The Omega Nanny

by Penelope Peters

  Thomas chuckled. Kieran wasn’t wrong; from the minute Molly Corvey had learned of her son’s impromptu bonding – and new step-daughter – she had been in contact with Kieran nearly every single day. And that had been before Kieran told her about his pregnancy. She showed up in the morning to take Jessie to the school bus. She brought Kieran lunch and helped decorate the baby’s room. She had even made dinner once or twice a week as Kieran’s due-date approached.

  Thomas was fairly sure she was making up for lost time. Initially he’d been annoyed by it, wondering why Molly Corvey was making the effort now, instead of when Kieran had actually needed her.

  Until he came home early one day, and found all three of them – Molly, Kieran, and Jessie – curled up in the corner of the sofa, reading. The way that Molly looked at Kieran, the regret and pain and sorrow and relief and utter joy, all mixed together….

  And when Kieran laughed, and tucked his head into Molly’s shoulder, the way Molly looked as if she was about to cry….

  Thomas couldn’t hate her. He couldn’t even fault her for wanting to keep Kieran close, now that he seemed to be willing to let her in.

  Kieran was right, though. She was going to be insufferable. He thought Kieran would probably be willing to suffer her, anyway.

  It was another ten minutes before Kieran let the nurses take the baby, to clean her up and do a check on her vitals. Thomas couldn’t help the lingering worry – Kieran had never developed GDA like either Felicity or Desmond, but some habits were harder to shake than others.

  It was another half hour before the room was ready for visitors, and to no one’s surprise, the first person in the door was Jessie at a full run, with Molly and Mark Corvey on her heels.

  “Jessie, slow down, you’ll run into something,” Molly scolded gently, but Jessie had already climbed up onto the side of the large bed where Kieran was sitting up, propped up with pillows, and holding the freshly clean and swaddled baby. “Kieran, sweetheart, how do you feel?”

  “I’m fine,” said Kieran, and made a face at Thomas when Molly immediately began to fuss over the blankets and Kieran’s hair and the angle of the bed.

  “Molly,” said Mark patiently, “give Kieran some space.”

  “Your parents will be back in a moment,” Molly said to Thomas as she tucked the blanket in around Kieran’s legs a little more snugly. “That harridan of a nurse won’t Mary into the wards unless Desmond is with her, and Des has to change Richie’s diaper. Darla said she’d sit with her until Des is done, she’s such a dear, your mother, Thomas, she could tell I wanted to see Kieran.”

  “Could tell that Molly was two minutes from breaking down the door, more likely,” Mark told Thomas under his breath, and Thomas didn’t doubt it.

  “There was poop everywhere,” said Jessie, almost awed.

  Kieran laughed. “Lucky Desmond.”

  “Can I see the baby?” demanded Jessie.

  “Here,” said Kieran, tilting the baby a bit. “Your sister, Annie.”

  “Oh,” said Jessie, disappointed. “But I wanted a brother. Can we send her back?”

  “No,” said Kieran emphatically, and Thomas had to stifle his laugh.

  Jessie sighed, just as dramatic as ever, and slumped over the side railings on the bed, settling her chin in her clenched fists. “Mama promised me a brother.”

  Kieran glanced over the baby’s head at Thomas, who sat in the chair next to the bed. Thomas shook his head, but he was looking hard at Jessie, already having a very good idea who she meant.

  “Jessie,” Thomas said carefully. “You mean… Felicity, your mother?”

  Jessie reached out a single, hesitant finger, to touch the baby’s soft cheek. The baby pursed her lips, and blew a bubble, and Jessie giggled.

  “She’s all right,” said Jessie finally. “But I’d still like a brother.”

  “Well,” said Kieran, and glanced over at Thomas. Thomas tried to look impassive, but his heart was pounding too hard to pretend as he waited for Kieran’s answer.

  And then Kieran smiled, surrounded by his family, hale and hearty and his – which was the best of all. It was exactly as if everything he’d said the previous hour was just talk. “There’s always next time.”

  Thank you so much for reading The Omega Nanny!

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  Thank you!

  About the Author

  Penelope Peters has visited coffee shops in countries most people can’t pronounce. She’s had front-row seats to one coup, bleacher seats for another, and so far has only been evacuated once, okay, and that was totally not her fault. She routinely forgets to pack at least one item when she travels. (It’s usually her toothbrush.) Her first order of business when arriving anywhere is to locate the nearest coffee shop, where she drinks coffee with so much milk and sugar that it’s not really coffee at all.

  Currently, Penelope frequents the coffee shops in Virginia, where she lives with her husband and two children, though that’s scheduled to change in the next year or so. The cat has only recently forgiven her for the evacuation. (The cat is convinced it was her fault.)

  Catch up with Penelope by:

  Reading her website at http://www.penelope-peters.com

  Signing up for her newsletter

  Following her on Twitter @penelope-writes

  Following her on Tumblr http://penelopepeters.tumblr.com

  Also by Penelope Peters

  The Country Omega

  Omega Ethan Downing doesn’t want a mate. He wants to play his piano and travel the world. But with his acceptance to a prestigious musical conservatory hanging in the balance – and an ex who won’t take “no” for a hint – Ethan’s father arranges a bonding with an alpha neither of them have ever met.

  Alpha Antonio Valdez’s life is perfect. He has the career, the money, the looks. In fact, he’d be perfectly happy never to bond at all. When his overbearing father arranges a bonding for him, he’s ready to find every excuse in the world not to go through with it.

  One meeting changes both Ethan’s and Antonio's minds.

  Too bad their fathers have also changed theirs.

  Now Ethan and Antonio have to fight for something they never even dreamed they wanted: each other.

  The Country Omega is the first book in the Downing Cycle, an m/m romance set in the Omegaverse. It is a non-shifter story with an HFN ending.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from the book!

  Coming Soon from Penelope Peters!

  Part Two of the Downing Cycle

  The Country Alpha

  After a devastating accident, Alpha Jake Downing has no intention of saddling himself with an omega – he’s going to live the life of a hermit on a mountain in the middle of nowhere and no one is going to stop him, dammit.

  Omega Ned Reilly’s secrets aren’t so secret. The whole city knows why his first alpha broke their bond – or they think they do. No one’s ever taken Ned Reilly seriously before – except the one man Ned can’t afford to ignore – and isn’t sure he can trust.

  One night in the city – and an inexplicable bond forged in a moment of passion – might just change their minds.

  Coming in Fall 2016!

  Acknowledgements

  Sometimes a story comes out of nowhere. I’ve learned over the years that when characters start talking to me, I’d best listen, even if I’m meant to be working on something else – such as the second part of my Downing Series. But Thomas Whittaker wanted his story told, and Thomas isn’t a guy who takes “Not now, come back later” very easily.

  Great thanks go to my Usual Suspects of Hallie Deighton, Kallysten, and Ada N., who are always happy to point out when I forget to add punctuation, or maybe that my main characters have already had their first kiss. (Oops.) Bethany and Elle Johnson were incredibly helping in making sure that
I didn’t insult anyone, and offered fantastic advice concerning African-American hair care (which I am totally stealing for my younger son when he’s a bit older). If there are any mistakes left in this story, they are all completely my fault.

  A particularly heart-felt shout-out to all of my Twitter, Tumblr, and WordPress followers, who went above and beyond in reblogging/retweeting the relevant posts that made The Country Omega such a success. You guys made my year. Thank you to: 1electricpirate, 4foxbells, anotherwellkeptsecret, aprillikesthings, auntiesuze, basic-bamboo, bewds, booskerdu, casapazzo, celestetsukino, cow-mow, cyn2k, darkrose-9, demonicsymphony, drinkingcocoa-tpp, enmigdetot-1, flyingcatstiel, ghislainem70, gillie, halotolerant, hedgehogandotter, indybaggins, jaradel, kestrel337, kholly12, ladyprydian, marta-bee, mildredandbobbin, myotherblogisatardis, norabombay, originalfictionspotlight, pangaeastarseed, porcupine-girl, prettyvk, redmageshabet, shiftergoddess, slashaddickt, theagelesswanderer, theobeliz, theotherwillow, timemngmtoptimisationproblems, and tossedaround.

  Special thanks to my sons, who are funny and fabulous even when they don’t go to bed on time, and my husband, who doesn’t mind that his wife has a tendency to knock up men in her spare time.

  Here’s a special excerpt from The Country Omega

  !

  The Country Omega

  Chapter One

  The train sped through the outskirts of the city, where the tree branches hung high over the tracks and the houses were spread far enough apart that Ethan Downing could catch glimpses of the gardens and lawns surrounding them. His book lay forgotten on his lap as he looked out the window; beside him, his father read the newspaper and huffed quietly to himself, unconcerned with the passing landscape. Ethan couldn’t even fake nonchalance long enough to manage a pretense of reading, nor quell the churning, nervous feeling in his stomach.

  You wanted to live in the city, he reminded himself when every jerk of the train made his breath catch. Well, now you’re going to, no sense in being homesick before you’re even there yet.

  Home, thought Ethan longingly, and thought of his mother kissing him goodbye for what they both knew could be the last time for a long while. His brother and sister, watching solemnly from the stairwell, uncertain in their own skins what they were meant to do. The trunks already packed in his bedroom, waiting for word that it was all right to send them after him.

  The false, jaunty walk to the station with his father, through the town that had no idea they might be seeing him for the last time, to the station where he’d board the train that would finally, finally, whisk him away from their heavy expectations.

  Ethan took a deep breath, and was pleased that it didn’t catch or stutter. He’d told himself he could be small and frightened in the safety of the train compartment, where only his father would witness it – and Robert Downing was unlikely to tell anyone if Ethan chose to have a nervous breakdown. But it was still good to know that he wasn’t a complete mess.

  Even if he was leaving everything he knew and loved behind, to bond with a strange man in a strange city. It was still better than the alternative.

  The train slowed as the houses became smaller, closer together, with the gardens gradually disappearing from view behind tall brick walls. The trees thinned out, with spots of green leaves only visible in the distance; the walls that lined the train tracks now were ugly, painted over with graffiti. Litter lined the gravel passageway, rustling in the breeze of the passing train.

  “We’re there,” said Ethan, and his voice sounded almost normal, even to him.

  Robert Downing shook his newspaper as he glanced out the window over Ethan’s shoulder. “Not quite,” he said, and went back to the sports page, unconcerned. At least he didn’t start spouting platitudes, thought Ethan grimly, well aware that Robert could spout with the best of them. The look on his father’s face as Ethan had shuffled through the alpha profiles the bonding pool matchmakers had sent to them was similar to the expression he wore now. As if he wanted to reassure Ethan of… something. Safety, maybe. That everything would work out fine.

  As if Robert had any control over that at all.

  The city beyond the ugly train tracks was at least something of a better sight – tall buildings, stately brick or gleaming metal, silver-blue and white marble, looking clean and crisp against the blue sky. Ethan imagined, just for a moment, all the people who populated them. Hundreds – thousands, he thought, each one sitting at a desk or on the phone or at the stove, going about their day, completely oblivious to the lives around them.

  Somewhere in the imagined, controlled chaos, his alpha was waiting for him. They had spoken on the phone, briefly; Ethan had seen a photograph of him once, a week before, but now the figure he imagined was faceless, an unknown entity, and Ethan could barely even remember what his voice sounded like. Was he reading a book, or getting a last bit of work done, or puttering around the house, glancing at the clock, impatient for Ethan to arrive? Was he in the room that would become theirs, pulling their bedsheets taut, ensuring they had all the supplies they needed for the coming days, as he claimed Ethan over and over again, marking him as his?

  The train plunged into a dark tunnel on its final descent into the station. Ethan sat back, heart pounding, the blush just rising on his cheeks, though whether it was the idea of that bedroom, or the completely ridiculous symbolism of the train going into the tunnel just then, he had no idea.

  Beside him, his father folded his newspaper. “Almost there now,” said Robert, his tone anticipatory in a way that Ethan supposed he ought to have felt himself. “Get any sleep?”

  “No.”

  Robert shook his head. “Your mother said you didn’t sleep a wink last night.”

  “Nerves,” admitted Ethan, and turned away from the window. There wasn’t anything to see in the tunnel, not really; every so often a flash would illuminate the bricked walls, but apart from the odd stripe of paint, they were bare. The train rocked back and forth even harder, despite its slower pace. Ethan tried to smile bravely at his father. “It’s all right. I feel fine.”

  “You’ll be needing your strength,” said Robert with a ridiculous and lascivious waggle in his eyebrows, and Ethan groaned and closed his eyes. “When an alpha claims his omega – it can be a very… long, protracted, arduous process.”

  “Fa… I do not want to have this conversation with you.”

  “All I’m saying, you should have slept.”

  “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me,” said Ethan. He opened his eyes and leaned into his father’s shoulder. “I will. I will.”

  Robert patted his son’s knee, solemn and comforting, and didn’t say anything.

  The pair sat quietly as the train pulled up to the platform, and then came to a stop. The car continued to shake gently back and forth – the other passengers, no doubt, as they rose and gathered their belongings in the other compartments, and after a moment, Ethan could see the stream of them through the window, heading in a massive exodus into the station itself.

  “We should go,” said Ethan watching them, and Robert let out a sigh, before giving his son’s knee a last pat.

  “Yes,” he said, regretfully, and pushed against Ethan’s leg in order to stand.

  There wasn’t much for them to collect. Robert’s dog-eared newspaper, the book Ethan had ignored, Ethan’s knapsack which carried only a change of clothes and a few toiletries. The CD he’d made especially for his alpha fell out as Ethan slung the bag over his shoulder; he quickly picked it up, heart hammering, and slipped it into his jacket pocket instead, where his fingers curled around it protectively.

  It had been too dangerous to bring the rest of his things with them; carrying the trunks to the train station would have alerted the entire town of his departure, and the last thing Ethan had wanted was for Alan Clark to catch wind of what he planned to do. Even now, as he and Robert alighted from the train, he glanced up and down the platform, as if expecting to see Alan glowering at him, tall and bearded and wearing the darkes
t possible frown from the Alan Clark Scale of Frowns.

  “Ethan,” chided Robert gently, watching him, knowing exactly what Ethan was doing.

  “I know, but….” Ethan shifted the knapsack on his shoulder. “Habit.”

  “Mmm,” said Robert, too dark to be thoughtful, and they joined the crowd of people walking through the dimly-lit tunnel of the platform, a bit like salmon heading downriver to spawn.

  Ethan had been to the city once before, for the audition to the music conservatory – but his mind had been so befuddled on that trip, and so taken up with his own private affairs that he hadn’t paid much attention to his surroundings. He barely remembered any of it at all. Now, though, he focused so much on what and who jostled around them that he was barely aware of himself – everything was loud and fascinating, lit in shining chrome and Technicolor, and Ethan couldn’t tear himself away if he’d tried.

  Robert had secured them a compartment near the front of the train, so it wasn’t until they entered the station itself that Ethan realized his first assumption of hundreds of people had been sorely off the mark. Even thousands didn’t feel quite accurate, not when there were surely a thousand people crowding the main room of the train station around them, and still most of their train struggling to enter from behind. The noise was deafening, with voices and footsteps and the squeak of rubber shoes echoing off the marbled walls and high ceiling, everyone busy with their own personal tasks, buying tickets or checking the clacking signboards for their platform, or purchasing food and drink and magazines.

  Robert took no notice of it; Ethan stopped in his tracks and was nearly bowled over by the crowd of passengers behind them, eager to get off the platform and go on with whatever they had come into the city to do.