by Meg Bawden
Dad and Papa admitted they were giving their relationship another go, and while they hadn’t told me why Papa had left Marc, I had a feeling I knew why. He’d always been a violent man, and when my parents divorced, I went with Papa for a few years. I met Marc when they’d first begun dating. I was eighteen and going off to college for the first time, and I was glad for it because I didn’t like him from the beginning. He clearly hated that Papa had a child from his previous marriage. I had an inkling about Marc, though, with the way his moods changed dramatically in seconds, and I should have noticed the signs. But I hadn’t. My focus centered around getting away from Papa, my anger at him dominant in my mind.
I apologized to Papa, even though he hadn’t told me exactly what happened, and it earned me a kiss on the forehead and an “It’s fine, baby boy” in response. It wasn’t fine, though.
After we finished our drinks, we started to head out. We all said our goodbyes to Teddy and strode out onto the warm sidewalk of Main Street.
“I forgot what it’s like in Cherry Hollow. I miss it.” Papa breathed in deeply, the muscles in his face relaxing. I knew that feeling well. There wasn’t anything quite like the smell of cherry trees. Hawthorne had never been the same. I didn’t know why they chose to move to Hawthorne in the first place.
“Move back here,” I suggested.
Dad and Papa glanced at each other and something passed between them. Dad turned to me. “Would you mind if we did?”
“I wouldn’t mind.” I grinned. “I’d actually like it.”
Smiles covered both their faces.
“You’d get to see your grandson grow up,” I continued, touching my belly again. I couldn’t stop. Each day he grew bigger, and as time passed, I found my hands wandering to my belly, cupping and stroking. Most times, they were joined by Bristol’s and Blair’s hands too.
“We’d really like that.” Papa clapped his hands together. “So I hate to ask, but which one is Blair and which is Bristol?”
We all laughed, and Bristol introduced himself, explaining his affinity for plaid.
“In other words, I’m the one with style,” Blair teased.
Bristol punched him on the arm. “Plaid is stylish.”
“For a ninety-year-old grandpa.”
“Boys.” My warning was accompanied with a kiss on each of their lips.
“Fucking disgusting.”
The whispered insult made me jerk to a stop, and I glanced around, my gaze falling on a tall, skinny man leaning against the wall. His narrowed eyes pointedly stared at my stomach, a cigarette caught between the side of his lips.
“I’m sorry, did you say something?” I snapped before I could stop myself. Mayor, I reminded myself. Professionalism was needed.
“Yeah, I called you fucking disgusting.” The man shoved himself away from the wall, and as if moving on instinct, Bristol and Blair slotted themselves in front of me, their width hiding me from the heckler.
“You need to stand down,” Blair said in a low tone.
“Fuck you. Ya’ll disgusting. Do you two sinners fuck each other too? Ya’ll brothers.” Through the space between my alphas’ bodies, I saw him wave his hand between Bristol and Blair. “Sharing one omega. Fucking disgusting.”
“Mind your own business,” Bristol snapped, his shoulder bumping Blair’s, as though they were making a wall in front of me. But it wasn’t just them, either. Dad had taken Blair’s other side, while Papa joined Bristol.
“I think that’s quite enough. Go back to what you were doing before you chose to be rude.” This came from Papa.
The man caught his cigarette between his fingers and threw it. It hit Bristol on the face, and all hell broke loose. Blair acted like a wild animal, surging forward to grab the man by the collar, but when his arm snapped back to get some leverage behind his punch, Bristol grabbed it, stopping him from striking the other man.
“It’s not worth it, Blair. Think of Grayson’s career.”
Blair buzzed with fury, his entire body taut and on point. I held my breath, waiting, because as much as I wanted to get involved, my arms had secured around my belly and instincts told me to protect our son. Dad and Papa stepped forward, Dad’s hand on Blair’s shoulder.
“He’s not worth it, son.”
Blair’s muscles relaxed, and the heckler, who’d been cowering like the weakling he really was, straightened. He muttered something I couldn’t hear and took off. He didn’t get far because a police cruiser turned the corner, and when someone on the street pointed at the heckler, Lawson Fisher shot out of the car, grabbing him and slamming him on the hood of the vehicle. I watched, unable to look away as Trent Miller-Fisher, now back in his sheriff position, followed Lawson out and supervised the arrest. I couldn’t hear him from here, but I imagined Trent was reading him his rights.
When they had him in the back of the cruiser, they both strode toward us, the brown uniforms looking good on both of them. I’m glad I managed to get Trent back into his former position.
“Everything okay here, Mr. Mayor?” Trent asked as soon as he stopped in front of me. He held himself tall, even though his alpha husband stood taller than him. Silver had begun to show at the hair on his temples, but I supposed having three kids, two who were twins, would do that to a person. Lawson and Trent were good people, though.
“I’m fine, thank you. How did you know?” I crowded closer to my men.
“A citizen called it in immediately. We were only around the corner.” Trent’s stare dropped to Blair’s and Bristol’s arms, which had snaked around my waist from either side of me.
“Sheriff, you know Bristol and Blair Scott.”
Trent nodded. “I do. I knew your parents very well.” He shook each of their hands, before Lawson did the same. “It’s my job to protect everyone in this town, Grayson. If anyone’s giving you trouble, you let me know. What Bob there did was assault. Can we move ahead in pressing charges, Bristol?”
Bristol looked ready to hesitate, but Blair spoke up instead. “Yeah, he wants to press charges. We need to let the town know that even though Grayson is in the public eye, it doesn’t mean anyone has the right to hurt him or us. He’s still their mayor, and we’re Grayson’s partners.”
“You’ll hear no arguments from us.” Lawson smirked. “Bob’s a bigmouth anyway. We’ll happily throw him in the cell and toss away the key.”
“Which we can’t do as he will need to go to court and be judged.” Trent sent his husband a narrowed look that made us laugh.
“By my papa.” Lawson waggled his eyebrows. “I can whisper a few things in Papa’s ear.”
Trent appeared ready to explode. I knew he took his job and the law very seriously, so I chose to step in.
“That’s quite okay, Deputy. The judge can decide to punish Bob how he feels is fit for the crime. We don’t need any favors.”
Lawson laughed when Trent smacked him on the arm. He ran a hand through his short brown hair, before grabbing the sunglasses that hung on his uniform and slid them on his nose. Even though he and Trent had years between them, they really were perfect for each other. The yin to the other’s yang. The way they raised their three kids was all the proof anyone would need. “What have I told you before, Deputy? No favors.”
“Yes, Sheriff.” Then he turned to me. “It’s good to have him back.”
I snorted. “I bet.”
Bristol
Thirty-seven weeks. That’s how far along Grayson was, and I felt like my life was a seesaw, tipping from one side to the other, because every morning I woke up with an unwell feeling in my stomach. Anxiety, Doctor Tanner had called it the last time we saw her. Apparently that’s what happened when you were about to become a father.
At least I wasn’t the only one feeling it. Blair tried to keep his cool, but I could see the strain in his face, as though he couldn’t decide whether to barf or pass out completely. He spent more time with Grayson, seeing that our omega was still at work, doing his job as mayor. He attended in
terviews as well, but they had to come to him rather than the other way round. Blair said it should have been slowing down by now, but if anything, it intensified. Omega right advocates wanted Grayson to run for president.
Cherry Hollow still loved him. When he gave a speech at the Cherry Festival, they’d gone crazy, cheering him on as though he was a rock star, not a mayor. I didn’t blame them, though. Grayson’s charisma charmed even the sourest horse in the barn, which might have been Lolly.
“Bristol, can you bring me a drink of water? I don’t think I can get up.”
I didn’t waste any time. Grabbing the purified water out of the fridge, I poured him a glass and rushed toward the living room where Grayson currently sat on the couch. He grumbled, and I think I heard him mentioning something about being fat.
“Here, love.” I handed him the glass and took the seat next to him, my hand automatically going to his very rounded belly and stroking.
He sighed. “I’m a whale.”
“You’re not.” I kissed his shirt-covered stomach, just to prove a point. “That’s our baby in there.”
Grayson laid his hand over mine and then grimaced. He’d been getting Braxton-Hicks contractions for the last month now, and the doctor assured us it was normal. I didn’t know who reacted worse whenever Grayson doubled over: me or Blair. Maybe both of us.
“Pain?” I grabbed some moisturizer we kept in each room and raised his shirt. Squeezing some onto his stomach, I rubbed it carefully, soothing the skin with soft, gentle strokes of my fingers.
Grayson leaned farther back into the sofa, moaning quietly. “That’s good.”
“Have you spoken to your parents today?”
He let out a little laugh. “Yeah. Dad’s moved the last of their stuff into the house. Now Papa’s taken over. You know what he’s like with decorating.”
Did I ever. When Grayson had told his parents he was giving up the mansion to them, they’d lost their minds. His papa had tried to protest, but Grayson wasn’t hearing it. When Gabriel Briggs realized he wasn’t going to win the argument, he joined Blair and I in moving Grayson’s most important possessions to the farmhouse. Then, he fully took over, nearly redoing the entire farmhouse in designs we could have paid an interior designer to do. He was talented, I had to give him that. He’d also been respectful, though, keeping certain areas the way they were, when Blair and I asked him to because those areas were our memories of our own parents.
The front door opened, and Blair strode in, dropping his briefcase on the floor near the coatrack, which would be a disaster when Grayson saw it. He hated Blair leaving it there. He shifted farther into the room, greeting Grayson with a kiss.
“Hey, babe. How are you feeling?” He fell to his knees and kissed his belly, ignoring the cream I’d just rubbed into Grayson’s skin.
“I can’t see my dick,” Grayson answered.
Blair and I chuckled.
“But we can.” He tugged at Grayson’s sweatpants, and I might have rolled my eyes if my gaze hadn’t been so intent on the dick that popped free from them. Half hard and flushed, it made my mouth water.
Blair took the head of Grayson’s cock into his mouth, sucking on it gently, his tongue flicking over the slit. Grayson leaned back on the couch, back arched and mouth parted in pleasure. He moaned when Blair sucked the entire length. I could imagine it hitting the back of his throat.
My own cock hardened at what was happening and I slipped to my knees, beside Blair, and cupped Grayson’s balls. I rolled them in my hand while Blair continued to suck and nibble and lick.
Grayson made some of the most beautiful sounds I’d ever heard, his knees shaking and toes curling against the carpet of the living room. “Please.”
“Please what?” I asked for Blair, knowing his mouth was too full at the moment. My fingers dipped lower, touching the hole that clenched and unclenched, begging for attention. “Tell us what you need, baby.”
“You. I need you both. Please.”
I added pressure to his hole and my finger slipped inside, guided by the natural slick his body provided. It was never as much as when he was in heat, but in that moment, it’s all we needed. He groaned at my breach, and I didn’t hold back. I added another finger, fucking him with my thick digits while Blair let Grayson use his mouth.
Spitting in my palm, I slid my hand past the waistband of my pants—luckily I’d chosen to wear sweatpants too—and grabbed hold of my cock. I pumped myself in time with my own fingers, working his hole until he spasmed around me, his back arched and a raw yell leaving his throat. I swore I heard Blair choke around Grayson’s cum, but he merely wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and got to his feet, sitting on his knees on the couch beside Grayson.
At some point he’d undone his belt and zipper, his hard length in his hand, jerking it hard. He cursed, and then his cock twitched, cum shooting from the slit and covering Grayson’s stomach. He waved me up, and I knew what he wanted.
Settling on the other side of our omega, I jerked hard and fast, but the moment Grayson touched my balls, I knew it was all over. My orgasm hit me like an eighteen-ton truck, and I swore my world went black before I came, semen spurting from me and landing beside Blair’s.
My body went limp and I collapsed on the couch, chest heaving as I searched for air. I watched as Blair rubbed our combined cum into the skin of Grayson’s stomach, and as possessive as it seemed, something jumped excitedly inside me as he marked Grayson as ours. Our omega.
“Did you both just come on me?” Grayson grinned, his gaze flickering between us. He didn’t look upset by the prospect, either.
Blair merely smirked. “Would we do that?”
“That’s a trick question, right? I don’t think—” Grayson grimaced, but this time he bowed over, arms curled around his stomach. “Fuck.”
Blair and I surged forward, hands touching him. “Are you okay?” I asked in concern.
“Oh shit. Oh fuck. I think this is it.” His eyes clenched closed and he whimpered, body shaking in a way I hadn’t seen before. “It hurts. It fucking hurts.”
Blair looked at me in terror, and I empathised with him. I had no clue what to do, and my brain short-circuited. We’d watched birthing videos, we’d tried to be prepared for this, I just had to think.
“You need a shower. You’ve got our cum on you,” Blair said in a rush, and I turned wide eyes on him.
Grayson spun toward him, and I couldn’t see his face, but whatever look he gave Blair made my brother shy away with a wince. “Are you fucking kidding me? I’m about to push a fucking baby out of me and you’re worried about your cum on me? How do you think your son got there in the first place?” he snarled.
I moved into action. Standing, I rushed upstairs and grabbed our birthing bag, the one Grayson had packed a few weeks back so we were ready for when this day came. By the time I arrived back downstairs, Blair had Grayson standing, his shirt covering his stomach once more. They were halfway to the door, and I followed them out of the house.
“You’ll need to message Em, Blair. I can’t work the damn phone quick enough.”
Blair shot me an exasperated glance, but I knew he would.
“Which car are we taking?” I asked.
“We’re not taking my Lamborghini. I don’t want birth stuff all over it.”
I made a throat-slicing motion at Blair, but it was too late. Grayson snatched his hand out of Blair’s and opened his mouth, pure fury crossing his face. I knew when I needed to save his ass.
“We’ll take Grayson’s car. The truck’s too high for him to get into,” I said quickly, interrupting the rant Grayson was about to lay on Blair for his stupid remark.
Grayson grunted and let me lead him to his car. He got into the passenger seat, and I took the wheel, Blair designated to the back.
The good thing about living between Hawthorne and Cherry Hollow was the close proximity to both, and Doctor Tanner had made sure we had a contact in Hawthorne from the time Grayson was thirt
y weeks along.
Grayson groaned beside me, hands on his stomach as he grimaced. “I don’t know if they’ll let me have a bed yet. I might not be far enough along.”
Blair snorted. “We booked a private suite. They better give you a bed as soon as we get there.”
Grayson slammed back against the seat, his face contorting. “This is going to hurt. Fuck. This is going to hurt.”
I cringed because it was going to hurt, and I was glad I wasn’t the one in his position.
Even though I sped faster than I should have, the drive still felt longer than it actually was, with Grayson whimpering, and Blair looking like death warmed over as anxiety and fear flashed over his face. By the time we reached the hospital, my blood pressure had dropped, and I nearly stumbled out of the car as I made my way around to Grayson’s side to help him out.
Blair hovered near the door, guiding Grayson out of the car by the time I got around there. We led him toward the doors of the hospital where a male midwife waited. Blair had called ahead so they knew we were coming. With Grayson being mayor of Cherry Hollow, they needed to get him in fast so he was out of the public eye.
They led him to the birthing suite we’d arranged.
The male midwife helped Grayson settle on the bed. I remembered him from when I visited Quinn in the hospital, but instead of the woven gold hair he had then, he’d dyed his hair brown now. He shoved his black-rimmed glasses up his nose and smiled. “I’m Nurse Payton Jordan and I’ll be your head midwife. Your doctor will be Doctor Winterbeck. He’s filling in for our usual doctor as she’s on vacation. Can I do anything to help you until you’re ready to deliver?”
Grayson grunted, shook his head. Tears slid down his face. “It’s hurts.”
Nurse Jordan patted him on the leg. “I know it does. Let’s get you into something more comfortable, okay? We’re going to get you all ready until you have your baby.”
Blair and I stepped back, watching Nurse Jordan work. He helped Grayson take off his clothes and get into a hospital gown. My hands twitched at my sides with the urge to help, but I didn’t do anything but stand there because the nurse seemed to have it under control. Soon, he had Grayson back into bed, and Nurse Jordan smiled at us.