“I’m telling the truth, Mom.” Alex sighed. He dropped his head, gaze lowered. “I know it’s not what you want to hear. To be honest, it’s not what I want to tell you, either. I don’t want you to know that I’m a cumslut.”
“Alexander.” Samantha soundedpanicked.
“Mom…” Alex offered her a tiny laugh. He picked his head back up. “It’s okay. I’m way grossed out, too. That’s not something I ever wanted you to hear. But the fact is, this pregnancy falls on me. I was the one who pursued Laurence, I was the one who seduced him, I was the one who got him so riled up that he failed to use protection, and I was the one who stupidly wasn’t on contraceptives when he fucked me. In alotof cases, I’d blame the sperm donor for the pregnancy. It washisresponsibility to put on a condom—I don’t think either of us will argue that. But you know, I could have told him to stop. I could have told him I was nearing my heat. I could have told him a ridiculous number of things to get him to be safer with me… and he would have. I know him. It’s easy to want to blame the other man, but in this case, I’m the one you need to blame.Me.Laurence is a good, kind, thoughtful guy who didn’t deserve to be jerked around like I did. He wasn’t looking for younger men to bring home. If you’re angry at someone, can you please be angry atme?”
Laurence glanced in Alex’s direction. It took strength to admit something like that, especially to a parent. Alex’s cheeks were flushed, but otherwise, he made the confession look easy. His resilience was astounding. Laurence knew exactly who he’d inherited itfrom.
“You’ve known him for less than a month,” Samantha said stiffly. “Less than amonth,Alex.”
“I’m not going to say that the choices I made were smart.” Alex shrugged a single shoulder. “They weren’t. No one’s going to hear my story and think, ‘Oh, Alex—what wonderful decision-making skills he has. I wishImade life choices as wonderful as his.’ That ship sailed with Jason, and I’ve been making self-destructive choices ever since. But…” Alex marked the moment by drawing in a long, filling breath. “But Laurence, who was supposed to be nothing more than another hookup, ended up being someone I wanted more from. I allowed him to romance me, even though I don’t do relationships. He… made me realize some things about myself that I knew deep down, but that I wasn’t letting myselfacknowledge.”
Laurence risked a smile. He squeezed Alex’shand.
“And,” Alex said, butting in before Samantha could speak. “He makes mehappy.I’m not sticking around because he knocked me up, and I’m not sticking around because he brainwashed me, or any other excuses you might want to pin on him. Are we going to have difficulties in our relationship? Yeah. But every couple has their struggles. If we want this to work—and wedowant this to work, or else we wouldn’t be here talking to you about it—then we’re not going to let something like the differences between us get in theway.”
Put under pressure, Alex responded beautifully. Laurence couldn’t have beenprouder.
Samantha looked between them again, but her expression had changed. The controlled anger on her face had weakened. Alex had gotten through toher.
“I’m not happy,” she saidsimply.
Alex nodded. “I don’t expect you to be. I wasn’t happy with myself, either, when I found out. But it’s not the end of the world, Mom. I’m ready to do what it takes to make sure that this baby has what it needs to live a good life, even if Laurence decides to leave. If that means one day that I have to give up on painting, then I’ll doit.”
Samantha frowned. Her gaze snapped to Laurence. “If you decide to leave my son and my grandchild unprovided for, I will hunt you down, and I will make you regret yourdecision.”
“I understand.” Laurence wished he could have said the same thing to Matthew’s ex-boyfriend. “I’ve promised to take care of him, and I keep my promises. I know that words won’t make you feel any easier about the situation, but I hope over time you’ll see that I’m serious. I’m not going to leave Alex to fend for himself, and I’m not going to leave him alone to parent our child. I’ll be there. I swearit.”
“And I’ll be watching,” Samantha told him. “At the first sign of trouble, I’ll bethere.”
Laurence expected nothing less. Samantha ran a tight business, and he thought it fitting that she ran her personal life by the same high set ofstandards.
“Unless there’s any other life-altering news you need to tell me, I think it’s best if we cut todayshort.”
“No, there’s nothing else.” Alex glanced at Laurence, who nodded once to confirm. “I know it was hard for you to hear. Thank you for listening. If you want to talk about it again at any time, all you have to do is call me, or text me, or whatever feels easiest for you. I love you, Mom. I hope that you can see that I’m trying foryou.”
There was a moment of silence, and Laurence was almost sure that Samantha would shut the door in their faces. Instead, she shook her head slowly. “You’ve changed,Alex.”
Alex stood a little straighter, prompting Laurence to stand closer to him. Whatever hurtful words Alex was about to hear, Laurence would be there to help supporthim.
“I remember when you left home, you thought you had the world figured out.” Samantha chuckled, but the worried expression remained on her face. “You thought that you knew better than everyone. I remember how frustrated I was, watching you pull away from us like that. You were our baby boy, and you grew up too fast. When I heard from your mother that you’d left Jason, but that you didn’t want to come home, I knew what was going through your head. At your age, I was rebelling against the same things. But… this?” She gestured atLaurence.
Laurence prepared to step in to defend Alex if Samantha started to verbally attack him. She’d been wonderful so far—much more composed and aware of the situation than Laurence had thought she would be. Samantha was strong, but even the men and women who ruled the world had an Achilles heel. In her case, he wouldn’t be surprised if it was herson.
“You ask if you can come talk to us on a Saturday, before you’re usually awake for the day. You come into our family home and share life-changing news instead of hiding it, because you feel like it’s the right thing to do… and you come alone.” She glanced to Laurence, then back at Alex. “You allow the man you’re involved with to wait outside while you break the news to us unaccompanied. You take the blame onto yourself instead of pushing it onto someone else… someone I would have been glad to blame until I was blue in the face.” Samantha laughed. It was a small, strained sound, but it was a laugh nevertheless. “When you went out into the world at eighteen, certain that you had your life figured out, you were a child, Alex… but today, as upset as I am over what’s happened, you’ve shown me that’s not who you are anymore. You’ve grown into a young man who’s cognizant of the world and able to be honest with himself as well as withothers.”
“Mom?” Alex barely whispered it. He washoarse.
A hint of a smile appeared on Samantha’s face, then flickered out of sight as her cold professionalism returned. “I’m not happy with what’s happened, but I’m very proud of how you’ve managed it… and if that change has to do with Laurence, then maybe one day, I can comearound.”
“Thank you,” Alex uttered. He cleared his throat and shifted his weight from foot to foot. “I loveyou.”
“I love you too, Alex.” She glanced at Laurence. “Remember what I’ve toldyou.”
“I will,” Laurencepromised.
Samantha stepped through the door to take her leave of them, but before she could close it, another woman darted out from inside the house to stand with them. She shut Samantha out and stood with her back to the door, her hand on the doorknob, like she expected it to start rattling at any moment. Her long blond hair tumbled down her shoulders, and she had Alex’s blue eyes. She had to be Alex’s mother—the omega to Samantha’salpha.
“Hi,” she said, extending a hand in Laurence’s direction. Laurence, stunned, shook it. Her handshake was confident without being overbearing. “I’m Clarissa, Alex’s mom. I figured now that Sam is done putting you two through the ringer, I’d come out and iron you back intoshape.”
