Page 2 of Omega Dragon Manny
The agency that placed me promised there was always a need for domestic omegas. Now it was my time to put that promise to the test. My suitcase was light because I didn’t travel with much, but it felt heavy as I slipped out the front door and started walking toward the bus station. There were a few friends I could reachout to but couch surfing for more than a night or two wasn’t gonna fly.
Not when I could literally fly.
There was a national park my dragon had been itching to visit. We’d spent a lot of time there before I started working with the Donohues, and now that I had some downtime, it was exactly where we needed to go while I waited for my next Shifter for Hire gig to come through.
2
CLARK
I was always gonna have a family…eventually. That was the plan, anyway. I figured I'd get around to it somewhere in my forties, maybe early fifties if I made partner and needed some more career time. At some point, the need to get domesticated would hit me. That was what I’d heard my whole life.
It was what alphas were meant to do. Be wild. Play the field. Dominate.
And, eventually, when all that was out of my system, I was supposed to meet a nice omega and start a family.
Well, that was happening, minus the omega.
When a social worker showed up on my doorstep with three infants under three months old, everything changed. My whole life was upended, and now I was forty-three hours into fatherhood and not sure any of us would survive.
Until that moment, the most experience I’d had with babies was holding a buddy’s kid for a photo and making sure not to drop it. But that was before the triplets. My triplets, now.
Ever since I was informed that a distant cousin passed and named me as the guardian of his new babies, I’d barely gotten any sleep and my brain was foggy. I’d never even met my cousin who left his precious babies in my custody, but the lawyer was very clear about the terms. There was no one else to take them. It was either my home or foster care.
My choice.
So now I was a dad. Times three.
As soon as I figured out how to get three babies to sleep at the same time, I needed to get some kind of nursery set-up in my guest bedroom. Since I’d never hosted anyone overnight, I didn’t need to keep it ready for visitors. The three tiny but permanent visitors staring at me from the middle of my bed were enough to keep any romantic guests far away.
That first night was fine. Almost easy. They were cute, and the smallest one, the girl, had this frown that reminded me of a bulldog puppy. The boys were louder, but they slept well when they were curled up on my chest. Of course, they woke up every two hours for a bottle, but I’d survived rougher nights than that.
At least for a weekend.
But that was when I was feeling young and energetic. I no longer felt any of that. I wasn’t exactly old, but I was tired by nine most nights, and the sleep deprivation was starting to catch up with me. By the end of the third night, I was operating at a level of exhaustion that felt dangerous. If there were an emergency, I wasn’t sure I could function well enough to handle it.
When the trash can was overflowing with diapers, and I couldn’t actually remember changing any of them, I knew something had to change. I’d tried every song on Spotify’s “Lullabies for ModernDads” playlist, but they only responded to white noise. The sound of the blender or my constant groans were interesting for a while, but not long enough.
And I learned quickly that what they definitely didn’t respond to were my attempts at reason. I’d negotiated multi-million-dollar deals with less screaming and tears…mostly mine.
As I watched the sun come up on day four through grainy eyes and a pounding headache, I caved. I called in the big guns. The one service I was confident could handle a litter of young better than any mere human could, at least according to my business partner, Leon. Shifters for Hire was his go-to for his own brood, and that man was as fertile as a rabbit.
They were my best chance at surviving the week, and I really hoped they had someone great ready to jump in…today, if possible.
Part of me expected judgment and a lecture about how someone as incompetent as myself could agree to take on precious babies. But the man who answered acted like my request was completely normal. Maybe it was. “How many?” He spoke to me as if I were placing a takeout order, and that was oddly comforting.
“Three.” I sucked in a breath and bounced Betsy on my knee. “Is there a volume discount for triplets?” It was a joke but not really.
He chuckled, and I could hear typing in the background. “We don’t charge by the head, so you’re fine. Do you have a preference for species? Male or female?”
Preference? How about someone with three arms and zero sleep requirements. Leon swore by his lion nanny. She’d raised ten of her own and at least a dozen for families like his. But I wasn’t picky. I just needed someone who wasn’t going to judge me forthe state of my laundry or my total lack of baby-proofing skills. “Not really. What would you recommend?”
“If you’re not in a rush, we’ve got just about everything. Wolves are good for discipline, rabbits are gentle. Bears are excellent cuddlers. Dragons are smart and great tutors.”
“I am in a rush and all those traits sound great. Can you just send me someone…fast? I’ll take anyone who is good with newborns…” And overwhelmed alphas.
“We generally require vetting and in-home visits before we can place anyone in your home full-time. Let me talk to my boss and see what we can do. Look for an email with next steps.”
For the next ten minutes, I checked and re-checked my email, waiting for good news. The babies were all asleep for the first time in days, and I wanted nothing more than to join them, but the fear of sleeping through an important update about my childcare options kept me wide awake.
