Page 41 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
“Just a tad.” I tried to laugh it off. “No, really, it was fine. A little out of the blue, though. And I have to wonder why you want to know.”
“Conner came home from school the other day with these... brochures from schools that treat omegas better than the school here in town. We don't know yet what he is, but it got us thinking, you know?”
“You think he's omega?”
“It's possible,” Shane said. “Hell, it might even belikely. I don't know.”
“Does that worry you?” I leaned back into the couch and streaked a hand through my hair. It was one thing to be supportive of omegas, it was another to have your kid turn out to be one. This would reveal Shane's true colors.
“I'm worried for him,” he said in a soft tone of voice that left no doubt as to how badly this was really eating at him.
“Why?” I asked.
“Conner told me he doesn'twantto be omega. You should have heard him. It washeartbreaking.”
Well, at least now his question to me made sense. I wished I was talking to him face to face so I could hug him. “I'm sorry. That must have been hard.”
“He's scared of being bullied, I think.”
“I get that.” And I wished I could tell him that it wasn't going to be a problem, but... “Conner's actually not the only one.”
“Yeah? Did you feel the same way?”
“At first, yeah...” I bit my lip, thinking back. “You know where I grew up. It was a big thing. A lot of things changed for me the day I was tested. Like the way people looked at me. The way my aunt and uncle treated me. I wasn't asked for my opinion on anything anymore. Like I couldn't be trusted with any kind of decision, you know? It sucked.”
“I'm sorry to hear that,” Shane said. “Were you bullied too?”
“No. At least not much. People in the community believe that omegas are to be protected. So I guess at least there's that. But to me, it felt more like I was forever going to be a child. That didn't change until... You know what made me feel better eventually?”
“What?”
“Taking care of other omegas who were more scared than I was.” I closed my eyes for a moment, lost in memories. I hadn't thought of this time in my life for a long time. I hadn't let myself. I'd gained freedom by running from Goldstone, but I'd also left a lot of people behind. That was not something I was proud of.
“That's kind of you,” Shane said, bringing me back to reality.
“It must be my nurturing omega personality,” I said, voice laced with sarcasm.
Shane laughed. That was good.
“Listen,” I said. “Conner will be fine, whatever he turns out to be. After all, he's got you to remind him that he's more than whatever label he gets. It doesn't have to define him. And in my experience, bullies shrink away from people who show confidence.”
“Do they? I have to be honest, the only experience I have with bullies was that one time some kid thought he could mess with my sister. I might have punched him. But that ended that.”
Yeah, that sounded like an alpha teen's way to deal with bullies. “As long as you don't go punching Conner's classmates.”
He sighed, as if he regretted not being able to do just that. “I'm not going to hurt a child,” he said. “Other people... I'm not so sure. You have no idea how close I came to hitting that guy in the parking lot when you were here.”
Guy in the parking lot? I had to search my memory for that one. “Oh.” It came to me. “You mean after the rehearsal dinner. It was sweet of you to stand up for me even when you didn't know what I'd done.” But I was glad there'd been no punches.
“Peoplelike that piss me off,” Shane said. “It didn't matter what you'd done or not. There's no excuse for treating someone like that guy treated you.”
“I'm glad you think so.” And I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have Shane here in LA with me. He'd be meeting guys like that dude in the parking lot all the time. Would he try to protect me fromallof them? It was an impossible task, but I was sure he would try. The thought put a smile on my face.
But I didn't want Shane to come to LA, no. This wasn't any kind of city for him. I wanted him with me, yes, no matter how impossible that was, but he belonged in Oceanport. The same wayIdidn't belong in Oceanport. Or did I? I used to avoid small towns since Goldstone, but Oceanport wasn't anything like Goldstone. Who said I couldn't belong there?
“When's Conner's tenth birthday?” I asked before I could talk myself out of the plan that was forming in my head.
“At the end of next month.”
