Fletcher grinned. “We do love to cook. We’ll walk you to the door.”
We followed Gracie out the door, watching as she got into her car, turned around, and drove off down the long gravel drive.
Standing on the stoop, in the snow, watching the cherry red of her taillights fade into the darkness, my attention was drawn to Fletcher, who was trying to catch a snowflake on his tongue.
He giggled, but grew somber once more when he caught me watching him. “It’s so peaceful here. Very quiet. I like it,” he murmured.
“Me too, kitten,” I replied, my voice just as soft. “I think this place has potential to be our happily ever after. One thing’s missing though…”
Fletcher turned to me, just as I dropped to one knee in the snow and opened the small ring box I’d been keeping in my pocket, waiting for the perfect time and place.
As I cracked it open, Fletcher gasped. His hands flew to his mouth when he saw the ring—the ring Aria had given us years ago, having been reforged into a gorgeous golden band with diamonds and emeralds to match his eyes.
“Adam… I…”
“Fletcher Rose. Marry me and make me the happiest man on earth. Be my mate, my Omega, and my husband, and let me take your name and shed my so-called legacy. What do you say?”
I gazed up at him, hope swelling in my chest, though I had no doubts he would say yes. Fletcher let out a little laugh-sob, then held his left hand out. I carefully slid the ring onto his trembling finger.
“Mine,” I whispered.
Fletcher threw himself at me, kissing me fiercely. “Yes, yes, yes! I love you!”
“I love you too.”
We got married in the spring, in a tiny chapel at the heart of Greymercy, with just a few friends and pack members looking on—and Aria, of course.
Fletcher looked amazing in a pristine white suit with a green tie and golden cufflinks, his red curls so long they’d been tied away from his face. My suit was gray with a green silk button-up and a gold tie.
We said our vows, sunlight streaming in through stained-glass, splattering the floor in a rainbow of color. My eyes welled with tears as we said, “I do.”
The priest placed his hand on the Bible. “I know pronounce you Alpha and Omega. You may now kiss.”
And we kissed—two hearts that beat as one, forever and always.
56
FLETCHER
We spentthe winter settling into our new home, and our new routine. Adam’s job was remote, which helped because it meant he never had to go far—but it also meant that I was left to my own devices while he worked.
And I had baby fever.
My body and mind were really starting to press on me, craving a baby of our own, to love and to hold. To dote on and dress up and parade around town, a proud papa. Little coos and giggles, dirty diapers and baby burps…
God, I wanted it so badly.
I started reading stories on online Omega forums, which led me to baby name sites and adding all kinds of baby supplies to a new Amazon wishlist. Whenever I went to the mall, I browsed the baby clothes, so tiny and adorable, little onesies with tiny footies and hoods.
Ugh. We’d tried before, but maybe we just weren’t ready then. We’d been so young. We were older now. Wiser. We’d been through so much together.
Trauma makes you grow up, after all, and after nearly losing my mate? I was more than ready to settle down and start a family here in this idyllic little town of Greymercy.
Maybe it was time for the next chapter in our lives to begin.
One evening, after my shower, I stood naked in front of the mirror and framed my flat stomach with both hands, imagining how it might look round and swollen with child as Adam’s pup grew inside of me.
My eyes teared up. I wanted it so badly. I couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to be a daddy. I wanted to make my dreams a reality.
