His Nanny Mate By Eve Above Story
Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Chapter 77: A Compromise

Edrick

In her fit of anger, Moana threw a pillow, of all things, on the floor. She stood there silently after she didit, breathing heavily through flaring nostrils with her fists clenched at her sides. At that moment, shelooked adorably small and helpless, like an angry child. But she wasn’t a child; she was a woman, andmy actions had upset her.

For some reason, seeing Moana act so passionately made me want to hold her. Without a word, Iwalked past the discarded pillow and pulled her tightly into my arms.

She stiffened at first, shocked by my sudden display of affection, before she finally relaxed into me. Herpetite body pressing against me made me feel warm all over, and for a long time, I just held her there inthe middle of the living room. I didn’t want to get too close, but I couldn’t deny the feeling of her slightlyprotruding belly against me combined with her fluttering heartbeat. For a brief moment, I thought aboutour fated one night stand that resulted in her unexpected pregnancy. It started to make me a littlearoused, admittedly, but I quickly pushed those thoughts back down and just focused instead of makingthe mother of my baby relax.

As I hugged her, however, I was suddenly alerted to an oddly familiar smell. I couldn’t quite place myfinger on it at first, but it grew just a little stronger, and I suddenly came to the realization that it was thesame scent that I picked up at the maze all of those weeks ago. Just as quickly as it came, however, itsuddenly faded.

I stopped hugging her and pulled away, looking down at her with narrow eyes. That scent was sodistinct, and it was sweet. That day at the maze, I thought that it might have even been my mate’sscent, but that was impossible; Moana was a human. Was she hiding something from me?

“What’s wrong?” Moana asked, looking up at me with innocent confusion written across her face.

She looked genuine. I didn’t think that she had anything to hide; maybe it was just some perfume thatshe used on occasion and it was nothing more than that.

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head and taking a step back.

Neither of us spoke for a few moments until Moana finally said, “I’m sorry I got so worked up.” Shesolemnly walked over to the pillow that she had thrown on the floor and picked it up, setting it backdown in its rightful place on the couch with a sheepish expression on her face.

I shrugged. “It’s alright.”

Moana stared at the floor for a little bit. My own mind felt as though it was whirling around with a milliondifferent thoughts. I knew that I was being a jerk for not telling my mother about the baby, and formaking Moana feel so badly. But at the same time, I was a werewolf from a highly esteemed family.Even though I did like Moana and enjoyed her company, I could never be so forthcoming publicly with ahuman nanny.

“Well… Goodnight,” Moana said quietly before turning and walking toward her bedroom.

I stared after her for a moment, biting my lip as I watched her go.

“Wait.”

She froze when I called out to her, then slowly turned to face me.

“You know I’ll love our baby just as much as I love Ella,” I said, swallowing my pride. “I’m sorry that Imade you think that I wouldn’t. My mother only put me on the spot yesterday, but… I know I shouldhave just told her. If it’s important to you, we can tell her together tomorrow. But we can’t tell my fatheryet.”

Moana’s demeanor seemed to soften a bit at my words. She nodded slightly to herself, staring at thefloor, before lifting her gaze to meet mine. “Thank you,” she said. “I’d like that.”

I managed a weak smile. Moana smiled a little in response, but quickly turned on her heel andretreated to her bedroom just as something indiscernible began to show in her eyes. I sighed as I heardher bedroom door click shut before I finally decided to try to get some sleep myself.

Sleep didn’t come easily, however. Even with my sleeping pills, I laid awake that night thinking aboutwhat I would say to my mother, and how she would react — especially when I would tell her not to saya word to my father. My mother was a kind and compassionate woman, but she also had her limits as awealthy werewolf, and I wasn’t entirely certain that she would be particularly thrilled by the news. At thevery least, there was some comfort in knowing that she would still support my decision. Not only that,but it was a comfort to know that it would make Moana happy. I didn’t want to cause her too muchstress for the baby’s sake.

That night, as I laid awake, there was one other thing that kept floating through my mind.

What was that scent, and why was it so sweet to me?

…

The following afternoon, I kept through with my promise about telling my mother about the baby. Weinvited my mother out for lunch to tell her the news at a nearby restaurant, but told her specifically tocome alone. I knew that she already had an idea about what we were going to tell her, but if she did,she didn’t say anything about it. I always appreciated that about my mother.

When we arrived, my mother was already sitting at a table outside. It was a well-to-do establishmentthat was heavily frequented by other celebrities, so I felt comfortable taking my mask off when Moanaand I sat down.

“Hello, dear,” my mother said to Moana, squeezing her hand. Her eyes momentarily flickered down toMoana’s belly, but she quickly looked away and smiled. “I hope you don’t mind, but I already orderedtea.”

“Thank you, Verona,” Moana replied with a somewhat stiff smile. I could tell that she felt a bituncomfortable in a wealthy establishment like this, but I’d made sure to have her get dressedappropriately, so she didn’t look terribly out of place. Of course, there were a few strange looks as itwas rare for a human to dine here, but no one was going to make a fuss about it with my mother and Ihere.

The waiter quickly returned with our tea, then took our lunch orders. We made small talk while wewaited for our food and ate pleasantly when our food came, but I could feel that the tension in the airwas thick. The tension was only growing thicker by the minute as my mother no doubt began to cometo her own conclusions in her head about why we were here, and Moana seemed to be gettingimpatient beside me, so I decided that it was time to get it over with.

“Mom, Moana and I have something to tell you,” I said, staring down at my plate as my heart quickeneda bit. My mother raised an eyebrow when I looked up at her.

“You were right the other day. Moana is pregnant with my child.”