Page 14 of Single Omega Dad
“That man at the bank. The very very tall one.”
I nodded.
“He said you don’t have to keep me.” He pulled back and I could see his face all scrunched up like he was trying to understand, while at the same time hold back his fear.
“I promise with all my heart, baby, I’m keeping you.”
“Even after the new twins are borned?” he asked. “Maybe there will be too many of us?”
“Too many? How many do you think that is?” He was a whiz at counting for his age, bypassing Luke by far. And they hadn’t yet started kindergarten.
Tybor held up his hand and counted on his stubby fingers. “Luke, me. One. Two. Then the new twins. That’s one. And two.” He held up four fingers and slowly counted them. “One. Two. Three. Four. Four kids. Four, is that right, Daddy?”
“That exactly right. Four kids. I have enough love to give to all of you. Love is one of those things that the more you feel it, the more you have. You never run out.”
Tybor smiled. “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you, too, Tybor.”
I scooted forward and picked him up in my arms as I stood. I felt a slight twinge in my back, but the pregnancy hadn’t really taken much out of me yet. Even with twins, at over five months I wasn’t showing all that much yet. I felt a heaviness down there and twinges in my lower back. Tybor and Luke had been a very easy pregnancy and I’d only gotten big in the last month before they were born. After they arrived, I’d recovered quickly, too.
“Let’s go see to your brother and tuck you both in bed.”
“Can’t I stay up?”
“No, it’s already five minutes past your real bedtime.”
“Ugh.” Tybor pouted.
When the boys were both put to bed with their teddies and their favorite blankies, I went back into the living room and tried to focus on the TV. But I kept thinking about Mathias.
Damn him for intruding. I didn’t like the man at all. So why was this happening?
It would be an early day tomorrow, since the boys were always up by six or six-thirty, so I turned in early.
It was easy to fall to sleep. The boys were a full-time handful, and tired me out even though I was in prime health.
But as I slept, I kept waking with unnerving images of Mathias lingering in my mind. I tossed and turned all night, seeing his face, his long dark hair, and hearing his low voice tell me things. What those things were, I couldn’t remember, but my restless thoughts and body seemed unable to let go of the feel of his presence.
I only dreamed like that when I was stressed. I never dreamed of Drayden, or any other Alpha for that matter. After Drayden died, I’d had a few nightmares about plane crashes, but that was to be expected. Mostly, my stresses were about family, my kids, and the fact that they were growing up so fast. They were already almost school age. I couldn’t believe it.
Finally, with Mathias’s face like an afterimage on my mind, I got up early, well before the boys, and made myself coffee.
I checked the accounts on the computer to see that all was in order. Mathias had sent me e-docs of the paperwork from yesterday, and I filed those away.
When I looked at everything online, I saw that Mathias had been true to his word. Nothing had changed. I had access to all my money. The only accounts that had daily limits were two savings accounts, one with money Drayden had frugally saved and left behind for me and the kids, and the other with the insurance money for his death. That was a large sum. My limits on those accounts had always been the same. $500 a day. They hadn’t changed. Mathias had signed off on that as adequate, I guessed.
My other accounts were two checking accounts. One was for household stuff, mainly. The other was for extras, like vacations or things for the kids. There were no daily limits on those.
But as I scrutinized them, I saw that without more income, though they did earn interest, they would slowly dwindle over the years of raising my kids. I needed a job. Maybe not right away, and certainly not while I was pregnant and for a few months after when I had to take care of my new infants, but eventually.
The prospect terrified me. What kind of job could I hold? Menial, at best. A low level position that would help bring something in, but would never fatten my accounts.
I tried not to worry about it. For now we were fine, the boys and I. I didn’t have to worry about this now, and technically not even for years to come. But I also was the responsible sort, and didn’t like to think the future held nothing for me but a bleak, boring job and lonely days, especially after my boys were all grown.
I thought of Mathias again, with his severe but handsome features, and that long tight braid of black hair that gleamed down his back. He was a Vandergale. His father owned the bank that held my money. He’d never had to have a thought like this in his life. He wouldn’t know what it was like. Unable to relate to me at all in that, here he was as my financial guardian.
I considered writing that letter I’d threatened to send yesterday, to formally request a new guardian. Mathias was simply all wrong for the job, I thought.
