Chapter Five - Damon

S o, there's a scene in one of my favorite movie-musicals where the two protagonists are thrust together by their respective social circles after not having expected to see each other again.

Now, I'm not saying I really fit the reference entirely, given that I knew what I was walking into, but the stunned expression on Rex's face as we reconnected reminded me of that moment in the movie.

I just hoped that he wouldn't do what the guy in the movie did and act all cool and aloof, breaking his one-time fling's heart in front of their gawking audience.

Not that Rex could break my heart.

For one thing, I hadn't been in love with him after that quick romp in the bar's bathroom. For another, I had no plans to pursue a relationship with him, no matter what Ollie kept on saying.

But I was anxious about his reaction to my condition, and for what it might mean for the kid inside me. His kid. Our kid.

"Sorry, that took a little longer than I…" Beck's voice trailed off as he descended the stairs with Duke held securely against his shoulder. "Well. Shit."

As if he was being woken from a trance, Rex gave himself a little shake and swiveled his head around to glower at the other alpha. "You don't think you could have led with ‘alphas can knock omegas up' by any chance?"

For his part, Beck had the grace to look sheepish and apologetic. He cuddled his son a bit closer to him, as though using the tyke as a shield. "I was trying to deliver the information tactfully."

"Well, I'd say that ship has sailed," I cut back in, and all attention moved back to me again. Rex's blue eyes refocused on my belly.

"I'm gonna assume that's mine," he drawled, then finally directed his gaze up to my face.

Under the scrutiny of our audience, I snorted. "I haven't been knotted by any other alphas, so…yeah."

"Jesus Christ," pinching the bridge of his nose, the father of my unborn child winced. " Fuck ."

I did my best not to flinch and reminded myself that my reaction to realizing what the changes to my body meant had also been less than ideal. Holding my head high, I affected a nonchalant smile and threw a slightly too-casual thumb over my shoulder. "Pretty much. So, now that that's out of the way, I'm going to head home."

In the safety of my little apartment, I would be able to cry into a pint of ice cream without anyone knowing about it. Thank God I'd already moved in! Now that is what I would call fateful timing .

"Day…" Ollie tried to reach for me, his concern palpable. I shrugged him off as I made my way past him. He tried a different tactic. "How are you even planning on getting home?"

"My car's at the clinic," I reminded him. "But, even then, this town is freaking tiny. It wouldn't take me that long to walk back to the apartment."

"In the freezing cold at six months pregnant? I don't think so." He folded his arms across his chest and arched his eyebrows haughtily.

"Lucky I don't have to, then, huh?"

"Well…I don't like the idea of you walking back to the clinic on your own, either. What if you hit a patch of ice and slip?"

Pursing my lips, I tried to remind myself that Ollie had taken me into his home and let me stay there for the better part of a week. He meant well, as meddlesome as he was being. "I'm not an invalid," I gritted out from between my teeth. "I'm pregnant. I'll be fine."

"Can we please stop saying ‘pregnant'?" Rex looked a little green around the gills when Ollie and I turned to look back at him. He was gripping the armrests of his chair tightly, his grip white-knuckled.

I supposed shock could do that to a man.

Ollie just scoffed at him. "You'll get used to it," he sniffed dismissively, before looking me over in concern again. "Are you really okay?"

"I'm fine." I wasn't. "I promise." I crossed my fingers behind my back.

For all my macho, independent omega, ‘I can do this on my own' bullshit, some part of me had hoped that Rex would take one look at my rounded belly and declare that he'd always wanted kids and that he'd be the best mate and father ever.

That part of me had clearly spent far too many years sneaking romance novels and watching musicals.

Now I felt rejected in a worse way than I had when Rex had pulled out of me, done up his jeans and run away with his non-existent tail between his legs. Worse still, I felt as though my baby had been rejected by his other father and that was what had the tears threatening to start.

My father had died before my fourth birthday, so I'd never really gotten a chance to know him. I had fading memories of him being an affectionate man, and I knew that he had adored me. It wasn't until after he'd died that Mom had moved us down to her cousin's pack in New Mexico. There, she'd remarried another beta, and I'd soon learned that being an omega meant I needed to make myself useful to the pack any way I could, because I wasn't going to be able to help grow it like the betas could. As if a person's value was tied to their fertility. It was archaic and gross, but it was how a lot of the old-school packs operated. Not that it was actually about being able to have kids — it was about power and control, and the pack-minded betas enjoyed having both.

I'd always wondered if things might have been different if Dad had lived…but he hadn't, and I'd missed out on feeling a father's love during my formative years.

While I was determined that my son would always feel valued and loved regardless of his designation, I had hoped that he'd also know the love of his other parent, too.

It didn't seem like that was in the cards, though. I felt guilty about that, like I was already failing him…and he wasn't even born yet.

Those thoughts brought a lump to my throat, so I motioned towards the door. "Anyway," I croaked out, not bothering to spit an ‘I told you so' in Ollie's direction, "I'm going to go."

I ignored Ollie's repeated calling of my name as I bustled out of the door and into the crisp afternoon air. I wished I'd had the forethought to pick my coat back off the hanger before I'd stormed out, but I wasn't about to head back inside the house for it.

It was only a half mile walk down to the clinic and I could handle the cold for that long. Besides, it distracted me from the more emotional thoughts I'd been having only moments earlier.

"Damon," Brandt's deep voice followed me. Having made it to the beginning of the path which would lead me down through the small orchard of apple trees and to the clinic, I turned to watch the tall, dark-haired man close the distance between us in long-legged strides. He held my coat out towards me as he approached.

"Catching your death isn't encouraged," he said drolly. "Especially not in your condition."

"Jesus, not you, too," I grumbled, snatching my coat from his outstretched hands.

Brandt arched a bushy eyebrow while I angrily struggled into it. "I am a doctor. If you're going to listen to anyone about such things, it should really be me." He smirked and the sunlight glinted off the few streaks of silver in his hair.

From what I had gathered, he was the oldest of the Weldman siblings, but considering the guy was a dragon, I couldn't begin to guess how old he was. His accent had a European lilt to it, which seemed to make him more distinguished than his younger brothers. But, at that moment, the smugness made him seem almost adolescent .

"You're not still practicing medicine from the Middle Ages, are you?" I snarked as I began my way back down the pretty tree-lined path. "Because, while I highly doubt I'll manage to catch a cold in the ten minutes it will take me to walk from here to my car, leeches and shit aren't going to fix it anyway."

He was silent for a moment before he asked, "Does this mood of yours have anything to do with the new alpha?"

"Wow, you have such an analytical mind. What gave it away?"

Brandt snorted at my sarcasm, but he had the grace to apologize. "Sorry," he fell into stride with me, "that was a silly thing to say. Of course you're unhappy with this alpha's reappearance. Especially when his reaction to your pregnancy was—"

"I was there," I reminded him, still a bit snippy. Then I sighed. "Let's just change the subject, hmm? How's moving to Smalltown, USA working out for you?"

He shrugged. "When you've lived as long as I have, you experience everything in various iterations multiple times over. This is not my first small town experience, in America or otherwise."

"I got that from the accent, big guy. How come your brothers don't sound like movie villains from the nineteen-eighties?"

Brandt snorted again and shook his head. "They're significantly younger than I am. Our clan moved here when they were still in their formative years."

"Ah," I inclined my head in understanding, "so you kept the accent from the Old Country," I enjoyed the wry twist of his lips at my subtle teasing, "and they grew up American."

"That about sums it up, yes."

"Well, that makes about as much sense as anything else."

Companionable silence fell between us for a few minutes as we walked. Then, as the cottage came into view, Brandt asked, "Are you going to give him a chance? Your alpha?"

Gods, give me strength.

I shook my head. "He made his feelings perfectly clear. And, y'know, I'm totally fine with being rejected myself, but I'm not giving him another opportunity to reject our son."

"If I might play Devil's Advocate…"

It took all my willpower not to grit my teeth and scream. Brandt's technically a very old man, I reminded myself, he grew up at a time where people setting their own personal boundaries was unheard of.

Nevertheless, Brandt was well adapted to modern society. He really should have known better. Especially when his next words were, "He's one of two known alphas in the country, Day. Potentially in the world. Maybe give him a chance to process the news that you just dropped in his lap before condemning him?"

"What about me getting a chance to process, huh?" I spun on my heel to demand, giving in to my burst of temper. " I'm the one going through all of this, not him. He can walk away! But not me!"

The complaints spilled over before I could stop them, all the feelings I'd been keeping to myself finally bubbling over, like a pot left to boil for too long. My hands shook and I stuffed them back into my pockets, but the tremble only made its way into my voice.

"He gets to stay every bit as hot and handsome as I remember, while I'm freaking waddling everywhere. And don't get me started on the heartburn, or the swelling in my ankles and feet, or the hormonal acne which keeps popping up in places where acne should not exist. And that's not even mentioning the hemorrhoids which keep coming and going!"

I left out the random bouts of uncontrollable horniness, the cravings for foods I couldn't financially afford to satisfy, and the fact that I couldn't sleep in my preferred position (on my stomach) which meant I was struggling to sleep at all.

I'd lost the battle against my emotions and tears trickled down my cheeks while Brandt looked at me with genuine dismay. I pointed back in the direction of Ollie and Beck's house angrily. "Why should I be taking his feelings into consideration? He thinks he's had a shock? He's not the one living this!"

"Day…" Brandt was apologetic, but I didn't want to hear it.

"It's fine," I sniffed and shook my head, pulling one hand out of my pockets to wipe my face. "I'm fine."

"You're not," he insisted, "and had I realized how much you were struggling with your pregnancy, I wouldn't have empathized quite so easily with the new alpha." He reached for my elbow and tugged me gently towards the cottage, rather than towards the little lot where my car was parked. "Come inside and let us see if we can't do something to ease some of your discomfort. We should at least be able to treat the hemorrhoids."

My face flamed. Of all the complaints to have blurted out! Doctor or not, he didn't need to know that part. "I don't have them now . They just…come and go."

Honestly, the next person who told me that pregnancy was a magical experience would get a foot lodged firmly up their ass.

"What about your ankles swelling? Is Eric aware? It can be a sign of pre-eclampsia."

My irritation at him began to fade almost as swiftly as it had built. I refused to acknowledge that my sudden mood swings might also be related to my condition. I was not a slave to my hormones, damn it! Instead, I told myself that I was just being appreciative of Brandt's genuine concern.

"He is aware, and I'm fine," I replied. "But he is keeping an eye on me just in case, I promise."

While both doctors were tracking my pregnancy, Eric had made it very clear that omega fertility and births were his specialty, even though he had only attended one birth — Ollie's. Given that it was the only one anyone in the world had seen in hundreds of years, that made sense. But Eric had been researching shifter evolution and omega biology for decades before he'd even met Ollie, so he was still my primary physician. Brandt assisted him during the ultrasounds and to check blood work, but otherwise left Eric to do his thing, and seemed to only assist in the background doing research.

Brandt looked like he wanted to argue with me but bit his tongue. "Are you having any other difficulties which Eric is not aware of?"

I thought again of the cravings I didn't have the funds to quench, of hating sleeping on my side, of being so horny sometimes that it almost hurt.

"Nope," I shook my head. "I'm okay."

"Promise me that if you do, you'll say something." The look Brandt pinned me with seemed to pierce right through me. "You're a friend now, Damon. Not just a lab rat for my brother's research."

That was kind of him to say, I had to admit it. But, as I opened my mouth to acknowledge as much out loud, my stomach growled audibly. I glowered down at the bump while Brandt chuckled .

"Come on; Sage has been on a mac ‘n cheese kick. There was a vat of the stuff in the refrigerator last time I checked."

My stomach growled again. I rubbed it and smiled softly when the little womb usurper did a somersault. "Well, I'd be stupid to turn down carbs and cheese."

"Good," Brandt guided me towards the cottage door. "And I'll locate something to combat the potential heartburn, too."

I snorted. I guessed he wasn't completely backing off about my complaints after all. But it was nice having someone care about me, though my traitorous brain wished that it was someone else doing the caring. Someone with blue eyes and a sexy Texan drawl…

Nope.

I was better off without Rex and that was the end of it.

"Lead on," I told my dragon companion, and I hoped that the cheesy goodness would distract me from my woes.