Omega Teacher’s Secret

by Anna Wineheart

  “I can’t believe you want a child enough to go through this,” Brad said. “That’s really tough on you.”

  Ian shrugged, gurgling his mouth. Paused to heave again. When he’d spat the taste from his mouth and wiped his chin off, he said, “You see how Gwen is, though.”

  “She’s a riot,” Brad agreed. He breathed out. “I like her. I just… wish there was more I could do to help.”

  “You want to?” Ian rinsed out his mouth, blinking when Brad dabbed the sweat off his forehead with Gwen’s truck-print towel. “That’s Gwen’s, by the way.”

  Brad glanced at the towel, grabbing the other hand towel off the rack. “Sorry. But yeah, I’ll do anything.”

  “Even if you don’t want the child?”

  Brad shrugged. “I’m doing it for you.”

  Ian cracked a smile. It was sweet of him. “I don’t know what there is for you to do, really.”

  “I’ll pick you up from work if you need. And Gwen. And anything else. And you guys should probably come live with me—it’s a bigger place. You won’t have to share a bed. I’d still be paying the same rent, anyway.”

  Ian thought about uprooting Gwen from the things she knew, hesitating. She hadn’t been old enough to remember the first move, back when Ian had downgraded into a smaller place to afford her surgeries.

  And if things didn’t work out… it meant Ian and Gwen would have to move back out, and readjust all over again.

  “I’ll think about it,” Ian said. “It’s a bit much of a commitment.”

  “Sleepover, then?”

  Ian chuckled. “That sounds like a high school party.”

  “Hey, we could be high school kids all over again.” Brad grinned, and the boyish look on his face returned. “When did you last pretend to be a high school kid?”

  “Never.” Ian straightened, shuffling over to the sink to rinse himself off. The nausea had faded somewhat—not completely, but Brad had helped him forget his discomfort. “Well, maybe the last time you bent me over.”

  Brad chuckled, stroking Ian’s back. “Yeah?”

  “I’d never been that hard in my life.” Ian flushed, looking down at the floor. He hadn’t been sure if he should admit it.

  And now Brad’s eyes gleamed, like he was proud of himself. He leaned in when Ian dried off his face, stealing a kiss from Ian’s lips.

  “I still smell like puke,” Ian protested.

  Brad pressed a firmer kiss to his lips. “Mine,” he whispered. “I don’t care what you smell like.”

  Ian’s cheeks warmed. “Really?”

  Brad licked at the seam of his lips, and Ian grimaced, pulling away. “No, I’m drawing the line there. I’m gross, Brad.”

  “Not to me, you aren’t.” Brad grinned, sliding his arms around Ian, pulling him so close that their chests pressed together. “Raising a baby is gross anyway, right? You get pissed on and all that. I figure I may as well get used to it.”

  Ian stared at him. Stopped breathing. “Really? You’re… staying?”

  Brad kissed the tip of his nose. “Yeah. I am. My children, my responsibility.”

  It seemed too good to be true. “Well, we’ll see,” Ian said, a little bit swayed. “I guess we could do a sleepover.”

  “You’ll get to share my bed,” Brad whispered. “Let Gwen have her own room.”

  Ian imagined sleeping with Brad’s arms around him, and swallowed hard. That sounded like a delight. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a bed to himself—or with someone that wasn’t Gwen.

  “And I’ll make you breakfast. Sound good?”

  “It sounds like you’re going to disappear when the clock strikes midnight,” Ian said. “Or maybe you’ll turn into a pumpkin.”

  He couldn’t help imagining breakfast in bed, though, waking up to Brad, and maybe being fucked into the bed, Brad’s teeth on his shoulder…

  Brad sniffed at Ian’s musk, his eyes turning dark. “Yeah, that’s more like it.”

  “I haven’t said yes!”

  “Think about it,” Brad whispered, squeezing Ian’s ass. “Plenty of time.”

  Then he opened the door, raising his eyebrows. Ian followed him out of the bathroom, wondering if this would look odd to Gwen.

  Gwen wasn’t in the living room. They found her in the kitchen standing right by the oven, peering through the glass window. Despite not being hungry, Ian couldn’t help sniffing at the meaty, savory scent of chicken.

  “Looking good, Chef Gwen?” Brad asked.

  Gwen beamed. “Is it done? I want some!”

  “Just one wing before bed,” Ian said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “You had dinner earlier, remember?”

  Gwen nodded. “Can I have some for breakfast, too?”

  “Sure,” Ian said. “We’ll save lots for your breakfast.”

  Gwen bounced on her feet. Ian glimpsed Brad watching her, a thoughtful look on his face.

  “Penny for your thoughts, Mr. Alpha Pumpkin?”

  Brad snorted. “Just wondering what Gwen likes to do. Or where you go in your free time.”

  “Trucks!” Gwen wriggled. “Daddy brought me to a big show with trucks last month. One time we went to the beach and I moved sand around in my yellow truck. We built a sandcastle!”

  Ian smiled crookedly. “That sand got everywhere. I was cleaning it out of the apartment for weeks after that.”

  “Maybe not the beach for the first trip,” Brad said, chuckling. “Or your dad’ll have to hose you down.”

  “Aw.” Gwen’s shoulders sagged.

  “But if your dad has some time to take you out, you could stop by the station while I’m on duty,” Brad said. “I’ll let you sit up in a ladder truck.”

  Gwen’s eyes grew round. “In the cab?”

  “Yup, in the cab. You can see most things from there. Makes you feel like you’re on top of the world.”

  Gwen looked pleadingly at Ian, and Ian didn’t even have to think about it. “One weekend when we’re all free,” he said. “We’re going down to the station. Brad, you’d better do your part as our friendly neighborhood firefighter.”

  Brad laughed. “Yeah, I will.”

  Gwen cheered, dancing around Ian. Ian caught her hands and twirled her in a circle, and then he looked at Brad. Paused with Gwen, releasing one of her hands.

  “Do you want to join in our happy dance?” Ian asked.

  Brad looked between them, surprise flickering through his eyes. Then he smiled and closed his hand around Ian’s. “Yeah, sure. Why not?”

  Ian watched as Brad took Gwen’s hand carefully. “We go in a clockwise direction,” he told Brad. “Let’s show him, Gwen.”

  Brad followed them, stepping to the right for three paces, then stepping to the left for four. They practiced slowly for a while, until Brad seemed comfortable with the steps.

  “Ready?” Ian asked, looking between his daughter and his alpha. Gwen nodded, grinning. Brad smiled slowly.

  “Yeah,” he said.

  They danced in a circle in the kitchen, faster and faster, until Gwen squealed. Brad stopped abruptly, pulling them both against himself in a giant hug.

  “Oof!” Gwen said.

  “Brad,” Ian squawked, tumbling into Brad’s solid chest.

  “I need to catch my breath,” Brad said even though he wasn’t panting at all. “It’s too much exercise on a weekday night.”

  “It is,” Gwen said, huffing.

  Ian froze, worry coiling through his chest. In the joy of the moment, he’d forgotten to watch out for her. He turned to Gwen, rubbing her back. “Doing okay?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded, breathing in deep. “See, I’m fine.”

  It made Ian wary, though; for a minute, he’d let himself get carried away. Felt like he was letting Gwen down by not looking out for her.

  A long time ago, Ian had a pet lizard, a delicate leopard gecko he’d raised for four years. Then he’d forgotten to feed Dilly one day before he left for a week-long camp, and when he�
��d returned, his bedroom reeked of death. Dilly had decomposed, and Ian had thrown up.

  Then there was the time he was supposed to watch the neighbor’s kid, and the boy ran across the road, right into a car’s path. The boy survived, but he’d broken so many bones that Ian had avoided his neighbors’ house for months, unable to look them in the eye.

  There had been other incidents, too, big ones and small ones that had all ended in failure. Ian had messed up with more people and things than he could count.

  And now he was disappointing Gwen, too.

  Maybe he needed another go with the scalpel, just to help him remember.

  “Hey,” Brad said, catching Ian’s chin. “Ian. You heard her—she’s fine.”

  Ian looked doubtfully at him. But Brad was also watching Gwen, he was looking between them both, and it felt like he was more in control of the situation than Ian was.

  The egg timer rang. Ian jumped, his heart thudding.

  “Gwen, sit yourself down,” Brad said. “Ian, I’ll get to you soon.”

  Gwen sat on a stool to the side of the kitchen. Brad took the pot-holders Ian had left out, pulling the pan from the oven. “Get some plates.”

  Ian pulled three from the cabinet. He set them on the counter—there was no space in the kitchen for all three of them to sit and eat. Brad set a chicken drumlet on a plate, glancing at Gwen every so often. Then he brought the plate over, squeezing her shoulder. “Doin’ okay?”

  “Mm-hm.” She nodded, blowing on the drumlet to cool it down.

  She seemed fine, and maybe they’d gotten off lucky this time.

  Brad set a couple of wings on plates for himself and Ian. He handed Ian a plate. Slipped his arm around Ian’s waist, leaning with him against the kitchen counter. “She’s doing fine.”

  “But you don’t know,” Ian muttered as quietly as he could. He didn’t want to be paranoid, but when your child had a heart condition… it was difficult not to be.

  “Yeah, I know,” Brad said. “But you don’t have to feel like all the responsibility falls on your shoulders. I’m here, too.”

  Ian looked doubtfully at him. “You read up on it?”

  “Yeah,” Brad said. “I did.”

  “Oh.”

  “So you don’t have to worry so much when I’m around,” Brad said. “Okay?”

  Ian met his eyes. He read the assurance in Brad’s gaze, and his patience. It felt like maybe he could relax a little with Brad around. Ian sucked in a deep breath, then released it. And Brad leaned in, kissing Ian on the lips. Ian was too surprised to respond.

  “Ew,” Gwen said.

  Ian laughed. Glanced at Brad, his cheeks hot.

  “That okay with you?” Brad asked Gwen. “If I date your dad?”

  Gwen blinked at him. “Daddy says you won’t stay for long. Even if you’re doing the thing.”

  She set her plate down and mashed her fingertips together.

  Ian blushed. Brad glanced at him, snorting. “Yeah, I’m staying a long time, all right. So you better get used to this.”

  Brad leaned in, kissing Ian again. This time, he lingered, his lips soft, and Ian relaxed a little more.

  This was okay. It was normal. Maybe he could allow himself a little bit of leeway, by allowing Brad to be there. Maybe Brad would catch him if he fell.

  “Ew,” Gwen said again.

  “It’s what adults do when they like each other,” Brad said.

  He met Ian’s eyes, and Ian’s stomach flipped. “You like me?” Ian asked.

  “Yeah.” Nothing but honesty in Brad’s gaze.

  Ian couldn’t believe this was happening to him. He shouldn’t be seeing Brad. Brad used to be his student, Brad was still trying to get back into Ian’s classes.

  And maybe Ian appreciated Brad’s presence, too. Maybe he liked seeing Brad again. Liked hearing Brad’s rumbling voice, liked smelling the walnut of his scent.

  “I don’t know what I feel,” Ian said.

  Brad’s shoulders sagged a little, but he held on to Ian. “That’s fine. I’ll wait until you do.”

  It seemed like a lot to ask of him.

  Brad was sharing this space with Gwen and Ian, he’d done their happy dance with them. He’d returned after what he knew of Ian, and if that wasn’t special, Ian didn’t know what was.

  It was a couple pieces of chicken wings on his plate, fresh out of a store’s frozen section, but eating them here in his kitchen, with Brad’s arm around him and Gwen doing fine, the wings tasted like the best thing in the world.

  Ian hoped it would continue to last, but few things in his life ever did.

  11

  Brad

  Brad shut his locker, looking up when the door opened. His team leader, Harris, poked his head in.

  “Hey,” Harris said, glancing around the otherwise-empty locker room. “Team briefing in five. Get your ass over to the garage.”

  “Will do.”

  Harris turned away.

  Brad thought about the question he’d been preparing to ask, and his pulse raced.

  “Hey, Harris?” he said, stopping his team leader. “I know we don’t do it real often, but my daughter’s birthday is in a month. Trucks are huge for her, so… I was wondering if I could take her out on a spin on one of the ladders.”

  He’d never asked Harris for a personal favor before. But he would hate for Harris to say no, when Gwen had looked at Brad with those puppy eyes.

  Harris had been team leader for as long as Brad remembered—he was an alpha with salt-and-pepper hair, and he was bonded to both an alpha and an omega. His relationship was kind of weird. Brad had attended their wedding last year, though. He’d seen Valen visiting the station occasionally with their omega and two sons, when Harris was on duty.

  Harris stared at Brad for a moment. “Sure. I didn’t know you had a daughter.”

  Brad blew out a breath. “I do. Just found out a few weeks ago. She’s turning seven in Feb.”

  Harris frowned, then stepped into the locker room. “You wanna talk about it?”

  Brad hesitated. He’d been nervous, working up the courage to ask for Harris’ permission with the ladder truck. He’d seen other alphas at the station do it before, but this was several things rolled into one—acknowledging he had a daughter, having the other guys know, being responsible for both the truck and Gwen at the same time.

  He still didn’t feel like a dad, but this… it felt like he was setting things in stone.

  “I’m not sure I want to say much,” Brad answered. “It’s still a bit of a shock. I’m getting used to it, though. She’s great.”

  “Yeah?” Harris let the locker room door close, nodding for Brad to go on. “She in Meadowfall?”

  “Yeah. Her dad’s working at the college. He’s a professor.”

  And now his cheeks scorched, because a few months ago, he’d told Harris he was taking evening classes for his Master’s. Harris had asked if Brad would be okay juggling the course and his work.

  Harris raised his eyebrows now. “He’s teaching your class?

  “Yeah. He’s my omega.” Made him feel good, saying that. Brad hadn’t come out and said it to Ian, but thinking of Ian as his… it helped him sleep better.

  “Huh,” Harris said, folding his arms. “That was some secret.”

  It wasn’t like Harris didn’t have secrets of his own—it had been a surprise to everyone when Harris went and married Valen, a firefighter on a different team. And they shared an omega—both Valen and Sam were a couple decades younger than Harris, and some of the station alphas had talked about it.

  Brad hadn’t joined in with the speculation, though. He’d slept with his professor even before he’d joined the station, so he could guess Harris’ opinion on relationships with age differences.

  “He’s pregnant, too,” Brad said in an undertone. This, he was more nervous about. “It’s mine. I don’t know shit about kids.”

  Harris chuckled. “You’ll pick things up. It’s not that difficult.�
��

  There was learning to raise kids, and then there was screwing up spectacularly when he didn’t mean to. Brad hesitated, wary of forging more relationships when he couldn’t prove he was capable of not fucking up again.

  If he lost any more people he loved… It had hurt like mad when Brad’s mom died. He didn’t want to grieve again.

  And yet, whenever he thought about his professor, his stomach did a funny dance. He couldn’t wait to see Ian another time.

  Brad had spent way too long at Ian’s place last week, with Gwen and the dancing and the chicken wings. Ian had let Brad suck him off after Gwen went to bed, and the way Ian had gripped Brad’s hair… It felt like Brad had been the only person in his world right then. Brad had felt like he was someone important to Ian.

  “Anyhow, I’m around if you need an ear,” Harris said, clapping Brad on the shoulder. “But for now, the team meeting.”

  Brad nodded, following Harris out of the locker room. A couple more hours, and then he’d be off work. He’d catch some sleep, maybe visit Ian at the college. Or maybe he’d offer to pick Gwen up from daycare. He’d been volunteering a couple times now, and Ian had agreed. Ian seemed to appreciate him picking Gwen up, and Brad loved the idea of fitting into Ian’s life.

  Brad shrugged off his worries, joining the rest of his team. Family came later—for now, there was work to focus on.

  * * *

  Some hours later, he pulled up in front of Meadowfall Tots.

  The childcare center was small, with bright rainbows and clouds painted on the walls, and a playground out in front. Some cars were already driving out of the parking lot—Brad was one of the last to show up. He’d rushed over here; five hours of sleep wasn’t enough after a twenty-four-hour shift, but that was fine. He’d recover.

  He hopped out of his car, jogging over to the front door. Knocked and let himself into the center, grinning when Gwen looked up amongst some other children.

  “Brad,” she said, hopping to her feet. “I thought my daddy was coming to pick me up.”

  Brad signed off at the log book while she grabbed her bag from her cubby hole. “He asked me to. Let’s get you out of here, and then you can decide where you wanna go.”