Page 57 of The Surrogate Omega, Part Two

“Let’s go inside and see the birthday girl. I know she’ll be excited to see you.”

Ro brightens at this and happily follows Ev inside. He’s bonded with that little girl over the last three weeks, and she seems to be the only thing that gets him to smile some days. He uses his good arm to knock on the door, bouncing on the balls of his feet. I can’t wait for him to be out of that fucking sling, and I know he feels the same. Ro had his first of many surgeries on his shoulder right before we gained guardianship over him, and it’s still healing. The doctors warned us he’ll probably need two more and will likely need another as a teenager, and one more once he’s finished growing.

The last two months have been hell as we tried to get guardianship over the kid. When Ev and Lake sat me down that night after I visited him at the hospital, I was shocked. Sure, I thought about having him live with us multiple times in those first few days, but I never expected Ev and Lake to be on board. I should’ve known better. Of course, my men would support me no matter what.

The rest of the process wasn’t so easy. First, Rory needed an extended stay in the hospital. It took nearly two weeks for us to get approval to have him transferred to a facility in New York. During the time he stayed in South Carolina, I stayed with him. Upon Lake’s insistence, I used my family leave time I saved for Lake’s baby’s birth to be with Rory. Unfortunately, both Ev and Lake had to go back home, but the two of them FaceTimed with Rory and me every single day, and Ev came back the day he was being transferred and took the long drive back to New York with me.

When I first asked Rory if he wanted to live with us, he was understandably hesitant. No shocker there, but his dad had been a bigoted asshole. He needed a little time to adjust to the three guys in a relationship thing, and even more to Lake being pregnant, since he had been taken right when the whole Omega gene thing came up.In addition to the personal things, I know the kid was just having a hard time trusting that we didn’t want anything from him in exchange for living with us. While we don’t have all the details, I know enough to know even before he was taken, he didn’t have the best childhood, and after—well, that hell is something that will always stick with you. Even now, I know there are times where Rory is still wary of us, afraid the other shoe will drop. That’s ok. We’ll keep proving ourselves for as long as it takes.

Eventually, Rory told me during one of my visits that he’d like to live with the three of us. I nearly cried. And then I did cry when I saw the process it took to get approved to be his guardians. His dad still being alive caused problems, but eventually, the powers that be realized the man was nowhere to be found and let that go. Then, of course, us being a threesome and my and Lake’s jobs all came under scrutiny. Lake suggested he just go in the system and make us Rory’s guardians, but we couldn’t risk that. His whole case is way too high profile to mess with.

In the end, we did pull some strings, but they were legal ones, just calling in some favors, not hacking into government systems and falsifying documents. And just three weeks ago, Rory finally came to live with us under the name Roman Cirillo.To make the adjustment easier, we have been trying to call him Ro or Roman exclusively, though sometimes we slip and still say Rory. It’ll take some time for all of us to get used to it.

While the door to the townhouse opens and I’m lost in thought, Lake waddles up next to me. He’s due any minute now. He has a C-section scheduled for next week, but I’m afraid he’ll go into labor early. He’s already further along than River was when he had Miri. While I wasn’t around yet when that happened, I’ve heard enough stories to know I do not want that to happen with Lake. In fact, I was hesitant about him coming here, but Lake insisted. He refused to miss his niece’s birthday party unless he was actively in labor.

I know that I’m being over the top, but my overprotective instincts are full throttle these days. We’ve been in touch on a near weekly basis with the Omega Project, as they are greedy to collect all the data they can to see how this gene keeps adapting over time. Unfortunately, it’s still way too early for anything concrete, but the Alpha instincts, as well as how the three of us are able to sense each other’s emotions sometimes, seems to be a common denominator among most of their research subjects. I hate not having a solid answer, but Ev and Lake assure me that these types of things always take a long time.

Lake has one hand clutched across his belly but smiles warmly at me. “Come on. I’d like to see my niece at least once today before Ro hogs her completely.

Smiling, I take Lake’s hand. “I can’t believe she’s one already. She was still such a little baby the first time I met her.”

We walk up the path together and into the house. River has left the door open since he saw us coming, though he seems to have disappeared.

“It’s been some year,” Lake comments as he closes the door behind us. It’s not until I’m fully inside the home that I take it in. River and Cooper transformed their downstairs into a pink, sparkly bakery. Their theme is “Sweet One,” so everything has to do with sweets. Pastel-colored balloons are tacked to the walls and up the banner on the stairway. There’s a table against the one wall with a cupcake-patterned tablecloth covering it. Above the table, more balloons are pinned to the wall, but these are gold and spell out the words “Sweet One,” with the O being replaced by a half-eaten strawberry donut.

Another tablecloth covers the island, and this one has sprinkles and donuts all over it. On top is the most over-the-top dessert display I’ve seen.

It’s kind of absurd that this much dessert is for a little girl who probably can’t eat half of it. It’s very clear River went a little overboard and Cooper humored him. My eyes catch Ro, who’s completely frozen by the display, his eyes as wide as saucers.

Walking loudly, to make my presence known, I come to stand by him. “Looks good, right?”

Ro’s cheeks heat as he realizes I caught him staring. He shrugs his one arm and looks down. His hair is starting to grow in a bit, and short dark curls are now covering his scalp. It’s not quite long enough to run your fingers through yet, but I know he’s just relieved not to be completely bald anymore.

“Hey, nothing to be embarrassed about. There are at least three donuts on that table that have my name on them.”

The corner of Ro’s mouth tips up, the closest we ever get to a smile these days. His eyes are focused on the cake in the center of the display. “I’ve never seen a cake like that before. Anthony always had a cake for his birthday, and his mom even bought me one once or twice, but I think they came from a grocery store.”

I swallow back my emotions. We’re supposed to encourage Ro anytime he opens up to us, but not offer pity or empty platitudes. And while this is from before he was taken, it still pisses me the fuck off. I remember being that kid who never had a cake for their birthday, who never brought in munchkins to school to celebrate, and it fucking sucked. I still remember the very first cake I ever got. Mr. C and Ev got it for me from a bakery for my sixteenth birthday—black forest. I can recall every detail like it was just yesterday.

The cake in question sits on a pink cake plate, a little way off the table. It’s round and probably four layers high. Purple marbleized fondant covers it perfectly, and then a layer of pink frosting drips down. Donuts line the bottom. On the top is a “Sweet One” placard, an upside-down ice cream cone with a cupcake inside, a #1 frosted sugar cookie, and another pink, frosted donut. It’s insanely extravagant, and I vow to get an age appropriate one for Ro for his next birthday.

“We probably should wait for the cake, but I bet River won’t mind much if we each sneak one of those donuts. What do you say?”

Ro seems unsure. He glances toward the door like he expects River to burst through and throw him out for looking at the desserts.

“You don’t think he’ll mind?”

“I’m sure he won’t,” the man in question says as he finally makes his presence known. He and Cooper walk out hand in hand while Cooper carries Miri in his other arm. River is wearing a white T-shirt that says, “Papa of the Sweet One.” Cooper is wearing the same shirt, only his says, “Daddy of the Sweet One.”

“Oh, my gods, look at you two,” Ev exclaims while Cooper rolls his eyes.

River fixes him with a glare. “Don’t get started on the shirts, please. Zoe agreed to take some pictures with her real camera, and I want some with us matching.”

That’s when I realize that Miri is wearing a pink version of the same T-shirt, but her says, “Sweet One,” the one being a donut, like the balloon. She’s also wearing a pink and purple tutu and an insanely oversized headband with a donut that covers half her head. She looks fucking adorable.

Ro forgets all about the cake when his eyes fall on the little girl, his expression brightening. “Oh, my gods! Look at you, Miri!”

I just about melt as he runs up to the family, his arms out in front of him. Eyes wide, he looks at River and then Cooper. “Can I please take her for a bit? I promise I won’t let her get messy.”

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