Page 26 of The Omega's Secret Baby
Looking at me, he licked his lips, and I was expecting him to say something—when Jake pulled on his arm, breaking the tension.
“Look, Daddy!” He pointed at a couple of older kids on the hill. “They have tube sleds! Can I go with them?”
Eli gave the children a measuring look. “You have to ask them. Nicely!”
It was impressive how quickly he could go from confused omega to responsible father.
Jake nodded and sprinted off. Eli stuck his hands in his pockets and watched as his little bundle of energy approached the other children.
“He’s not always good at social interactions,” he muttered.
“He seems like a good kid, though.”
The corner of Eli’s lips tugged up and I saw so much love in his eyes as he looked at Jake. “Yeah,” he said. “Looks like he made it too.”
Eli was right; Jake got on a sled with one of the older kids.
“You raised him well.”
“I try,” Eli said, eyes still on his son. “When I first had him I didn’t know what to do either.”
“Seems like you got a handle on things, though.”
Eli shrugged. “What choice did I have? He needed me.” After a moment, he pulled his smart phone out of his pocket. “There’s… Something I think you should see.” He tapped on his phone, and then held it out to me. On the display, I saw a picture of a baby.Mybaby, it had to be. What a weird yet wonderful feeling.
“Is that…”
“My brother took this picture just after Jake was born.”
I stared at it. “I, uh…” Part of me wanted to ask him to send me that, but an even larger part of me couldn’t get over how sad it was that I had to make a request like that because I hadn’t been there for the birth of my son. I exhaled. “I can’t believe I wasn’t there.”
“I’m sorry,” Eli said. Again.
“Are you? Because it’s been eight years, and if I hadn’t run into you two, I still wouldn’t know a thing. Would you prefer that? Because you could have told me at any time.”
“Right.” Eli’s tone turned bitter. “Remember when I asked you if there was any way we could be together and you said no?”
I swallowed, because Ididremember that. Not one of my favorite memories. I’d been stupid to start anything with Eli when I’d known it couldn’t go anywhere. “That was different,” I insisted. “I didn’t know you were pregnant. If you’d told me—”
“Would you have given up everything?”
Eli’s question caught me off guard. I wanted to say yes, just to be spiteful, but the truth was that I didn’t know. I couldn’t say for sure. I’d been young and stupid and so focused on my life’s goals. But still… “I would have found some way to help you.”
Eli laughed without a trace of joy in his tone. “Maybe I was okay with being your dirty secret, but I never wanted that for Jake.”
“I don’t know what to say.” I only knew that I had so many regrets.
“I thought about telling you, you know. During the winter holidays, after I’d found out. But then I saw you with your wife, and…”
“Is that what made you back off?”
Eli averted his gaze. “Well, in part. I mean, it wasn’t easy to see you like that. You looked happy. With her.” He sighed. “You know, I’d been told all my life that one day, I was going to tear a family apart because that’s what omegas do. We can’t keep our legs closed and we breed like bunnies with no regards for the sanctity of marriage. I’d sworn to myself I wasn’t ever going to be that stereotype, and yet…”
“Eli… you know our relationship wasn’t like that. I wasn’t married when we were together. For that period of time, I was yours.”And long after, only you didn’t know.
Eli shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. I knew you were promised to someone else. I had no illusions about that. But I still wanted you to be happy. And you looked happy,” he repeated with emphasis. His breath caught on the last word and his eyes shone with unspilled tears. “I’m sorry I can’t go back and make a different decision.”
I took a step toward him and cupped his face. It didn’t matter if part of me was still mad at him or not, I simply couldn’t stand to see him in distress. “I’m sorry too,” I said. “For so many things. I should never have left you in the first place.”
