We enjoyed the second heat as much if not more than the first. My fingers and cock kept his cramps away. I liked to tell myself that Cassius had endured painful heats since the age of fourteen because his body had been waiting for me, wanting me long before his mind and time caught up to him. That was such pumped-up alpha thinking. But I also told myself I had been waiting for him, too. My body. My mind. I’d gotten completely lost along the way but then he’d found me. I don’t think he realized his angry cry at his wrangler that day we met had called me like a siren song. We’d been lucky to find each other.
A few days after his second heat, Cassius lost his appetite. I took him to the omega doctor my doctor recommended. We held hands as he was examined and blood was taken.
When the doctor returned to the exam room, he was all smiles.
“Is he all right?” I asked.
“He’s completely healthy. He’s just pregnant. With an egg.” He raised his eyebrows at me. “It’s your egg, I believe?”
I gripped Cassius’s hands tighter. “Ours,” I replied.
Cassius shook his head. “No. That’s not right. They said I was probably sterile.”
“Who said?” the doctor asked.
“Everyone.”
“Everyone?”
I answered for him. “Everyone at Brimstone.”
The doctor rolled his eyes. “Ah. Because he didn’t quicken for them? With all the drugs and stress and pressure they give those boys over there, I’m surprised any of them conceive. Those places should be shut down. How long were you there, son?”
Cassius looked up, eyelids slightly red. “A year.”
“That’s nothing. It takes some omegas several years to feel comfortable enough to conceive. Our bodies reflect our minds.” His smile broadened. “You two must be doing something right.”
In the car as we drove home, Cassius sat quiet and stunned beside me. Through our bond, I felt only his pleasure, but his mind still needed to come to terms with being pregnant.
I, on the other hand, was surprisingly accepting. I never thought about kids. I never thought I’d be settled down enough to consider it.
Now, all I could think about was planning for it, nesting, buying all the baby things and making up one of the guest rooms into a nursery. I’d help Cassius make a true nest for our little egg. All the dark from my past lit up with the idea of a child in our lives.
On the heels of my thrill came the thought of Dad. Again.
My mind froze. He would be a grandpa. Kirion, a step-grandpa. Remington would be an uncle. I gulped hard, my eyes blurring. I blinked and slowed down the car, then pulled off the side of the road underneath a canopy of trees.
“Why are we stopping?” Cassius asked.
“I’ve never met my half-brother.”
Cassius frowned. “Remington?”
“Yes.”
“I know that. Did you start thinking about him because we’re going to have a kid? Are you having second thoughts?”
“Never.” I turned in the seat. “I love the idea of you pregnant with our child. I want this. But it’s more than that.”
“Tell me.”
“He will have grandparents and if I keep him from them, is that fair?”
“To you?” Cassius asked.
“To him.” I reached out and pressed my hand to Cassius’s still flat stomach.
Cassius smiled. “I’m so happy you want him. I felt it up here.” He tapped his head. “But I needed to hear you say it.”
