Page 25 of Lonely Alpha

Lars

We had a daughter. Her name was Stella Rae and she had already captured our hearts.

“She’s so beautiful,” William murmured. He held our baby close to his chest but his eyelids were drooping lower and lower.

“Can I hold her, mate? You’re tired. You worked hard.”

He nodded. “I don’t want to miss a second.”

“I know, but you need rest. I promise to stay right here next to the bed with her.”

He reluctantly handed her over, and his protectiveness of our pup made me love him even more.

I pulled the rocking chair over and sat next to him. He reached out and put one hand on her head. Goddess, he was going to be the best father in the whole world.

“Hello, Stella. I’m your papa. We’ve been waiting for you to come. You and your daddy are so loved by me. I’d do anything for you.” I spoke all the encouraging and loving words I could think of to our new daughter. I would every day.

She grunted a bit, and William woke up almost instantly. “She’s hungry.”

“Ah, that’s what that sound is.”

I handed her to him. William was a natural at chest-feeding her. He needed no help or assistance, like he had been doing it for years.

“When can we go home?” he asked.

“Not too soon. Let’s not rush it. I want to make sure the both of you are ready before we leave. I know it’s not home but if we need the extra time here, then that’s what we will do, okay? Can I get you anything?”

He laughed. “Fast food. Fries. Milkshake. I’ve been eating so healthy for Stella, but Daddy needs a burger.”

“There’s no protest from me. I can have it delivered.”

That night, Stella was asleep in my arms. William was asleep in the bed after the biggest burger and fries I could get.

This moment was my dream come true. Everything I’d wished for. Cried over. Lamented would never come. It was happening, in this moment.

I had my omega.

My daughter.

A happy home.

What else could an alpha ask for?

Epilogue

William

As much as I loved our new home in the city, after a while it was time to plan a trip home. Both our sets of parents were nudging us to visit. They were dying to meet our Stella Rae, to the point of threatening to descend on us en masse if we did not show up in the near future. And while we loved them and would welcome them, we didn’t have a big enough house for all of them at once. Better we do this one trip, let them all meet her, and then they could come later, a couple or even a few, and stay in our guest rooms and on the pull-out sofa in my office

After all my years of military service where I lived out of a duffel bag for months at a time and could pack everything into it in a trice, we were getting ready to travel by air with a young lady whose minimum amount of gear for a run to the store involved more luggage than that. We gave ourselves the grace of disposable diapers o for the trip, which would be a help, and I was still mostly chest feeding, but at six months old, our little girl was starting to eat some purees and I had to figure out how to manage that.

Multiple outfits per day, socks, shoes, lotions and powders and shampoo… Toys. Chest pump. Salves and baby nose clearer. So many things. My mate and I had one bag between us; Stella Rae had three and the diaper bag as well as her stroller and car seat. The pile by the door before we left was terrifying.

But, when we were permitted to board early, we called it a win.

And when we arrived at the other end of the flight, emerging into baggage claim to find all our dads and siblings waiting, we learned the truth of it. They scooped Stella Rae out of my arms and left us to get all the bags off the luggage carousel. Glancing over my shoulder, I muttered, “They said they missed us, but they never wanted us at all.”

Stella Rae’s baby laughter had them all cooing and clapping and telling her how wonderful she was.

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