Page 24 of Such a Grumpy Omega
Chapter Twenty-Three
Fraser
Healer Jabez had taken good care of my omega from the time we learned he was carrying our pup, through his morning sickness and swollen ankles and everything else that came along. When his estimated due date came, he woke up excited, humming to himself, and around lunchtime, I felt I needed to say something.
“Omega, I know it’s your due date, but that’s no guarantee the baby will come today, is it?” I was fairly sure it was not, but he’d been better about learning all the details than I had.
He turned from where he’d been putting jam on a slice of bread. “No…I suppose not. But I feel…it seems like…”
“Are there any symptoms? Are you having pains?”
He shrugged. “No. Not yet. But they will be starting soon.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t about to argue with him, but if he didn’t have the baby on that day, I feared he’d be very disappointed. We ate lunch, sat outside for a bit, then he took a nap while I answered some emails. When he woke, I made dinner and we sat down to a nice meal. We spoke of all the everyday things, but he never mentioned anything about labor, and I assumed he’d realized it wouldn’t be today.
But when I brought out the apple pie and gave him his slice, he said, “I know you don’t believe me, but the baby will come today.”
“Just tell me when you’re feeling pains or have any other signs of labor so I can call Jabez.”
“Yes, alpha.” He dug into his pie, bringing a forkful to his lips. “You’ll be the first to know.”
By the time we went to bed, I hoped he’d given up, but his knowing smile when I leaned over for a kiss made me wonder. “Sleep well, omega.”
“While I can.” He curved around the pillow he used to stabilize his stomach. “Won’t be long now.”
It would be nice if he was right, but as my eyelids closed, I wondered how much longer we had to wait.
“Alpha, wake up!”
I rolled to the side to find my omega not where he should be, next to me. “Omega?”
“Get up.” I rolled back to see him staring down at me in the dim light of the bedside clock. “The pup is coming.”
“Now?” I peered at the clock. “We’ve only been in bed an hour.”
“It’s ten, and the baby will be here before midnight.”
I wanted to argue, believed he was just deluding himself, and I hated to bother Jabez if it was a false alarm, physical or mental, but a good alpha would do as the baby’s omega dad wanted. He was bearing all the discomfort, pain, and danger, while my part was the fun bit at the beginning then getting to be a dad. “Let me call Jabez.”
The healer told me to call anytime day or night. He generally kept his practice separate from his ownership of the club, beyond watching out for the health and safety of the membership when on the property, but that didn’t stop him from caring for our omegas when they carried our pups.
He answered on the second ring and promised to come right over. Everly was in the bathroom so I took the opportunity to tell him what had been going on all day. “I don’t even know if he’s had a labor pain,” I whispered. “But he’s sure the baby will come today because it’s his due date.”
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” He hung up without further discussion, and I went to get dressed for when he arrived.
“Did you get the healer?” Everly asked, coming out of the bathroom. “There’s not much time left.”
“He’s on the way.”
“I need to walk.” My omega began to pace back and forth across the bedroom. “It will help.”
“Okay.” I’d never been more confused. The doorbell rang a few minutes later and I went to let Jabez in. “Hi, he’s in the bedroom.”
“Thank you. I’ll go check him now.” He disappeared into the bedroom, closing the door behind him and leaving me in the living room to wait. About ten minutes later, the door opened. “Alpha, come in.”
A groan from inside the room had me hurrying in. “Omega, you’re in labor.”
“The baby is coming today. I told you.” From there, it was a flurry of pains and breathing and orders to push, and then, almost before I knew it, Jabez was placing the blanket-wrapped infant in my arms. It all happened so fast. I glanced up at the clock.
