Page 65 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
“You mind if I sing something that isn’t a lullaby?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Good.” He stroked her hair. “Then you’ll be the first person ever to hear this song. Tell me if you like it, okay?”
“Okay!”
I watched—and listened—as Kade began singing my daughter a song. It was beautiful, of course. Kade knew how to sing and he’d picked a slow, gentle melody that was perfect for bed time. Mary looked at him with wide eyes, clearly enjoying herself.
It was heartwarming to see Kade sing for my little princess, but it was what he did after that did me in. It was the way he leaned forward to brush her hair out of the way and kiss her forehead as he tucked her in, as if he knew exactly how precious she really was.
If I had to pinpoint any one moment I truly fell for the pretty omega with the beautiful voice? It was then. And it wasn’t because of his voiceorhis looks. Funny how that happened.
I rubbed my face with the heel of my hand as I turned off the light in Mary’s room, leaving only the night light by the bed to cast a soft glow on the room.
“I guess that went all right,” Kade said as he stepped out.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I responded, feeling a bit raw. We both said goodnight to Mary, and then I closed the door. And then I simply stood there for a moment, gathering myself.
“Something wrong?” Kade asked. “DidIdo something wrong? I’m sorry. I don’t have that much experience with children.”
“No, you’re amazing.” No other way to say it. “I’m just… thinking of some other stuff. Ron tried once or twice to sing the kids to sleep, you know? But his singing voice was as awful as mine, not that he cared.”
Something weird happened within me because the memory actually put a smile on my face. After all these months of having to push all thoughts of Ron aside just to be able to function, the ability to smile at a memory of him felt so oddly liberating I couldn’t even begin to describe the sensation. That first time, it was bittersweet.
Part of me didn’t want to move on, part of me already had.
It wasn’t like I wasoverRon. That was never going to happen. It was more like the part of my heart that I thought had died with him… hadn’t.
And that was okay. Probably.
Kade looked at me like he didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t blame him. “C’mon.” I took his hand. “Let’s go back downstairs.”
After all, there were still other things we needed to discuss. As much as I didn’t want to ruin the evening, he needed to know about our picture on the internet.
24
Kade
“Ihaveto show you something that might be a little bit upsetting,” Shane said once we were back in the living room.
I shot him a questioning look. What could be so upsetting that it needed that kind of warning? “Should I sit down?” I asked, lowering myself on the couch without waiting for a response.
He did something on his phone, and then he sat next to me. “Have you been online at all today?”
“No.” But as soon as he mentioned the internet, I got a bad feeling about where this was heading. I tried to peek at his phone, but he held it out of reach. “You don't have to use kiddy gloves with me. Just give me that.”
“Okay.” Reluctantly, he handed the phone over. “My cousin sent me the link earlier. Apparently his husband stumbled over it while browsing the net.”
I took in the picture on the screen and sighed. I should have known. Why had I been so careless? In LA, I didn't leave the house withoutat leasta hoodie, but I'd thought maybe in Maine, I wouldn't have to be so paranoid. A silly hope. I'd tried to escape my life for a week to spend time with Shane, but of course the world had followed me.
“Don't look at the comments,” Shane said. “There's some nasty ones.”
I snorted. “I know. People leave the same kind of crap on my videos.” Internet comment boards were not a place for the thin-skinned. I gave the phone back to Shane with an apology. “I'm so sorry about this.”
“You'resorry?” He looked so confused. Clearly this was not the response he'd expected from me.
“I knew what I signed up for when I decided to go into the music business,” I explained. “This,” I gestured at the phone, “it's not nice, but it's kind of par for the course.”
