Page 3 of The Surrogate Omega, Part Two

Much like Luke, his mom welcomed us immediately and made us feel loved and wanted. Grandma Amy always bought her biological grandkids special ornaments every year that represented whatever the kid was most into that year. Once River and I came into picture, she extended that to us and, of course, eventually Essie. She continued that tradition until she died a few years ago.

“I think she’d like that you are passing down the ornaments to Miri.” I couldn’t help but rub my own belly and think of the child growing in there. I may not be his or her father, but I hope to have a special place in their heart, like Grandma Amy has in mine.

River smiles warmly at me. He’s holding a stack of clothes over his arms. “I think so too. And Dad already said he wanted to keep that tradition going for her since Grandma Amy can’t. He said he has an ornament already, but he won’t let us see it.”

River pouts a bit before throwing the clothes down next to me. I wince at the haphazard way he has them organized. Smiling, Evander starts to go through them and folds them for me, immediately activating that fluttery feeling that I get whenever Evander or Logan do something like this. Something that shows how much they care and not only pay attention to my quirks, but don’t dismiss them.

As River goes back to clothes hunting—how many outfits does he have—Evander asks him, “Speaking of Miri, do you have any idea what you’d like us to get for her?”

River groans into the closet. “Ugh, no. And everyone is already asking me. She’s still so little, so it’s not like she has likes and dislikes outside of warmed formula over room temperature. And she’s so spoiled, I can’t even think of what she may need. Between Dad and the random people sending gifts through the mail, she has more than she’ll ever need.”

It makes sense that Dad is spoiling Miri. It’s his first grandchild after all. I’m curious about the other part of River’s sentence though. “People are sending you gifts?”

River snorts and runs his hand through his short auburn hair. “Yeah, it’s kind of nuts. Oh, you might want to be prepared for that. For as much hate mail as I get, I probably get an equal number of gifts and fan mail.”

“Where? With the extra precautions in place, no one should be finding your address anymore.”

River sits on the bed and squeezes my arm. “Don’t worry, this place is still a fortress. When the mail was all returned to sender, they started sending it to the Omega Project since people assume they can reach me there. They actually gave me my own mailbox.”

“And people just send random gifts to Miri through them?” Evander asks.

River shrugs. “Yeah. Not quite as much as they used to. I’m becoming old news now. Plus, with the Omega gene becoming more widespread, it’s not as exciting. In the beginning, I got a shit ton of stuff. You know that purple and pink blanket Miri loves?” I nod. “That’s actually from the mail. Don’t be surprised if you start getting some too. Eventually, they’ll find out about the surrogacy and that will probably bring its own excitement.”

Evander sucks in his lip piercing, his expression contemplative. “And the hate mail?”

Rivers winces. “Yeah, that part is rough. I’ve learned to ignore most of it. I only read ones that are deemed to be real threats. I’ll never get used to someone telling me that my infant daughter deserves to die because of her parentage. It’s fucked up.”

Evander growls quietly under his breath. I don’t think he even notices it. He’s holding my hand tightly and squeezes a little harder. Evander doesn’t even realize how much his protective instincts have increased over the last few weeks. I know his initial test had no trace of the Alpha gene, but it does make me wonder.

“And does anyone do anything about these threats? It’s biology. Why someone would threaten to kill you or a child because of biology is fucking insanity.”

“They have a team on them. Next time you talk to Dr. Rooke, ask him about it, Lake. Like I said, once this leaks, which I’m sure it will, you might need to be concerned about this too, but don’t stress too much about it. The Omega Project has it under control.” River’s eyes flick to Evander, who barely has himself under control. “And maybe don’t mention it to Logan until there’s a viable threat? Cooper about freaked, and Logan’s instincts seem to be stronger.”

I frown at my brother. I don’t like the idea of lying to Logan. It is bad enough I kept my employment secret from them. I don’t want to keep this too. Evander just kisses the top of my head. “We’ll talk about it later and make a decision, ok, baby?”

I sigh, understanding that’s the best I’ll probably get right now.

“Ok, we can do that.”

Sensing that we need a topic change, River begins speaking again. “Dad needs a hobby, Lake. I know he’s lonely, and I think he’s also bored with his ‘retirement.’” River uses air quotes around the word since we both know Luke Simmons is not actually retired. “He’s resorted to online shopping. Online. Shopping, Lake. Dad. And if he comes back with one more outfit for the baby or a gadget he thinks might be useful, I’ll lose it.”

Evander bursts out laughing, but I’m trying to process River’s words. “Really? Is that why you keep trying to get him in that widowers’ club?”

River snorts. “It’s not a widowers’ club. It’s just a group for both men and women who have lost their spouses or life partners to be able to get together and make friends again. And that’s part of it. Honestly, I’m a little worried about him. His life has been about our family for so long, I think he may have forgotten how to live for himself, so now he’s throwing his attention onto Miri.” River points at me. “Just be ready. I caught him already looking at newborn stuff. I should probably warn Zoe and Avery.”

As most people are aware, I’m not great with emotional things, so I don’t know exactly how to react. Idoknow I want to make sure Dad is ok. “Maybe when we go through his ornaments, we should both talk to him together? He knows how oblivious I am, so if I’m also concerned, that may be a wake-up call for him?”

River barks out a laugh as he suddenly climbs out of the closet and practically throws himself on me in a tight hug. “Fuck, Lake, I love you. You’re a genius.”

I know River’s not talking literally right now, but I don’t get what he’s saying. Of course, he loves me; we’re brothers. And yes, we already both know I’m a genius. Why would he be mentioning it now?

See my confusion, River elaborates, “I just mean that I like your idea. And yes, let’s do that. I tend to overanalyze and worry, and Essie isn’t around Dad enough right now to see him going through this, so she hasn’t been nagging him. He’ll take it more seriously coming from you.”

“Good. Then that’s what we’ll do.” I glance at the massive pile of clothes that River accumulated. “That’s it, right? I think that’s all I need.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s all of them. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you’re going to go through these. Just take them, Lake. You’ll thank me later.”

“I seriously doubt that, but I will take them.” River rolls his eyes at me, which I’m used to. Smiling to himself, Evander leans over and kisses me gently.

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