Chris's look of sleeping confusion softened into a smile and he wiggled his arms out to place his hands on top of mine, holding my hand even tighter to his stomach. We waited, staring, and then his stomach jumped again. "You feel that?" he asked.
"I did!"
We were grinning like fools, but I didn't care. This moment was the most magical thing that had ever happened to me. We kept our hands on Chris's stomach for at least fifteen minutes before he said, "I think she's gone back to sleep."
I couldn't help it. I pouted. "I want to play with her, though."
Chris laughed and tugged me closer, displacing my hand. But I sneaked it back over his stomach as quickly as I could. "Go to sleep, Aiden. She's not going anywhere."
But she was. Not right this moment, but someday. Someday, she was going to be out in this world, with arms and legs flailing, and then she'd be going to school, and then dating... My brain wouldn't stop. Was this what it was like when Chris first realized he was pregnant? Or was it something that came in waves? I wanted to ask him, but he'd already drifted to sleep. I had thought he was gorgeous back when I was just flirting with him at the coffee shop, but he was more beautiful now, this child stretching and rounding his body, than I could have imagined possible.
I don't know how I had missed it before, but I suddenly realized I was in love with Chris. Even with all my declarations of support and long term, I had somehow not realized that it all meant the same thing: I was in love. The kind of love that made me want to run around and tell everyone. To shout it from the rooftop. To do and be every damn cliché in the book.
It took me a while to fall asleep, but I was more than happy laying quietly with Chris in my arms. So much in my life was changing. Just a few weeks ago, if I had been this restless, I would have been up and in my office, researching. Doing something. I'd never felt this feeling of contentment before, and suddenly, I was terrified of losing it.
I was up before Chris the next morning. Even though I had eventually fallen asleep, it was fitful rest, and I took the opportunity to make breakfast. It had been a couple years since I had attempted to cook anything. I'd never been the best in the kitchen before I'd moved to my shake-mostly diet. So I stuck to the basics: bagels in the toaster spread with cream cheese, and topped with some smoked salmon Chris had ordered in a craving fit. He'd gone through two packages already. There was a container of pre-cut fruit, so I spooned some of that out into two small bowls, then arranged it all on a tray and made my way to the bedroom.
"Rise and sunshine!"
Chris buried himself under the pillows and I set the tray on the floor to free my hands. Then I crawled under the covers to snuggle with Chris.
"Ugh, morning," he groaned, though he curled into me easily. "Why are you so chipper?"
"Because I have a handsome man in my bed, carrying a beautiful baby."
"You make it hard to hate you."
I dug my fingers into his ribs. "Why would you ever hate me?" I teased.
He squirmed away from me. "I hate everything in the morning."
"Even breakfast in bed?" I asked.
His head popped up in interest. "Are you just teasing me?"
I kissed him on the nose and rolled out of bed to pick the tray up and set it over his lap as he propped himself up against the headboard.
"Where's your shake?" he asked suspiciously.
"Shake won't cut it for a romantic breakfast in bed with you," I replied. A slow smile blossomed on his face and he leaned forward to cup my chin in his hands and pull me close in a soft kiss. "You don't know how much I appreciate it."
I kissed him in return. "Oh, I might. Now, I know it's not fancy, but trust me, you don't want me trying to get fancy?"
"It looks perfect," Chris said and took a bite. He moaned through a full mouth, and the sound went straight to my groin. "It is perfect." He swallowed, and then said, "I think I need to talk to Will today."
32
Chris
Today was the day I told Will. If I was any kind of decent person, I’d have told him right away. Instead I was weak, letting my fears overtake me. As life with Aiden began to feel more and more real, acknowledging that Rosemary wasn’t his caused a dull pain that grew with each day. I wanted her to be Aiden’s and that deeply seeded desire fostered some pretty freaking pathetic life choices. Will had a right to know.
It took far less convincing than I thought it would to convince Will to meet me. He probably assumed I wanted a little naked fun. I added not correcting him to my list of regrets of how I handled this pregnancy. The list was so stupid long. Aiden’s dads thought Rosemary was his, Will didn’t know she existed, I still hadn’t been forthright with Will, and the list went on and on.
After today, I was going to change all of it. Will would know about Rosemary and we would deal with what that would look like. And then, I was going to approach Aiden about his dads. They were so stupid excited about the baby and while I wanted her to be their grandbaby so very badly, she wasn’t. Aiden and I were moving forward and I felt like he was all in, but that didn’t mean we could or should keep the lie. After Will left, that would be my next conversation. Might as well do all the adulting at once.
Glancing at the clock, I realized Will was already five minutes late. He probably hadn’t anticipated the security of the building. Ideally, we would’ve met somewhere else, but he’d never taken me to his place and after peeking at the address on his driver’s license once, I knew why. His part of town was shady, shadier than mine, even, and to him, that mattered. It had nothing to do with protecting me, just his image.
Aiden wrapped his arms around me from behind as I watched the minutes tick by. He knew what a challenge today was for me, even if it was of my own doing. Aiden would “disappear” into another room once Will arrived, but he refused to leave me alone while I manned up and confessed. His alpha scent deepened with each moment. He was as concerned about the outcome of today as I was. I appreciated that he allowed this silence instead of discussing things ad nauseam, because I just couldn’t. Not today.
The video intercom chimed, and Aiden went to answer it. The front desk informed him Will had arrived, and Aiden asked them to escort him up. The light above the elevator lit a moment later and Aiden sighed into my hair before affectionately kissing me on the top of my head. “I’m going, but I will be here the moment you need me.” He gave me a firm squeeze before whispering into my ear, “You can do this.”
“Thank you,” I mumbled as we broke apart, he going to another room and I to the door. This was it.
“Come in,” I said as I opened the door. I had planned entire speeches of what I was going to say to Will when he finally arrived. He derailed me before the door even clicked shut.
“What the fuck?”
I twirled around to see his shock mixed with a bit of…was it fear?
“You’re pregnant.”
I nodded and made my way into the living room. I doubted Will would get violent, but just in case, it was best to be near my alpha. He followed behind after seeing what I was doing and continued speaking.
“You better not think you’re going to pin this on me.”
Pin this on me? Was he completely insane? He just walked into an apartment he could never afford and he thought I was trying to get his…what? Money? None of this was mine, but he didn’t know that.
“She’s yours, yes, but I wasn’t pinning it on you.” I took the recliner, wanting to prevent any notion he might have of sitting next to me. “It’s just a fact.”
“We never had sex when you were in heat,” he huffed as he fell back onto the couch. I assumed he would stay standing and that my seated position would give him a feeling of power, but this worked too.
“This I know, yet here we are.” My hands splayed on my belly in a protective, yet comforting gesture.
“Going bareback was so not fucking worth this hassle,” he mumbled as his head fell into his hands. I wasn’t even sure I heard it, but as his knee bounced with ne
rves it became clear. Will wasn’t just a weak ass alpha, he was an asshole.
“What?” I tried to be calm, but my blood was beginning to boil. “We always used a condom. Always.” I looked at him for response to my words, for confirmation, and the bastard gave it to me with a subtle tilt of his head. “You fucking bastard!” I rose to my feet, no longer even willing to pretend to be submissive for his benefit. I had done a whole lot of wrong in this situation, but what he did was unconscionable. “Did you fucking stealth me? There are laws against that shit.”
This. Could. Not. Be. Effing. Happening. He could’ve made an omega sterile or actually killed them with that kind of game. The only thing that prevented me from knocking him on his ass at that moment was the beautiful girl I was carrying and the clean bill of health from the mandatory SDI testing for pregnant omegas.
“Only once.” Because that made it better.
“We weren’t even exclusive. You put my physical well-being at risk for what? To get off better? Was it fucking worth it? Was this fucking worth it?” I was losing my shit, getting louder and louder with each moment. It was all I could do not to all Aiden.
“Get rid of it!” He rose from the couch, his pathetic alpha scent growing stronger by the second, but with Aiden’s scent infused in the apartment, it didn’t have a chance of affecting me.
“She has a name and even if it wasn’t too late, not a chance. She’s mine.” I took a step back, prepared to call Aiden when his voice filled the space.
“And mine,” Aiden’s voice was music to my ears. I needed him, and he came.
33
Aiden
The moment Will had walked into my apartment, my domain, a primal urge to protect what was mine unfurled in my gut, urging me to remove him, by whatever means necessary. But I held myself back, even when he accused Chris of trying to pin it on him, even when he had pretty much admitted he'd gone bareback without Chris's knowledge. Chris wanted to do this on his own, and as long as he wasn't a threat, that was Chris's right.
But the moment he crossed the line, even suggesting getting rid of our baby girl, I lost it.
I looked to Chris first as I strode into the room, claiming his child, our child. I wanted to make sure he was okay. I wanted to make sure I wasn't stepping over boundaries he wasn't comfortable with. I saw relief. I saw some simmering anger. And I saw pride. He reached his hand to me and I took it, pulling him into a back hug, wrapping my arms around my man and my child.
Will stepped back at my presence, fear freezing his limbs. He glanced between the two of us, and then a sly grin crawled onto his face. "So you got yourself a sugar daddy, huh, Chris? Well, you really can't blame getting knocked up on me, what with finding someone so soon after we broke it off."
I wrapped my arms even tighter around Chris to keep myself from going after this asshole. All Chris had to do was say the word and I would, but not until.
"You really are dumber than a box of rocks," Chris said sadly to Will. "Just get out."
"I'm the dumb one? I can't figure out why you brought me up here. So you got knocked up by your new guy? What do I care? Why blame it on me when your daddy here can clearly take care of you?"
"Let me at him," I whispered to Chris, but he shook his head. Both at me and Will, I suspect.
"Just forget it, Will. I mistook you for a person with normal human attachments. I thought you might want to be involved in your daughter's life. Clearly, I was wrong. Now get out before I let Aiden call security."
Will tried to project a confident air, but his worried glance at me tore that apart. "Gladly. Good riddance, Chris. Look me up when he tosses you out. But not if you have the kid. I thought you were smarter than that."
Chris tore out of my arms and started to go after Will, but the guy jammed the elevator close button frantically and it shut just as Chris reached the doors. He slammed his fist against the closed doors and rested his forehead on the cold metal. I pulled him away and into my arms.
"It's okay, babe," I murmured. "He's gone. You don't have to worry about him anymore."
Chris shook in my arms. I couldn't tell if he was crying or just angry, but when he raised his face to mine, his eyes were dry.
"You know what the shitty part is?" Chris asked. "I was with this guy for six months How could I do that to myself? But honestly, I'm glad he's such an ass. He would have made a really crappy father, even if he'd wanted Rosemary in his life. Now, I don't have to worry about him disappointing her, standing her up, forgetting her birthday."
The tears finally came, just a trickle. And I could only imagine all the emotions coursing through Chris. Relief. Sadness. Regret. He tucked his head against my shoulder and I bent to pick his knees up with one arm and carried him into our room. I used my foot to pull back the covers, then laid him on the bed and crawled in after him, tugging the blankets snugly around us.
"I love you," I whispered, peppering his face and hands with kisses. "I love you, and I love our daughter. I love the family we're going to build. I want to give you hundreds of beautiful babies."
Chris hiccupped a laugh. "Hundreds? I don't know how I feel about that. Let's start with two or three."
"A dozen?" I suggested playfully. "Or a bakers' dozen. They come cheaper by the dozen, I hear."
"Oh man, that's so corny!"
"There's a whole movie about it," I protested.
"A documentary?" he asked incredulously.
"No, I think it was a book originally, a memoir. It's actually pretty hilarious. We haven't watched many oldies. Want to start tonight?"
I could feel him relaxing as my teasing and continually tiny touches took away the stress from meeting with Will.
"It'll have to be a double feature if we're doing oldies," he said. "Your pick and my pick. Have you seen Operation Petticoat?"
"No..."
"Oooh, or what about The Court Jester with Danny Kaye?"
"With who?"
"Danny Kaye. He was the funny guy in White Christmas."
"That one I know. All that snow."
"All that snow," he agreed.
"Let me get things set up." I started to roll out of bed, but he pulled me back.
"Just lay here for a little while? I don't want to let you go yet."
I happily complied.
"What kind of Christmas traditions do you have?" he asked.
"Hmm... Well, stockings, for sure. Santa. Certain movies we always made sure to watch in December, like White Christmas. But probably my favorite is on Christmas Eve, my dads and I would go for a night time horse ride. The chef would pack us some thermoses of coffee and hot chocolate, my dads' were always spiked, and we'd ride out into the woods, lay a flannel blanket down in the snow, and drink and watch the stars. And if it was too cloudy for stars, we'd watch the falling snowflakes."
"That sounds magical," Chris sighed.
"What about you? What's your favorite tradition?"
"Caroling," Chris said immediately. "We'd go around our neighborhood, and sometimes people would join us, and then a big parade of us would walk across the street to a retirement home and sing to the residents, then eat all the sugary desserts our poor parents could handle until they kicked us outside to throw snowballs at each other, and then we'd all head home once we started crashing from the sugar."
"That sounds nice, too," I said.
"I think the most important thing about Christmas traditions is that you do them with others."
"What kind of traditions do you think we'll have with Rosemary?" I asked him.
"Hmm, probably a little of yours, a little of mine, but no matter what, it will definitely be as a family."
34
Chris
Bzzzz.
I slapped at the alarm clock, wondering why on earth I hadn’t remembered to shut it off. Today was Sunday and both Aiden and I had off. Aiden teased me for still using the antiquated device, but I liked the act of slapping the darn thing into a snooze like a little rebel. That just didn’t work with a pho
ne.
“Why? For the love of coffee, why did you set your alarm, love?” It was music to my ears to hear Aiden lament the waste of a good sleep in. When we first met, he was all work, all the time and now, as our sweet baby’s arrival crept closer and closer, his workaholic ways faded. True, he still worked harder than most, but he also had other priorities.
I settled my hand on my belly as Rosemary began her morning karate practice. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to the wonder of it all. I had a human being growing inside of me, kicking me, getting ready to enter this world.
“Accident,” I mumbled, remembering an actual question had been asked. Mornings never were my strong suit and now that I was pregnant, even less so.
Aiden was nestled behind me, his “good morning” wood pressing against my ass. His hand circled around my stomach until it settled on mine. “So karate or soccer?”
“I’m thinking karate.” She gave an extra hard kick. At least this time it wasn’t my bladder like it had been the three times she woke me up during the night.
“What time is it?” Aiden asked. “I Left my phone at the office last night.”
I glanced over at the alarm clock. Aiden should have been able to see it just as well as I could, if his head hadn’t been buried in my neck. “A little after nine,” I mumbled.
We snuggled like that, enjoying the magic that was fatherhood. We had yet to see her beautiful little face, yet she was already our sun and our moon. When Aiden had laid claim to her the night I informed Will of her existence, I could see in his eyes that he meant it with all that he was. She was his and nothing would change that. She was one lucky little girl. I was one lucky man.
As she settled down, I found myself drifting off just as the snooze decided I’d snoozed enough. This time, I took the time to actually turn the blasted thing off.
“Sleep more or get up?” Aiden asked, pressing his erection more firmly against my backside.
His Pretend Omega: M/M Non-Shifter Alpha/Omega MPREG (Cafe Om Book 2) Page 12