Page 1 of All That We Keep
1
Blake
My lids shoot open, panic exploding in my chest as I pat around the nest, searching for Luca. I do it every morning, the same way I have been for the last few weeks of his pregnancy. Like someone is going to steal him from me. Like Hudson is going to miraculously get out of jail and storm into our house and slip him out of my arms while laughing in my face.
“He’s fine, baby,” Grayson murmurs from behind me. He wraps an arm around my waist and drags me back against his chest. “He’s in the shower with Maceo. I’m surprised you didn’t wake up when he climbed onto Luther’s knot.” He chuckles into the back of my neck, his voice soothing me just a little. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. Nothingshouldbe wrong. The expansion to the game is great. Work is great. Our pack is great. Luca is great. I’m great.”
That’s a lie. I feel off somehow and it’s been getting worse every time I can’t see Luca.
Grayson hums against my skin before his lips dip to his bite on my shoulder. “That’s a lot of ‘great’s. You worried about going back to the office?”
“No.”
Another lie.
Somehow, Luther and Grayson explained to the team that I would be working for home to watch over Luca with Maceo. And for the past almost eight weeks, it’s been glorious having Luca attached to my hip but I have to go into the office to finish the game. I just don’t know why I’m having a problem with that.
I twist around to look at the closed bathroom door, the running water inside grating on my nerves. Grayson said Luca was in there and I know that he is but that doesn’t make it any easier to accept.
Slowly, I shimmy out of Grayson’s hold and make my way to the bathroom, relieved to find the door unlocked. At first, I just peek my head in and then step completely inside, smiling at the way Luca is leaning into Maceo’s gentle kisses. He’s sitting on the edge of the toilet as our Beta helps him out of his shirt, Luca making the sweetest sounds.
He’s fine,I tell myself. Still, I move closer, taking in the large swell of Luca’s stomach as his shirt hits the floor. He’s adorably round now, his skin permanently flushed, an Omega glow hovering around him as he carries my babies.
“Bear!” He squeals as he reaches out to me. “They’re moving. I can feel them.”
I rush forward to place my hand on his belly, smiling wider when I feel a small pressure against my palm. Warmth spreads through my chest as Luca drags my other hand to his cheek, nuzzling against it. “You’re so beautiful, cupcake.”
“I was just going to get a shower so I could come to work with you. You didn’t need to get up. Maceo can help me.” Even as he says it, though, Luca’s hand tightens around my wrist, his other one settling on my waist. Neither of us wants to leave each other.
Someone tugs on my shirt and I look up to see Maceo with a cheeky grin on his face. “Seems like I’m getting you in the shower too, genius. Not that I’m about to complain about having time with both of my Omegas.”
2
Maceo
It’s been just over a month since Luca received his new ID and all the stipulations and craziness of our pack became official. He’s officiallyoursbut the whispers of what it took to get to this point are much louder than I expected. Our poor Omega keeps his neck covered most days, not wanting to invite conversation about what happened and why it happened. The judge suppressed the case from landing in the papers, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still vague posts on social media here and there, the Keller pack name lightly dragged through the mud.
Luther has had to make more than one statement at the office to keep everyone’s gossiping to a minimum. The last thing we need is more people stressing Blake and Luca out.
Even amidst the chaos, something still feels off about the whole situation. After speaking with Kai Vizant last week,nothing really makes sense when it comes to Hearthstone and its operations. Any further information we've tried to ascertain about the organization has come up empty, like they've scrubbed themselves clean from the internet.
Dead ends everywhere we turn.
And yet, life goes on in our little bubble of controlled chaos.
A heavy sigh falls from my lips as I focus on a pregnant Luca curled up in his makeshift nest in the corner of Blake’s office, his head resting comfortably in Grayson's lap while the Alpha runs gentle fingers through his curls.
His scent is overly sweet today, thick with contentment and pregnancy hormones that make the entire office smell like a bakery. He's usually curled up with Blake during the day, practically surgically attached to the CEO's hip, but both Blake and Luther had deadlines they couldn’t miss. Which meant the four of us are currently crammed into Blake's workspace, with Luther across the hall in his own office, meeting with Ward about some investigational matter.
It's been strangely quiet over the past two weeks, which should probably concern me more than it does. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened, no threatening phone calls, no unexpected scares or surprises showing up at our door. Even Luca's parents stopped calling after a few days of getting absolutely nowhere with their demands and threats. It's been a bit of domestic bliss, if I'm being completely honest.
Which… feelswrong, somehow.
A soft snore drags my attention down to my lap as I remember why I’m in the office in the first place. I was in Luther’s, across the hall, almost an hour ago, before something pulled me in here during lunch, needing to be closer to Blake. Granted, I got the same feeling from Luther, but he just threw me a smile, like he knew we couldn’t both be here at the same time.
And now, I’ve got the little genius curled up in my lap as I lean back in his chair. The poor Omega is overworking himself again, pushing through exhaustion and stress like he always does when he gets focused on a project, but this is the first time I’ve been part of the pack, my instincts urging me to do something about it. He's currently passed out against my chest, his round glasses slightly askew on his nose, one of his quarterly reports about to slip from his relaxed fingers onto the ground.
