Page 16 of Abel's Omega
Jason laughed. “I just realized, both our hands are full. We need someone really grown up to open the door.” He nudged Fan with a toe. “Can you do that? The alphas are going to need help getting it open too.” He jerked his head in the direction of the two men, following us up the path with their arms full of my stuff. Enough for a two week long visit with my ‘cousin’.
Really, enough to start my life over again.
I hoped.
Fan, given the opportunity to be a big boy for the alphas, changed back with super speed and played doorman for us. What a wonderful boy he was, when he like this. I wished I could figure out how to bring it out in him more often, but I suspected it was his need for an alpha role model that created the problems for us. “You’re really good with him.”
“I spent some time working in the daycare when I was pregnant, when I wasn’t working in the garden. I learned a lot.” Jason jerked his head toward the alphas coming in the door behind us. “And, I’ve been managing that big kid for six months.”
“Who’s a big kid?” Mac asked. He put my bags down out of the way in the living room and dropped a kiss on Jason’s cheek before heading back out to the van. The Alpha dropped his burden off and followed Mac outside.
I sighed as I looked around their incredibly neat home. Maybe I’d have something like this again.
Some day.
I hoped that there was a way for me to talk them into letting me earn the credit I’d need to pay for it. If not, I’d have to mate for it, but maybe I could find a nice delta wolf to take me before the alphas got all horny and hairy. An older one, that would be looking more for someone to keep his house and make sure his favorite pants were always clean. Although, I thought I might prefer to go live in the human world before I did that. I didn’t think I could handle having my dreams of a loving mating broken again.
That was for the future, though. For now, Jason led me upstairs to a small bedroom at the back of the house, with a crib in the corner and a mattress on the floor. It was overwhelming. They were so rich here in Mercy Hills that even the shifters who weren’t the Alpha had extra furniture.
Jason laid Beatrice down on the mattress and placed his baby in the crib, then took a wide-eyed Teca from me. “We can leave the sleepers up here, if you want to lay him down.” He did something with a strange-looking white and blue box, setting it on the floor next to the mattress. “We’ll be able to hear if they wake up.”
“Whatisthat?” I asked, pointing at the box with my free hand. Noah made a snuffling noise and lifted his head, but went right back to sleep as soon as I started rocking him again.
“It’s a baby monitor. Laine gave it to me—he says it’s traditional for humans to have a party to celebrate a baby, and the parents get gifts. I’ll show you the other half downstairs.”
I didn’t care who this Laine person was, but the blue and white box fascinated me.
Jason paused to give me time to lay Noah down in the crib, then we snuck out of the room and Jason closed the door behind us.
Downstairs, it seemed like someone had talked Fan into getting dressed, and he’d opened his one little bag of clothing, scattering his belongings everywhere. The ones I’d thought looked the least beat up, of the ones that still fit him. He’d started a growth spurt a month ago, and showed no sign of stopping. I didn’t enjoy the thought of strangers seeing how little I had—it had already been brought home to me how different our statuses were, former Alpha’s mate or not. “Fan, baby, put your things back in your bag.” I crouched to start gathering up the mess, and found the Alpha on his knees helping. “Sir, you don’t need to…”
He took a T-shirt from me and folded it. “Call me Abel. No one calls me Alpha or Sir except on formal occasions. And I have two little brothers—I’ve picked up plenty of clothes in my day.” He winked and I smiled, then my cheeks went hot and I turned my head to search for more clothing and recover my equilibrium.
Fan, of course, being not yet four, had followed Jason and Teca into the kitchen searching for the promised cookies. He came back with one in each hand, scattering crumbs everywhere. I was about to say something, but the Alpha took over, laying a shabby gray blanket on the floor in front of a TV—ordinary pack members with a TV!—and herded my boy over to it. Moments later, Jason brought Teca out and set her down next to Fan, cookies in her hands as well. Fan and Teca were immediately engrossed in the antics of some cartoon character I didn’t recognize, and the Alpha was at my elbow again. “They’ll be fine there. Come into the kitchen and we’ll talk.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
In the kitchen, the Alpha showed me to a chair, which was more courtesy than I’d seen in four years, not since I’d been taken from Buffalo Gap. Jason set a mug in front of me, and I smelled coffee. I’d only had it twice in my life, when Patrick had been entertaining. Actually, one of the times was when Abel had visited Jackson-Jellystone. I didn’t remember much of the visit. Mostly, I just remembered being stressed, and the lecture from Patrick over something I’d done wrong at the time, but the coffee had stood out, even though I’d only manage a couple of stolen mouthfuls when Patrick wasn’t looking. It had tasted like—I don’t know what. I passed my mug under my nose and breathed deeply.
“It smells better than it tastes,” the Alpha said, his tone light. He had his own mug, the contents a pale beige just two shades short of white.
“You can have tea if you want,” Mac told him, sitting down with his own coffee.
“No, this is fine. But maybe Bax would prefer tea?”
I put down my mug with a startled thump. “Oh, no, I’m fine. This is lovely.”
“I have milk and honey,” Jason said as he placed a small platter with an opened box of pasteurized milk and a small jar of honey in the center of the table.
“No, this is good. Thank you.” I took a cautious sip and closed my eyes in pleasure. It was as good as memory had painted it.
Jason disappeared briefly into the living room, then came back with another small blue and white box, the mate to the one in the bedroom upstairs. He pressed a button and the speaker crackled, and then I heard the tiny noises of sleeping babies from upstairs.
“Oh,” I said, and reached impulsively to touch it. “That’s amazing.”
“It’s so useful. I can’t imagine not having one.” He beamed at me and slid into the last chair around the little round table.
We sat in silence for a moment. I got the feeling that no one quite knew where or how to start.
