“What, baby?” I was breathing heavily as I slipped into my car and started the engine. “What happened?”
“I have one of those emergency hammers that I keep in my door pocket in case I’m ever trapped in my seatbelt or my car goes underwater or something.”
I cringed and tried not to visualize such awful things happening to Thad. “Yeah, I know what you’re talking about. I have one in my glove box.”
“Ah, yes, the glove box. That’s a much better place to store it.”
“Why?” I could almost guess what he was going to say, but I needed to keep him on the phone so I could hear his voice until I could see for myself that he was perfectly okay. “What happened?”
“Well, the impact from the crash made it fly out of the pocket and it landed pointy side first in my left hip.”
“Oh, damn.” I was glad I wasn’t sitting in front of Thad because, although I hated the idea of him ever being hurt in any way, there was something almost comical about an emergency hammer getting wedged into a hip during an actual emergency situation. I expected I’d laugh about that someday. But not today. Today was about getting to my omega and making sure he was safe. “So you’re okay? Is that it or did anything else happen?”
“That’s the only bad thing that happened, I promise.” I could hear something in Thad’s voice that made me think he was holding something back, but according to the big blue sign on the highway, I was only one mile from the hospital so I’d see for myself soon enough.
“What about the other driver? Any injuries in the truck?”
“Not that I know of.” Thad was quiet for a second before he spoke up again. “Actually, they didn’t stop. It was a hit and run.”
“What the fuck?” I hit the pedal a little harder, pissed that some asshole would have the balls to run into another car and then just take off. “Did you get a look at them?”
“No, not at all.” Thad sighed. “A witness said it was one of those hauling trucks you can rent by the hour, but I didn’t see anything.”
“I’m almost there, baby.” I pulled into the emergency room parking lot. “I’m parking now.”
Seeing Thad laughing with his work friends was a huge relief. He was wearing scrubs from the waist down and had a pint of Chunky Monkey in his hands, holding court for a small group of staff surrounding him.
As if he could sense me from across the long corridor, Thad looked up at me and smiled before shooing away his fan club. I crossed the floor in long strides and pulled him up into my arms as soon I was within reach. “I was so scared.”
“I’m sorry, Ren.” Thad wrapped his arms tightly around my neck and clung to me for several long moments. “But I need to tell you one more thing.”
With my nose nuzzled in Thad’s neck, I took a deep breath and let his natural scent calm my nerves. My omega was safe. My omega was in my arms. And my omega was…
I suddenly pulled back and looked Thad right in the eyes as my mind quickly figured out why he smelled a little different. A little minty and balsamy and… “Oh my god, Thad. You’re pregnant.”
“I am.” He looked a little terrified as he nodded. “Is that okay?”
I pulled him back into my arms, holding him tightly as I sucked in his new, even more perfect scent. “Of course it’s okay,” I whispered. Then a thought occurred to me and I pulled back. “Is it okay with you?”
He gave me a soft smile as his eyes welled up. “Yes, I mean, it’s sudden and all, but this is what I’ve always wanted.” He laughed and squeezed my shoulders where he was still gripping me. “I thought it would be a little longer down the road, but I want this baby...with you.”
I choked back a sob and kissed Thad softly on the lips before moving to his ear. “Me too, little omega. Me too.”
18
Thad
“Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little green.” Joaquim was so very much not helping.
“I’m fine. I just need a cracker or something.” Or the last couple weeks of this trimester to be over so I didn’t want to puke pretty much every second of every day. Not that I puked—no, I just teetered on the edge of wishing for sweet death to take me instead.
“I should call Ren,” he announced as if that was going to happen.
Ren had enough garbage going on because of a corporate merger at his work. The last thing he needed to deal with was my sorry preggo omega butt whining about wanting to puke. He’d been amazing from the instant he found out our lack of protection created a new life. He didn’t have to step up to the plate... But, he did. Even if it meant we rushed through the traditional getting to know you phase of the relationship and jumped straight to the let’s have a baby phase.
It had gone remarkably well given the high speed ride we were on. If it weren’t for his lease and my mortgage being for places a decent drive apart, I’d have said things were perfect. His lease was up in a couple months, and we thought we had a solution in place, one where he would telecommute from Mapleville four days a week.
And then the stupid merger started and all telework had been shut down, making our plan as good as dead.
Nope. I wasn’t going to let Joaquin pester him with my drama.
“I’m fine. Don’t call him. Just give me crackers.”
“If you don’t look better after the crackers, I’m calling Ren,” he warned. He wouldn’t. This was not the first time we’d had that particular conversation, although I really hoped it would be the last. Besides, I was clocking out for the day.
“Not late for dinner, I hope.” Ren turned the corner, and from the look on his face, he’d heard I was sick enough to worry… Damn, Joaquin.
Of course.
“I’d never call you late to dinner, babe.” I winked before walking into his arms, earning me a groan from my friend. Not that he wasn’t equally as lovie dovie with his mate.
“I’m taking that as my cue to leave. See you tomorrow?”
“Nope. I have the next forty-eight hours off.” My hand slid down into Ren’s.
“See you then.” He grabbed his duffle and walked on out.
“What are you doing here?” It was a normal workday for him, and I crossed all things that it didn’t mean the rumors about upcoming layoffs were true.
“I missed you.” He kissed the top of my head and snagged my duffle off the bench. “And I have news.” He deadpanned.
What the heck? “Good news or bad news?”
“That depends. How would you like me to be in Mapleville permanently?”
“You got laid off?” I threw myself at him, hugging him tightly. I technically made enough money for all of us, but losing your job always sucked.
“Not exactly. My position has been cut, yes.” He tipped my head up to look at him. “But they want to start a satellite office in Mapleville, and I agreed to accept the position as manager—if that’s what you want.”
As if there was anything else I wanted more. “You would be here all the time?”
He nodded.
“And not commuting back and forth?”
He nodded again.
“And you would move in with me?” There was a tinge of insecurity in my last question. We’d grown close, super close, since our first official date, but I didn’t want to presume anything.
“If you’ll have me. They said I can start as soon as next month.”
I squeed like a little kid getting their first bicycle before kissing him soundly until a voice cleared behind us.
“That is not appropriate for the workplace.” Dr. Mc Creepy or Dr. Hartman, as was technically his name, said behind me. There was absolutely no reason for him to be on the unit and less reason for him to be in our break room.
“I apologize.” I went right into obedient staff mode. No sense arguing about it. Technically, he was right even if he didn’t belong there.
“You should. Kissing a patient. Really.” His eyes were glued to Ren the entire time, which only exacerbated his creepiness.
“Do you wan
t to file a complaint, Mr. Michaels?” He stepped closer, and I found myself coming between him and Ren in a protective stance. We’d get to the how he knew Ren part later.
“I like it when my omega kisses me, so I’m pretty sure that’s a no, but thank you for your concern.” Ren took me by my hand and started toward the door, not even allowing me time to enjoy the way he’d called me his.
“You little tease.” Dr. Hartman grabbed Ren’s shoulder, effectively pushing me out of the way. I was seeing red.
“Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me.” Ren looked as if he were about to deck the man, and I couldn’t blame him. I pretty much wanted to as well.
“You lead me on and what, decide to hook up with that?” His grubby hand was pointing in my direction as he angled himself to block Ren from leaving. As if Ren would leave without me.
This was an entirely new side of Dr. Hartman, and he had been awful before. This side showed him to be truly insane as well. Even if Ren had been leading him on, which I found highly unlikely, this was over the top fucked up.
As his hand moved to cup Ren’s cheek, or at least I thought that was where he was going, I did something I had been needing to do for months—I threw up and not-so-accidentally aimed my projectile so most of it landed on Dr. Hartman.
Ren was immediately holding me, asking me if I was alright before the good old doctor even processed what had happened to him.
“I actually feel better now.” I really did too. A ton. “Let’s go home.” We stepped around Dr. Hartman, which snapped him out of whatever trance he’d been in.
Unlike me, who got puked on often at work, foot specialists rarely dealt with that kind of gross. I was happy to initiate him.
“I’m writing up an official reprimand. Unless, of course, Ren sees the error of his ways.”
“I see no error—only my future.” That was Ren’s only reply as we walked out the door, stopping only to ask my friend Mike, on the custodial staff, if he could clean up the mess I had unfortunately left behind.
There was no part of me that thought Hartman was going to let go of the fact that I threw up on him. But he had no direct chain of command over me. No indirect either for that matter. He basically was just going to have to deal with it.
“So, I’m guessing we’ll talk more about why Dr. McCreepy has you on his radar when we get home,” I said as we got to the parking garage where we would have to part ways… At least temporarily.
“Home. I love the sound of that.” That was all he said before enveloping me in a hug and telling me to drive home safely.
It was pretty much all I needed to know.
19
Ren
Being offered the chance to relocate to Mapleville was the best news that I could have gotten. I thought Thad and I would spend the afternoon making love and celebrating. But when I walked into his house behind him, sex was obviously the last thing on his mind.
He turned to me with his arms crossed over his chest and a pissed off expression. Much more pissed off than when I left him in the hospital parking lot. Apparently my little omega had done some thinking while he was driving…and he wasn’t happy about where those thoughts took him. “So, what was that all about?”
I hated seeing him so closed off from me. It just didn’t feel right. So, I grabbed Thad by his elbows and gently pulled him to the couch so I could hold him in my lap, right where he belonged. “This is actually kind of embarrassing.”
“Good.” Thad was trying to stay angry, but I could tell he was losing his fight and wanted to smile. “Start talking.”
“When I couldn’t find you on any of the dating apps, I did a people search for Thad Hart in Mapleville, since that’s all I had to go on.”
Thad’s shoulders dropped and he leaned his forehead against mine. “Oh, shit. I think I know where this is going.”
“Yeah, you probably do.” I cringed at the memory of that day with the creepy foot doctor. “Well, as you can guess, the closest real person I found was a Dr. Thaddeus Hartman. I didn’t think it was you, but I was desperate, so I made an appointment to see him. I was only in there for a few minutes but—”
“Did he lick your feet?” Thad pulled back with a completely serious expression. “I can totally picture him being all gross like that.”
“Not quite, but he looked like he wanted to. I took off and never heard from him.” The niggling in my mind that had been triggered a few times over the past few months finally clicked into a revelation. “Holy shit, it was him…”
“What was him?”
“The note, all the flowers… It had to be from him. At first, I thought T.H. was you...but it’s not. That fucker has been stalking me.”
“What flowers?” Thad had that same angry look in his eyes as earlier and it was fucking adorable.
“A while ago, right after that first weekend I spent here, a bunch of flowers were delivered to my place with some weirdass message. I was gonna mention it to you, but all that shit at work happened, and I just kinda forgot about it.”
“Have you talked to him at all before today?” Thad seemed worried but less angry. And I definitely didn’t want him to be worried about anything.
“Not since that first appointment I made when I stormed out of his office. You work with that guy?”
Thad frowned. “Unfortunately. Not closely, but I see him around. Occasionally, we’re assigned the same patients, but it’s rare. But he has been particularly cold to me lately. I guess now I know why.”
I pulled Thad against my chest and held him there. “If he even looks at you funny ever again, you let me know. I’ll go kick his ass if that’s what it takes for him to get the hint that there will never be a chance with me.” I pressed my lips to the top of Thad’s head and held there. “I’ve already found my mate, and I’m never letting you go.”
Over the next few months, I made the move from Oak Grove to Mapleville. Danny was bummed to see me leave, but he decided to keep the apartment to himself and not bother with another roommate. At least not until he found a partner to share his home with.
Opening a satellite office in a new town was daunting, but the little town of Mapleville welcomed me with open arms and the mayor even brought me some homemade cookies that his wife baked on our first official day of business. I’d been busy with consultations for new clients and trying to hire a few more advisors to work with me, so I didn’t pay attention to the warning bells in my head when they first started.
In fact, we were more than six months into the pregnancy when the warning bells turned into a five alarm air siren that couldn’t be ignored.
The day had started off normally. Thad and I woke up early on Saturday to take a walk into town and grab some delicious scones from our favorite bakery. There was some construction going on at the library so we had to cross the street to avoid all the heavy equipment that had been left in the parking lot for the weekend. When we were heading back, the sound of a truck heading down the street startled us as we crossed the intersection.
Thad gasped beside me as a large moving truck came barreling down the street, right toward us. Instinctively, I grabbed Thad and pulled him out of the way and into my side, but the truck veered right and continued directly toward us. I hesitated for a few seconds, not sure where to go or how to keep Thad safe before I lifted Thad off the ground and ran with him behind one of the earth movers parked on the side of the road.
I expected the truck to veer back into the street and continue on its way, but it didn’t. It kept coming forward, and as it moved closer, I looked right into the eyes of the driver.
Dr. Thaddeus Hartman.
The world moved in slow motion as I carried Thad as far away from the tractor as I could get before the truck barreled into it. The sound of crunching metal was horrific but not nearly as frightening as the explosion that immediately followed. Thad and I huddled behind the crane for a long moment before we stood up and looked at the scene behind us.
The truck Dr. Hartman had been driving
was engulfed in flames, and I was positive he didn’t make it out.
I turned to Thad, inspecting him from head to toe. “Are you okay? Is the baby okay?”
He nodded and kept his eyes glued to the inferno just a few hundred feet behind us. “Did you see him?”
“Hartman? Yeah.” I held Thad in my arms, grateful he and our baby were safe and sound.
“He was trying to hit us…” Thad sobbed against my chest, the reality of how differently things could have turned out finally hitting him.
“I think so.” I held him tightly, praying this was the worst moment of our lives now that the danger Dr. Hartman posed to us was finally gone. “But he didn’t. You’re safe. We all are. I promise to always keep you safe.”
It took a few hours for us to get through questioning from the sheriff and local news reporters. Thad was popular with the townspeople, and it seemed like every single resident of Mapleville came out to check on him. We were both exhausted by the time we made it home after lunch, so Thad and I spent the rest of the day in bed, napping and holding each other.
Neither of us were ready to get out of bed when dinner rolled around, so I ordered in a pizza delivery and we stayed put, lazily teasing each other whenever there was something even remotely sexy on TV.
After an hour of torture while watching an episode of The Bachelor, my cock was hard and desperate for relief. Thad was in the same boat when he slipped out of bed with a serious boner and then whined about not being able to pee because he was too hard. Of course, I had a plan to take care of that.
“Well, then get that cute little ass and gorgeous baby bump back in here and let your alpha take care of you.”
Thad peeked out from behind the bathroom door. “This bump is not gorgeous. It’s annoying and makes everything uncomfortable.”
I shook my head until Thad finally relented and waddled back to me. He was being dramatic but damn he was gorgeous, bump and all. “Get over here, little omega.”
Birthday with his Omega Page 8