Page 2 of A Baby for Christmas
There was a reason I chose to work at an omega shelter, and the memories I had of my dad beating up my other dad were a big part of that. It was always at its worst over theholidays.
Taking the food with me, I settled on the couch in the living room in front of the TV. Yeah, Christmas in front of the TV at my own place wasn't so bad. Technically the shelter owned the house, but they let me live here for free, which made up for the sucky pay. The belief that I was doing a good thing also made up for it, of course. I could never convince my omega dad to leave my alpha dad, but here, I could actually help people. After spending my childhood feeling trapped and useless, that was incredible all byitself.
So what if I didn't get to attend theparties?
Shaking the thought off, I reached for the remote and turned the TV on. Channel after channel, holiday movies flickered across the screen. Ofcourse.
I turned the TV off again. I didn't need to have it on while I was eating anyway. The goose reallywasgood. Lorene hadn't been lying. I was about halfway done with it when my doorbell rang again. What now? She couldn't be backalready?
I got up and opened the door. "Did you forget someth—" I stopped mid-sentence when I saw that my visitor wasn't Lorene—oranyonefrom the shelter. Nope, before me stood my best friend. "Robin? What are you doinghere?"
"Can I come inside? It's cold," he said, and then he pushed into the house without even waiting for a response. "You don't have anyone over, do you? I'm not disturbing you?" he asked even as he was hanging up his coat like he lived here. Funny, considering I hadn't seen much of him since he'd started dating asshole number five a few months back. Yes, I counted Robin's boyfriends, and yes, they were all assholes. They didn’t come close to the assholes the omegas in our shelter had been faced with of course, but they were assholes nonetheless. Robin had yet to date someone who actually deservedhim.
Once he'd hung up his coat, Robin made himself at home in my living room, grabbing a blanket and cuddling up with it on the couch. "Were you just eating?" he asked when he spotted the rest of my meal on the coffeetable.
"I was. Are you hungry?" There were so many other questions I wanted to ask, but I had a hunch I already knew why Robin was here when he should be with asshole number fiveinstead.
"Notreally."
Of course not. Robin rarely ate, like he thought he might just find love if he embodied some arbitrary beauty standard. It was painful to watch sometimes. Robin put so much care into the way he looked I wondered if the guys who dated him ever even saw beyond that. Probably not—which was a shame, really, because there was so much there to see. Robin was pretty, yes. Probably the prettiest omega I knew. His green eyes drew you in and refused to let go and his smile could make any alpha's heart stop. He'd probably practiced it in front of the mirror. He'd come a long way from the kid who got bullied in middle school. And yet, I wished he wouldn't always date guys who treated him like a trophy to show off. He was a prize, yes, but he kept getting with guys who didn't see his actualworth.
I sat beside him on the couch. "Weren't you supposed to do something with Kevintonight?"
"Calvin."
"Whatever." Was I a bad friend for not remembering his boyfriend's name? Maybe, but I'd only met the guy once for five minutes. Long enough to know he wasn't any better than the usualfare.
"I'm done with Calvin," Robin saidtersely.
"Yeah?"
"You don't seemsurprised."
I shrugged. "He was a douchebag. I knew you were going to break up with him sooner orlater."
"He dumped me." Emotion seeped into Robin's voice, though I could tell he was trying to hold it back. "By text. At Christmas. How fucked isthat?"
"I'm sorry. That's awful." It really was, especially considering the memories Robin associated with Christmas. Like many former foster kids, he'dtoughened upover the years—it was the only way to survive the system—but being discarded on Christmas Eve? That had to cut deep. Knowingly or not, asshole number five had sunk his claws into the scars on Robin's heart and torn them wide open. I could tell by the pain in Robin's eyes, by the way he turned away from me now so that I wouldn't seeit.
But he hadn't come here to suffer by himself, had he? No, he could have done that at home. He was here because he needed to know that someone still cared about him. He wanted to know if I still loved him—as if I could stop. I'd have to cut my heart out to ever make thathappen.
I put my arm around his too-thin shoulders as he hid his face in the fuzzy blanket he'd wrapped himself in. "It's okay," Isaid.
A choked noise escaped him. "It's not." He raised his head again. "It's really fuckingnot."
"You'll find someonebetter."
"You say that every time." He sighed. "I'm sick of crying about this toyou."
"You don't cry." At least, normally he didn't. "But if you want to, that'sfine."
"I'm not gonna." He bit his lower lip hard to stop it from wobbling. The sight nearly broke my heart. "He's not worthit."
"No, he's not. But you are." I wished he could see that. Maybe he'd stop dating assholes then. I'd never behappyto see him with another alpha, but the only thing that mattered was that hewas.
"Ben?" Robin looked up at me through shiningeyes.
"Yeah?"
