Page 46 of Targeted By Love
“This isn’t going to work.”
I stepped back and took in the entire far wall, section by section. We’d ordered a few different wallpapers for the nursery. For some reason, I had convinced myself that wallpaper would look better than paint or a mural. And maybe it would, but right now, it all felt wrong.
“I kind of like the one with the animals.” Maynard wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
He was right. It was the best of them. I wasn’t necessarily sure that made it great.
“What if we try it in the other color they had with the same pattern?” His idea had merit, but would also require waiting for it to come in, and we were already running shorter on time than I’d like. I didn’t want to add another month.
I’d discovered an artist who designed wallpaper, both custom and pre-made. Each and every one of them was stunning, and selecting the handful we had here hadn’t been easy. But choosing from them wasn’t a walk in the park either. It turnedout I didn’t do well with too many choices. Currently, we had six different panels on the wall, and none of them felt right.
“Maybe I should just paint the whole room yellow,” I muttered.
“Yellow?”
“Yeah, yellow. It’s supposed to make you happy or calm or… I don’t know what. All my classrooms in elementary school were yellow. I figured there was a reason.”
“It had probably been on sale.”
I chuckled at that.
My mate placed his hand on my belly, which had grown to be the size of Nebraska. I still had a couple of months to go before the baby came, but no one could look at me and not know I was pregnant. A few people even asked if I was past my due date. Awkward.
“Is the little one awake?”
“No, they’re napping because they’re smarter than me.” They had two modes: kickboxing or sleeping. There was no in between.
“Let me know when they wake up?” My mate loved feeling our baby move. It was absolutely freaking adorable.
“Promise.”
We went back and forth on the wallpaper, getting nowhere fast.
“How about this? We hire a decorator, show them what we like, and let them figure it out.” My mate was attempting to help, and I did appreciate that, but this was something I wanted us to do. It was too impersonal any other way.
“No. I have a better idea.”
He raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “And that better idea would be?”
“I find a sexy alpha to take me out to lunch and then to the baby store on Fifth. We’ll buy furniture for this room, and once the furniture is in, we’ll see which wallpaper goes best with it.”
Originally, I thought we’d finish the walls first and then pick the furniture to match, but that wasn’t working, and time was ticking. Maybe all we needed was a reversal.
“Sure. If you want to go find a sexy alpha, go ahead. Call one of my brothers if you want,” he teased.
I swatted him playfully. “Really? What would you do if I actually took you up on that?”
“Take both of you out for lunch.” He half shrugged.
We stopped for dumplings—my latest craving. I’d already eaten them for breakfast and dinner the day before, and lunch before that, and breakfast before that. It had been at least three days of nothing but dumplings. But I paired them with green smoothies, so I figured that balanced things out.
I subscribed to the “if I’m craving it, the baby needs it” mentality. Whenever I tried to follow a strict, balanced meal plan, I was miserable, my body still begging me for whatever it was currently fixated on. It wasn’t sustainable. This was better, and according to the midwife, baby and I were both healthy.
The baby store took up the entire block. Unlike big-box stores, it was family-owned and had been there forever. They carried everything, from the standard items you’d find anywhere to handmade, one-of-a-kind pieces according to their website.
We walked in hand in hand, and I was immediately overwhelmed by the selection. The website hadn’t done it justice. This place was intense in the very best of ways.
“They need a map,” I joked.