Not His Omega To Love by GS Holmes

22Ethan

“This is it? Are you ready?”

I stopped the car in the driveway and glanced over at Cody beside me. After two days of honeymoon bliss at the hotel, we’d had no choice but to return home. He had school tomorrow — such a funny thing to think about after all we’d done over the weekend. We’d had sex a total of four times. He hadn’t been lying about how easily turned on he was. We might not have had much chance to get intimate with each other at home, but we’d made ample use of the opportunity at the hotel.

But now we were back, and we had to face everything we’d left behind when we took our short trip. My lawyer had handled the school situation, so Cody could go right back in without any more threats of suspension. The baby was due in less than two months. We had the nursery to prepare and also to tell my son that I was going to adopt the baby he didn’t want.

“Can’t we just go back to the hotel already and forget everything?”

I cupped his chin and kissed him hard. “Life doesn’t work that way, baby, but we’ve got this. We talked about it, and it’ll only be a short time until we have the house all to ourselves.”

“Well, there will be the baby.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know, and I can’t wait. I won’t have to hide how I feel about you. I don’t want Reggie to be uncomfortable in his own home.”

“We’ll break it to him gently.” I grasped his left hand and squeezed it. His gaze dropped to our joined hands on his thigh. We’d opted for a non- ring ceremony at the courthouse, but now that we discovered we were a love match, after all, I’d taken him to a jeweler’s to pick out rings. The plain gold bands cost way less than I had been prepared to spend, but they were what he wanted.

“Do you think anyone will notice the rings?” he asked.

“I’ll be surprised if they don’t, but if anyone comments on it, we tell them the truth. We decided to choose our bands together. They can make of it whatever the hell they want.” I circled the ring on his third finger. “Of course, I understand if you want to take it off when you go to school.”

“Are you kidding me? I’ll be the only omega with an alpha who married him. I can’t wait to show off my ring.”

His enthusiasm set my mind at ease. Everything would work out. How much worse could the situation get than him being kicked out and pregnant?

“Let’s do this,” Cody said.

I smiled at him. “That’s my omega.”

He truly was mine, and nothing could change that now. We were fully bonded. I drove the car into the garage and parked. The spot beside mine for Reggie’s car was empty. He must not be home.

“What’s that grin for?” Cody asked.

“Reggie isn’t home, so I get to do this.”

“Huh?”

I climbed out and went around to open Cody’s door. I didn’t give him the chance to get out, though. I slipped my arms around him and lifted him out of the car. He squealed and wrapped his arms around my neck, clinging to me.

“Ethan, what are you doing?”

“I’m about to carry my lovely omega mate over the threshold.” I walked out of the garage with my beautiful and precious bundle in my arms. “Know what I’m going to do next?”

“I think so, but I’d like to hear it anyway.”

“I’m going to take you to my bedroom and ravish you.”

“Ooh, I like that part.”

I threw my head back and laughed. “Of course, you do, naughty little omega mine.”

“Little? Do you see the size of me? I’m probably breaking your back right now.”

“Hush. Have you forgotten how you fawned over my muscles last night?” I dug the keys out of my pocket and handed them to him. “Get the door for me, will you, kitten?”

“Kitten.” He unlocked the door. “What kind of nickname is that?”

“You’re naughty just like a kitten.”

“Not! And I wasn’t fawning over your muscles last night. I showed an appropriate amount of curiosity as someone without any muscles of my own.”

“We’ll pretend that’s what you did.” I stopped in the hall and smiled down at him. “We’re home, my love. Don’t I deserve a kiss for carrying you over the threshold?”

“You deserve my kiss just for being.”

I kissed him, my heart pounding in my chest. I’d never thought I’d feel this way about anyone, ever. The way Cody made me feel as if I was the sun that set his world ablaze inspired me to be the greatest alpha an omega could ever want.

“Ahem.”

A throat cleared behind us. Was Reggie here?

“Matt?” I gaped at my ex-husband, standing a few feet away from us with his arms crossed over his chest. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”

“Why, I took a plane, of course.” He leveled bright green eyes at the boy in my arms, accusation written all over his face. Oh shit, he was the last person I wanted to find out about Cody and me before we went public with the information. Sure as hell not before we got a chance to sit Reggie down and talk to him about it.

“You never said you were coming.” I set Cody on his feet. He tensed, retreating into his shell. He was so shy around everyone, but he came alive when we were together. Since Matt had seen everything already, I didn’t bother to try to distance myself from Cody. I wrapped my arm around him.

“It was a last-minute decision, and I didn’t want to disturb you when I’d found out you decided to go on a honeymoon for a fake relationship.” He smiled that pretentious smile he used when he’d wanted it to be clear that he wasn’t happy with me. “I’ve been here since yesterday. I just wanted to check up on Reggie to make sure he was fine, given everything that was happening. He should be here any minute to drive me back to the airport. I would have stayed longer but I have to get back to the twins.”

“I expected you two to meet at graduation,” I said. “But there’s no time like the present. Cody, this is my ex-bondmate, Mattias. Matt, my bondmate and soon-to-be father of our child, Cody.”

There, he now knew the whole deal, and from the flaring of his nostrils, he didn’t like it one bit.

“Hello.” Cody stepped forward with his hand outstretched. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

I rested my gaze lovingly on him and how he braved his shyness to greet Matt, being the bigger person when Matt was all but shooting off “get the fuck away from me” vibes. He at least had the decency to shake Cody’s hand.

“Hi, Cody.” Matt’s eyes followed the ring on Cody’s left hand. “I see you’ve managed to handle your situation well.”

“I-uh…” Cody glanced back at me, panic in his eyes.

“Cody, we’ve had a long drive, and you must be tired.” I placed a hand on his lower back and rubbed. “Maybe you should get off your feet for a bit.”

“Okay.”

He tilted his head but then backed away. Before he could move too far, I pressed my lips swiftly to his and was rewarded with a smile. Good. The only person in the room who truly mattered was him. Not what Mattias thought.

“I’ll bring your bag up soon,” I called after his disappearing back.

“Thank you.”

Matt and I kept silent until Cody cleared the top of the stairs and was no longer in sight. I let my smile drop. I held no ill will toward this omega. We’d been together, we’d broken our bond, he’d found someone else, had taken our son, and I’d been accommodating of all that.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he cried. “What the hell do you think you’re doing with that child?”

“Cody’s nineteen. Do you remember what you were doing when you were nineteen? Hardly a child.”

“Don’t turn this around on me. This is your son’s ex-boyfriend we’re talking about here. Someone who used to sleep with your son. So much in fact that he’s now carrying your son’s unwanted child.”

“Don’t you dare call that baby unwanted,” I gritted out. “Cody has always wanted that baby since he knew about his pregnancy, and I want that child too. They’re not some castaways that need your pity.”

He flushed. “That’s not what I meant. Reggie made it clear he has no intention of raising that child. Why do you have to interfere?”

“We’ll respect his wishes not to be involved in the child’s life. I’ll be the one helping to raise this baby. They’ll be his sibling, and I don’t expect him to do any more than be their big brother.”

“Did it ever occur to you that your son’s reason for signing over all the rights to this omega is that he doesn’t wish to be reminded the child exists? How’s he supposed to do this when you’re taking on this child as your own?”

“Guess what, Matt? It’s called life. He’ll adjust, just like I’ll adjust to being a father again. And I don’t think you give Reggie enough credit. He’ll be fine.” Please don’t let me down on this. I haven’t asked for much but realize my decision to raise this child has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the love of my life.

“Is that why you haven’t told Reggie yet? If you were confident that he was okay with this, you would’ve told him, and you know I’m speaking the truth.”

“I won’t tell him now because Cody asked me not to.”

He rolled his eyes. “So, you take orders from that omega now? You don’t find it odd that he conveniently got pregnant by your son, and now he’s latched on to you? Are you even sure the baby he’s carrying is Reggie’s in the first place?”

“Don’t!” I snapped. “I’ll say this once and once only. Cody is my bondmate as written in the law and by our mating. I won’t stand here and listen to you bad-mouth him to suit your narrative. Truth is, I don’t care if that baby was put there by Reggie or some other man. I’m going to be that child’s father, and you need to accept that this has absolutely nothing to do with you. If you continue to make your allegations, you’re just as welcome to wait for Reggie outside on the porch. This is my house, which I share with my son and my omega, and I won’t stand for you making him uncomfortable in his own home. Got that?”

Not waiting for him to respond, I stalked past him and up the stairs. Our voices had raised so high there was no doubt Cody must have heard some of what we’d said. I went straight for his room, where he was pacing in front of the door.

“He hates me,” he wailed. “Why does he hate me?”

“He can’t hate you. He knows nothing about you.” I pulled him into my chest. “Come on, baby. He’s not going to ruin everything for us, okay? We won’t let that happen. We’ll stick to our plan. Focus on getting through school, and after graduation, we can handle everything else.”