I can’t be trusted to make all the decisions. Brad breathed out, pressing his forehead to Ian’s back. He thought about the children who had died in the fire, a mistake he’d been too late to fix.
If Ian trusted Brad, and Brad fucked up... that would be Brad’s fault.
“I can’t believe you trust me,” Brad murmured, nuzzling the scars on Ian’s arm. He thought about the years Ian had spent cutting into his skin, the years Ian was alive, and Brad hadn’t even been born yet.
What if he lost Ian somehow? To childbirth, or old age, or something worse?
Brad’s heart squeezed. He didn’t want to think about that. Couldn’t bear to face the knife-sharp grief again.
Briefly, he wondered if he’d made the right decision, taking Ian as his omega. Promising Ian so much, when he’d screwed up before. Lives had been lost. What if it was Ian’s? Or their baby’s?
“What’s wrong?” Ian asked, turning to face him.
Brad shrugged. “Am I the right alpha for you?”
Ian gave a lopsided smile. “Am I the right omega for you?”
“Yeah, you are.” Brad pulled Ian snug against himself, breathing in the faint scent of sweat on Ian’s skin. “If anything goes wrong... I want you by my side, okay? I want you to remember that.”
“Why does that sound so terrible?” Ian frowned.
“Dunno. I just want to have you forever.”
Brad kissed Ian’s shoulder, turning him around. Couldn’t help dragging his wrists over Ian’s arms, his chest, marking all of Ian as his.
He might not have been the best alpha for Ian, as naive as he was. But Ian was everything he wanted, and Brad was going to try his best, so he could be an alpha worthy of his omega.
21
Brad
“How come you’re sleeping in the same room as Daddy?” Gwen asked, poking her head out of her bedroom.
Brad paused in the hallway, rubbing his eyes. Not what he expected to hear first thing in the morning. “’Cuz we’re dating. How’re you feeling?”
“Good.” Gwen looked curiously at him. “Will I date someone too? When I grow up.”
Brad shut the door quietly so Ian could sleep in peace. Ian would probably squirm at Gwen’s questions, with the direction they were taking. “If you want. You don’t have to date anyone. But if you do, make sure it’s someone good.”
Gwen squinted. “How do you tell if they’re good?”
“You bring them to me, I’ll tell you.” Brad stifled a yawn. “Want some breakfast? I’m making eggs for your dad.”
“I want eggs too!” Gwen wriggled, following Brad to the kitchen.
She was doing a lot better after the surgery. Brad had been worried at first, knowing what the surgeon had done with her heart. But Gwen had been recovering quickly, better than the estimate Fenway had given them.
Ian had been relieved. Gwen had told him she was stronger than he thought.
In some ways, Brad thought maybe she was right.
He set the pan on the stove, pulling the egg carton from the fridge. Gwen perched on the wooden stool she’d claimed for herself, peering at the olive oil Brad drizzled into the pan.
“But I don’t want to kiss anyone, that’s weird,” Gwen said. “Or the sex thing. That’s weird, too.”
Brad snorted. “Then you don’t have to. There’s all kinds of people in the world. Some people have relationships without kissing, or sex.”
Gwen cocked her head. “You can do that?”
“Yup.” Brad turned up the heat on the stove, swirling the oil around the pan. “Relationships aren’t always about the kissing. People do fun things with each other, too, like they go on picnics, or they watch movies together. For some people, having a partner is about finding someone you can be best friends with.”
“But it’s not like you or Daddy. You do the kissing thing.”
“We do.”
Brad cracked some eggs into the pan, then set the kettle on the stove. Poured out a glass of almond milk for Gwen.
“But that’s for your dad and me, though. You’ll know what you want when you grow up.”
“Daddy says I’ll be an alpha.”
Brad chuckled. Gwen was pretty bossy. “He might be right.”
“Will my omega be a girl like me?”
“Who knows? They could be anything. Maybe they could be a boy, or girl, or maybe they could be somewhere between a boy and a girl. ‘Slong as you’re happy with them. Us alphas, we do our best to protect the people we love. You understand that?”
“Uh-huh.”
She leaned forward on her chair. Then she hopped off, padding out of the kitchen. Moments later, Gwen returned with her sketchbook and some crayons, and began to draw.
“What’re you drawing?” Brad asked, flipping the sizzling eggs.
“I’m drawing us!” Gwen beamed, tracing out three circles on the paper—two high, one low. Then she filled in their stick figure bodies—two adults and a child, all of them holding hands. “That’s you, that’s me, and that’s Daddy. When I grow up, I’ll protect you, too.”
Brad’s heart warmed. I’m part of your family, huh? “When your dad wakes, show him that. He’ll be so pleased.”
Gwen beamed, kicking her legs. She’d been living with him and Ian for almost two months, and Brad was still amazed every day, that he had his omega and daughter with him. Felt too good to be true.
He plated an egg for Gwen, pulling out a slice of bread from the toaster. “Anything else?”
Gwen shook her head. Brad ruffled her hair, turning when his phone buzzed on the counter.
He had thought it might be Ian texting him just because. It wasn’t his omega, though.
On the screen, there was a message from his dad. I’m hearing rumors that you were seen in the college with Ian McMillan. Is it true?
Brad swore inwardly, his heart sinking. How had Dad found out? Was it Sue? Or had she told her friends, and someone let it slip?
He thought about Ian teaching in the college, Ian’s face when he opened the bills in the mail. Ever since Brad started sneaking away Ian’s bills to pay them, his bank total had been dropping steadily. Ian hadn’t
