Page 16 of Packed in the Fire house

Sunny remained seated, her focus going between me and the sweet boy in her arms. Now that he had his sippy cup, he was entertained but kept glancing up at his mother.

As I finely diced the strawberries for Luka’s oatmeal, I talked. Moving around the kitchen gave off an air that I was being casual, but I wanted to interrogate her. I wanted to know everything there was to know about her. I could tell by the tension in her body that she wasn’t sure what to do with me taking control and making the food.

Was there a man in her life? If there was, he was a pretty shitty man, considering everything she had been through and he was nowhere in sight. What about family? She had mentioned a brother the night before.

Did she want a family? Fathers for her son? Did she want a pack? I desperately wanted the answers to all these questions, but I knew it would be incredibly rude to ask.

So I contented myself with finding out more about how I could help them.

“We're going to do another grocery run later today. Do you want to let me know anything you may need for the little man and also his diaper size? We've got several different sizes of diapers in the donation bin, but I want to make sure we've got plenty for him.”

“I can’t ask that of you, you’ve done so much…” She trailed off, biting her lip.

How could I let her know that Iwantedto do that and so, so much more? If she would let me, I would make everything easier for her.

I was well aware that, internally, I was sounding a little stalkerish, but I couldn’t help it. She was so beautiful, it hurt my chest, but I didn’t want her out of my sight.

“It’s no sweat off my back, Cher.” I smiled, using the same nickname my granddaddy used for his wife.

Once I had the oatmeal and strawberries cooked together, and they weren’t too hot, I gave the bowl to Sunny, who immediately focused on feeding her son. Since I had a sneaking suspicion that she wouldn't let me feed her son so she could eat breakfast, I turned down all the burners, making sure the food wouldn't be finished for a little while longer.

Half of the firehouse was still asleep, and there was no rush on breakfast.

The boy was clearly hungry. He devoured his food with gusto, waving his little fists in the air happily as he did.

“Berry!” he declared to himself as he ate.

He was adorable, there was no denying that. His hair was dark compared to his mother’s blonde curls, but those bright blue eyes and button nose were all from her. Their resemblance was uncanny. I doubted much of Luka’s appearance had been influenced by his father.

What would her daughters look like? Would they be little golden-haired carbon copies of her? That would be a beautiful sight, little mini Sunnys running around.

“Is there anyone we can call for you? I know we asked last night, but that was in the middle of everything happening. Do you need to notify his dad where you guys are?”

Yes, I was fishing for information. I could pretend that I was doing it simply because I was inquiring about her well-being while she was staying at the firehouse, but if I was honest with myself, I just wanted to know if there was a man in her life. Not knowing was gnawing away at me.

Sunny shook her head, looking down at the bowl of oatmeal with a dejected expression, her lips turning down and her eyes going all sad.

Shit.

Shit.

I had upset the pretty omega.

Abort.

I needed to fix this.

Abandon all questioning.

Cuddles? Would cuddles work? Blankets! Omegas love blankets. I was running through a mental checklist as my heart started to race so hard I was probably at risk of a heart attack, but I didn’t care.

I just wanted to make her happy, not sad.

“N-no. Luka doesn’t have a dad. It’s always been me and him,” she said softly before scooping up more oatmeal on the spoon and feeding Luka.

The sadness made me pause. Did the dad pass away—was that why she was sad? Or was it because he was a pile of shit and abandoned them?

How could I push for information without upsetting her?

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