Page 61 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
Good enough for now. “You know, my dad was obsessed with music,” I said, hoping he might start to share when I did. “He used to make his own guitars. The one I had with me last time was built by him too. I think I’m going to cry if it ever breaks.”
Conner looked at me with big eyes, as if he couldn’t believe I’d just admitted such a thing to him. “But you’re a grown-up,” he said.
“So?”
“Grown-ups don’t cry.”
I had to chuckle at that. “Everybody cries. Didn’t your dad cry when your daddy died?”
“That’s different,” Conner insisted.
“Nah, when you’re sad, you cry. It’s as simple as that.”
“But it doesn’t help.”
“Sometimes it does. Sometimes it makes you feel better when you’ve let it all out.”
“The kids in school say only babies and omegas cry.”
I snorted. “Don’t listen to them. I’ve seen grown alphas cry because their favorite sports team lost a game. Everybody cries,” I repeated. “Alphas aren’t any better than omegas in that regard. Or in any regard, really.” That was a point I really wanted to drive home.
Conner shook his head. “You’re only saying that to make me feel better.”
“No, I’m not. I know all the stupid things you must have heard. Believe me, I’ve heard them too, and I can tell you, none of it is true.”
Conner studied me from the side, as if unsure whether or not to believe me.
“You should take pride in who you are,” I continued, stepping on my figurative soap box. This wasn’t the first time I’d had to convince a downtrodden omega that they were worth something. For better or worse, I had some experience with this topic. “Omegas can be great people. Society needs us just as much as they need alphas and betas. We’re inferior to none.” I truly believed that—after all, it was this conviction that had finally made me leave Goldstone—but I wasn’t sure whether I was getting through to Conner or not. “Your daddy was omega and he was great, wasn’t the? Don’t you want to be like him?”
Conner’s gaze drifted downward. “I don’t want to get bullied.”
I sighed. “Getting bullied sucks.”
“Were you bullied?”
“Sometimes. But you can’t give in to that.” The way I did when I ran from the media.
“I wonder if my daddy got bullied.”
“Perhaps. But I’m sure in the end he didn’t mind being omega.”
Conner looked at me sharply. “Why?”
I gave him a smile. “Because he got to bring you into this world. How could he regret anything that led to that?”
Yes, I admit that line was cheesy as heck, but it seemed to work. A little too well, maybe. Conner turned away from me, but not before I saw his lips wobble.
Ah, shit.
He regained enough of his composure to speak, though. “He told me once he was the luckiest omega on earth because he had me and Mary. I remember that,” he said, looking at his dog instead of me. Max returned his gaze with his big brown puppy eyes, no doubt wondering what was wrong with his friend.
“I’m sure he meant that, and I’m sure he would be so proud of you now that you’re an omega like him.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized that I’d said the wrong thing again. Or maybe the right thing? Whichever it was, I hit a nerve. Next to me, Conner teared up. That wasn’t my intention, but I knew that sometimes a good cry was necessary. Just as I’d told Conner before. I hadn’t meant for him to break down on me of course, but now that we were here, there was only one thing for me to do. I gave in to the urge I’d had earlier and drew Conner close to me.
He burrowed into my shoulder as if afraid that anyone might see the tears falling from his eyes. “It’s okay,” I said, trying to be soothing. “We all cry, remember? I know you miss your daddy.”
Conner sniffed a bit, biting back a sob. “I mean… I don’t…It’s just so unfair,” he finally said with a vehemence that made me wonder how long that sentence had been looking for a way out.
“I know it is.” I’d felt much the same way after my parents died. They’d never done anything to deserve that kind of fate and yet there was nothing anyone could do about it. As Conner said, it wasunfair.But all we could do was find ways to live with it. To accept what happened and move on. That wasn’t something that was done overnight, though. Certainly not over the course of one conversation—but this was a start, and that was good. All I could ask for at the time.
