifted off. When she awoke, it was to the tune of her alarm squawking at her. Leslie blinked, not used to waking to an alarm. She had slept with the baby monitor off since Marla was in charge of the girls, knowing she would wake her up if necessary for anything. Usually, she would have been woken up by the girls at least a couple of times by now. Climbing out of bed, she put on her robe and walked down the hall to look at the babies. They were all sound asleep.
Making her way back to her room, she ran into Tucker, approaching from the other direction. He stopped her, a small box in his hand.
“Good, you’re up. I almost forgot something. I need you to wear a ring.”
“You gave me a ring,” she said, holding up her hand to show him the plain golden band that matched his own.
In the process, her robe fell open, exposing the thin cotton undershirt and panties she wore beneath. Her nipples pressed against the thin material, making them hard not to notice. Tucker’s eyes fell in their direction before he quickly averted them, stumbling a bit over his words as she yanked her robe closed and tied the belt a bit tighter.
“Um, I . . . Uh, this is my grandmother’s ring, her engagement ring. They’ll be surprised if you aren’t wearing it. The wedding band was fine for around here, but there, it would be noticed.”
“Oh, I see,” she said, noting that he had returned his gaze to her face, but was doing his best not to look lower. It was as if he was looking past her head to the wall just beyond. “I hope it fits.”
“It should. It’s the same size as the wedding band.”
“Okay,” she said, accepting the box without opening it.
“I’ll let you get dressed,” he said, making a hasty retreat down the hallway.
Back in her room, Leslie opened the box and looked at the ring. It was gorgeous, not your typical engagement ring. Instead of a diamond solitaire, there was a large rectangular aquamarine stone surrounded by smaller diamond accents. The band was gold with an ornate scroll pattern around it and the setting. She slipped it on her finger and it fit perfectly. Taking it back off, she slipped it back in the box and went to shower, enjoying the rare opportunity to get showered and dressed at a leisurely pace, something unheard of with the triplets’ reliance on her.
Usually, even with Marla there, she felt in a hurry to get herself together to feed the girls, as she didn’t like feeding them anymore bottled milk than she had to. She knew there was nothing wrong with that. In fact, she’d be doing it some today – or rather, Tucker would be - and sometimes had to if she was light on milk and ran out before they were all fed. Instead, she expressed her heavy breasts and took the milk to the nursery fridge before returning to do her hair and makeup. She’d be more than ready to feed them naturally by the time they were hungry again.
An hour later, she and Tucker were sat in the kitchen, having a light breakfast of bacon, toast and eggs. He looked as nervous as she felt, but he said nothing about it. Instead, he focused on his food. She saw him glance toward her hand, as if to make sure she was wearing the ring.