They ended up in one of the living rooms on the ground floor, Caspian proudly wearing one of the colorful headbands Lake bought for him.
They had so much to talk about, despite the pregnancy being an unplanned one, Lake loved his baby and his mate, but he really wanted to complain to someone about the troubles of being pregnant.
He was a bit hesitant at first, well aware that he had exactly what Caspian wished for but couldn’t get. He wasn’t that unfeeling that he would rub it in his friend’s face, even if he didn’t mean it that way.
Caspian snorted, "Of course, I don’t mind," He waved his friend’s worries away when Lake gently explained his misgivings. "I’m the one being nosey for details anyway. Let’s say I’m living vicariously through you..."
That was all Lake needed to uncork the bottle, "...I wanted to eat nothing but spicy food after we got to the island, I don’t even like spicy food." He complained energetically. "...And there was a week I was constantly sleeping, it nearly made Davian worry himself sick..."
There was a long list of complaints where those came from, things he would never say to Davian because that would just stress his poor mate bald.
Caspian took his complaints in stride, and a few conversation changes later, they were discussing the best brand of nipple pads.
Even when it was time for lunch, no one wanted to interrupt their conversation, so a maid just brought in their meals in the living room, leaving them to each other’s company.
After a hearty lunch, Lake picked up his phone and glanced at it. "How do you think the meeting with Nikolai is going?" Their mates had been gone all morning.
The bright, cheery air in the room was shattered by that, the grim reminder of the war looming over them was enough to ruin any atmosphere.
"Good, hopefully. Asher says it’s not going to be a big deal, but I think he just doesn’t want me to worry." Caspian sighed.
Lake placed a comforting hand over his, "It really shouldn’t be a big deal, is probably what he meant, but the High Council doesn’t play fair."
Caspian knew that well, he had nothing but traumatizing experiences with the High Council. They would lie and falsify records to benefit themselves, he had zero faith in the powerful governing body.
The gloomy atmosphere cleared up immediately after dessert was brought in. Katya had been more than happy to make some desserts with spice in them for Lake.
Caspian tried some of the spiced chocolate fudge and grimaced, it wasn’t bad, but he wouldn’t willingly eat more.
Lake, on the other hand, was over the moon, his fingers messy as he dug into the sweet and spicy dessert. "Do you really need Katya?" He had to ask, his greedy face stained with chocolate.
Caspian took out wet wipes with a smile, helping Lake clean his face. "I’m sure she would be happy to come cook for you, but Davian wouldn’t be."
A light bulb went off behind Lake’s eyes, he had almost forgotten that his lovely mate would cook whatever he wanted for him. "Then just the recipe from her should be fine."
Caspian rose to his feet to personally get it, "Do you also want me to ask her if there’s more spiced chocolate fudge?"
"Yes, please," Lake eagerly agreed with a mouth full of fudge, his face getting messy again.
It was like the best of both worlds, he would eat only this for a week if his mate would let him.
"Be right back," Caspian tossed over a shoulder and headed out.
Katya seemed to have been expecting him, the cook already had another tray set out, and more yet in a neat bag. "Lake wants more, no?"
"He does," Caspian said with a smile, "And he also wanted your spicy fudge recipe."
"I could teach Alpha Davian to make it himself if he likes," She offered generously, "That would be worth more than just a plain ole’ recipe."
Caspian knew that Davian would definitely like that, so he agreed without needing to consult Lake.
Rosie snuck into the kitchen for more treats then. Patty had now fully moved into the mansion, so no doubt they had been hanging out in the Beta’s room while Rosie was over.
"Ooh, what’s this?" She asked with wide eyes, peeking over Caspian’s shoulder. "Fudge? I didn’t know there was fudge."
"It’s spicy fudge, it’s for Lake, you can’t have any." Caspian was quick to cut her plans short, hastily leaving the kitchen so that Katya would have to be the one to deal with her adorable greed.
Lake was exactly where he had left him, if only a bit messier, the clips in his hair doing a great job of keeping the chocolate fudge out of his hair. The chocolate fudge had been covered in spiced chocolate sauce, which was where things started to go wrong.
He handed over the new tray and took his seat, "Katya said she doesn’t mind teaching Davian in person."
"I’ll stay until Davian calls, then I’ll get him to come over to learn how to make them right away."
Caspian frowned, "Don’t eat any more for dinner, Lake," He cautioned, getting a sense of deja vu.
Rosie was exactly the same, it made him say a silent prayer for Davian, the Alpha had his hands completely full between the two of them.
"It’s just dessert," Lake reassured him, guiltily looking away. "It’s not like I’m going to have just fudge for dinner."
Caspian narrowed his eyes, having a feeling that Lake was denying the very thing he planned to do.
A call interrupted his next words, Lake eagerly picking up so he could make his mate come over. Caspian sighed and glanced at his own phone, he might have to call to apologize to Davian after.
"He’s on his way over," Lake informed him, "Asher too. We’ll find out how the meeting went in a bit."