Page 28 of His Pretty Omega
“I do, believe me.” And sometimes, the reflectionwasn’t great.
“No, you don’t. You’ve let a handful of assholes get in your head, and you’ve allowed them to move in and take up permanent residency. You’re so scared of someone rejecting you, you don’t give them the chance to do it. You do it first. Now you’re terrified that Alex wants to stay, wants you, in all your beautiful mess. Newsflash, life is messy. Love is messy.”
“No one said anything about love. No love going on here. We’re barely at like status.” But I couldn’t deny anything he had said.
“You didn’t need to,” Bennett told me tenderly.
“We don’t love each other,” I rubbed a hand over my tummy, already knowing I loved the little person growing there. Was it such a stretch to think I might be falling in love with their alpha dad too?
“I’m so scared, B,” I finally admitted, my voice a garbled, rough whisper.
Bennett came around his desk, his arms wrapping around me tightly in a hug.
“I know you are. You’re not alone, Seth. And you need to talk to Alex. Really talk to him, like you talk to me. Tell him your fears. If you’re serious about moving in together, he deserves to know what you’re feeling and why. Don’t hide from him like you hide from the rest of the world. Sometimes you’re all smoke and mirrors. Let him see you, all of you. The insecurities you hide behind all that sass. Though, I would bet money he sees you just fine.”
My phone went off then, and I swiped at my eyes, trying to catch the tears that I felt pooled there before they could fall and ruin my makeup. Reading the text, I groaned loudly.
“What?” Bennett asked.
“My mom wants to have a family dinner on Friday night,” I rolled my eyes, sighing dramatically, “and I’m getting guilt tripped for missing the last one. Guess this is a good time to tell them about this little peanut. And to introduce them to Alex. Tell them we are moving in together. Just rip the band-aid off all at once. A one-two punch.” Running a hand through my hair, I moaned, “They are going to lose their fucking minds.”
“Let them,” Bennett told me. “I know your parents. They are probably going to be way more excited about another grandbaby, and the fact that you have met your fated mate, to worry about much else.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Chapter Twelve
Alex
Seth had been quiet on the drive to his parents’ house. The air inside my car was thick with his unease. He stared out the window, occasionally turning to give me a quick look before swiveling back to the scenery and nibbling on the skin around his thumbnails.
“I should have changed,” he pulled at his pink pants, decorated with rainbows and unicorns. He had asked me to pick him up from his work, since they’d had some last-minute emergency appointments. He’d said he wouldn’t have time to go to his apartment before we were due at his parents’ house, and he wanted us to arrive together and not in separate cars. Rather than argue with some of his logic, I had agreed to his plan.
I hadn’t practiced divorce and family law all these years without learning something from my clients. Basically, whatever your pregnant omega wanted, regardless of how ridiculous, you said yes to it.
A happy omega made for a happy alpha.
“You look fine,” I assured him. “I’m sure they’ve seen you in scrubs before.”
He shrugged, but didn’t say anything, just stared out the window. Where was my pretty brat? Where was his sass?
“Feeling okay?” I asked, trying to figure out what was troubling him.
“Hmmm?” He glanced at me, his blue eyes void of their usual merriment. “Fine. I only got queasy once today, when one of my patients spewed formula all over me. Newsflash, if you didn’t know, baby formula stinks! Even worse the second time around. I had to change my scrubs, because that stuff ain’t never coming out.”
That was the most words I’d gotten out of him since he had gotten in the car. “Good to know.”
I wondered if this was a good time to ask if he had thoughts on bottle or chest feeding, but decided that question could wait for a better time.
“Nervous about telling your family about the baby?” I asked, taking his hand in mine. He turned to look at me then, the brief smile he flashed me not meeting his eyes.
“A little,” he admitted, “but I want to tell them. Aboutthe baby and us.”
“I’m excited to meet them.”
“It’s the house there, on the left,” Seth pointed at a modest, well kept two-story white house, with a wide driveway that was already full of cars. Even though it wasn’t even spring yet, and there was still snow covering splotches of ground, the yard was nicely landscaped and made me a little envious. Yard work wasn’t really my thing.
Parking behind a newer SUV, I got out to get Seth’s door. My wolf nose caught the scent of meat on a grill. “Who would be grilling in March?”
