Page 71 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
First of all, I needed to make an appointment with a doctor, since Kade told me he hadn't seen one yet. When he went, I wanted to go with him. Going to the doctor's wasn't the most romantic thing a couple could do together, but there was something magic about hearing your baby's heartbeat for the first time. I wasn't an omega; I couldn't feel the baby kick or move inside me, and so I'd come to treasure these little moments that let me know the baby wasrealand getting ready to join the world.
I wanted to share that with Kade, rather than having him go to some clinic in LA.
Was that selfish of me? Perhaps. I knew he belonged on a stage, but I wanted to keep him here as long as I could. More and more, I wanted him to be mine. To achieve that, I also had to find some way to deal with his ex, though.
The thought made me ball my hands into fists. There had to besomeway to get the man out of Kade’s life, and I was going to find it.
* * *
When I got back inside, Mary had abandoned her tea-set in favor of her coloring book and Kade was on the phone. I had no idea who he was talking to, but he looked a bit agitated, his body radiating tension. Whoever was on the other end of the line, they were pissing him off. My alpha instincts immediately made me dislike the caller for causing my omega distress.
“Trust me, I know what I'm doing,” Kade said into the phone. He hadn't noticed me come in yet, too focused on the conversation. “No, this isn't going to be bad for my career. I told you—” his eyes fell on me and he stopped. For the briefest moment, he looked at me like a child caught out doing something he wasn't supposed to.
What the hell was he talking about? And with whom?
“I'll call you back,” he said into the phone. “If you're not too busy, anyway.” His voice turned snarky, and then he ended the call.
“Who was that?”
He slumped on one of the kitchen chairs. “Just an old friend.” He waved his hand as if swatting at a fly. “You might have heard of him. Jimmy Calen.”
My eyebrows went up. He spoke so casually of celebrities. “He was on the show with you, wasn't he? Came in second place?”
“Yup, and now he's more successful than me and he likes to rub my nose in it.” Kade sighed. “Or no, he doesn't. But it feels that way sometimes. I think I'm just jealous, probably. He's a good singer. He deserves it.”
I took the chair beside him. “You're better, though. If it wasn't for that scandal—“
He shook his head and put a finger on my lips. “Don't even mention it. I don't want to talk about it.”
I should have let it go then, but I couldn't. Call it a character flaw. “Do you still think any of what happened was your fault?” As I spoke, I removed his finger from my lips and took his hand in mine. “That man forced himself on you.”
“I didn't say no,” Kade said, a frown creasing his forehead. “I did say no to this conversation, though.”
“What slimebag even put that video online?”
“I don't know.” Kade ripped his hand out of my grasp. “I don't want to think about it, either. There's no point. It happened. It's over.”
“What about that show then?Star Gaze. They'll want you to talk about it. Will you tell them the truth of what happened?”
“What truth?”
“That the music business is corrupt and your producer blackmailed you.”
He laughed, but it was a hollow sound. “That would be career suicide and you know it.” With a huff, he got up.
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and sighed; I couldn’t help myself. “That’s so messed up.”
He shrugged.
“How many other omegas is he doing this to and nobody says anything?”
Kade’s lips drew into a thin line, his eyes staring daggers at me. When he wanted them to be, his eyes could get as cold as a frozen lake in winter, giving me shivers. I’d definitely hit a sore spot. Kade cared about his fellow omegas being mistreated. He cared about the ones he’d left behind in Goldstone, and he cared about the ones in the music business who went through the same shit he did.
“I can’t change the world,” he muttered, and I could see in his eyes how utterly he hated that simple truth.
It reminded me of how I wished I could change the world for Conner, and how powerless I felt because I couldn’t. Frankly, it sucked.
Standing from the chair, I approached Kade and drew him into my arms. “I’m sorry. I know you gotta do what you gotta do.” We lived in an imperfect world after all. “Just know that I’ll stand by you no matter what.”
