Yeah, Eric wasn’t going to talk about sex right now.
He held Olivier through the pain. Wiped off Ollie’s sweat and kissed his temples, getting him some water to drink.
“The baby’s crowning,” the midwife said.
And Eric suddenly remembered all the dangers he was trying so hard not to think about. Ollie’s life could be in danger. Eric could lose him anytime.
Eric was shaking before he realized it, holding on tight to Ollie. Felt like he was hugging his omega to steady himself, instead of Ollie.
Ollie wasn’t afraid at all. He was brave. Eric was just plain scared.
I’ll treasure you every waking moment. I’ll always be there for you. I’ll stop asking for more babies if that’s what you want.
Eric held his tongue, his stomach twisting as Ollie pushed and pushed and pushed, until a bloody mess slid out of him.
For a heart-stopping moment, Eric couldn’t breathe. There was so much blood.
He swayed on his feet, burying his face in Ollie’s shoulder, just breathing in Ollie’s carnation-and-honey scent. Ollie’s fine. He’s fine. He has to be.
Ollie sagged back against the bed, panting. He touched Eric lightly on the wrist. “It’s okay, Eric. I’m fine.”
Eric fought against the dizziness that tried to swallow him. He opened his eyes, saw some dark spots. Felt like puking. “Can’t look at the blood,” he muttered. “I tried. Can’t.”
“You don’t have to,” Ollie murmured.
“I should be able to,” Eric said, disappointed with himself. “I’m alpha.”
“You aren’t less if you can’t.” Ollie squeezed his hand. “It doesn’t matter to me.”
When Eric looked up, there was only love in Olivier’s eyes, and acceptance. It meant nothing that he couldn’t look at the blood.
“Okay,” Eric whispered.
Then the baby wailed, and the midwife brought the tiniest baby over, all curled up, its eyes squeezed shut.
“It’s a boy,” the midwife said with a smile, gently depositing Taylor onto Olivier’s chest. Ollie’s eyes filled with tears. It was their child. A tiny human Eric had created with his omega.
Eric stared. Then he gathered them into his arms, relief washing over him. Olivier was alive, he was well, and their baby was beautiful.
“Taylor,” Ollie murmured, kissing their son. “We’ve been waiting for you so long.”
“Yeah,” Eric rasped, his throat tight. Ollie looked up, his eyes filled with wonder. Eric dropped a soft kiss on Ollie’s forehead, then Taylor’s. “Your dads love you very much. Welcome to the family.”
Olivier choked up. Eric held him, his heart so full it could burst.
There in the hospital, with the baby born healthy, and with Ollie smiling in his arms, Eric knew he had the people who mattered most.
And the pieces of his worries fell away, the leftover cage walls in his chest crumbling into dust, scattering on the wind to leave him lighter and freer than before.
I think you’ll be happy, Alice would say with a smile. And I’m happy for you, too.
Eric swallowed hard, brushing his wrists over Olivier and their baby to mark them as his own.
He’d do his best for them. Protect them with everything he had. Because they made up his heart—Jenn and Taylor, and Olivier, the beautiful soul who had freed Eric from his cage.
They were his family, and in turn, Eric was theirs.
Epilogue
“Are you ready?” Eric asked, wrapping his arms around Olivier’s waist. “I don’t want to be late for our own wedding.”
Ollie laughed. Taylor squirmed against him, making an unhappy face. At five months old, Taylor loved babbling and blowing raspberries. He had Ollie’s dark hair, and Eric’s red-brown eyes.
“We’re all set, I think.” Olivier glanced around. “The diaper bag’s packed, we have water and snacks for Jenn, and... I’m dressed. That’s an achievement, right?”
Eric grinned. “Sure it is. I’ll put Taylor in fresh diapers, and we’ll head out.”
Then came a sound that was only too recognizable—and the smell. Olivier stopped breathing, looking down at Taylor in horror. Taylor giggled. His nappies grew damp, smearing onto Olivier’s arm.
Eric sighed, running his hand down his face. “Don’t tell me he just pooped.”
Ollie wanted to cry. “It’s not only that, Eric. It’s all over me, too.”
Jenn raced into the room, little cardboard airplanes in her hands. At almost two, she was growing taller, learning to do so many things by herself.
“Fly, fly, fly!” she said, grinning up at Ollie. “Papa fly?”
And despite the baby poop all over him, Olivier cracked a smile. “We’ll go on a plane ride sometime,” he said. “But not now, all right? We’ll have to get your brother changed out first.”
“But Papa!” Jenn made a face.
Ollie couldn’t help smiling, though. She’d taken to calling him Papa, and from the delight in Eric’s eyes, Olivier wasn’t the only one happy about it.
Some days, he still wondered about Alice. But other days, when he saw Jenn grin and race over to hug him, his doubts melted away. He was doing the best he could for Jenn.
One day, she’d probably ask about her biological mother. And Ollie would be honest to her about that. But before that time came, and before Jenn decided whether she disliked having him as her dad... Olivier would treasure every day he had with her.
“Still worrying about that?” Eric murmured, tugging Ollie to the bathroom.
Olivier shrugged. “Kind of.”
“She loves you, you know.” Eric glanced at Jenn racing through the apartment. “No matter what she learns, I think she’ll remember that.”
“I hope so.”
“She will.” Eric kissed him on the corner of the lips, and Ollie’s heart melted.
Then Eric stripped away the parts of Olivier’s outfit that were still clean. “Guess we’ll wash you both in the tub.”
Jenn stopped by the bathroom door, her eyes lighting up. “Bathtime?”
She began to shrug out of her clothes.
Ollie groaned. “Jenn, no! We have a wedding to get to!”
“But bathtime!”
Taylor touched his legs, then patted Ollie on the chest with his poopy hands, leaving smears all over Ollie’s clean shirt. Jenn scrambled into the tub.
“We’ll never make it in time,” Olivier mumbled.
Eric sighed. “I’ll tell Cole and Aaron to entertain the guests,” he said drily. “Maybe Levi will join
