“Ten fingers and ten toes,” I said giddily, and spared an arm to coax my mate down for a celebratory kiss.
He laughed against my lips, then pulled away to look at our son again. “He’s gorgeous.”
“He is.” I made soothing noises at the baby and stroked him gently until his cries died off.
“Here,” Jason said. “Let’s start cleaning him up.” He perched on the edge of the bed and set a bowl of warm water on his knee. Carefully, he began wiping away all the messy signs of birth, working his way from the baby’s head to his feet.
I felt the afterbirth come out and moments later Holland had cleaned me up and was wrapping a length of bandage around my hips.
“We need to turn him over and cut the cord,” Jason said.
The baby fussed a little as we moved him and then I saw something that made my heart sink. I’d been so sure—he’d grown so fast, and been so active…
He had an omega line.
Jason’s hand paused in its gentle cleaning, and I could see him looking at the mark on the baby’s belly. He pulled himself together with an obvious effort and tied off the cord, while I tried to come to terms with this sudden change. Holland handed over a pair of scissors and as soon as the cord was cut, he gathered up the afterbirth in a towel and took it out of the room.
“Is something wrong?” Abel asked in a tense voice. He reached for the baby, this time running his fingers over the thick cap of dark hair.
I put a hand to my mouth, then reached for Abel. “I’m so sorry, Abel.”
“Sorry for what? Is he sick? He looks healthy.” Now Abel sounded truly worried.
“No, he’s healthy, but—” I hated having to say it. “He’s omega. I’m sorry.” I bowed my head and stroked my baby’s back.
“Is that a problem? Are omega babies weaker? Should I get Adelaide?”
His questions confused me, until I looked up and realized that he didn’t care that the baby was an omega. His eyes scoured the baby’s body, looking for some hint of disease or deformity, but they skated right over the omega line like it didn’t even matter.
And then I realized that, to my mate, it truly didn’t matter. I gazed up at him and smiled, though tears still stood in my eyes. “No, there’s nothing wrong with him. I—we’ve been talking so much about non-omega names…”
Abel laughed, loud and joyous. “Like it matters. He’s healthy, that’s all I care about.” Then he frowned. “I guess we need a different name. Or we can just give him an alpha name and confound them all,” he said gleefully. I frowned at his silliness, but that only made him grin wider.
Goofy alphas. I made pushing motions at the mattress, wanting to sit up a little straighter so I could see everyone.
Jason took the baby for a moment, and Abel helped me to sit up against the pillows again, then Jason gave me back my little boy. I cradled him against my chest, within easy reach of a nipple if he decided he wanted to nurse. So far, he just seemed baffled by his surroundings, his tiny fingers scrabbling against my skin. Jason handed me a little blanket to drape over him so he didn’t get cold.
Abel laid his arm over my shoulders and leaned in to watch the baby smack his lips and wave his arms. “Damn, but he’s cute.” He kissed my temple. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
He smiled, his eyes still on the baby. “For him. For you. For all the good things that have happened to me since you showed up at the gates a year ago.” He reached out with a finger again to touch the silken strands of hair. “You make me happy.” He turned his smile on me. “What do you want to name him?”
“Really?”
“Sure. If it had been a girl, I was totally going to let you call her Rhiannon.”
After all this time holding out for Octavia. “You are an evil man,” I told him severely.
“That’s why I need my angel to give me balance.” He kissed me, his hand going to cover the baby’s back. “So, introduce us.”
I thought back to my list, still tucked inside that novel. “What about Taden? It means plentiful.”
“Taden,” he said thoughtfully, and regarded our baby with interest. “What do you think? Do you want to be Taden?”
The baby squawked and made crawling motions up my chest.
“Hey,” Abel said. “I think he likes it.”
I laughed. “I think he’s hungry.” Gently, I guided him up until he could get his mouth wrapped around one nipple. He fussed and got lost a couple of times, then seemed to figure out what he was doing. “You’re going to be a strong one, aren’t you?” I adjusted my arms to make it easier for the baby and smiled down at him.
Abel put a finger under my chin and turned my face up to him. “I love you. And I love Taden. And you have made me the happiest man in the world tonight.”
And then he kissed me, and in that kiss lay the promise of many, many more, and many, many years to come.
About Ann-Katrin
Ann-Katrin loves to write, read and dream. In her spare time, you can often catch her hunting wild plot bunnies in the fields of her imagination. In her other life, she’s a mother and a translator, but writing about men and the men they fall in love with is so much more fun!
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Other Books by Ann-Katrin
Mercy Hills Pack
Mating the Omega (Book One)
Abel’s Omega (Book Two)—Review it here!
Still to Come:
Duke’s Baby Deal (Book Three)
Legally Mated (Book Four)
Fires of Fate
Under the Dragon’s Spell (Book One)
The Dragon of His Dreams (Book Two)
Abel's Omega(Gay Paranomal MM Mpreg Romance) (Mercy Hills Pack Book 2) Page 41