“Have you been to the doctor?”
I lifted my head and twisted around to face him. “No. It kind of comes and goes. Every time I feel bad enough to make an appointment, it goes away before I do.”
Taylor frowned, concern etched in the lines of his face. “Honey, I think we should go now.”
I shook my head weakly. “I just need a little more sleep.”
“When was the last time you kept food down?”
I didn’t answer and Taylor sighed. “Don’t make me call your Dads, yeah? Let’s just go over to the clinic and see if it’s the stomach flu or something else, okay?”
I gave in under his worried gaze and let Taylor help me to my feet. My body weighed a ton, and I felt like I was fighting my way through quicksand as I struggled to change into jeans and a sweatshirt. I could sense Taylor’s anxiety level rising when I stumbled over the pattern in the carpet in the common hallway on our way down to the parking lot.
Later, Taylor was driving me home with a bottle of anti-nausea medication gripped in my hand, a prescription for prenatal vitamins in my pocket, and a diagnosis ofsomething elsestretching the silence between us to a near-breaking point.
We were almost home when I couldn’t take it anymore.
“I didn’t know, Tay. I swear it.”
Taylor’s huff was close to a laugh. “I know that, dork. Do you really believe that I think you would risk hurting a baby?”
“I..I don’t know,” I admitted, dropping my head back against the headrest. “I’m having a hard time believing that I didn’t put two and two together.” I hesitated and forged on, “And you looked really mad at me when we got the news.”
Taylor glanced over at me with a sad smile. “Never mad,” he assured me. “I was, well, shocked. I mean, you've been saving yourself for when Otto finally got his head out of his ass since we were old enough to know what sex was. I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone, much less that involved. I guess I justthought we were the sort of friends who talked about that kind of shit.” Taylor barked out a laugh. “Apparently, I’m a teenage girl who feels left out of the gossip.” He shook his head. “Not sure why I’m making it about me when we need to figure out how you’re gonna tell the baby papa.”
I swallowed against the bile rising in my throat at his words and forced out the confession. “I’m..not seeing anyone at all. It was a spur-of-the-moment one-time thing. He, um, even told me right after that he doesn’t want to see me again, so I don’t think telling him is really an option.”
It was a good thing that there wasn’t any other traffic on the small side street because when Taylor turned to gape at me, we rolled straight through a red light.
“Who is the fucker?"
~*~
Otto
I was in the old orchard, clearing the years of fallen leaves, broken sticks, and other storm remnants when voices wafted over from the gate.
My sleepy bear perked up, assuming Dex was trying to catch my attention again but I knew it wasn't him. The voices were too deep. Besides, I would never forget the shattered look in the Omega's eyes when I thanked him for the fuck and explained it would be a one-off, that our lives were at a crossroads and I was intent on walking my path alone before ushering him out the door and on his way. If there was one thing I was certain of, it was that Dex wouldn't be coming back to see me.
Sticking to the shadows, I worked my way toward the front of the house and saw a familiar sedan parked at theintercom, the driver impatiently jabbing his finger at the call button over and over. Clark Boreal. One of Dex’s two dads and the town manager slash den leader of our community.
"Easy on the equipment, man," I called out in greeting, stepping out of the trees and cutting across the grass. I reached through the gate to enter the access code and then stepped to the side to allow the sedan to pull in before the gate closed behind it.
"Otto." Clark greeted me warmly, climbing out of the driver's seat to clasp my outstretched hand and jerking me in for a tight hug. "I thought I told you to come around as soon as you settled in? Jackie's likely to think it's something personal."
I laughed and pressed against his chest just hard enough to buy back a few inches of personal space. "I call bullshit. If Jackson is worried, why isn't he here?"
The passenger door of the sedan opened and the Omega in question stepped out of the car with a cheerful wave. "And here I am!"
Mindful of the possessive bend some bears have toward their mate, I opted to offer my fist for a bump instead of hugging Jackson. “Good to see you, my friend.”
“You, too.” Jackson’s smile broke for the briefest of seconds before he forced it back in place but that was all it took for me to know there was a problem.
“This isn’t a social call,” I said. “What’s on your minds?”
“You remember Mitch?” Jackson asked, letting the smile fall completely.
"Mitch Fraser? The warden's son?"
