Page 229 of Omega's Heart
Julius plunked himself down in the chair in the corner and gazed up at her with wide eyes. “How long did Kaden take?”
She shot him a smile. “Kaden was born at four in the morning. Thursday morning. I swear, he’d be all set to come, then he’d decide he was tired and he’d just settle down for a nap.”
The room went dead silent until Felix sat up and turned to stare at Kaden. “I swear, if this pup does that to me, I’ll… I’ll…”
“You can make him sleep on the couch,” Ori piped up. “Or he can come look after Rose for a while. She’s getting to be her own version of stubborn and contrary.”
“I’m surprised you don’t hate me,” Kaden prompted, grinning at his mother.
She laughed and shook her head. “You can’t hate them, even when they make you question all your life choices. Like the time you and Cas stole the car from Security and raced it around the enclave at two in the morning? As if we wouldn’t know who’d done it.”
“It was an experiment! And it was Cas’s idea!” Kaden protested.
She frowned at him, just a mother telling her pup not to be silly. “Anyway, as soon as you see them, you love them, in all their bits and pieces,” she continued softly. “Even when they’re climbing on the good furniture with their muddy shoes on.”
Holland made a small noise, not quite a laugh. “Or practicing their art on the living room walls.”
“That too, though my boys were never very artistic.” She glanced at Holland, almost timidly. “I suppose they get their artistic talent from you, the older two.”
“They’re not really mine,” Holland began, and Kaden could see the wall forming around the omega again.
Until his mother reached across and carefully laid her hand on top of Holland’s. “You took them into your heart and called them yours. That’s all it takes to make a parent. And pups will become like their parents, even if there is no blood because you show them the world.” She looked away and awkwardly began to withdraw her hand, but Holland grabbed it, quick as a pup after a mouse. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t let go of it, either, just sat there with his fingers twined through hers and when Kaden looked up at her face, he saw the tracks of tears that all the omegas in the room were pretending not to notice.
A soft intake of breath from Felix attracted Kaden’s attention. He watched as a line of sweat suddenly appeared around his mate’s hairline. “I think the pup was trying to fake us out,” Kaden said.
“I think you’re right,” Felix gasped and curled up over his belly like he’d been punched in the gut. “Not pokey at all!” He crushed Kaden’s hands in his until Kaden was grateful that he only had one finger on the left one—at the rate Felix was squashing him, Kaden was only going to have one giant one left on his right hand as well.
Holland moved into action. “Get the towels. Kaden, if you give him more than two fingers to hang onto, he’s going to break your good hand.”
Before his mother could get her ruff in a knot, Kaden pulled his hand out of his mate’s grasp, then re-offered the first two fingers. “Thanks. I’d hate to be Kaden No-Hands.” He kissed Felix quickly on the ear, though he doubted his mate was even aware of it. Whatever was going on between him and the baby seemed to have absorbed all his attention.
Holland leaned in and checked under the sheets. “It’s starting.” His eyes flicked around the room, meeting Kaden’s for a moment, then dropping to Felix’s. Kaden wasn’t sure that Felix was even capable of communicating at that point, but his mate lifted his head and gave a sharp nod, then relaxed against Kaden’s chest. “Ow,” he said casually, as if he’d just dropped something on his toe.
“You okay?” Kaden murmured in his ear.
“Fine. That was intense.” He raised his head and grinned at them all. “Now I really hope the baby doesn’t take after Kaden.”
Sympathetic laughter went around the room, swiftly cut off when Felix’s eyes widened again and he exclaimed, “It’s starting again!”
Holland put a hand on top of Felix’s belly, as if to keep track of the work Felix’s body was going through. Then he deliberately handed a towel to Kaden’s mother. “Could you soak that in the water, and then apply it along his line?”
His mom stared at Holland, mild panic in her eyes. “I’ve never--” she began to protest, but Holland interrupted her with a hand on her shoulder and a stern look.
“I know. But you can. I believe in you. And we’re all here.”
His mom glanced up toward Felix. “I don’t know if he’d want me to,” she whispered.
Felix opened his eyes. “You’re going to be the baby’s grandmother,” he said between pants.
Gently, Holland and Julius steered her toward the side of the bed. Holland moved out of the way to let her get close, but he stayed nearby. Kaden wondered if he was keeping himself ready to throw her out of the room if she caused any problems for Felix. Or the baby.
With an expression more serious than Kaden thought the situation warranted, his mom dipped the towel in the warm water and wrung it out, then--with Holland and Ori coaching-she folded the sheets back and laid it along the length of Felix’s omega line.
Kaden couldn’t see anything from his angle over Felix’s shoulder, but he could feel the relief wash through his mate’s body as the heat relaxed the overworked muscles and flesh.
Felix let out a gasp and grew heavier once again as the contraction released its grip on him. “I should have been working out with the Security guys for this,” he said off-handedly.
The omegas burst out into laughter. “That’s a missed opportunity,” Ori crowed. “You’ll have to have another one.” He tilted his head to one side, mock thoughtful. “I wonder if Pat’s ready for a second.”
