Page 88 of His Gentle Omega
But I couldn’t plan my future around the outcome of a court case. Because I wouldn’t put it past Edward, or his fancy team of pricey lawyers, to try some other stall tactics. The man was going to face assault and battery charges, regardless of the family court case outcome, so who knew what they would do to keep him from having to answer for what he had done to Shay.
Walking by the closed door of my guest room, I smiled, rubbing a hand over my baby bump. “That’s going to be your room,” I told my bump, “We’re going with a jungle theme, what do you think about that?”
There was no answer, of course, no fluttering little kick. It was still a bit too soon for me to feel movement, but I kept hoping each day would be the day.
Since today was Saturday and I didn’t have a shift at the hospital, I was planning to get all my Halloween decorations put up. Nope, I did not care one bit that it wasn’t October yet. It would be in a few days and that was good enough for me. Besides, I had looked at the weather for the upcoming week and it was supposed to rain for several days.
It was sunny today, and a little cool, perfect Fall weather. After I got my many, many boxes of decorations out–for both inside and outside–I was going to start sorting out the nursery. I needed to decide on a paint color and had gotten a couple small cans to see what the colors would look like on the wall.
Dressed in a pair of comfy, worn sweats, and a long-sleeved t-shirt, I had just taken a plastic tote outside to my back patio when someone knocked on my front door. Glancing at the time, I saw it was just after ten.
Going to my front window, I saw Shay and Lucas standing on my porch. Shay looked a bit grumpy, and Lucas looked like he’d been crying. Grabbing a lightweight sweater off the back of my couch, I shoved my arms into the sleeves, and pulled it closed around my waist.
“Good morning,” I said, opening the door. “What’s wrong?”
Because it was clear Lucas had indeed been crying. His blue eyes were red rimmed and watery, and there were still remnants of tear tracks down his face. I had to fight the urge to snatch him up and pull him in for a hug.
Shay ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “Sorry to bother you.”
“Come in,” I opened the screen door for them. “It’s no bother. Is everything okay?” It clearly wasn’t, by the way Lucas’s bottom lip still trembled, and his chest hitched with the aftereffects of a crying jag.
“I’m sorry, but do you mind watching Lucas while I run to the store?” Shay said, his posture telling me he wasn’t happy about having to ask. “He’s refusing to go. He wanted to come over to see you and I told him no, and he had a bit of a–” he shrugged, not settling on a word, but I could guess. Meltdown. Temper tantrum. Take your pick, but I had a feeling the usually smiling child had lost his cool. And Shay looked very close to losing his.
“Of course.” Smiling at Lucas, I told him, “You can help me hang up my Halloween decorations.”
Shay gave me a look of someone who clearly did not understand the holiday timeline of how things should be properly done. “It’s not even October yet. Oh Goddess, you’re one ofthosepeople, aren’t you?”
Straightening to my full height at his tone, I pulled the sweater closer around me, crossing my arms around my waist. “I’m not sure what you mean by ‘those type of people’, but it will be October in two days. And the weather is decent today. Perfect day for decorating.”
“You put your Christmas decorations up at Thanksgiving, don’t you?” He sounded so horrified, I had to fight to keep my lips in a firm line.
“I put my Christmas decorations up November first, as one should.” I informed him haughtily. “Halloween decorations go up October first, or before, weather dependent. Those stay up until November first when they are replaced with Christmas decorations, which shall remain until at least January first. That is the proper order of things.” Smugly, I informed him, “Or at least how I do things in my house.”
I could tell he was fighting with how–or if–he wanted to respond to my rant by the way his eyes flittered around the room, landing on everything except me. “That seems a bit…much.”
“Don’t you have groceries to get?”
“Yep,” he popped his P loudly, “sure do. Thank you for letting him hang out with you. I’m not sure why he acted like he did. I think he just missed seeing you. We both have.”
Oh…well…I really wasn’t sure how I was supposed to even respond to that. Instead, I pointed to the fresh bandage on Shay’s neck. “How’s that going?”
“It’s done,” he told me quietly, searching my face. His eyes strayed to Lucas, who had plastered himself against my side. “We can talk about it…some other time.”
Nodding in understanding, I placed an arm around Lucas’s shoulders, pulling him closer. “Whenever.”
Better to act nonchalantly, since I wasn’t sure what this meant for Shay and me. But it was one big obstacle out of the way. Regardless, that didn’t mean Shay was ready to move forward with anything to do with us. He still had the court cases to get settled.
“Okay, I’m gonna head out,” Shay announced after another awkward minute of silence between us. “Can I pick you up anything while I’m there? Anything you need?”
Tapping a finger against my bottom lip, I thought about it. “Mmm, mint chocolate chip ice cream.”
I’d been craving it lately, along with the never ending want of tacos. Probably two reasons my pants weren’t fitting.
Shay grinned, “You got it.” Waving his finger at Lucas, he ordered, “Behave while I’m gone.”
“I will, Daddy.”
Gah, he sounded so small, I just wanted to hug him close forever.
