Page 35 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
“Yes, your auntie is having twins.” I carried her over to the couch and set her down, hoping I hadn’t left any oil stains on her. I hadn’t really been able to clean up yet after leaving work. The cat jumped onto the couch with Mary. She tried to grab him, but he hopped out of the way before she could reach.
“Better not do that,” I told her.
“I love Sauron,” she informed me.
Yes, but I’m not sure that cat loves anyone.
At the very least, he didn’t love being cuddled when he hadn’t initiated a cuddling session.
I heard the front door open and then being slammed shut. Both my eyebrows went up at the sound. Someone was in a mood.
“Conner?” I called out. He ignored me. With a sigh, I walked out of the living room to spot my son kicking off his shoes in the hallway. His dog was yipping at him, glad to see him home, but even the faithful pet went ignored. “Did you have a good day at school?” I tried asking.
And when he looked up at me, I understood why he was in such a rotten mood. One of his eyes was bruised. What the hell? Why wasn't I called about that? The school called me about every stupid little thing, but not about my son getting a shiner?
I dropped to one knee to get a better look at him. He tried to move away but I put a hand on his shoulder before he could. “Stay.”
He did, lips pressed together as if he was expecting me to scold him. Why would he think that, though? I couldn't imagine Conner doing anything that would deserve the kind of bruise he was sporting. It looked painful. My blood roared in my ears, looking at it. Someone had hurt my kid.
“What happened?” I asked, trying to keep my voice level. Conner flinched away when I tried to touch his cheek. “We'll have to ice that.”
“It's no big deal.”
“No big deal?” Yeah, I wasn't buying that. Conner wasnotthe kind of kid who came home with bruises. “Did this happen on the way home?” I couldn't imagine why else I hadn't heard about it. “Do you want me to fetch you from school tomorrow?” It was only five minutes on foot; I could easily do it if it was necessary.
He shook his head. “Nothing happened.”
“This is not nothing.” I got up and led him into the kitchen with me. “Sit,” I said, motioning at one of the chairs. He obeyed wordlessly while I got an ice pack out of the freezer. “Hold that to your eye.”
As I handed the ice pack to Conner, Mary came into the kitchen and stared at her brother. “Conner looks funny.”
“Very funny,” Conner muttered. The dog sniffed at his knee and whimpered until Conner finally reached out to pet him with his free hand.
“Watch your sister for ten minutes while I get washed up,” I commanded. “And then you'll tell me how you got that bruise.”
He grumbled something incoherent. I decided to leave him be for the time being. It was obvious I wasn't getting anything out of him right now. I would though, sooner or later. I had to. How could I protect my kid when I didn't know who hurt him?
* * *
When I came back outof the bathroom and Conner still refused to tell me what was going on, I decided to postpone our talk to the evening since we had to be getting ready for dinner at Dean's place. He seemed happy about that. Probably thought he was getting out of it.
But if he thought I was going to forget about this, he didn't know me at all. On the inside, I was still raging. I didn't always know how to best take care of my kids emotional needs—but I could deal with bullies, if given a chance.
When we got to Dean's place, my sister was already there. She was five months along now, and as Mary had correctly observed, she was big. I was only a tad bit embarrassed when Mary ran up to her and patted her stomach. “Hello, babies!”
Scratching my neck, I flashed my sister a smile. “Sorry about that. She's really excited about the twins.”
“It's no problem,” she said, hugging my little girl. Then her eyes fell on Conner. Everyone's eyes fell on Conner. Dean and Griff didn't say anything, but Jake was there too, and the boy wasn't known for keeping quiet.
“What happened?” he asked, pointing at Conner's face.
“Nothing.” Conner held a hand in front of his eye.
People looked at me. I shrugged.Sorry, I can't tell you either.
“Did Gregory do that?” Jake asked, jumping from his chair to approach Conner. Who was Gregory? I'd never heard of the boy but the way Jake spoke the name sounded like there was some history. It was too bad, really, that Jake and Conner weren't in the same grade. He might be able to tell me more if he was, but he'd graduated our four-year elementary school last summer and now they went to different schools.
Conner didn't say anything in response. Jake's hands formed fists. He looked like he was about to throw punches, even though the boy he was mad at wasn't here. I knew the feeling. Jake's alpha side was coming through. And not for the first time, I wondered whether he saw my son as omega.
