Page 74 of Legally Mated
“I’m going to have to hurry him up,” Quin muttered, eyeing the time on his phone. “Whatever omega magic he’s pulling, he’s going to have to finish it at home or we’re going to be in trouble for not following the travel itinerary. And I’m running out of babysnacks.”
But they only had to make it through another ten minutes before they heard the bedroom door open and then Holland came padding down the stairs. “We shouldgosoon.”
“Is he coming with us?” Quin asked. He stood and picked up the baby, handing him directly toHolland.
“Yes, I think that’s wise. We’ll put him on the omega floor for the next couple of days. He can’t stay in his apartment with everyone else around.” Holland sat down on the end of the couch and pulled up his t-shirt. The baby wasted no time in settling in for a drink, gurgling happily. “He’spackingnow.”
“Am I…are we going to be all right? Inthecar?”
Holland nodded. “I’m sorry it took me so long. I was kind of guessing, going by things I’ve read, but I think I’ve turned off or turned down the hormones. But I don’t think we’re giving this ability the right name. There seemed to be a scale, kind of like how you would rate someone’s appearance. It was very subjective, except for a few omegas. Some were just…moreable.”
“So you don’t want to call it True Omegaanymore?”
“I think it’s deceptive. Better to just be omega, or not be. Nothing else. Though there’s a reference in one of the books to an ‘omega of the first water’, whatever thatmeans.”
Laine’s brain was almost fully occupied trying to unpack all the information flowing past him, but he managed to shake himself awake enough to answer that question. “It’s an old-fashioned term for high quality diamonds. I don’t think they use itanymore.”
Holland shrugged. “I suspect it’s best if we don’t try to quantify. I think they went to a lot of effort to figure out what each omega’s particular talent was, and that was what they weretrainedin.”
Quin nodded agreement. “Sounds good.” He glanced toward the stairs. “Should I gogethim?”
“He’ll be down,” Holland said indifferently. “Can you get the baby bag out of the car? He needs to bechangedtoo.”
Chapter61
Having pretty much trashedthe bedroom and the bathroom over the course of the day, I did my best to repair the damage. If it put off having to go downstairs and face both Laine and Quin, so much the better. So I cleaned the bathroom, put the wet towels in the hamper for washing, and stripped the sheets off the bed and remade it with new ones. Everything looked pristine, and I couldn’t put off going downstairs anylonger.
I carried my suitcase to the top of the stairs, took a deep breath, and paid more than necessary attention to getting it down to the front hallway. Their presence, the three of them, in the living room felt almost like a physical touch on my skin. Despite whatever it was that Holland had done during that long afternoon upstairs, I was still shockingly aware of Laine and, even more uncomfortably, of Quin, sitting on the floor in front of the couch with his head resting onHolland’sknee.
Awkwardly, I cleared my throat. “I’mready.”
Holland bounced the baby on his knee and cooed at him. “Let’s go home!” He stood up and gave Quin one of his hands to help him up from thefloor.
“I’m getting old,”Quinsaid.
“Never,” Holland said. “You’ve been sitting there all afternoon. Of course your legsarenumb.”
I was avoiding Laine’s eyes still, but a touch on my arm made me look up inHolland’seyes.
“Talk to him. I have to get the baby settled in the car, so you’ll only have a few minutes, but I suspect that’s all you’re up to rightnow,hm?”
I nodded and swallowed painfully to clear my throat. “I don’tknowif—”
“Just a few words. He really is quite reasonable, for ahuman.”
Holland hugged me, then he and Quin went out the door, dragging my suitcase behind them so I didn’t even have that to hidebehind.
"Hi," Laine said once they were gone, his posture unusuallyawkward.
"Yeah," I said back, then just stood there with my hands in my pockets. He smelled wonderful, even with the rank edge of stress filtering through it. Like my being angry with him hadhurthim.
Shit.
"I didn't know," he said and spread his hands out to the sides in a gesture that I read as confusion. "Holland explained what it means, when an omega is in heat. I won't hold you to it. I don't think it's even legal, to be honest. I'm not pack." His whole posture screamed anxiety and guilt, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from going to him. At the same time, I was so angry, because how could henotknow?
Which was, when I considered it, a good question. So I asked it. "How could you not know? You were there for Jason's trial. How in the name of the Moonlands did that little bit of information getpastyou?"
He looked stricken and it cooled the flames of my anger by a few degrees. But not enough, not yet. I wanted... I didn't know what Iwanted.
