"I've been looking for a while," Marcus said. "And I think I found the perfect one. I found it the same day we found out about the baby and the house blowing up, and I think you're going to love it."
"It doesn't matter what I think about the house. It matters what you two think, and if it will fit a growing family."
I pulled Marcus closer. "It kind of does matter what you think, Mama. One of the reasons Marcus picked this house out was you." I wasn't sold on that particular house if Marcus wasn't able to work around the bitchy real estate agent, but he was right, it was perfect for us.
Mama was flustered. "Me? Whatever for?"
"It has a cottage on the property. Separate from the main house, with all the basic amenities. It will probably actually need less work than the main house."
Mama's eyes kept overflowing with tears. "You boys can't do that! I know I'm a bit of an invalid now, but I'll land back on my feet, I always do."
"This is what we want to do," I said quietly. "I want you near while our kids grow up, human, furred or scaled."
"Maybe even feathered," Marcus added.
I gave him a look. We had not talked about feathered yet. I knew even as I did, though, that if Chloe got wind of either of us wanting another pet of any kind, we were done for. I wouldn't be surprised if between her and Marcus they managed to turn our home into some kind of rescue farm. Which, now that I thought of it, wouldn't be the worst possible thing.
"Don't say no until you see it," I entreated her. Mama had worked so hard to raise me and Coop. This was my chance to return some of that work and love to her.
"You're totally going to say yes," Marcus stage-whispered.
"Not until I see it," she told him sternly.
She was totally going to say yes.
40
Marcus
Mama totally said yes, but it was a lot harder than I had anticipated. In my mind, she was going to see it, fall in love with it and beg me to buy it on the spot. Well, not in my mind, but in my daydreams, so when she hemmed and hawed, looking at all the things that would need repairs on the spot or in the near future, I pulled out the grandma card. I had no shame and I regret nothing.
“I was thinking…” I pretended to ponder how the second bedroom in the cottage could be best utilized, “That this room would be perfect for grandma night.”
Mama eyed me suspiciously.
“Yes, grandma night. When I was young, our cook took off every Tuesday.” Mama knew I had money growing up and that I had money now, although from the way she fretted over the stove burner in the main house being cracked, I still didn’t think she fully grasped to what extent. “And that was her grandma night. It was the night her grandkids spent the night at her house. She talked about it all the time, and it was probably the only reason she put up with my parents. They let Tuesday be sacrosanct for her. As a boy, I was so jealous of her grandkids, that someone loved them so much as to give them a special night.”
“I do believe, dear Marcus, that you are trying to play me like a fiddle.”
“Is it working?” Killian hugged her, knowing full well the child growing in me was the key to her compliance.
Mama was an alpha to the core, even at her sickest, and taking anything from anyone had never been easy. Taking a home when she had no job and a home insurance policy that barely covered the mandated removal of the burnt building wasn’t going to be easy for her.
“I have Euchre on Tuesday nights.” Mama crossed her arms, challenging me.
“The day is negotiable.” I sighed in as over the top exasperation as I could manage. “Although Saturday comes with a surcharge of one family day.”
We had tried to maintain family day while she recouped, always having a fancier than normal meal and most recently playing a board game of some kind. It had been nice, although I know Coop being away at his internship left it feeling complete.
“What about Mondays?” She quirked her eye brow.
“You didn’t tell her?” I scolded Killian.
Killian and I had discussed all things when I discovered my pregnancy. I had already quit my café job, no longer feeling the need to hide behind anything. Abrar was understanding, and while I still stayed in touch with a couple of my coworkers, I had been more focused on my new family and rebuilding bonds with my brother, so that wasn’t a constant. I had a career and a family; I didn’t need Café Om anymore.
Killian had gone back to work when Mama came home, his leave all but depleted. I understood his need to be productive, so didn’t push. If he wanted to work there forever, that would be fine with me. But one day, we were looking at some of the paperwork that came for his brother, making sure it didn’t need any signatures, when we saw the University’s announcement of their new programs. From that moment, everything fell into place
“Tell me what?” Mama gave us a sideways glance, not that I could blame her.
Killian’s chest puffed out with pride. “I’m going back to school for Nonprofit Management.” The excitement in his voice had Mama beaming.
“That’s a thing?” she asked, but her hands were already pulling his face down to her so she could kiss his forehead in a most Mama-like fashion.
“Who knew?” I shrugged.
“It was either that or zoology.” He laughed as he poked fun of our abundant fur babies.
“I blame you for that.” I knew full well that I was at least as guilty as he was in that arena. I had yet to tell him, but I had seen a goat rescue online that morning and was seriously tempted. So maybe it was a bit more my fault than his. I was okay with that.
“So, are we going to do this?” Killian half asked, his eyes flitting between Mama and me.
Mama didn’t say anything for a moment, drawing out the moment of anticipation. “We’re going to do this,” she said finally, much to our relief.
It took just one phone call to have the offer written up and tentatively agreed-upon by the bank. That was the nice thing about foreclosures: if you had the cash and offered the asking price they pretty much had to say yes.
We spent the rest of the afternoon making lists of things that needed to be done, starting with a clean out crew for all of the things the old owner left behind including a refrigerator full of food. With a cleared title and cash sale and a little “incentive,” I hoped to close on the place in a couple of weeks. The place was going to take a lot of work, and we wanted to move in before the snow flew.
“I had an idea for the what to do with the old outbuilding. Are you up for the walk, Mama?” Killian had a clipboard in hand. The outbuilding was going to need to be razed, but the area did have a ton of potential. I was guessing he was thinking barn, but Killian had a habit of keeping me on my toes.
“Sure. The doctor said I have a way to go, but honestly, I feel better than I have in many months.”
We made our way down the low rolling hill the house stood on until we were standing beside what I assumed what was once an old workshop turned junk storage. Killian pointed to the small pond.
“See over there?”
“Uh huh,” his mom answered, and for the first time it clicked that the two were in cahoots.
“I was thinking that right in front of the pond there, as the leaves begin to change, that that would be the perfect spot.”
“I agree.”
Oh yeah, they were up for something. I tried to not take the bait, but I caved easily.
“Perfect spot for what?”
“For a fall wedding,” Killian didn’t wait for me to respond before he fell to his knees. “Marcus Frederick, will you do me the great honor of not only being my mate, the father of all of my children, human or otherwise, and be my husband? I love you with all that I am, and you would make me the happiest man alive if you say yes.”
Tears were streaming down my face, the joy almost overwhelming.
“You are wrong, me saying yes makes me the happiest man alive. All the yeses. I love you so much.”
41
Killi
an
“Are you sure you don’t just want to be surprised?” I opened Marcus’s door and helped him out. He had only just developed a small pooch, but on Marcus's thin frame, it was clear it wasn't just the extra tacos he'd been craving.
“Are you kidding me? I want to know everything possible about our baby as soon as possible. It’s killing me that the doctor knows what gender the baby is and I don’t. And just so you know, Mama thinks you’re as crazy as I do. What’s the point of running the extra tests if we're not going to know? You're killing me, talls."
I laughed as I opened the door to the doctor's office. "I thought it was to screen for genetic abnormalities."
Marcus rolled his eyes. "Okay, there is that. But there's also our baby's gender..."
I took a seat while Marcus signed in, and then held my omega's hand once he sat down next to me. I really did like the idea of waiting to find out, but... "As much as I would like to be surprised, if you would like, I'm okay with asking the doctor the baby's gender today."
Marcus squealed and gave me a resounding kiss. "Finally!"
"Would you have gone the whole pregnancy just arguing with me?"
Marcus pretended to ponder. "No. I would have had to pull out drastic measures."
I lifted a skeptical eyebrow. "Like what?"
Marcus leaned back to watch my reaction. "I thought about waiting until you were on the edge of orgasming and then withholding until you agreed."
I blushed and looked around. There was no one in the waiting room except for us, but the receptionist's window was open.
"But since you've agreed..." Marcus leaned forward to whisper in my ear. "Once we get home, I'm going to ride your cock like a cowboy."
I couldn't help but flushing—this time in arousal. I tried to discretely adjust myself in my pants and Marcus looked smug.
"Marcus Fredericks?"
The nice thing about working nights was I was able to go to every visit with Marcus, and he had quite a few of them. Because of his previous issues, his doctor had scheduled him for bi-weekly visits instead of monthly visits to start. We were both completely okay with that, as each visit meant we got a little peak at our baby. The doctor had an ultrasound in each checkup room, which my mother had informed us was not the norm. I was still uncomfortable with using Marcus's money, but when it came to him and the baby, I didn't hesitate to give my stamp of approval on anything he wanted.
Mama and I had spent plenty of time analyzing my issue with the money—though sometimes I wanted to just turn the finger back around at her, because she had the same damn issues, but he was my mate, not hers—and yeah, a majority of it was totally my expectation of myself to provide for my family. I still hadn't wrapped my head about what that looked like when you removed the financial burden completely. I wasn't one of those alphas who tried to find some naive omega with piles of cash and live off them. No sugar daddy for me. But some people had already looked at me that way. Marcus didn't flaunt his money, but it was hard to not notice it. Now that he wasn't hiding behind his masks, it was kind of obvious in the way he interacted with people.
A nurse came in and took Marcus's weight and blood pressure, and then we waited about ten minutes before the doctor came in. "Good morning, Mr. Fredericks. Mr. Daye. First things first, shall we? Let's take a look at the baby."
Marcus leaned back and lifted his shirt and the doctor unbuttoned his pants and pushed them low to spread the goop on Marcus's skin. He pressed the wand against Marcus's stomach, and after a moment of moving it around, there was our baby. Damn, it was crazy to see the changes each visit.
"So, at sixteen weeks, you are firmly in your second trimester. Feel any energy returning?"
"I still feel like I need a nap every day, but better."
The doctor nodded, adjusting the wand a few more times to view the baby from a slightly different angle before removing the wand and turning the machine off. I hated that moment, when our child disappeared from our sight.
"Well, we have one more visit before your twenty-week measurement scan. We use the 4-D machine for that, and I have a technician come in to do those. Make sure you schedule that on your way out. In the meantime, everything looks great and the baby is normal. Do you have any questions before you head out?"
Marcus and I shared a look as he finished wiping the goop off his stomach and buttoned up his pants. "I've finally convinced Killian to find out what the gender is."
The doctor smiled. "It's hard, not knowing, isn't it? Did you want me to write it down and put it in an envelope so you can have a party or something?"
Marcus shook his head frenetically. "Nope. I'm ready to know right now."
The doctor filled the papers on his clipboard. "I'm fairly certain I remember, but let me just verify. Don't want to get it wrong one way or the other. Okay, you read?"
I took Marcus's hand.
"You're having a boy! Congratulations."
Even though I had been the one fighting to wait, hearing we were going to have a boy was like finding out I was going to be a dad all over again. Unexpected tears pricked at the corner of my eyes and Marcus's arms were around me as he jumped up and down like a kid.
We finished making Marcus's next appointments, and as we walked out of the office, Marcus asked, "Do you want to do anything to celebrate? Do you want to call Mama or Coop?"
I pulled him into my arms outside of our car. "I think someone made promises of a sexual nature."
Marcus batted his eyes innocently. "Ooh, did someone? That seems naughty."
"Very," I agreed. "And since Mama is helping Coop move into your old place, now that the renovations are finished there... we kind of have an empty house with no expectations of visitors..."
Marcus swayed dramatically in my arms, his hand held up in a stop motion. "Say no more. Take me away, my knight in shining armor! Or am I the knight, and you're the horse? I did promise I would ride you."
"Get in the damn car," I growled. "Before I put your mouth to better use."
Marcus grinned cheekily and we both rushed to our seats, eager to get home.
42
Marcus
The crisp fall air was starting to take hold. Finally. I had become a human furnace, and the early autumn was a welcome friend.
“The kitchen should be gutted by the end of the day.” The contractor was going through the check list on the plethora of projects that would make our new home ours. We were standing in what was going to become my office slash library, and if the kitchen was done half as beautifully as this room, the house was going to be perfect.
“Which means what? A week and we should have the kitchen up and running?” The kitchen was one of the final big projects and I was itching to get into our home, my pregnancy triggering a need to nest. If we were staying in our current home, I probably would’ve been less antsy, but knowing such a huge change was on the horizon made me impatient.
“Yeah, about that. The cabinets are already built and just waiting for us, which is usually what takes the longest.”
“So, moving in?” That was what I really wanted to know. Coop was staying in my old apartment, but it was much further from his school than was convenient, especially when his evening classes started.
Killian offered him our home once we moved, but he had been acting kind of weird since he returned, so I still wasn’t sure if he was going to take us up on it. He kept mumbling about staying on friends’ couches, and I tried to stay out of it because as much as he was now my family, he was also a new person in my life and I wasn’t sure how to tread with him.
“My guess, if the weather cooperates and humidity doesn’t slow us down, is three weeks, tops.”
I did a little dance. A happy dance to be specific.
“Is the room done yet?” The room had been Killian’s secret project for the past three weeks. Its location told me he was building a nursery, but that was something he neither confirmed or denied. I understood his need to make part of this house his own, to do it with
his own two hands.
I wasn’t oblivious to the fact that our money made him uncomfortable, and I got it. By the time I inherited the fortune, I had gotten used to living on very little, my parents’ money no longer at my beck and call. Not that I had wanted their money. When I left home, I took enough money for an apartment and utilities for that first year and not much else. It was far more than most had, and the freedom of not being tied to them made it no sacrifice.
“I’m not at liberty to say, sir.” Of course he wasn’t.
“I’m pregnant, have pity on me.” I stuck out my bottom lip and smoothed the fabric of my shirt over my belly to accentuate my point.
“Your mate could squish me like a bug without breaking a sweat, so I think I’m good.” He didn’t even look up from the clipboard, already accustomed to my shenanigans.
“Are you trying to shake down the contractor, love?” Killian had snuck up behind me, his arms came around my middle, his hands settling on my belly.
“Maybe.” I leaned my head back onto his shoulder.
“And how’s that working for you?”
“He’s like a vault when it comes to intel.”
The contractor pretended he didn’t notice our silly banter, his smile threatening to break through his serious façade.
“Good.” Killian kissed the top of my head before addressing the contractor. “How’s the roof on the caretaker cottage coming?”
The cottage needed far less work than the main house, mostly because the owners thought the Victorian main house was too old fashioned and tried to modernize it to the monstrosity we bought. They left the cottage pretty much alone, so it only needed some new carpeting, painting, and a new roof. I wanted to redo the bathroom to something more elegant, but Mama was too proud to let me arrange it.
“They finished it yesterday, so if your mom wants to move in, her place will be ready as soon as the appliances are delivered.”
His Secret Billionaire Omega: M/M Non-Shifter Alpha/Omega MPREG (Cafe Om Book 6) Page 16