Page 13 of The Omega's Third Wish
Chapter Six
Zeph
Neither one of us wanted to tell the girls too soon. I was worried Rosie was still upset about an omega wolf I had gotten close to when she was four. We dated for several months and I made the mistake of letting them spend time together. I think Rosie was more crushed than I was when she dumped me. I didn’t expect Rosie to still remember her after all these years, but everyone once in a while she’d surprise with, “Remember when…” and come up with a memory I had practically forgotten. Unfortunately, “Remember when we did this with Selene?” came out sometimes. I couldn’t tell if Rosie missed the she-wolf or if she was just fondly remembering the activity.
For his part, Theo was hesitant about telling Mindy because he was worried about the curse. I kept telling him that after nearly two months living together – not to mention three full weekstogether– with no snags, that maybe the curse was broken. I could tell it had hurt him too many times before and he was careful. Still, I wished he would believe me when I said we’d be okay.
I wondered, maybe, if his fear the curse would tear us apart would be the catalyst, but quickly dismissed the awful idea. I loved him. Crazy as it seemed after just three weeks, but I loved him.
Of course, it was impossible to keep the girls in the dark for long. I watched to touch Theo every time he walked by. Kiss him when he bent down to serve me food, grab his hand or stroke his arm when we passed in the hallways, drape my arm around him when we sat on the bench to watch the kit-girls play…
He obviously was drawn to me as well and while we stole kisses and touches whenever the girls weren’t looking, it wasn’t long before they acted like the suspected.
Three weeks after that fateful morning in the shower, Theo was whipping up his tomato-grilled cheese for lunch. The girls had decided to try some and now he made “grown-up” grilled cheese for everyone. It was simple, but it was one of my favorite meals he cooked. Then again, it turned out Theo was a fantastic cook. It seemed like he had something new whipped up for dinner every night.
“Smells delicious, Theo,” I said, as I sat in my chair. I said it everytime, although it was true.
“It does, doesn’t it?” he chuckled, making a show of inhaling deeply. Instead of his usual grin, he blanched and made a face.
“Theo?”
“Imma-be-sick!” he gagged, turning and sprinting away from the stove.
“What?!” I cried, jumping to my feet.
“Daddy?” Mindy gasped. Rosie stared after him, wide-eyed.
The bathroom door slammed.
“Stay here!” I ordered the girls.
I rushed after Theo and quickly knocked on the door. “Theo? Are you…” I trailed off as the sound of vomiting echoed out of the bathroom. He wasnotokay.
Instead of bothering him more, I ran back to the kitchen for a glass of water – stopping only to send the girls into the living room to play – and waited by the door until I heard a flush. Then, I knocked gently.
“Theo? Can I come in?”
“Yeah…”
I eased open the door and found him sitting on the floor in front of the toilet.
“Here.”
“Thank you,” he moaned, taking the water. He took a sip and smiled weakly at me.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He nodded. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened. I smelled the cheese melting and…” He made a face and for a second I thought he was going to throw up again. “I feel better now though, thanks.” We smiled at each other, then he wrinkled his nose. “Something else smells awful though.”
I sniffed and shook my head, I couldn’t smell anything.
“It smells like something burning,” Theo said.
Our eyes locked, wide with alarm, just as Rosie yelled, “Dad! There’s a fire!”
I spun and sprinted into the kitchen. Luckily, it wasn’t a fire, it was just a very charred and smokey grilled cheese. I quickly shit off the burner and slammed a lit onto it.
“That reeks,” Theo commented from behind me, coming into the kitchen. “I’m sorry.”
