Ben opened his door and sprinted around to help Adam out.
“I can manage,” Adam said, with a roll of his eyes as he clambered out.
When he tried to carry in one of the bags from the trunk, Ben intervened again.
“You shouldn’t be carrying that…”
“I’m not an invalid, Ben. I can manage,” the Omega insisted. Then, muttering to himself added. “If you’re like this now, what’ll it be like I’m twice as big.”
“I’m afraid you may have to accept an overprotective mate for the next while,” Sebastian said as he stepped towards them. “You’re both very welcome. We thought it best you stay with us until alternate accommodation is arranged.”
“Thank you for having us,” Adam said, a little shy in the presence of another Alpha. Ben took advantage of his distraction and whisked the bag from his arms.
“Why don’t we get you off your feet?”
“I’ve been off my feet for hours. Days practically,” Adam shot back. They continued to bicker back and forth as they followed Seb and Alicia into the house.
Alicia invited them to her house the day after they arrived so she could check Adam out in her clinic room.
Adam was nervous about what the check-up might entail. Ben didn’t seem worried but he could sense Adam’s unease which only heightened his protective instincts. Adam realized Ben wouldn’t calm down unless he did, so worked hard on trying to relax while they ate breakfast.
Alicia was at the door to greet them when they arrived.
“Tom and Hannah are at school and I’ve no one else booked in this morning so we have plenty of time.”
She talked Adam through everything she planned to do.
“I’ll take some blood samples, check your weight, measure you and then we’ll do an ultrasound. Not like the portable one I did last time at the cottage. This machine is more advanced, we’ll be able to see much clearer, especially now the babies are bigger.”
The first part of the exam passed quickly, Adam reassured by Ben’s constant presence by his side. Then it was time for the ultrasound.
“Just one question before we start. You’re almost five months along so we may be able to determine the sex of the babies. Do you want to know?”
Adam paused. He hadn’t thought about that. Looking to his Alpha he said, “If Ben does.”
Ben grinned and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s find out.”
The Alpha’s enthusiasm was infectious and Adam couldn’t keep the smile from his face.
“Okay, let’s have a look and see what we’ve got.”
He was prepared this time for the cold squirt of gel on his stomach, followed by the press of the probe against his belly.
“Baby one is lying with their head against the side of your pelvis and their legs up near your rib cage,” Alicia commented, her attention focused on the scan.
“Thankfully he or she is face up so we might be able to see…” she trailed off as she concentrated on the screen, twisting the probe. “There. Congratulations, baby one is a boy.”
Adam peered at the screen, as Ben leaned over him to do the same. “How can you tell?”
“Ah, well, see here.” She pointed. “Those are his legs, and that’s the umbilical cord up there so this here, between his legs, tell us all we need to know.”
“We’re going to have a son,” Ben said, sounding in awe. He squeezed Adam’s hand tightly.
“Everything else looks good,” Alicia added. “He’s moving plenty, all four limbs mobile.” She spent a few minutes checking out his heart before declaring that, too, to be perfect.
“And on to baby two.”
“What do you want?” Ben asked him. “A girl or another boy.”
“A baby,” Adam replied simply. “Your baby,” he added, so there’d be no misunderstandings.
Ben took Adam’s hand in his and kissed it. “I think that can be arranged.”
“Baby two is right side up. Head near your ribs, feet dangling down. Turned to the side though so I can’t get a good view. Hold on… no, he’s turned away. I’ll check the heart and we can try again.”
But no matter what she did, baby two seemed determined to avoid revealing its gender.
“We’ll try again at your next scan. After that, it’ll get quite crowded in there, making it harder to see things.”
“We could always have one surprise,” Adam suggested, looking to Ben to see the Alpha’s reaction.
“I think that’s a great idea. Let’s keep some of the mystery a little longer,” Ben said, pressing a kiss to Adam’s cheek.
“Okay, that’s you two done. I’ll check on you once a week from here on out. When it gets closer to your due date we’ll move that up to twice weekly. For the moment, make sure you’re eating plenty, especially before you tackle a change. Remember, your body is diverting a lot of resources to growing these babies. Don’t overtax it.”
“I won’t,” Adam replied cheerfully. “I couldn’t, even if I wanted to,” he added with a meaningful glance towards Ben.
“Are you calling me overprotective?” Ben asked, arms folded.
“You, overprotective? Never,” Adam joked, rolling his eyes at Alicia as they exchanged grins.
“Oh Ben, you are going to be hard to live with this next while. Normal bonded shifters are bad when it comes to pregnant mates, but all the history books say it’s ten times worse with an Alpha-Omega bond. You’ll both need to be ready for that.”
“We’ll be ready,” Ben assured her as he cleaned the gel off Adam’s stomach and helped him up from the table.
“Thanks, Alicia,” they both called as they left.
“If you ever want to practice parenting, I’m always looking for babysitters for Tom and Hannah,” she joked as she waved them off.
At the end of their first week in Glenoak, Sam drove them to the cottage he’d helped organize for them.
“Ro lived here when he first arrived. They had another tenant in but they left a few weeks ago, so it’s all yours.”
They climbed out of the car and Sam led them inside.
“We did a little work to it. Lianna, me, and about half the Pack. As a welcome present.”
Adam stepped forward, eyeing the interior with amazement. The cottage had been old and charming but this… this was beautiful.
“You might want to check out the bedrooms. The nursery in particular,” Sam said, indicating a door painted with a crescent moon.
Adam let his hand rest on the handle for a moment before turning it and pushing inward.
He let out a sigh at what he saw. Twin cribs sat side by side, each with its own mobile, decorated with stars, moons, and clouds.
The walls were painted a light cream color and sunlight streamed through the window. Bright and friendly, and a world away from the darkness he’d grown up in.
“It’s beautiful,” he murmured, letting his hands run along the edge of the first crib. In the corner sat an old wooden rocking chair and next to it, a bookshelf.
“Ben told us how much you like reading to the babies, so we thought this would be perfect.”
It was.
“Thank you, Sam,” Adam said, hugging the other man tightly. “It is perfect. More than perfect.”
“Yeah, this is really something,” Ben said, clapping Sam on the shoulder. “This means a lot Sam, thank you.”
“A home, and a family, and a Pack.” Adam leaned against Ben as he spoke, the Alpha wrapping an arm around him.
“Everything I’ve ever wanted,” Ben said.
And if his words sounded a little bittersweet to Adam, well no matter. They had each other and, in that moment, that was what counted.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading The Alpha’s Choice, I hope you enjoyed Ben and Adam's story. If you have a minute to spare, please consider leaving a review.
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Cover by Vivian Monir Designs
Copyright © 2016 by Claire Cullen
All Rights Reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincident
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The Alpha's Choice: Lost Omegas Book Two: A M/M Shifter Romance Page 14