Chapter Nineteen

Desie

I don"t like it. I"ll never like it. There is never going to be a single thing they can do or say to make me not hate it. They can assure me until their faces fall off that being firefighters on the East Coast isn"t the same as how it is on the West Coast, but fire is fire no matter where it is. And they can call in as many reinforcements as they want. Half of Talia"s pack is sitting in my kitchen trying to convince me that Ben and Michael will be alright and I don"t care.

"I can"t stop them." I lift my chin. "I know how important it is to them and I won"t lessen that. But I will never be okay with it."

Ben sighs. "Desie, it"s really not like back home. Especially here. It"s mostly going to be sitting around the station waiting for calls about out of control grease fires and cats stuck in trees."

I level him with a look. "Don"t treat me like I"m stupid, Benjamin. Out of control grease fires lead to house fires and that leads to collapsed houses with you and Michael at the bottom."

Michael rubs the back of his neck. "It"s only going to be part time. We"ll only be there two, maybe three days a week. No overnights. No weeks away. Just a couple shifts a week, and we come home every day."

"And don"t forget, Desir"ee," Kaleb offers a smile, "you"re going to be at the hospital. Do you know what your schedule is going to look like?"

I cross my arms. "Not yet. I"m supposed to go on a tour of the hospital after my appointment with Obi tomorrow. I"ve already completed most of the orientation modules, so it"s just getting acquainted with the layout and departments."

"Who"s going with you?" Reid asks.

I work hard to not roll my eyes. "All three of them, not that all of them need to. I will be with Obi, you know. And the hospital has security."

Seth gives me a grim reminder. "All hospitals have security."

"This isn"t about me going to the hospital tomorrow, or me working on the floor. It"s about me being scared that you"re going to either die from smoke inhalation or get burned up after a building collapses on you. Don"t shift the conversation to be about my safety. At least one of you will be with me during every shift, just like back home, and you"ll be here at home with me, too. I"m not complaining. I like it. I want you to be with me every minute because I know I"m safe if you"re there. But who will keep you safe, Michael? Benjamin? And who will watch over Seth when he has to do council stuff? I understand that you all have to go do these things, but I don"t have to like it and you can"t make me." I take a moment to glare at each of them in turn, including Kaleb, Reid, and Devon. "And I don"t appreciate being ganged up on."

Devon rubs his temple and tries to smile at me. "We"re not ganging up on you, Desir"ee. We just wanted to try to help. That"s all."

"I understand that, too," I huff. "I appreciate it. But go home. It isn"t like I"m going to bar the door when they try to leave. I"m just going to complain. Frequently and consistently."

Later in the day, I"m swaying back and forth on the porch swing. Either it isn"t as cold as I thought it was or I"m just getting used to the temperature. The grass is getting greener in the pastures and the trees are heavy with leaves. Despite how dismal everything looked when we first arrived, everything is so green now. Corso took me for a walk around our yard after everyone left this morning and showed me all the places where he planted flower bulbs last fall. I"m going to be overrun with tulips and irises. I"m going to love all of it. There are going to be white and purple lilac bushes and bright yellow forsythias everywhere once they bloom. I can"t wait.

He told me about the ongoing discussion about whether or not Trent will ever have cows. I don"t necessarily want to have cows everywhere and Corso was very happy to have another person on his side of the argument. Although, when he said that Trent would even be happy with miniature cows or goats it was tempting to consider it. Ultimately, I don"t want the smell of any kind of livestock to mar the loveliness of the scent of the distillery; so Trent will just have to continue living in disappointment.

Looking out across the property and into the treeline, I feel like we"re protected. Like we can finally breathe. I love my home on the West Coast, but I"m going to love this one, too. It feels completely different here. Talia"s right, though. The electric fence makes it look more like a compound in places than a home. I"m surprised there aren"t tall, solid walls, kind of like a fortress. I understand the need for caution and want us to be safe, but I don"t want to sacrifice the sanctity of this place. Right now, I can sit on the porch and the line of vision isn"t broken by thick barricades. It"s peaceful. I need that and I"ll fight all of them to keep it.

All three of my alphas accompany me to my appointment with Obi. Seth is, as always, ridiculously anxious until he hears the baby"s heartbeat. Then he relaxes into the wonder of it. Obi slides and presses the transducer across my stomach, taking images of various parts to measure growth and isn"t bothered by the way Ben hovers over him to watch the monitor over his shoulder.

"Well," Obi says, clicking for the last image, "that"s about all we need. I"m going to try to get a really clear picture of the face for you to take home. Let"s see if we can get this little troublemaker to be cooperative." After a short pause, he smiles triumphantly and clicks again. "There we are. And now..." He trails off, his eyes trained on the screen. "I didn"t see a sex in the chart. Looks like we"re expecting a little--"

"Stop!" I yell. "Sorry. We want to be surprised."

Obi"s smile grows wider. "I love that. Most people want to know. Corso might drive me a little crazy if he finds out I know. He likes to buy perfect gifts for people. Let"s not tell him I know so I can show him up this time. Everything looks perfect."

He presses a few buttons on the keyboard and then reaches down to tear off the pictures he printed. There is a very clear outline of the baby"s profile in one of them. I won"t be certain until after delivery, but it looks very much like the twins" profile. I hope this kid looks just like them. It"s funny, though. We are all hoping for opposite things. Ben, Michael, and Seth all want the baby to be a girl that looks just like me. I don"t care if it"s a boy or a girl, so long as it looks like Ben and Michael. And I"m still determined to convince Seth that we need one with red hair and freckles. I think he"ll let me talk him into it. It might take a while, but I think I"ll get my ginger baby eventually.

"Are you ready to do a walk-through?" Obi asks as I wipe the gel off of my stomach.

I nod. "Yes. I"ve been looking forward to it. Are we doing the entire hospital today, or just this wing?"

"Probably just this wing. We"ll see how you"re feeling after we finish that. If you"re up to it, we can do the pediatric wing, but there"s no rush. Outside of an emergency situation, you"ll be on this wing for the most part. I"m sure you"ll go down to the cafeteria, but that"s just off the elevator to the left. There is a map function on the hospital app that will take you anywhere you want to go."

Obi leads us through the birthing center half of the reproductive health wing, taking care to introduce us to every member of staff we come across. I"m sure at least some of them probably thought I was on a patient tour until Obi clarified that I would be working directly with him. Then he took us through the omega health half.

The omega health side is a completely different atmosphere than the birthing center. We didn"t have two separate sections for birthing and omegas at the hospital I worked at before. Male omegas are rare so our staff focused mostly on female omegas. There were male omega specialists on payroll, but only one or two. This place has separate offices for male and female omegas, as well as a connected mental health ward specifically for omegas.

"I don"t think I"ve been to a facility where omega health and well-being is taken as seriously as it is here." I look down at the packet I"ve been taking notes on during the tour. "There are so many dedicated offices and departments."

Obi beams with pride. "We"re the best in any territory. We provide care for omegas from everywhere. The Graves Foundation provides a lot of support. We"re very lucky. I"m sure Claire has told you all about The Omega House she and Elizabet have organized?"

"She has," Seth answers. "It"s a really great thing."

Obi nods. "It is. The original thought was that the rescued omegas might be too stressed and overwhelmed to stay here at the hospital. Then it grew into an entire facility for their recovery. Devon and Trent especially are pushing to add on a combat training area. And they"re pressing Jasper and Talia to plan out and lead the program."

"Good," Seth says, linking his fingers with mine. "Good."

Obi walks us down to the cafeteria and we have lunch together, then he walks us to the lobby. Before we leave he gives me a hard look. "You only have a few weeks left, Desir"ee. I expect you to rest. I expect you to nest. I do not want to hear of you doing anything strenuous. Am I clear?"

I roll my eyes, but agree.

"Am I clear?" Obi looks at each of my alphas in turn.

"All clear."

"Crystal."

"Of course."

He claps his hands and then rubs them together. "Good. Alright. Go home. I"ll come to you if you need anything. We"ll do another check-up in two weeks. You can let me know if you want to come back here or if you"d like a home visit."