“Hmm?”
Removing one hand from his nearly comedically-sized swollen belly, he waggled his fingers in front of my face. “That look,” he repeated in his mottled accent. He grimaced and shifted his position on his couch. “You look as if you just sucked a lemon. Nobody is forcing you to babysit me here, you realize. I am perfectly capable—”
“I’m not bored hanging out with you, Bee,” I cut him off with a shake of my head. “And it isn’t babysitting.”
“Pffft.” He rolled his dark eyes and rubbed at his stomach. “I am well aware that Micah practically begged you, Eric, and Beck to watch me like a hawk in his absence. He even has Carson in on it.” The pout on my older brother’s face as he complained abouthis nanny being involved was hilarious, but I knew better than to laugh at him. With the state of his hormones, I wouldn’t put it past him to partially shift and blow flames at me in retribution. “I have not been allowed to parent my own daughters in weeks, Sage.Weeks.”
My amusement faded into empathy. I knew how deeply Brandt loved his daughters. The triplet girls had turned one only a few weeks earlier, and it was clearly eating at him to not be able to carry them or crawl around with them on the floor. “Nobody wants you straining yourself,” I reminded him gently. “The longer you keep those boys inside you, the better chance you have of bringing them home pretty much immediately.”
I held my breath after I spoke, hoping that the reminder of the hell he had gone through after the girls’ premature births didn’t accidentally trigger an emotional meltdown. Both Eric and Micah would probably kill me if I upset Brandt like that now, and I wouldn’t blame them.
I wanted to have babies almost as desperately as Brandt had. I could only imagine how heartbreaking it must have been for him to leave his newborns in someone else’s care for the first couple of months of their lives. How devastating not even being able to hold them for days —weeks, even— must have felt.
The last thing I wanted to do was increase Brandt’s fear of reliving that experience with the birth of his sons.
Thankfully, Brandt’s shoulders only slumped as he let out a resigned sigh and nodded, “I know. But it is difficult to feel so useless. Especially as a father.” Now his eyes misted over, and his voice wobbled. “I miss my girls.”
I reached out and took his hand, squeezing it tightly. “It’s only a few more weeks, right?” He nodded miserably.I squeezed again, forcing a bright smile. “A few more weeks is nothing. Then you’ll havefivebabies to run around after.” Suddenly, my smile felt less forced and more teasing as I added, “Good luck finding the time or energy to make any more after that.”
Even my broody-as-fuck omega self couldn’t fathom what it would take to wrangle three one-year-olds and two newborns.Say bye-bye to sleep and your sex life, Bee.
Brandt rolled his eyes, effectively distracted. “We are planning to hire a second nanny to assist us.”
“Yeah, except you’re both hands-on dads, so don’t try and pretend you’re not going to be exhausted by trying to do it all anyway.”
“Speaking of pretending,” my brother arched an eyebrow at me, “do not think I missed you sidestepping my question.”
“What question?”
That thick, dark eyebrow inched higher. “Sage.”
I sighed. Despite his hormones and baby brain, Brandt was still sharp as ever when it came to the people he cared about. “It’s nothing, Bee.”
“Which means it actually is something.” He shoved another cushion behind his back, groaning with what sounded like relief as he settled back against the extra support. “And if you insist on babysitting me, you can at least allow me to feel useful by unburdening your woes on me. Perhaps I can offer advice…?” Cocking his head, he smiled encouragingly. “Or even just a willing ear while you let off steam?”
I hadn’t spoken to either of my brothers about my initial falling out with Dexter, nor had I told them anything about our issues since Dex had come back into my life. I knew they both suspected something was up —they were the smartsiblings, after all— but they had respected my privacy enough to not push me.
But now I’d reached my breaking point. Ineededto talk to someone, especially if I was starting to snap at innocent bystanders caught up in our mess. I was just so tired of keeping it all to myself. Burnt out, if you’ll excuse the accidental pun. (Because, y’know,dragons.)
But it really was a lot to hold onto for so long. What had happened between me and Dex had spilled into my personal life without me even realizing it. I’d spent a hundred years feeling lonely and rejected, and I had pulled away from Brandt and Eric because I knew they wouldn’t understand. Or, at least, I’d thought they wouldn’t. Some part of me even thought that maybe Dexter was right: maybe two omegas togetherwasa bad idea. Maybe being in love with my best friendwasstupid. Maybe my brothers would agree with him and tell me I just needed to get over it. Get over Dex.
The thing was, I just couldn’t keep going with this weighing on me anymore. And if anyone had even a slight chance of understanding my feelings, it would be Brandt. He was older than me, and even if he hadn’t pined for a specific man for any particular length of time, I knew his omega had desperately yearned for a mate and family at the very least. And he had been so afraid that Micah would reject him when he had helped himself to their fertilized eggs in the lab, too. Even if it hadn’t happened, Brandt could at least relate in theory to what I had felt.
Licking my lips, I picked up another of Brandt’s cushions (the man had so many!) and cuddled it to my chest. “I love Dex,” I confessed quietly, a shameful blush rising to my cheeks.
Brandt stared back at me expectantly. He didn’t seem even the least bit shocked.
Cringing, I extrapolated, “I mean, I’m in love with him. I have been for…well, forever, I guess. But when I told him, he…ugh.”
Understanding dawned in my brother’s dark eyes before he scowled. “I will kill him.”
“Yeah, you look real menacing right now, too,” I teased, secretly pleased by his protective streak. We might have been hundreds of years old, but it was nice that my big brother still had my back. I felt a bit guilty for ever doubting that he would. Then I shook my head and sighed. “But it was a long time ago, Bee. I thought I was over it. But then he turned up here and…” Shrugging helplessly, I trailed off.
“Your feelings have not changed.”
“Unfortunately not.”
“And his?”
