3
Lorenzo
“There he is! There’s my little man!”
Dante grinned as he threw the door open and reached for his son, Noah, who flailed in my arms. I’d taken on babysitting duty so my brother and his mate, Gabriel, could have a romantic date night without the responsibility of worrying about their young son. Gabriel was a few months pregnant with their second child, so they wanted to take advantage of the precious alone time they had before they had two youngsters running around.
“Da!” Noah cried happily as Dante cradled him.
“How was he?” Gabriel asked me. “He wasn’t bad, was he?”
“Oh, no, of course not,” I said with a weary smile. “He’s never bad.”
Gabriel frowned in concern. “You look so tired. He kept you up all night, didn’t he?”
I couldn’t help but wince. “A little bit. But I don’t mind. I knew what I signed up for when I took him on.”
Gabriel sighed. “He’s at that age now where he justdoesn’tsleep! I’m so sorry, Lorenzo.”
“No, don’t be,” I encouraged, shaking my head. “I enjoy watching Noah.”
“Unkuh,” Noah said suddenly as he stretched a hand in my direction.
“That’s right, he’s your uncle.” Dante smiled. “Gods, isn’t he smart? It’s crazy!”
Gabriel squinted and pointed at something in my hair. “I think you’ve got a little something…”
“Hm? Oh.” I picked out what Gabriel was pointing out - a large flake of glitter. “We were having an arts and crafts session. I don’t know how that got there.”
Noah’s omega-father quirked a brow at his naughty son, as if he knew exactly how it got there.
“Well, thank you again,” Gabriel said with a sigh. “I’m sure watching him makes you glad you don’t have kids of your own.”
I tried to smile, but found that I couldn’t. Gabriel had unknowingly touched on a sore spot, which he instantly noticed. His expression made it clear that he regretted what he said.
“What’s up, Lorenzo?” Dante asked, less sensitive about dancing around the issue. “You look kind of upset.”
I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
Dante frowned now. “C’mon, bro. I know you well enough to tell that itisa big deal to you. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Feeling both their scrutinizing gazes on me, I sighed deeply. “The truth is, Idowish I had a child of my own. Watching Noah is great - I love him, and both of you, and I’ll always be here to watch him. But just being a babysitter isn’t enough anymore. Taking care of Noah… I feel like it’s awakened something in me. The need to be a father.”
Dante was already nodding. He put his hand on my shoulder. “I understand completely.”
“Oh, Lorenzo…” Gabriel came forward to hug me. We were close as a family and I appreciated their comfort.
“Well, then it’s obvious what we need to do,” Dante announced with a grin. “We just have to set you up with someone!”
The thought of beingset uplike a rare animal in a zoo needing a mate turned me off. I’d always imagined falling in love slowly and carefully, not meeting someone with the immediate goal of dating and instantly having a baby.
“I have to admit, I’m not the biggest fan of that plan,” I mumbled.
“Why not?”
“Love is something that should happen naturally, you know?” I said. “I don’t want to feel like I’m just walking into a grocery store to pick up some fruit.”
Dante groaned. “Man, you have some weird ideas. It’s nothing like that!”
