Page 63 of Abel's Omega

He looked down and coughed. “There’s another one.” He handed me a second one, smaller, but just as heavy, if not more so. “Open it.”

“You haven’t opened any of yours.”

“I will. I want to see you open this first.”

I grinned at him, and Teca wobbled over on her little high heels to watch.

“Oh.” It was another book, but not a novel. “Algebra and Trigonometry.” I looked up at him. “Why?” Teca poked at the book with one of her little fingers, and plunked down on her princessy bum while she puzzled over my delight in something that couldn’t be played with.

“You said you thought you could do it. I thought you might like to try. Jason’s tutor will schedule you in for a couple of hours a week if you want.”

The green and gold of the cover blurred as unexpected tears filled my eyes. “Thank you,” I whispered and had to cover my mouth with my hands to keep the sobs inside. I didn’t know why I was crying, because I was happier today than I’d ever been, and happy tears had always seemed one of those things that only happened in novels. But here I was, bawling, with Abel getting up to get me a facecloth to wipe my face and the pups gathering around to see what was wrong with me, and, damn, I was so happy I never wanted this day to end.

Plastic blocks rattled to the floor, and then Fan’s blurry face appeared in front of me. “Dabi?”

“It’s okay, baby,” I said, and pulled him into a hug. “I’m just happy.” Maybe this would be a good time to tell the pups. I reached out for Abel’s hand. “Guys, Abel and I have something to tell you.”

“What?” Teca asked. Fan merely stared at me intently.

Best to get it over with. I was starting to get the feeling that Fan might not be as enthusiastic as I’d hoped. “Abel and I really like each other and I think you guys all like him, right?” Teco nodded, but Fan looked between the two of us, and if he wasn’t just shy of four years old, I’d have been convinced he knew already what I was going to say. “So, anyway,” I continued. “We’ve decided that we want to spend more time together, so we’re going to mate in the spring. Mercy Hills will be our home for good, and we’ll all be a happy family here.”

Teca tilted her head to one side, and didn’t seem to have an opinion one way or another. Fan, however, was another case entirely.

“No!” He yelled and squirmed off my lap. “I don’t want you!” And he ran off down the hall, sobbing like his little heart was breaking.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

We watched him storm off down the hall in stunned silence.

“Do you want me to talk to him?” Abel asked.

I shook my head. I’d been hopeful, but I’d also done my research. This wasn’t entirely unexpected, but I thought I knew what to do. “I’ll deal with it. If you don’t mind watching the rest of them?”

“No, I don’t mind.”

I leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips. “It’ll be okay. He’s had a lot of change, and Patrick was very important to him.” I stood up and headed down the hallway, only pausing to add, “Don’t let the babies eat any of those little blocks, okay?”

“I won’t.”

Slowly, I pushed open the bedroom door. Fan was curled up on the bed, holding his battered old bear and sobbing fit to tear my heart out. I sat down beside him and combed his curls with my fingers. “Hey, baby.”

“Go ‘way!”

“I know you’re upset. You want to talk about it?”

Fan sobbed some more, then, his voice muffled by the teddy bear, said, “I want Pappuh.”

“I know how much you miss him, baby. I’m sure he misses you too. I know he would never have wanted to be taken away from you.”