Beau waved as he walked off.
“Where’shegoing?” Eliott asked, following Beau to his car.
After a little more conversation, everyone else headed to their cars. Emerson opened the passenger door for his mate. “After you.”
Dash shook his head and jumped up into the seat. Emerson quickly slid behind the wheel and soon tore off towards lunch, his face sore from smiling so long. Yet there was no stopping it. He reached over and clasped Dash’s hand before sighing with relief.
They’d done it.
“I have a question for you,” Dash asked, his voice low.
“Sure.”
“Will you still be okay with me making a choice soon? Even now, after we’re mated?”
Emerson’s smile finally ebbed. He nodded, squeezing Dash’s hand. “Of course. It’s your choice, Dash. I support you either way.”
“And if I chose to keep it?”
Emerson veered off the road, slamming on the brakes. He was sticking out some into the lane of traffic, but he couldn’t trust himself to move it. Turning to eye Dash, he swallowed pastthe lump in his throat. “You don’t have to have the baby just because we’re mated now. I swear, I support whatever choice you make.”
“I know,” Dash whispered, clearing his throat. “Just like our mating, this might be our one and only shot, Em. I’m not going to let it slip through our fingers.”
Emerson couldn’t allow himself to hope. “Don’t do this just because you think I want it.”
“Don’t you?”
Emerson bit his tongue.
“I know you do, Em. And hell yes, I’m terrified of what’s going to happen to me, but…” He stared out the window for a moment, sighing. “After I learned I was a hybrid, I was terrified at the thought of getting pregnant. It was one of the reasons I pushed you away. I couldn’t see that for myself. I denied the omega part of me and shoved it so deep that I refused to consider parenthood. You’ve helped me realize that I can explore this other part of myself and grow to embrace both sides, maybe.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I still see myself as an alpha. I’m just an alpha capable of being pregnant. An alpha who can give you a family.”
“You’d giveusa family. Not just me,” Emerson said. “I only want to do this ifyouwant to be a father. A child deserves two loving parents.”
“I’ve always seen myself as a father. Never a papa but so be it. I want to do this,” Dash said. “Notforyou.Becauseof you.”
Emerson leaned in, capturing his mate’s lips, pouring every ounce of emotion he felt into it. When he moved back, he smiled at Dash. “You’re going to be one sexy daddy.”
“One sexypapa.”
“We can be Dad and Daddy,” Emerson said, grinning. “Or Dad and Dada. Dad and Pops. Whatevs. We make the rules.”
Dash grinned. “I think I like that.”
Emerson kissed him again, more than ready to rewrite all the rules with Dash at his side.
A knock sounded on Emerson’s window. Harrison frowned as he looked between them. Emerson rolled the window down.
“Everything okay?” Harrison asked.
“Yep,” Dash said.
“You’re halfway in the lane, parked like a madman,” Harrison said to Emerson. “You ready to go to lunch or do you need a minute to make out with your mate?”
“Give him a couple of seconds,” Dash said. “He just learned he’s going to be a dad.”
Harrison’s eyes widened and he looked between them. “For fuck’s sake… you’ve just gone balls to the wall, hmm? Mates and fathers in a single day.”
Emerson smiled at his twin. “Have to catch up to my big brother.”
