Page 22 of Admiring His Omega (Hobson Hills Omegas #12)

Lucas chuckled. “I don’t know if you should be proud of that or not. Oh, you wouldn’t know yet, but the Wilsons are all here. David, Vivi, Addy, and Laurel cooked a large amount of food. Paul, Kat, and I set up picnic tables in the backyard since it isn’t raining. Take a look.”

Mal peeked outside. The large backyard was partially shaded by two large oak trees and gently sloped down to the lake.

Normally, it was rather bare, but now, it had several picnic tables, a buffet table covered with food, and a lot of Wilsons.

Each of Gerard and Laurel Wilson’s children were there with their spouses and grandchildren.

The grandchildren had in turn brought their own partners and children. It was a very full backyard.

Fairy lights twinkled in the trees and small candles and a pretty, elaborately decorated box lay center on each of the picnic tables. He smiled when he saw Betty trotting in and out of the crowd, begging for food. Van and Mark were even there, cuddled together at one of the tables.

The door opened and Susan peeked inside. “You are awake. Good timing, dear.” The lovely blond was perfectly put together in designer clothes and tasteful makeup.

Mal grinned, thinking of how he would appear next to her in his ripped jeans, oversized flannel shirt, and flip flops. His hair was a mess too, likely standing up in places it shouldn’t. He couldn’t say he minded, though. Cain liked him just as he was, be it in his sexy clothes or hiking clothes.

Susan answered his grin with one of her own. “Oh, Mal. When Cain first told us about you, I was worried that the two of you were moving too fast. However, now that I have seen you together, I could not be happier.”

Lucas stood and smoothed down Mal’s hair. “I empathize, Susan. They have certainly moved quickly, but the Reed family tends to do that.”

She laughed. “So do the Bensons.”

“Is he awake?” Dean came in the room, smiling when he saw Mal. “Thank you for trusting me with Teddy last night, Mal. That is one sweet baby.”

Mal nodded. “Truth, brother.”

Susan pursed her lips. “I had almost forgotten you two know each other. I must say, Mal, I was not pleased to learn you were the one trying to steal my best friend.”

Mal gasped dramatically, as he was often wont to do. “I would never steal Dean from you. I just coldly use him for information on the Wilsons for my pranks.”

“And he sends Christmas and birthday presents each year,” Dean added, smiling innocently. “We often meet for coffee and talk over prank ideas. Oh, and I didn’t tell you this, Susan, but Mal and I went foraging for blackberries once too. Without you.”

Susan’s face scrunched up as she pouted. “Never again. You must always take me with you when you go for coffee or go foraging. Whatever that is.”

“Traipsing through the woods looking for edible yummies,” Lucas explained, amused.

She looked horrified and glared at Dean. “You tricked me. I told you several times now that I do not care for hiking.”

“You committed now.” Dean laughed and hugged her. “You’ll survive. I promise.”

“Oh, very well. She looked Mal up and down with a sigh. “You must be starving. Gramps and David are about to make an announcement. They wanted to wait until you were awake.”

Mal’s stomach rumbled. “I am so ready for food. Let’s do this.”

As he stood, Truffle launched himself to Mal’s shoulder and draped himself across the omega. Together, they all went outside, joining the growing crowd of Wilsons.

“I will get you some food.” Susan patted his arm and guided him to a chair. I remember how much my feet hurt when I was pregnant.”

Mal sighed. “I can’t see my feet anymore. Do I even have any?”

“Two very swollen feet.” Dean gave him a sweet look. “How do you like pregnancy?”

“It’s horrible.” Mal scowled. “Don’t get me wrong, I love this kid growing inside me, but if Cain wants anymore children, then we’re adopting. Teddy was much easier to deal with.”

“Yes, because Bianca was the one pregnant with him.” Lucas sat down next to him.

As if saying her name summoned her, Bianca and Paula both appeared at his side. Both carried a taxidermy squirrel.

“Grandpa Paul got to you, didn’t he?” Mal asked.

“It means we’re family.” Paula shrugged. “It’s nice.”

“It’s hideous,” Bianca corrected her friend. “But if it makes him happy, then so be it. According to Grandma Addy, part of being in the Reed family is simply enduring.”

Lucas looked thoughtful for a moment. “Yeah, that’s accurate.”

The two girls hugged Mal together. “How are you feeling?” Bianca asked.

“Like a swollen whale. How are you?”

“As light as air.” She spun around, looking especially happy. “I’m so relieved everything is out in the open. I don’t care if I have to clean roads for eternity.”

Mal nodded, happy that the whole thing was over. He swallowed hard when he saw Cain walking toward him, a plate of food in his hands. Many of his sex dreams started this way. However, they didn’t include the tiny infant balanced in one of Cain’s arms.

Cain handed Mal the plate, then sat beside him. “How are you, love?”

Before he could answer, Bianca grabbed the cake off of his plate. “No cake for you. Too much sugar isn’t good for pregnant people.” She smirked. “That’s what you told me all the time anyway. Are those potatoes and rolls? Too many carbs aren’t good for baby,” she sing-songed.

Mal frowned. “Pregnancy was much easier to deal with when it was you that I could boss around.”

Bianca snorted. “You enjoyed it far too much. Here, you can have a little bit of the cake but give me that roll.”

“It’s one of Grammy Wilson’s rolls,” he said, whining.

“Cake or roll?” Bianca asked, arching a brow in a surprisingly accurate impersonation of Cain.

“Cake,” he said with a sigh.

She nodded. “Okay. Cain, I’ll email you the pregnancy rules he gave me for the last trimester. Make him stick to it, even when he doesn’t want to. They do actually help.”

Cain gave him a nervous look. “He tried to bite me when I told him he shouldn’t have any more pastries yesterday.”

“Stay strong, my man.” Paula patted Cain’s shoulder. “Stay strong.”

Mal started eating as Grandpa David and Gramps climbed atop one of the tables. He vaguely wondered if that was a good idea considering how old they were.

“Can I have your attention, please?” Gramps called out. “I have some news to share.”

Everyone quieted down and turned to look at Gramps and David.

Gramps cleared his throat, looking nervous.

“My fathers were an alpha and omega couple, and I loved them both very much. They were good parents, and I wish every day that all of you could have met them. The same with my younger brother. He would have loved knowing all of you. No one from my childhood family is alive anymore, and I miss them.” Gramps’ eyes glistened with tears.

“Siblings are a treasure, and I always wanted more of them.”

Mal looked over the Wilson clan as he ate, noting the nods coming from most of them. The Wilsons were a prolific bunch and knew the value of having the support of a large family.

“With that in mind, I would like to tell you a story about my omega father,” Gramps continued.

“He was an omega who lived in a world where loving men and women equally was a sin. Dad hid his desires as much as he could, and his family pressured him to only date alphas because, according to them, that’s what God wanted. ”

Clearly the crowd of Wilsons didn’t agree if their frowns had anything to say.

“Dad never felt comfortable with himself. He believed his desires were wrong and tried to ignore his interest in women. Then he met a woman named Grace. She taught him to accept himself for who he was. Though they didn’t love one another, they were good friends and spent one night together.

Not long after, Dad met an alpha and fell in love.

His family was happy, but that no longer mattered to him.

All that mattered was that he was true to himself.

Shortly after the wedding, he heard that his good friend, Grace, had passed away.

My alpha father and he decided that if they ever had a daughter, they would name her Grace in remembrance of the friend that taught the omega so much. ”

“Grace,” Cain whispered, looking fascinated. “I really like that name.”

Mal set his plate down and took Cain’s hand, smiling. “I do too.”

Gramps continued his story. “My fathers went on to live a full life and taught their own sons the importance of accepting one another’s differences. They never had that daughter, but they never forgot about Grace.”

David shared a nervous smile with Gramps. “I’m David Reed. My mother’s name was Grace. She got pregnant with me from a night spent with a good friend. She never told that friend about me because he had fallen in love and gotten married.”

Mal’s eyes watered as he watched each of the Wilsons making the connection between David and Gramps.

“I have another brother,” Gramps said, crying as he laughed.

He slung an arm around David. “He has a large family of his on in Washington state. How about that, right? It’s not everyday you discover you have more family than you thought.

” He waved toward Mal. “That young man over there with Cain is Malcolm Reed, named after my omega father. Cain you believe it?”

As one, his Wilson cousins stared at him and smiled evilly. “Our new cousin was the one pranking us over the years?” Zoe asked.

“Not all of the pranks,” Mal said, taking another bite of his mashed potatoes. “You all prank each other a lot. You can’t blame me for everything.”

“Oh, but we can,” Ernie said, cackling. “We have a new cousin to torment.”

The younger generations of Wilsons cheered, clearly happy with Mal’s existence. Their parents were still wiping their eyes and saying hello to David. Mal didn’t want to even think about what they would say.

“What have I done?” he asked Cain, cuddling up to his alpha. “Do you think they’ll prank me back?”

“Yes,” Cain answered with a grin. “And you’ll deserve every bit of it.”

Grandpa Lucas chuckled and pulled his phone out. “Let’s start this right.” He pushed a button and all the small boxes at the center of the tables burst open, shooting glitter and confetti everywhere.

“Damn it,” Marco Wilson said, the large cowboy covered in pink glitter. “This better come off in the shower.”

Mal laughed. “I love you, Grandpa Lucas.”

“It’s always the quiet ones.” Cain sighed and hugged Mal closer. “Always.”