Page 44 of Knot Convenient

I picked out a few that had moving flaps in the pages and one that had a mirror on each page that tied in with the story. Milo loved mirrors, and it was adorable to watch him whack at it as he saw himself. I just needed to make sure he didn’t chow down on these. Books frequently became a chew toy.

With books in hand, I exited the library, carrying Milo on my other hip. My eyes instantly fell on the brightly colored bakery next door as I stepped into the sunny street. I had noticed it on the way in, but I’d wanted to get the books before diving into delicious treats.

“Hey there! What can I get for you today?” a sweet voice asked as I opened the door. A woman, roughly my age, with her hair in a neat, no-nonsense ponytail, wearing casual clothing and covered in an apron, smiled at me. “Who is this adorable little boy?” she cooed as I came up to the counter.

“This is Milo.” I beamed.

“Well, hello, Milo, I’m Audrey.”

“Hi, Audrey. Can I get a lemon bar and one of the little bags of meringue cookies?” Milo gnawed on my finger as I ordered, and I was reminded of just how strong his bite was.

“Sure thing, and I’ll toss in one of our shortbread cookies too. They’re great for teething babies. At least, according to the moms who keep ordering them.”

I smiled, thanking her profusely, and paid, then headed down to the other end of the counter to wait for my order. After just a few minutes, she was back with a large paper bag for me, and I reached over the extremely full counter to grab it.

“Well, hope you enjoy. You be sure to share those meringue cookies with Daddy, little dude.”

The comment caught me off guard, but I didn’t say anything. It wasn’t like I was going to give a stranger the entire history of my situation. I just smiled and said thank you again, taking Milo out of the store so that we could finish our errands for the day.

Despite only going to two different places, I was exhausted. Milo wasn’t faring much better, falling asleep on my hip, burying his little face into my chest.

It was almost time to get him back for his nap, but I needed to make sure I got my heat suppressants before we went back.

The pharmacy was just like the rest of the town, quaint and beautiful. The outside of the building was brick, and inside, there were short rows of all the over-the-counter medicines set before a small counter at the back. It was quiet, and it looked like about four or five people were working.

As I walked up to the counter, a young blonde beta with glasses greeted me.

“Hello.” I smiled. “Sorry to bother you. I’m new to town, and I need to get my prescription sorted out.”

“We can do that. Do you have the prescription on you?” She raised her brows and held out her hand, looking for me to hand something over.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell. “I have it on my phone; is that okay?”

“Sure, if you can⁠—”

“Summer?” a familiar voice said as Tobias poked his head out from around one of the doors at the back. At the sight of me, his face lit up, and I just gaped at him. Without hesitating, he walked toward me, dodging around the counter and scooping Milo out of my arms. “What are you two doing here?”

“I just need to pick up a prescription, and I didn’t think that you would be here. Like at this pharmacy… I should have realized.” I smiled softly, cheeks heating.

While I was happy to see Tobias—he was a ray of sunshine—I was considerably embarrassed at the fact that he would see what I was getting a prescription for. I shouldn’t have been, of course. We were mates. It was just a little weird since we were all still getting to know each other.

“Alex will take care of that,” he said, nodding at his colleague and declaring, “I’m taking my break now, so I can spend some time with my mate.”

As soon as he said the word mate, it was like a bomb had gone off. Every employee paused and looked at us, their eyes wide, a few mouths falling open.

“You’re mated?!” a middle-aged woman behind the counter exclaimed.

Tobias beamed, throwing an arm around me. “I am! This is Summer.”

“Dude! Why didn’t you say?” Alex asked, looking especially flustered.

“It’s new,” he said, shrugging.

I stood there, pressed into his side, my face probably bright red. He had eagerly and excitedly claimed me as his mate…in front of everyone he worked with. It felt good but also slightly overwhelming. It was obvious from the matching looks of shock and surprise that they had no idea what had happened recently in Tobias’s life.

“And who’s currently trying to eat your pens?” the older woman said, and we both shot a look down at Milo.

“Whoops. Don’t eat those, buddy.” Tobias grinned, took out the pens, and set them on the counter. I reached inside my bag for that shortbread biscuit and gave it to him. “This is Milo. He is the cutest little piranha you will ever see!”