Page 32 of Bitter Heat
They believed him committed to the family, if not to their son. After the Monhundys declined his initial pleas for leniency and protection from heats spent with Wilbet, he’d realized that convincing them of his devotion to their family would be his only shield from being used indefinitely as nothing more than a brutalized baby factory.
“Our private family business is just that. Private.” Kerry arched a brow at both of his parents-in-law. “Isn’t it?”
Monte and Lukas sat back in relief and exchanged another glance or two, clearly having a conversation with subtle expressions in the way that onlyÉrosgápecould. Lukas then leaned forward again to ask with a bare hint of suspicion, “Is this Dr. Heelies, ah…” He smiled sweetly. “How can I put this? Is he overly invested in your well-being?”
“He’s dutiful, as all doctors are. I trust him.” Kerry said the next words carefully, because if the Monhundys thought he cared for Janus or found him attractive in any way—which of course he didn’t—they’d snatch him from his pater’s house quickly before yet another type of scandal might arise. “I believe in his skill. As I said, he’s successfully delivered healthy sons from men like me before.”
“Perhaps we should speak with him,” Monte said, his eyes earnest and bright, seeking out agreement from Lukas. “We could take Dr. Rose up-mountain with us, allow him to consult with this Dr. Heelies to ensure that he truly does have the best training available, and then—”
“No,” Kerry said, hoping he hadn’t voiced his objection too quickly.
Lukas grimaced. “Go up-mountain? To that dirty little boarding house? And stay the night there? Eat a meal with that man?”
Monte frowned, too. “Where are your priorities, love? It’s for Kerry’s safety! And that of our grandchild, too!”
Kerry interjected again, “I understand how much you care for me and want me to be safe and well. But I’m worried that it would seem like you didn’t trust Dr. Heelies or his skills if you brought up a city doctor to evaluate him. You know how doctors are. Arrogant. Prickly. He might not be an alpha, but…” He searched desperately for a believable explanation. “He’s arrogant all the same. And a bit touchy about his reputation, you see. Worries that people won’t respect him as much as an alpha doctor.”
“Well, of course, they won’t!” Lukas exclaimed.
“Right. But the problem is he’d be upset. And if we didn’t care what the Heelies thought of us, I’d say that it would be worth upsetting him for the sake of caution, but we do care. Plus, I don’t want to lose the opportunity to be his patient. No one else has the experience he does. It’s riskier to deliver under anyone else but him.”
Lukas had bristled at the implication that this beta doctor thought he deserved the same respect as an alpha doctor, but Monte was convinced. He was an omega, after all. He knew pregnancy and its dangers all too well.
“Yes, yes, we wouldn’t want to offend him if you’re that convinced he’s the best doctor for you, Kerry. And especially since he’s a Heelies,” Monte murmured. “Word might get back to the family. Their acceptance and friendship in society and business again would make a huge difference for us.” Monte grimaced and then turned to Lukas. “Don’t you agree?”
“If we insist Kerry come home with us now, then it won’t be a personal slight on this Heelies beta, so much as us quite reasonably wanting to be close at hand for our grandchild’s birth.”
Wolf-god, this had gone sideways. Kerry opened his mouth to say something—he didn’t know what—when Monte shockingly came to his aid. “Yes, well, as much as I would love to have Kerry nearby, and as much as I loathe to leave him here, Kerry must be allowed to choose where and how he delivers.” Monte’s eyes glowed earnestly with the light from the window. “You know how important omega comfort is in the outcome of any pregnancy. I wish it weren’t, but…italwaysis, everyone knows.”
“Yes, but in the mountains? Without emergency services at the ready? How can his whimsical desires outweigh the excess risk?”
Monte sighed. “Darling, there are few risks greater to the outcome of a pregnancy than an unhappy omega, and whether we like it or not, Kerry is attached to his uncle and that ridiculous lake.” Here he rolled his eyes as if this affection was insufferable but tolerated for the sake of their grandchild. He whispered, “The mountain people believe there is magic in it. Kerry believes it too, even if he would deny that to our face. Omegas are superstitious around birth. You know how it is.”
“And we should condone our son’s hillbilly omega’s absurd religious beliefs about amagical lakeeven at the risk of his and the child’s health?”
Here Kerry did interrupt again. “I know you’d like not just the child, but also formeto survive this birth. We all know that there’s no telling for at least several years, probably longer, if the child will be an alpha or not. It’s better to hedge your bets…” He didn’t need to say the rest.
The Monhundys were aware that no omega would ever again contract with Wilbet, their only child, even if Kerry died and Wilbet was set free of their contract. Their only hope at an heir was through Kerry and his continued ability to bear children for Wilbet into the future, even if this one should die or turn out to be a beta or omega.
“I see.” Lukas dropped the words like stones.
Kerry swallowed hard. “You know I’m most at home in the mountains with my uncle and the land that I love, and yes, near Hud’s Basin itself. But also, I need to be far away from the humiliation and scandal Wilbet brought into my life. The gossip nearly killed me.”
It hadn’t been the gossip that had nearly killed him, but rather his sheer horror at what the man he’d contracted with had done to other human beings. But Monte would easily believe Kerry’s words because the scandal had almost killedhim. He’d been in bed for weeks after discovering the charges against his son, and again after his imprisonment.
“The rumors are dissipating,” Lukas said, touching Kerry’s hand gently, a deep empathy in his gaze that left Kerry feeling dirty. “People are eager to move on from it, and we’re happy to let them. Please, Kerry, consider coming home with us. What better way to wipe it all from their mind than with the joy of a newborn babe?”
“Then perhaps we should wait until the babeisnewborn,” Kerry said. “Or even older—a toddler perhaps. Don’t you agree society would better accept living, healthy evidence of the family’s future than a waddling, irritable, upset, and pregnant omega?”
They looked between each other again.
“Youwereterribly difficult when you were pregnant with…” Lukas trailed off, unwilling to say his son’s name. Lukas hadn’t forgiven his son any more than Kerry had, even if he had a very different way of handling it.
Monte huffed softly, almost as if he would argue, but then he took a long, assessing look at Kerry and said, “Your uncle will, no doubt, cater to your every whim much better than I could. And I’d hate to pay a servant when we already send your uncle so much money as it is. Let him earn it for once.”
Kerry swallowed down the flash of rage at that and smiled instead, though it felt like eating glass.
“Yes, let him earn it,” Lukas said, nodding with a curtness that Kerry wanted to slap away. “He should see what it’s like to work once in a while.”
