“I have the biscuits,” Geoffrey said as he came rushing back into the office. He stopped and seemed surprised. “He does not need them?”
“The gel is a miracle,” Garin said. He picked up Otto, gave him a kiss on the forehead, and handed him over to Geoffrey. “But I really need to get to my appointment with Camden. He’s here to see me, not him here to see Otto.”
I shrugged. “We can do both. It works out that way sometimes.”
Garin kissed the side of Geoffrey’s head and pulled me out of the office.
“It was nice to meet you, Geoffrey,” I said as I was tugged out of the office.
“You as well,” he called out.
Garin led me to another room, this one set up for seeing patients. “We’re using Hawthorne’s office today because he’s not here, and we were forced to bring Otto with us today because he’s not been feeling well at all.”
“You should call Maxwell on the weekend next time. We weren’t doing much of anything,” I told him.
Garin blinked at me and shook his head. “I must already be pregnant or something because that honestly didn’t even cross my mind.”
I laughed, and Garin joined. He gestured to the couch, and I sat, sinking into it a lot more than expected. “Oh, I hope I can get out,” I said, rubbing my belly.
“I’ll help. Let’s start wherever you want. But I do want to ask how the pregnancy is going? Are you overly emotional that you’ve noticed?”
I sighed and shook my head. “Not that I’ve noticed. I had zero pregnancy sickness, and I honestly didn’t feel pregnant for the first month. Maxwell had to tell me I was pregnant for me to realize I had caught.” Garin nodded slowly. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“How is your relationship with your siblings. You said you’re the youngest.”
“Yeah. And the only omega. I’m sure that has some contributing factor in how overly involved in my life she has been. I have a good relationship with all of my brothers, but I’m the closest with Cameron. He’s only a year older than I am, and I think that’s part of the reason why we were so close growing up,” I told him. “Then there’s Chris, who is three years older than Cameron. The next oldest are Carson and Carter. They’re the only twins, and they’re five years older than Chris. We all think that Chris, Cameron, and I were surprises because we’re so much younger than the others.”
“Even with them being older, do you have what you would say is a good relationship with your brothers?”
I nodded. “We all seemed to realize early on that Ma was too involved. Charles was almost out of the house by the time I was born. I’m not sure what happened that they stopped having kids after me, but I’m the last of their brood.”
Garin smiled. “And your parents. Do you talk to them often? What are they like?”
I sighed. “Growing up, I didn’t realize that Ma being so involved in everything I did was an issue. My younger self thought that it was great that I had a mom that was so attentive. In reality, I think she was having some sort of issue with the fact that she wasn’t going to have more children, and she was struggling to let go. I wasn’t allowed to grow up.”
Garin nodded. “I believe there might be more truth to that statement than you think.”
That surprised me. “Really?”
“Yes. We’ve all seen it more often than anyone realizes. Do your brothers have a good relationship with your mother?”
I shook my head. “No. If they’re not completely no contact, they’re very low. I was the last to live near them and the last to leave the area. No matter what I would say or ask, Ma would always just ignore any boundary I set.”
“Are you all right to go no contact? Or do you not feel comfortable with that?”
I thought about it for a moment. I knew what I needed to say, but I also felt so guilty for thinking it.
“What are you thinking right now?” Garin asked. “Your face looks as if you’re quite indecisive.”
“Yeah. I know I need to say that I can go no contact. But I feel guilty about it.”
“Your brothers. Do any of them have children? Are they also omegas?”
I shook my head. “Three are mated with children. Charles and Caleb are completely no contact. Even with our father. All of the others are very low contact, but the last I’d heard, Carson and his mate were cutting off our parents. Cameron said he blocked their numbers a few weeks ago because when Ma didn’t get an answer, she just started using Dad’s phone or email.” I sighed. “I’m the only omega. Does that make any difference?”
“It most likely contributes. It seems as if your mother simply has an issue with boundaries, but there also appears to be some sort of underlying issue. She can’t separate her babies from grown men who have lives of their own. Have any of you ever asked your father if she’s seen a doctor? It isn’t common in shifters, but there are times when an omega has severe enmeshment in their children’s lives. They can’t separate being a mother from a person.”
I blinked several times. “She can’t let go because she can’t stop being a parent?”
