Page 81 of Omega's Vengeance

He smiles. “I don’t care about that stuff. So long as we’re both there, I’m good.”

I settle back down, resting my head on his chest. His heart thumps steadily beneath my ear. The solid rhythm is comforting. Being with Dario is the same way. I can lean on him, and he won’t let me fall. I know that in my soul. My eyes sting, as I say softly, “I love you, Dario.”

His arm tightens around me. “I love you too.”

For so long the only thing that consumed me was a thirst for revenge. It was all I could think about. That frantic need brought me to Dario. I was horrible to him in the beginning, but he’s forgiven all of that. I don’t know if I could have forgiven him so easily if our roles had been reversed.

I thought he was nothing but a thick headed brute.

In truth, he’s a far better man than I’ll ever be.

****

Three months later

Dario insists on painting the baby’s nursery himself. I tried to help, but he didn’t approve of me being on a ladder pregnant. I hate painting, so I don’t mind sitting it out. Instead, I sit in a glider we bought for the nursery, eating an apple, while he’s up on a ladder painting the room a cheerful yellow. Neither one of us wants to know the sex of the baby. We want to be surprised.

“If we’d hired someone to paint the nursery, this would be done by now,” I say, nibbling on my apple. “As it is, we have to work around the long hours Valentino makes you work.”

“I like doing this kind of thing myself.” He stops rolling the paint onto the wall, and glances at me. “There’s still plenty of time until the baby comes.”

“I know. I just feel bad for you. Today is your day off, but instead you’re working like a dog painting this room.”

“I don’t mind. If I did, I’d say so.” He goes back to painting.

“Okay.” I watch him a bit more. “I have a doctor’s appointment later today. It’s my first real appointment.” I want him to come with me, but I’m nervous about asking. What if he’s one of those alphas who doesn’t want to be a part of the journey? Many alphas don’t like going to the doctor appointments.

Dario’s face lights up and he climbs down off the ladder. “You have an appointment today? Are they going to do an ultrasound?”

I laugh at his enthusiasm. “I think so.”

He glances at his watch. “What time is the appointment? I want to go with you.”

Relief rolls through me. “It’s at three.”

“Plenty of time.” He leans down and kisses me. “I want to see this little baby. I’m excited.”

“I wasn’t sure you’d want to go with me. I guess I had nothing to worry about.”

“Of course not.” He gets back up on the ladder, and shoots me a cocky grin. “You’ll never have anything to worry about with me as your alpha.”

“Oh, boy.”

When the time rolls around for my doctor’s appointment, Dario drives. He drops me off at the door and goes to park the SUV. I check in at the front desk, and by the time I find a seat in the waiting room, Dario is back from parking the car. He settles beside me, flipping through a parenting magazine. He frowns at the pictures of the babies.

At one point, he leans over and says, “Our baby will be much cuter than these babies in this magazine. These kids look like drown rats.”

I laugh. “You can’t say that. All babies are cute.”

He lifts his brows. “Uh, no. I think you’re mistaken. Some of these newborns are all shriveled. They look like prune babies.”

“God, Dario.” I stifle my laugh. “Stop picking on those little babies.”

“I’m not picking on them. I’m simply stating a fact,” he mutters. “They’re definitely prune babies.”

Thankfully, the nurse calls us into the back. If we’d stayed in the waiting room much longer, I worry we’d have started a riot. We were definitely get some funny looks from the pregnant omega next to us.

The nurse weighs me and takes my blood pressure as Dario looks on. Next she leads us to a room. I change into a paper gown and sit on the examination table, while Dario stands next to me, distractedly tapping his foot on the gleaming linoleum floor.

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