Page 61 of Our Haunted Omegas
“I don’t know,” Odell laughed. “Because I want to process this all before I have to talk to your family about it. Tonight at the apartment, I’ll let your brother scan me or whatever, okay? Can we keep this between just us for now?”
“The other three probably already know,” I frowned at him.
“Of course they do,” Odell sighed. “It’s not that I’m mad or--- I need time to process this. More time than we have right now in the petrol station bathroom. I need to figure it out before I have to explain it to your family.”
“Mate, you don’t have to explain anything to anyone,” I stepped closer to him. “Seriously. They’re not going to give you a pop quiz or demand to know how you got pregnant or why. They just want to meet you because you’re family now. Sure, my family is crazy. I’m pretty sure some of us are certifiably insane but you don’t have to prove anything to them. Hell, they’ll just be happy that there is a next generation. Seriously. Remember, my grandparents have four kids and two of them are under five. If you need time, I’ll call a car to take us back to the apartment or something, though. They’ll ask questions but I’ll handle them.”
“No,” Odell shook his head and bit his lip. His eyes misted over, and I hated myself for not being able to leave well enough alone. Now, I was locked in a bathroom with my pregnant, crying mate and we hadn’t even tried for a baby. In fact, we tried for just the opposite. My dragon shifted his weight, and I let out a long, slow breath to settle him down. There wasn’t anything my dragon could do about this.
“Are you sure?” I asked, holding his beautiful face in my hands. “I can handle them. Really. I can.”
“I know that and I know I’m overthinking this. I overthink everything.”
“That’s just part of your charm and how I know that when you commit to something you mean it because you’ve considered every what if on the planet and probably on a few other planets too. I love you, Odell. I love you and I’m not going to let anyone bully you into anything. You’re pregnant. We’re showing up at my grandparents’ home for our mating feast and you’re pregnant. My brother’s mate is pregnant too. They’re going to be over the moon.”
“Over the moon,” Odell repeated to himself and nodded. “Over the moon.”
“Is this a good thing? The baby?” I asked.
“The baby is the best thing. I just—How do I tell them I didn’t know? What if they ask what school the baby is going to or if we bought a crib or what we’ll name the baby or ---”
“I’ll tell them to shut their traps,” I grinned. “And the first one is up to us. They’ll have suggestions later, but that’s all they are. If they ask about a crib, it’s probably because they want don’t want to double buy anything, and the answer to the last one is we don’t know, unless you know already. Don’t worry about their questions. Sure, they want the baby around but the party is for us. It’s not about them and them having a say about the baby or your pregnancy.”
“I’ve heard horror stories about in-laws and— I’m poor, Cobalt,” he said. I opened my mouth to speak but Odell put his hand over my mouth. “Don’t say it doesn’t matter because it does. It matters that I spent everything my parents left me already. It matters that I can’t work enough hours to---”
“It matters because it bothers you. Like I said, I don’t care if you ever work again. If you do get a job, I’ll probably justfollow you around. They don’t care that you don’t have money and if they suddenly do, fuck them. Actually, my carrier will probably pop someone in the nose because --- Well, never mind. That’s their story but you’re family now. Hell, you were family before now. You were family the moment we chose each other in the Other World. You are everything I waited for. Everything I wanted. You make me happy. You make the world make sense. Before you I was spinning in circles, trying in vain to get my feet on solid ground but I couldn’t. There was nothing to hold me in one place. Nothing worth staying for. I was always off to look for the next best thing but there is no next unless it’s the next step with you. Having our kids, building a life together and my family will see that.”
Odell rose up on his tiptoes and pressed his lips to mine. I let out a long, slow breath when he pulled away. His scent was calmer. I’d do whatever it took to help him smell like that everyday all day.
“Ready to meet your family?” I whispered.
“I think so,” he nodded.
“Come on. Let’s get going before the others think we’re robbing the place,” I chuckled and unlocked the bathroom door.
“That bathroom was really clean for a petrol station,” Odell commented as I pushed the door open for him to a world of flashing cameras.
“Fucking hell,” I sighed under my breath and stepped back into the bathroom.
“Cobalt! Cobalt! Is it true you’re pregnant?” One of the parasites shouted through the door.
“What are we going to do?”Odell asked over our mating link.
“Don’t move. Stay in here. The others have to see this. They’ll call someone to send them away. Fucking clerk probably tipped someone off when we bought the test.”
“Yes, I’m pregnant you, bloody leech! I’m carrying six eggs!” I shouted back at the camera bugs on the other side of the door.
“Cobalt! We apologize for the bad phrasing but is your mate pregnant? Is your mate a grocery store worker? Was that him at the Unity Festival? Cobalt? What about Reve? Are you going to release the footage from his camera? The public has a right to know what happ---”
Bone crunched beyond the door.
“That would be Teal,”I sighed, still keeping Odell behind me in case someone made it through the locked door.“He’s been running short on patience for days. Likes everyone to think he’s level-headed but that’s Indigo. Teal loves his fists. Probably didn’t help that we grew up two wing flaps from a gym that taught boxing. Nem and Adrian would be proud.”
“Who are they?”Odell asked.
“Nem is my Uncle Cedar’s husband. Adrian is a family friend. They run the gym back home,”I explained as another fist met another face.
“EVERYONE OUT!” A roar cut through the chaos. “ONE MORE FLASH OF THAT CAMERA AND WHOEVER CLICKED IT WILL EAT IT BACKWARDS!”
