Chapter Fourteen

I KNOCKED ON THE BATHROOM DOOR. He had been in there a while. “Max.”

“Go away.”

“But you went in there for a reason,” I said through the door.

“And now you can gloat and say I told you so.”

My mouth dropped to the floor. “Holy shit, what?”

“It says I’m pregnant, Bauer.”

“Open this door,” I said, knocking.

A second later, he unlocked it and opened it a crack, sticking his face through the gap.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

He frowned. “I took both of them.”

“You’re for real.”

“Jesus, Bauer. No, I’m fucking with you.”

“Are you?” I asked because he was so adamant there was no way he could be pregnant.

He flung the door open. “Look at the damn tests.”

I walked over and glanced down at them. “They both say pregnant.”

He nodded—his eyes brimmed with wetness.

“Holy shit, you’re pregnant. Like really pregnant.”

He sniffled.

“This is wow.” I took hold of his shoulders and stared at him in awe. “Max, holy shit, you’re going to have my baby. You’re going to have a baby.”

“I’m going to have a baby,” he said, his tears spilling over.

He shook his head and wiped at his eyes with the side of his hand.

“No, no, this is good,” I said. I was going to be a father. He was too. We were going to be dads together.

“How is this good? I’m supposed to be an alpha,” he whispered.

“You’re a pregnant alpha.”

He let out a sob. “I can’t be an alpha if I’m pregnant.”

“Now, apparently, you can.”

“Am I an omega? Have I always been an omega? Oh, God, that’s why I bottomed for you.” He sat down on the edge of the tub and covered his face with his hands.

I kneeled on the floor in front of him. “Not all omegas are bottoms.”

“Well, it seems this one is because I really like it. Okay? I love having your dick in my ass.”

I laughed. He was angry about admitting he liked it. It was adorable.

“It’s not funny,” he said with a sniffle.

“We’re going to be dads, Max.” I rubbed my palms up and down his muscular thighs.

“How? Oh God, how did this happen?”

“Maybe on your sub-gender, you’re intersex.”

He stared straight at me with his lips smashed together. “Intersex?”

“You were probably assigned alpha as your sub-gender at birth, but maybe in your case, it’s alpha and omega. I think you might be an intersex alpha.”

“You fucking mated me, like for real,” he shouted.

I smiled. I knew he was my alpha. “I did, didn’t I?”

“What are we going to do?”

“Have a baby.” I put my hands on his shoulders.

He gulped. “Can we?”

“Why the hell not, and don’t give me the, we’re both alphas shit. Do you want to have this baby with me?” I asked, my heart thrumming.

“No, of course not. This is insane.”

“It is a bit out of the ordinary.”

“This is the farthest thing ever from ordinary. Bauer, I’m fucking pregnant.” He started taking deep inhales.

“Yeah, you are, sweetie.” I hugged him to my chest as he made sounds similar to a dying goose. His breathing became quicker, and he looked up at me with wide eyes, gasping for breath.

“Hey, Max, breathe. Okay? Breathe.”

He blew out one fast breath after another.

“Nice and slow.”

He exhaled slower.

“There you go. Nice and slow. Let’s go in the living room and sit down.” I put my palm on his stomach. “Then this is a for real baby bump.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ. Why couldn’t you have gotten pregnant?”

“Because this top don’t bottom.”

“Bauer, I’m pregnant.”

“Indeed, you are. We should probably finally make you a doctor’s appointment then.”

“What? Oh, God, no.” He shot up to his feet.

“No?” I asked.

“No,” he said, pacing back and forth across the bathroom.

“I can’t let everyone know about this.”

“You can’t?”

He shook his head. “I’m not ready to give up my alpha card that quick.”

“This doesn’t make you any less of an alpha,” I said.

“Have you ever known a pregnant alpha before?”

I bit the corner of my lip and tried to think if I did. “No.”

“Exactly. Also, my father would have a shit fit,” he said, throwing his hands up in the air as he paced.

“Okay, I guess we’ll hide it from some people. Can I tell my family?” I asked, crossing my fingers.

“They live across the country, right?”

“Yeah. So nobody besides my dads will know?”

“Nobody. I’ll become a hermit.” He stopped pacing and crossed his arms over his chest.

“And when it’s time for the baby to be born?” I asked.

He started pacing again. “We’ll have a home birth.”

“Like here, in your house?”

“Yes.”

“Does like … how?” It sounded kind of scary to me. Sure, Garver had a home birth, but he had a midwife and tons of people there with him.

“I don’t know, but I’m not going to the hospital to be some freak show,” he said, his volume going up a couple levels.

“They also have birthing centers.”

He turned toward me and snarled. “Say the full name.”

“Of what?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Oh,” I said as it clicked. “Omega Birthing Centers.”

“I will look like a gigantic pregnant beast amongst all those adorable little omegas and their round tummies and cute little bodies.” Sure, he wasn’t small, but I knew he’d look great pregnant. He already did, and he didn’t even have much of a belly yet.

“I feel we should have a doctor at least check you out,” I said with a wince, hoping not to make him mad.

He didn’t say anything.

“How about a midwife? They can probably discreetly come here, and no one will ever know.”

“Can they be trusted?”

“I’m sure.” I threw my arms around him, drawing him to me and petting the back of his head. My sweet pregnant alpha.

I got an alpha pregnant. I was going to be a father. We were going to be fathers. Maximus Edlong Vespone was going to have a baby. The baby I helped him create. For hours, all I did was stare at Max. He lay curled up with his head on my lap. As he cried, I stroked his hair, and when he stopped crying, I rubbed his back. He stared off into nothing, his eyes red, tear stains on his cheeks. Despite him being so upset, I was in awe, amazed, ecstatic, but I knew it would take him some time to come to grips with the whole situation.

“Hey, want me to make you something to eat? Or do you need crackers and ginger ale or something,” I asked.

“That’s if you have an upset stomach, not pregnant.”

“Well, we at least now know that you’re not allergic to gluten.”

He rolled to his back and gazed up at me. I put my hand on his cheek and smiled.

“Do you really want to have a baby?”

“I would love to, but the question is, do you?”

He let out a long exhale. “I don’t know.”

“Whatever your decision, I’ll support you.”

“Okay.” He rolled back to his side and curled up again, his hands over his abdomen.

A few minutes later, he rolled to his back again, staring up at me. “A baby.”

“Yes, a baby.”

“And you want to have this baby with me?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

He nodded. “Okay.”

It sounded like he was saying okay to having the baby, but I wasn’t for sure, but it did sound like a step in the right direction. Well, the right direction for me, at least because I thought the idea of starting a family with him was phenomenal. He fell asleep on my lap, and I pulled out my phone and began searching for midwives. I wanted to text my cousin and ask him about the midwife he and Garver used, but then it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out why I was asking, so instead, I got some numbers online, called around, and found one that did house visits. Lucky for us, the midwife had an appointment cancelation, so they were able to come by the following day.