His Manny Omega: M/M Non-Shifter Alpha/Omega MPREG (Cafe Om Book 3)

by Harper B. Cole

  "What's for dinner?" I asked, planning on ordering pizza because I was fairly certain they'd been too distracted by the idea of puppies to cook anything.

  "Spaghetti," Oliver responded distractedly. "Noodles and sauce are on the stove."

  "Are you guys going to eat?" I asked.

  "We already did, Daddy! We eat already so we can play with puppies."

  "Oh," I said. I had come to enjoy our evening dinners.

  Oliver picked up on my mood immediately. "Was that okay? She was so excited, I knew she wouldn't be able to eat once the puppies were actually in the building."

  "No, yeah, that's great. Makes sense."

  "But...you're upset."

  I smiled. A real smile. I was a little upset about missing our family dinner, but it was one night. I didn't want Oliver to feel bad. "Not upset. It's just a bit of a reality check realizing where I fall in the grand scheme of priorities. I think I'm somewhere above tea parties, but clearly below puppies."

  "Well, if it makes you feel better, I think I fall between sprinkled whipped cream and story hour."

  I laughed. "Which is higher?"

  "I think story time, but it depends on the day." His eyes crinkled up at the corners, his bright eyes sparkling with love and merriment.

  I wanted to kiss him. The shock of that thought froze me. I hadn't kissed anyone other than Jen in a long time, and never a guy. There'd been a couple times I'd wondered about kissing another man, but nothing like this deep down almost instinctive reaction I had toward Oliver.

  "Oliver, this one is yours," Chloe interrupted and placed a white fluff monster in his hands. Then she turned to pick up another red one like she had chosen for herself and handed it to me. "Here, Daddy."

  "What about the other ones?" I asked.

  "They can take turns," she said, very seriously. Her smile stretched from ear to ear. I gave my little fur bundle a quick snuggle and said, "I'm going to grab a bowl of pasta. be right back."

  When I returned, Chloe and Oliver were side by side on their stomachs on the floor, puppies crawling all over them, making stories up about what the puppies were saying to each other and the things they were trying to do. Like climb Mount Chloe. And track the dangerous human fingers.

  Maybe Chloe was ready for a dog. Not a puppy, as tempting as these were. They would have no trouble finding a home. But a rescue. A little bit older, maybe. I'd have to talk to Oliver to make sure he didn't have any problems with it, since I'd have to rely on him for its care during the day. It had been a long time since I'd had to check with anyone about changing anything in my life. I actually liked it. I hadn't realized how much I missed it.

  I took over bedtime and Oliver met me as I left Chloe’s room.

  “I was serious about taking turns with the puppies. Show me what to do.”

  He was an unusual omega. Pushy. Or was he? Jen had been pushy too when it came to taking care of her friends and family. Of course, Oliver would be pushy with the puppies. He’d fallen for them as hard as Chloe had.

  “Okay, let me show you how to make their formula.”

  His eyes followed my hands intensely, and I knew I wouldn’t have to repeat myself twice. It had been a long time since anyone had cared for me with even half the intensity Oliver had for those puppies. It had been a long time since I’d focused on anything, even Chloe, with half that intensity. I hadn’t expected, when I had hired Oliver, that I was getting a mentor in how to be a better human being. I had thought this was a mutually beneficial situation, but now I was starting to think I got the better end of the deal. I could hardly remember what life had been like before Oliver. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

  15

  Oliver

  I felt like crap. Complete, unadulterated crap. I knew I would with my heat coming. My doctor recommended I double my suppressant dosages when I asked his advice about taking time off from work. My last heat had been bad, and he was the one who had prescribed this suppressant, so why I was listening to him and taking his advice instead of just taking time off was beyond me. No, that’s a lie. I knew why. It was Wyatt. I wanted to make his life easier, especially when he was down a tech at work.

  I sat up with a groan. It wasn’t unbearable. More like a really bad hangover. I could work with that. I took a shower, hoping it would alleviate some of my pounding headache. It was a fail, but at least I was clean. I could already hear Chloe and Wyatt in the kitchen making breakfast, meaning my quick shower had taken much longer than I intended.

  As I made my way to the kitchen, their laughter filled me with joy, making the pain in my head a bit less awful.

  “Good morning.” I forced my voice to sound cheerful but came up short. I grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee. Maybe it would help.

  “Morning, Oliver.” Chloe was on the stool scrambling the eggs in a bowl. “I’m making scrambled eggs. I made extra for you.” She paused to give me a bear hug.

  “Thanks, Chloe bear.” Her bear hugs were the best. I kissed the top of her head before plopping on a stool. It was going to be a long ass day.

  “Oliver, are you okay?” Wyatt leaned in close so only I could hear, his worry evident.

  “I’m fine,” I lied. “Just a bit of a headache.”

  “I can call in if you need a sick day.” He spoke the words as if it was as easy as grabbing an apple from the bowl in front of us, but I knew the truth. Wyatt calling in was a huge ordeal that impacted many lives, including those of his patients. There was no way I would ask him to do that for something like a bad heat cycle.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “Will you call if you change your mind?” He still sounded unsure. And then it hit me why. He didn’t know it was heat related.

  “I will call if I change my mind, if I feel like Chloe is not getting the best attention, or if I get worse,” I reassured with my best happy face or at least not dying face. “Deal?”

  “Deal,” he agreed less than wholeheartedly.

  Chloe called to let us know she was ready for the eggs to go in the pan. I watched them as they finished cooking breakfast. It didn’t go unnoticed that Wyatt’s eyes kept wandering my way. He was worried. I put “text Wyatt numerous times so he doesn’t worry” on my to-do list for the day.

  We ate and I listened to Chloe babble on and on about her puppy. Wyatt was correcting her less and less about the puppy not belonging to her. I knew he would cave. They still had a week before they could come home, which was good news for me because I knew squat about them and would have to read up since the odds were increasingly in Chloe’s favor.

  After Wyatt went to the clinic, I offered to let Chloe watch her favorite movie. She jumped at the chance since we normally reserved movies for rainy days. I sat in the comfy chair that had slowly become mine as she enjoyed the silly tale about a girl who became a monster and got to live in a castle.

  About half way into the movie, I texted Wyatt.

  Chloe is watching her favorite movie.

  It was only moments before I saw him replying. I hope that means you are resting.

  Leave it to me to have the only alpha boss encouraging laziness. I teased, hoping to decrease his worry. It was sweet, actually, but the guilt of making him worry about me instead of his job weighed heavy on me. I am resting. I just didn’t want you to worry.

  I was. Take some headache medicine please.

  Why hadn’t I already done that? I know and I will.

  I put the phone away and followed his recommendation to take some medicine and become a lazy fool. Chloe was down with the being lazy plan. She watched three videos before lunch and was beyond happy when I suggested we eat ramen for lunch. By the time her nap came around, I was so ready for my own.

  Chloe’s going down for a nap now. I sent him my third “don’t worry” update for the day.

  I hope you are too.

  Yes, alpha. I sent it before thinking it through and immediately regretted it. I didn’t call him alpha. He wasn’t mine. He was my boss. What had I bee
n thinking? I hadn’t.

  I put the phone down and began to get ready for my nap with a quick bathroom break and trip to the kitchen to get a glass of water, but I didn’t make it out of the bathroom before the real pain hit. My stomach clenched and I could no longer stay standing. Fuckity fuck fuck. I lowered myself to the ground, allowing the coolness of the tile to comfort my throbbing head. I grabbed for my phone and cussed again at leaving it on my nightstand. I was in no shape to take care of Chloe if she were to wake early. What had I been thinking?

  I pulled myself to stand, failing miserably just as the door opened. His cedar and coffee scent hit me, immediately relieving my worry over Chloe. I closed my eyes, no longer needing to keep them open. My alpha was here and my sweet girl was safe. That was all that mattered.

  16

  Wyatt

  I worried about Oliver all morning. I know it's not polite to tell someone they look awful, but he really had. His skin was pale, but the skin along his hairline had beaded with sweat. He moved slowly, like it hurt him, and he winced at Chloe's giggles, which normally made him smile like she'd just given him the best present in the world.

  His first text set me at ease somewhat, and that he was resting even more so, but it didn't kill my worry. He was the kind of guy who would work himself to the bone rather than ask for help for himself. He would never put Chloe in danger, I knew that, but I knew firsthand how you could push through to take care of a kid while feeling like your body is trying to tear you apart. Single parenting while sick with the flu isn't for the weak.

  I was doing my best to rein in my over-protective urges, however. While Oliver was a member of my household, I had no claim on him other than as his employer. I couldn't literally go over there and make him rest. Well, maybe I could, but that kind of heavy-handed alphahole attitude might lose me the best thing that had happened to my life since Chloe's birth. I meant, having him as a nanny, of course. No matter what my brain might whisper to me when I was alone.

  But then when I texted him that he should take a nap while Chloe was asleep and my phone dinged not ten seconds later with that Yes, alpha. text...Those alpha instincts went into overdrive and it was all I could do to not skip my next appointment and march right over there to make sure he was taking care of himself. I made it through the next appointment, however, and took the opportunity of a small break in my schedule to high tail it over to the house.

  When Oliver didn't answer my call as I walked in the door, my heart nearly stopped. The house smelled...wrong. I could still smell the lavender and honey scent that was Oliver and it was stronger than ever, but there was something underneath it, something rotten. I ran to his room first, my eyes scanning each room to make sure I didn't miss him. When his room was empty, I checked Chloe's. And then I heard a moan from the bathroom.

  He was collapsed on the floor next to the toilet and I fell to my knees beside him, my hand going to check his pulse on his neck. Still there, I heaved a sigh of relief. But it was too rapid. I pulled him up to a sitting position and pulled him to my chest. He groaned again.

  "Oliver? Oliver, can you hear me?"

  No response. I had to do something. Should I call an ambulance? Or at least a doctor?

  First things first, I needed to get him out of the bathroom. I managed to hoist him to his feet, his arm around my neck. He was a dead weight, but I managed to hobble us into his room. I needed to get him out of his sweat-soaked clothes. I quickly stripped him of his shirt and pants, leaving him in his boxers, then pulled the blankets down from underneath his body to cover him up.

  "Oliver? Are you okay?"

  He moaned again, but I thought I could hear something almost coherent in the sound. I leaned closer to his ear.

  "Wyatt..."

  "I'm here, Oliver. What do you need?"

  His hands slipped up to grab my shirt over my chest and he pulled tightly, like he was trying to pull himself out of bed.

  "I need you, alpha."

  All of a sudden, I realized what was happening. This wasn't an illness. He was in heat. But something was wrong. Heat made you loopy, absolutely, but it didn't normally make you ill like this. But now that I recognized it for what it was, now that I knew Oliver wasn't dying, the adrenaline faded and the hormones it had been blocking started seeping into my system, involuntarily stirring interest in my groin. This was so not the time for that.

  Oliver's hands were still twisted in my shirt and I started to disentangle them.

  "You're my alpha," Oliver said, kicking all my efforts to ignore the hormone driven response of my body to the curb. "I don't care whether you know it or not. Mine."

  It was just heat sickness talking, I knew it. Heat made omegas crave the nearest knot, say the most unlikely things, things they would regret when it passed. And this was the worst heat sickness I'd ever seen. Knowing all that didn't prevent me from the barest moment of exultation. I wanted to be Oliver's alpha. For the first time since Jen passed, I craved another person. I craved this man twisting and squirming below me, his words becoming more clear by the moment.

  "I need your knot, alpha. Need you to fill me up good. You're so perfect, Wyatt. No one else like you."

  There were so many ways I was being inappropriate right now, not the least of which was that I was realizing that my appreciation for Wyatt had long passed that of an employer for an employee, but as an alpha for an omega. I'd never really had to give thought to my sexuality before. I'd had thoughts about other guys, but before Jen, I'd only dated two other omegas, both female. But there was no question in my mind right now, as Oliver's thrashing bared his naked chest, that I wanted everything Oliver had to offer: his willing kindness, his cheerful spirit, and his sinfully enticing body.

  But not now. Not while he was incapacitated. And maybe not ever. I was his boss, for fuck's sake. And his housing depended on this job. There was so much that could go wrong.

  "You're the perfect man," Oliver said.

  Oh, I was so very far from it.

  17

  Oliver

  “Oliver. Oliver.”

  The voice sounded so far away. Who was calling me? I tried to speak, but managed to only get out a growl. I was a hot mess. Even the floor below me felt off. Almost soft, even.

  “Oliver, please wake up and show me those gorgeous eyes.” This time it was closer and so was the scent of the man speaking.

  “Wyatt. I’m sorry. I was going to call you,” I mumbled, my voice raw. I needed him to know I wasn’t being dismissive of his daughter’s safety.

  “Shhhh, I know. I know.”

  A cool cloth settled on my head. I pried my eyes open to see Wyatt looking down at me. “I’m glad I came home to check on you.”

  “I didn’t know it would be so bad.”

  “When I went into your bathroom to get a cloth I noticed the two packages of suppressants. Why did you do that?” He kept patting my head with the cloth.

  “Dr. Monroe told me it would make it so I didn’t miss work.” I closed my eyes, embarrassed by the ridiculousness of it when said out loud. If one suppressant sucks, take two. I was a fool.

  “Your doctor is a quack. When I got here you were sweating bullets and just about to pass out, which you then did. Promise me you will never do that again.”

  “I promise. I thought it was helping, but it only put Chloe in danger.” Never again.

  “Being a bit melodramatic, aren’t you?” He pulled back as I propped myself up to sit, feeling so much better than I had only moments earlier.

  “She was alone.”

  “Asleep.” He sat on the edge of my bed and it sent all kinds of feelings spiraling through me. He looked right, sitting there, in my space, with his dimples and… I chastised myself for allowing the residue of heat lead me down that path. He was my boss. Period.

  “You’re too forgiving.” I adjusted myself, hoping he didn’t notice my growing lower brain. Not that I was in the mood for anything other than sleep or food, but hormones and pheromones didn’t p
ay attention to stuff like that. “Where is Chloe?”

  “She’s sleeping.”

  “Still?” I questioned. She hadn’t even played outside, I was guessing her for an hour nap, tops.

  “It’s two am.” He shrugged.

  Fuck. Two am with naps starting just after lunch? That was not good. I missed more than half of a day.

  “Crap. What else did I miss?” I mumbled more to myself than to Wyatt.

  “Oh, my sweet omega, you don’t even want to know.” He winked before getting up and going to the door. “Let me go get you some soup while you rest a bit more.”

  And that was when it all came flooding back. Shit, I told my boss that he was my alpha whether he thought so or not. Worse than that, I told him he was the man of my dreams. I was screwed.

  When he came back in, soup in hand, we both played along with the farce that I was just sick and nothing odd happened. He probably dismissed it as heat filled delusions. I, however, knew better. It was me wearing my heart on my sleeve and confessing things to him, I had yet to confess to myself.

  18

  Wyatt

  I wasn’t sure what to do with my newly realized feelings toward Oliver, so I did my best to set them aside. But it wasn’t easy. I had always thought I was straight, but appreciated guys on an aesthetic level. Maybe had a few thoughts about doing something more, but had never been interested in following it up in reality. After awkwardly staring at several good looking guys and a good bit of internet searching, I’d come to the conclusion that it was Oliver I was attracted to, and Jen I had been attracted to. It was specific to the person, not their gender.

  So much had changed for the better since Oliver had entered our lives. It was amazing how much more I enjoyed my full days off with Chloe now that he had joined our lives. For one, I felt so much less guilt leaving Chloe in his care, especially at night, because I barely had to wake him up to let him know I was heading out. Nothing against Helen, she had been amazing for the three years she had watched Chloe. She had always been willing to come over during my late night emergencies, but that meant she had to get up, get dressed, and come over to the house and wait until I got back.