Omega’s Baby

1

Ethan

I dig down in a bowl of ice cream as I grab for the remote control. It’s too hot, it’s still early October, but the heat is still much more than I like. Especially in the state I’m in now.

I put the bowl on top of my belly, the bowl leaving a cold ring on the skin.

Next to me, Max laughs and reaches out, taking the bowl off. “I don’t think you want to risk that again.”

I roll my eyes. I know the baby is asleep right now, or at least calm. It’s not like he’ll bump it off again. Last week, as I playfully put a glass of water on top, the baby bumped it off and I was covered in ice-cold water. Which was both funny and annoying at the same time, as getting changed is not getting any easier these days.

I hear a soft knock and look up. Elias is standing in the doorway, a stack of papers in his hands. He smiles as he walks in, looking at me. Then he focuses on Max. “The reports just came in. I know it’s late, but… you know.” He shrugs.

Yes, of course. At the moment, everything that is time-sensitive is a priority, no matter the time of the day. I’m about to pop, I feel like I could deliver the baby at any time. Though it could happen anywhere between a minute and two weeks, probably, according to the doctor.

Max stands up and gives me a quick kiss. “I guess I’ll get to it then. Don’t want to make people wait.” He winks as he hands Elias the bowl. “Make sure he doesn’t drop it again.”

I want to say something, but the smile Max is giving me makes everything right. I know he is just teasing, that he means well. But he can be annoying and overbearing, he has been especially overbearing in the last couple of weeks.

Elias sits down next to me. The man has become a part of our household in the last month. Shortly after the wedding, Max offered him a position at the local branch of Powell Software Corp.

But since he displayed some great managing skills and seemed to learn very fast, Max instead called him here and he’s been Max’s personal assistant, both for pack and company stuff, for the last month.

It’s great to know that we can trust him, that he can handle whatever we’ll give him and that he already knows a lot about pack politics. That way, after the baby is born, Elias can take care of a couple of Max’s tasks, lessening the load and letting Max also spend time with the kid.

“Were you doing the balancing act again?” Elias hands me the bowl.

I shrug as I smile. “He’s just very protective.”

“Overbearing, the word you’re looking for is overbearing.” Elias shakes his head. “What are you watching?”

There are commercials on the TV now, though I wasn’t really watching much anyway. “No clue, just trying to not get crazy from sitting still.”

“You wanna go for a walk? The weather is nice and it’s already cooling outside.” Elias stands up and holds out his hand.

I sigh as I grab his hand, I hate not being able to get out of a chair or off the couch on my own. “Fine. The doc said I could walk, just not too much.”

“The doc also said not to eat things that trigger your acid reflux.” Elias takes the empty ice cream bowl with him as we make it to the hallway.

I don’t walk very fast, I feel like I’ll fall over at any moment.

Elias puts the bowl in the sink and then joins me in the hallway. “You need anything with you?”

I shake my head. “Got everything I need.”

“Jacket?” He hovers around me.

“Elias. I might be pregnant, I’m not stupid.” I swat at him.

He shrugs. “Whatever.” But he smiles and opens the back door for me.

I take a deep breath, or at least as deep as I can. The air is a lot cooler outside and it feels great to cool down some more.

We walk down the path onto the field that stretches behind the house and that connects many of the other houses from the pack. On the far end, there is the small forest where Max took me the first time we went outside, a couple of days after we met.

We make our way to the forest, it is the easiest route for just a walk around the field.

“How are you feeling today?” Elias takes my arm as I nearly trip over a crooked tile.

“Good. Hot and way too big, but I’m feeling good otherwise.” I keep taking deep breaths as I feel like I’m finally able to take a good breath now I’m no longer inside.

“How is Max holding up?” Elias laughs.

“You’ve seen him. He’s been like that all day.” I try to not get annoyed with Max’s hovering, but he almost has been affected worse by the nesting feeling than I have. “I love him, but it’s just too much sometimes.”

My calculated delivery date is three days away and Max has been my shadow for the last week. Constantly there, constantly hovering, not letting me do anything, even tasks that I can easily handle, even in this state.

“Ethan! Elias!” A young boy runs up to us, taking hold of my arm. It’s Matt’s son, the boy a perfect combination of both his mum and dad. “Will you come to see my play?” He starts dragging on my arm and I follow him.

“Sure.” We follow him. It’s not like we have better things to do and the boy is not letting me go anyway.

Elias laughs. “You’re looking forward to that yet?”

“I’m more looking forward to where I don’t feel like I’m double my size and where the baby is on the outside instead of the inside.” I quickly duck my head as we go through a small-ish gate in the hedge between the field and Matt’s backyard. “First things first.”

In the backyard, I find Matt and some of the others from the pack.

“So I see he found another victim.” Matt stands up and pulls out a chair for me so that I don’t have to sit on the grass.

“But I neeeeed that chair.” The young boy is standing next to us, his hands on his hips.

“Go get one of the chairs from inside. Ethan needs this one to sit on.” Matt turns to the boy.

The boy’s face lights up. “Really? Can I?”

“Yes. But just once. You can’t keep taking the chairs outside.” Matt’s voice is strict but the boy lets out a cheer as he goes off to retrieve a chair. Matt lets out a sigh. “Boys…”

“Girls are not any better.” Elias smiles as he sits next to me on the grass.

“Your sister?” Matt grins.

“Yeah, at fifteen we still need to go see her plays. Though, on a real stage and with a lot of other people around.”

Matt nods and is off to help his son with getting the chair from inside the house to outside.

Elias leans against the chair, his head against my leg. I put my hand on his shoulder.

He’s a good kid, but it’s weird to be in the position I’m in now with him. On the one hand, I’m just his cousin, a guy just a couple of years older. On the other hand, I’m an Alpha’s mate, and we’re still getting to know each other.

These days we’re more like siblings than cousins though. Elias is obviously not an Alpha, through having him around the house, I’ve started to realise that he is also not a Beta, he is an Omega. Which, seeing my dad and his own family, was a surprise to me. Though, I guess it is all about personality, mostly.

“Are you okay?” Elias turns slightly to look at me.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. If I needed help, I’d tell you.”

It’s both weird and really nice to have him around the house. Like a younger brother, someone else I can trust.