Page 18 of The Omega's Secret Baby
I shot him a skeptical look. “Does that mean you'll be staying in town for a while?”
“That depends.” Matt's expression grew serious again.
“On what?”
He licked his lips. “Tell me honestly, did you really get knocked up in college? Because I find that story hard to believe.”
I swallowed. What was I going to say? I should have known he wasn't going to believe the rumors. I'd come here tonight knowing he might want to talk about the fact that I had a seven year old son, but even so, I wasn't sure what to do.
Tell him the truth?
Make up a lie?
I closed my eyes. No. He'd met Jake. He wanted to know, and even though I was scared of what was going to happen from here on out, I knew I couldn’t keep the truth from him any longer.
“I wasn't knocked up in college,” I said eventually, looking at Matt again. “Those rumors are just that. Rumors. I never slept with anyone in college.” How could I have? I'd been heartbroken.
“They say you don't know who your son's father is.”
An unamused sound escaped my lips. “They say that becausetheydon't know.”
“But you do.”
I took a deep breath and caught Matt's eye. “I didn't sleep with anyone for a long time after... “I gestured between us, words failing me.
From the expression on Matt's face, I couldn't tell what was going on inside him. He drew his arms around himself, maybe to be a shield from the cold, and he was quiet for a long time, as if he had to debate this news with himself before he could direct words at me.
“I never meant for you to find out this way,” I said when the silence became too much.
That finally got him to talk. “What way did you want me to find out? Were you going to send me pictures from his college graduation?”
Ouch. I cringed, but I knew that his anger was totally justified. “I'm sorry.”
“Why didn't you tell me?” he demanded.
“You weremarried,” I reminded him. “I wasn't going to be the family-destroying omega. We had an agreement, remember? Each of us was going to live our own lives. You'd already moved on and I didn't want to drag you back. I didn't want to see you get disowned.”
He grew quiet again, but this time, his silence did not last as long. And when he spoke, his voice shook with suppressed emotion--mostly anger, I assumed. “You shouldn't have made that decision for me.”
“No,” I agreed, my own voice not completely steady either. “But I was young, and I was pregnant with the child of the man I loved, who had married someone else, and my life was falling to pieces around me and I wasn't making the smartest decisions. That's... not an excuse... but all I can say for myself.”
Matt's expression softened the slightest bit. Although the lines of his face were still tight, he didn't seemangrynow. Just... sad. I wasn't sure which was worse. “That's something else you never told me,” he said.
I raised an eyebrow at him, because I didn't know what part he meant.
“You never told me that you loved me,” he clarified.
“Would it have mattered?” I couldn't help but ask, because there'd never been any doubt about the temporary nature of our relationship.
He hesitated.
I forced a smile. “See, you can't even say. You weren't kidding when you said we had problems.”
He shook his head. “I cared about you too. It just... took me far too long to realize.” He exhaled. “I can't believe you got pregnant.”
“Yeah... Neither could I. It's been eight years and I'm still wrapping my head around the fact.” And I couldn't at all think about what might or might not have been if I’d told Matt earlier. I'd lose my mind if I did.
“I need some time to process this.”
