Page 12 of His Prodigal Alpha

Before I could agree or protest, the other baby was thrust into my arms and Beck was heading towards the stairs. I blinked at the startled baby, and she blinked back at me.

“Uh,” I said stupidly, “hi.”

Her lower lip quivered and turned down.

Panic flooded me.

At forty-two, I’d had very little experience with small children, and even less with babies. I’m pretty sure the tiny creature could sense my unease because she started to whimper and squirm.

“Oh no,” I muttered, repositioning her into the crook of my arm and tucking her in close to my chest on instinct. “It’s okay, little darlin’. We’re cool.Shh,” I rocked from side to side in my seat. “Hush now. Your Daddy’s comin’ back in just a few minutes, I swear.”

“Not if it’s another diaper explosion,” Jazz’s amused voice almost had me jumping out of my skin. She entered the room from the rounded archway that seemed to lead into the kitchen and dining area of the home. In her hands, she carried a tray containing an eclectic assortment of mugs and a French press coffee maker full of the dark brew, which smelled delicious. She set it down on the coffee table in front of me asshe continued, “Beck’s notoriously bad at dealing with those. But Ollie insists he’s gotta get used to it, so…it may be a while.” She gestured down at the tray. “Cream and sugar?”

“Yes, please. Two sugars, ma’am.”

The infant in my arms had stopped grizzling, clearly just as surprised by Jazz’s abrupt entrance as I was. She reached up a chubby hand and smacked my bearded jaw with a surprising amount of force for such a tiny, uncoordinated little thing.

Jazz chuckled and set my coffee down on the table. She straightened and, with her hands on her ample hips, observed, “You look good with a baby.”

“I…what?”

Lips curling upwards, her smile seemed kind of secretive. But she jutted her chin towards Rory and repeated, “It’s a good look. There’s somethin’ about a handsome man holding a baby that makes my ovaries ache.”

I had no idea how to respond to that.

My cheeks burned. “Well, this is probably the second time in my entire life I’ve done it, and it will probably be the last for a long while, so get your fill while you can, I s’pose.”

“Now, honey,” Jazz’s smirk was suddenly unsettling, “you don’t know that, do you?”

“Know what?”

“That this’ll be the last time you hold a baby for a while.”

I didn’t like the way she cocked her head or the way her dark brown eyes glinted with humor. It set off all kinds of internal alarms and my instincts were usually right.

“What are you not sayin’, Jazz?”

Eyes widening with exaggerated innocence, she held her hands up in surrender. “Nothing, nothing! Just that you’ll probably be staying close to Ollie and Beckett for a while, won’tyou?” Before I could refute that, she stuck those same hands out towards the baby. “Here, let me take the little princess so you can drink your coffee before it gets cold.”

I leaned back, holding the kid a little closer to my body. Not that I thought she was a threat to Rory or to me, but I didn’t want to be distracted, and I certainly didn’t want her to have an excuse to wander away while I was trying to not-so-subtly interrogate her.

“Jazz,” I said her name with my most charming smile in place, deciding that it would be easier to catch flies with honey, “what have I missed around here, hmm?”

She bit her lip. I could see her resolve wavering. Nevertheless, she shook her head, wisps of brown hair flying about her head with the motion. “I think it’s best to wait for Beck to come back. O-or Doc Weldman. Er, Weldmans? Docs Weldman? Whatever, there are two of ’em now, and one of them’ll be able to explain.”

“Explainwhat, though?” I was getting frustrated.

“Me,” a new voice answered in her stead, and my heart leapt into my throat.

Iknewthat voice. It had haunted my dreams and memories since the day I had fled that roadside bar in Texas.

“Or, more to the point,” Damon continued, sounding tired and wary as I heard him get closer. I couldn’t bring myself to turn my head and face him. I was still a damn coward where he was concerned. Still ashamed for having freaked out and left him the way I had. “This.”

The last word was spoken as he rounded the couch and stood in front of me. He was every bit as beautiful as I remembered, though his face was a little rounder and simultaneously more drawn as he stared me down in Beck and Ollie’s living room.But that wasn’t where my vision focused.

No…my gaze was drawn to his hand resting on his swollen belly.

The cluesfinallysnapped together inside my head with an almost audible click. Beck and Ollie. The babies. The dancing around what omegas and alphas meant to each other. Jazz’s weird commentary.

---