Chapter Fifteen

Leon

"I don't know what to say." Not what I expected to hear from my mate but if there was a time for surprise, this was one of the big ones.

"Come here. Let me hold you." I opened my arms, but this time, Tobias didn't come and lay his head against my chest. He stood there, frozen, staring at the white stick with two blue lines. Two blue lines that changed the course of our lives in two minutes. "Tobias. Talk to me, omega. You're scaring me."

His gaze flicked up to meet mine. "Maybe I'm scaring you because I'm scared."

"What are you scared of? Talk to me."

We sat on the couch. Tobias wrapped his arms around his middle. "I don't know what kind of dad I will be. I've never babysat children or had any siblings. I have no idea what I'm doing."

Sweet omega. His feelings were completely normal, and I told him so. "We will learn together. I have some younger siblings and nieces and nephews. Plus, there is so much information out there now. Online. Books."

"Are you happy?" He nailed me with those deep-brown eyes.

"I'm very happy. I had given up on finding my mate, and with that came giving up on having any children. I had made peace with it about the time you walked into my life. But, right now, I'm more worried about you."

"I didn't walk into your life. I tripped and plastered you with food." He let out a long breath, relaxing his shoulders. "You really think this is going to be okay? What if he hates me?"

It took everything in me not to laugh. "Tobias, you are going to be an amazing papa to our little pup."

"Pup? What makes you think it's not going to be a cub?"

"I don't. Whatever they are, as long as they're happy, it doesn't matter to me."

Once he'd calmed down, he let me hold him for a while, but now was the time to talk about something I'd had on my mind way before finding out he was pregnant.

"Omega, would you consider moving in with me?" I blurted the question out before I lost my nerve.

Tobias froze in my arms. His body got stiff and his scent took a turn. "I…I don't know. Is this just because I'm pregnant now?"

"No. I've been thinking about asking you for weeks. I hate waking up without you next to me. I miss you. I want you around as much as possible."

"I don't want to lose my independence, Leon."

I shook my head. "Why in the world would you think being with me would mean losing you? It doesn't have to be that way, Tobias. I would never take anything from you, including your independence."

"I've done this before. I moved in with someone who I thought was my mate and…" He stared at the floor. "I didn't even see it coming. It started small. ‘Oh, why don't you do this. Don't do that.' Next thing I knew, I was in a cage and asking for permission to do things I loved. I won't do that again."

I immediately paused and put away the defenses I'd so easily thrown up in my mind. Never would I even try to tell my omega what to do or try to run his life. If he was independent, then I knew that every day he chose to be with me was because he wanted to, not because he felt obligated or I had mentally beat the choices out of him.

He didn't need to hear those defenses in the moment. He needed my reassurance.

"Omega, I know there's nothing I can do to convince you other than prove myself to you over time. So that's what I'm going to do. Please know that the discussion and the option is always open. If you ever want to discuss living with me, then we'll talk about it. No pressure from me."

"You aren't angry?" he asked, taking my hand in his.

"Of course not. You'll learn I'm nothing like whoever did that to you before, and I never will be. Now, are you hungry? How about we get you something to eat, and we can maybe talk about names."

He laughed and shook his head. "It's a little early for that, don't you think?"

"No. Come on, omega. I'm sure you have some names in mind. But first, food?"

"Nothing with chicken, please. I don't know what it is lately but I've got the chicken ick, badly."

Snorting, I wrapped him up in my embrace. "It's called morning sickness. And how about that smokehouse truck? We can get pulled pork sandwiches or we can find a steak somewhere."

His stomach growled. "Pulled pork sounds amazing. They also sell some of that candied bacon."

"I'll get you two all the bacon you want. Come on."

I'd successfully changed the subject, but now it was my stomach that was sick. Would Tobias never trust me? Would Tobias ever realize that I had no intentions of hurting him or controlling even the slightest thing about him?

Maybe one day.

I only hoped he gave me the chance to find out.

"Can we stop by the restaurant and check things out? Make sure everything is okay?" he asked.

"Of course."