Page 66 of The Beta: Part Three
“I thought it would look more like they took bites out of you. I've been sort of dreading seeing you in a mauled state. This just looks a bit like a strawberry birthmark.” Her face is about three inches from my chest and she's looking at both Alex's and Kaleb's marks with a clinical eye. She isn't even seeing my partially bared breasts. I miss being a beta. I honestly think they're the superior designation sometimes.
“Corso's is a bit messy, but the other's are mostly clean.” I pull the shirt off my shoulder and lean forward for her to look at Corso's mark.
She draws in a quick breath when she sees it. “Did he hurt you? I can't imagine Corso doing that on purpose.”
I shake my head. “No. Well, I don't remember if it hurt. It was a terrifying situation until we figured it out. But he'd never hurt me on purpose. He felt like shit for a long time. He still does sometimes.”
“And your omega? Where is he?” She drops back to sit on the floor while I do up my shirt.
“He, Devon, and Corso went to the distillery to check on one of the stills. One keeps giving them trouble, and Jasper likes the walk. They'll be back soon. I can't wait for you to meet him. He's so beautiful.” I may or may not still gush over Jasper on occasion. I gush over all of them in turns, though.
Cassandra pats my knee, “I'm sure he is. Do you know if you've got a boy or a girl in there?” She looks down at my rounded stomach and smiles.
“I can't tell you. We said we wouldn't tell anyone until they're born.” I clap my hand over my mouth. There's no way she didn't catch my slip.
She pales. “They? Talia. They?”
I nod. “Please, Cassandra. Please don't say anything. Nobody can know. Alex and the rest of my pack knows, and Obi, but we're not telling anyone else. Everyone will freak out and that will be overly stressful for me to deal with. I'm sorry to put you in this position, but please don't tell anybody.”
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “If Jake asks me I'll have to tell him. But so long as none of the alphas ask it should be fine. Can I know how many or if they're boys or girls?”
I shrug, she already knows that there's more than the customary one baby. “Two girls and a boy.”
“Three!” she hisses. “Talia! Three? Are you alright? You look a little bigger than I expected, but everyone carries differently. Are they all okay? No troubles?”
“They're all perfect as far as we can tell. Obi comes once a week to check on everything. He says we're good.”
A small smile starts to form and she tucks her hair behind her ear, glancing toward the door like a true conspirator, “I'll send some bottles. I wanted it to be a surprise for you, but I brought some of Alex's clothes from when he was a baby. I can't wait to shop for things for the girls.”
“You brought Alex's baby clothes?”
She barely has time to nod before I yank her into a hug and start crying again.
A few minutes later Alex struts into Nathan's room. “Came to check on you, sweet pea. Felt heavy for a minute, now you're crying again. You're not supposed to make her cry, Ma.”
“It's good crying. Wait till you see what she brought, Alex. It's wonderful.” I really am going to have to pull it together. My eyes are getting sore from all this crying, and we still have more family coming.
“Would you tell me to get fucked if I suggested sending Nathan up to purr you into a nap? You seem like you need a bit of a rest, baby.”
A nap actually does sound good. “I wanted to show your mom the other nest, though.”
Cassandra pats my cheek, “that's alright sweetheart. I can see it later if you still want to show it to me. I agree with Alex. You look a little worn. I'll send up a snack with Nathan, was it?”
“Oh god, don't say my name and snack in the same sentence when you're near the kitchen. I've eaten so much food since Lucia's been here. It's amazing and I love every bite, but I'm trying to wait until dinner to eat anything else. I might actually explode.”
“Okay,” she laughs, “no snacks. You should lay down, though. Alex, help her up and tuck her in.” She gets to her feet and stands in the doorway until she sees me properly tucked. Then she asks, “does that really work? Can they actually purr and put you to sleep?” She's eyeing her son skeptically as he leans down to kiss me before he leaves.
“It does. It's one of the few perks of being an omega,” I answer.
“What are the other perks?”
“Nope. No. Negative. You are not answering that question. My mother does not need to know about any of the other omega perks, thank you very much. Come on, Ma. Let's go send Nathan up. Talia stole you away before you got to meet him. You're really going to like Nathan. He feels like being a little wine-drunk on a warm day and he smells like trees.”
That is by far the best description of Nathan that I've ever heard.
Chapter twenty-seven
Kaleb
