Page 109 of The Omega's Alpha
“See what it would take for us to be able to put in Abel’s movie theater.”
My jaw dropped and he laughed at me.
I got my face under control again. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “It wouldn’t have to be big or fancy, but why not? We have, or will have, a couple of restaurants. A pool hall. And the more distractions we have inside walls, the less tension there is.” He pulled me close and kissed me gently. “And maybe I like Abel’s idea for the back row.”
“Ha,” I said in between kisses. “Just you, me, and our three pups.”
“They’ll be so busy watching the movie they won’t notice anything we do.” He rubbed his cheek against mine and buried his nose in my hair. “I went to a movie a few times when I was on leave. I think I’d like to do that with you.” He pulled back to gaze into my eyes. “What do you think?”
“You sure we need that?” I asked, though I hated to burst his bubble.
“No, but I’ve put some of it aside for a hospital too. Not big, maybe twenty beds in the end, though we’re going to start with just a couple. And I’ve put out the call for people to go outside walls to learning nursing.”
“We’re really doing it,” I breathed.
He nodded. “There’s a separate fund, depends on people getting accepted to schools, but we can access that if we can prove need. The White House sent the information over a couple of days ago. And they’re taking a new bill in to be voted on, to provide us with more funds for training teachers and sprucing up the lab in the high school.” His hands moved to up my belly where our son, who always seemed to know when his dad was around, started kicking against his palm. “Maybe this little fellow will be a doctor. Or an engineer.”
I put my hands over his. “He’ll be whatever he wants,” I said and leaned in for a kiss.
Chapter Eighty-Eight
Quin closedthe storybook he’d been reading and carefully set it on the table at the head of the bed on his side. Agatha had fallen asleep with her head on Quin’s chest almost as soon as he’d started their second story, and Dorian was asleep on Holland’s belly not long after. He’d been talking to the baby, trying to tell it the story while Quin read it, and determined to listen in case the baby said something back.
“I’ll put her to bed and come back for him,” he whispered to Holland.
“No rush,” Holland said, smiling fondly down at the little boy’s sandy blond head and stroking his finger through the tangled locks. “He’s so cute like that.”
“He’s obsessed with your belly.”
“He’s really looking forward to being a big brother again.” Holland sighed and then yawned. “Two more weeks. Will I survive?”
“Of course you will. But I better get them to bed.” Quin picked Agatha’s limp body up and carried her down the hall to her bedroom. He tucked her in and couldn’t help pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, and smoothing the hair away from her face. Adopting the orphaned pups had never been something he’d questioned, but he still worried occasionally how they’d feel when the new baby came along, if they’d think they were loved any less because they’d been born to other parents. He didn’t feel any differently about them than he did about the baby. Okay, maybe he was a little less scared of them than he was of the baby, but Abel assured him that the terror would eventually pass. Of course, Abel had immediately followed that with, “At least, that’s what they tell me. I’m still waiting.”
Bastard.
He padfooted back to the bedroom to find Holland smiling down at Dorian, an almost sad smile on his face. “Anything wrong?” Quin asked him and, rather than scooping the little boy up right away, he sat on the edge of the bed and took his mate’s hand.
“No,” Holland said, but his voice sounded a little watery to Quin’s ears. “I just love him so much, and the baby is going to change everything.” He squeezed Quin’s hand. “I don’t want them to feel neglected.”
“In this family?” Quin said. “Not likely. Look, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Oh?” Holland didn’t sound at all enthusiastic.
“Yeah, so my mom wants to come back to Mercy Hills for a while. Now that Morris has gone to the Moonlands, she has no one to look after and she’s feeling lonely. I think I can find a place for her, or we can make Abel find a room for her—”
“Don’t you dare do that to Bax!” Holland dropped Quin’s hand and then slapped it. “You’ll give Bax a stroke.”
“I know. I’m looking for a way to shuffle things so she can stay somewhere else. But she could help with the pups.”
“I’m doing fine with the pups.” Holland pushed himself further up the bed, his every movement irritated.
“I know. This isn’t about you, it’s about her.” Quin picked Dorian up and laid him against his chest. “I swear I’ll keep her in check. And she’s not that bad, except that she was Alpha’s Mate to my father, and can trace her lineage back through Alphas to beyond the Enclosure and some of those behaviors stuck. But she’s getting older now and it’s been a long time since she’s had her family around her.” It was true, but he knew his mother could be overwhelming at times.
“Is she planning to move here permanently?” Holland asked.
He had to be honest. “I don’t know.”
