Page 17 of His Pretty Omega (Sweet Alps Mates #7)
Chapter Twelve
Alex
Seth had been quiet on the drive to his parents’ house. The air inside my car was thick with his unease. He stared out the window, occasionally turning to give me a quick look before swiveling back to the scenery and nibbling on the skin around his thumbnails.
“I should have changed,” he pulled at his pink pants, decorated with rainbows and unicorns.
He had asked me to pick him up from his work, since they’d had some last-minute emergency appointments.
He’d said he wouldn’t have time to go to his apartment before we were due at his parents’ house, and he wanted us to arrive together and not in separate cars.
Rather than argue with some of his logic, I had agreed to his plan .
I hadn’t practiced divorce and family law all these years without learning something from my clients. Basically, whatever your pregnant omega wanted, regardless of how ridiculous, you said yes to it.
A happy omega made for a happy alpha.
“You look fine,” I assured him. “I’m sure they’ve seen you in scrubs before.”
He shrugged, but didn’t say anything, just stared out the window. Where was my pretty brat? Where was his sass?
“Feeling okay?” I asked, trying to figure out what was troubling him.
“Hmmm?” He glanced at me, his blue eyes void of their usual merriment.
“Fine. I only got queasy once today, when one of my patients spewed formula all over me. Newsflash, if you didn’t know, baby formula stinks!
Even worse the second time around. I had to change my scrubs, because that stuff ain’t never coming out. ”
That was the most words I’d gotten out of him since he had gotten in the car. “Good to know.”
I wondered if this was a good time to ask if he had thoughts on bottle or chest feeding, but decided that question could wait for a better time.
“Nervous about telling your family about the baby?” I asked, taking his hand in mine. He turned to look at me then, the brief smile he flashed me not meeting his eyes.
“A little,” he admitted, “but I want to tell them. About the baby and us.”
“I’m excited to meet them.”
“It’s the house there, on the left,” Seth pointed at a modest, well kept two-story white house, with a wide driveway that was already full of cars.
Even though it wasn’t even spring yet, and there was still snow covering splotches of ground, the yard was nicely landscaped and made me a little envious. Yard work wasn’t really my thing.
Parking behind a newer SUV, I got out to get Seth’s door. My wolf nose caught the scent of meat on a grill. “Who would be grilling in March?”
Seth got out, looking towards the back of the house and what I guessed was the backyard.
“That would be my dad. He grills rain, shine, or in the middle of a snowstorm. Nothing will keep Nathan Brown from his grill.” He shook his head, “He’s nuts.
Just go with it. We thought we had come up with the perfect gift for him one year, and we all chipped in on a fancy gas grill.
Figured he could at least move it into the garage with the door open, and be out of the wind.
Dad had the biggest fit and refused to use it.
Charcoal or bust is his motto. I think Kyle finally took the thing home with him. Don’t really know.”
“Kyle is your older brother?” I could feel eyes watching us, the hairs on the back of my neck bristling, but I resisted turning around to look.
He made a shooing motion with his hand, but it wasn’t aimed at me. More somewhere over my shoulder. Because now I had to look, I turned around to see two faces crowded together at a side window of the house. They quickly ducked down when I caught them staring.
“That was my mom and my brother,” Seth rolled his eyes.
Today he’d left the lids bare, but he had them rimmed in his usual black liner, and his lashes looked longer than normal.
The effect made his eyes appear even bigger than usual.
Fuck, I loved this man’s eyes. I could stare at them all day and never get bored.
They were the most beautiful shade of blue I had ever seen, and the mirror to all his feelings.
An older man’s graying head popped around the corner of the house, and he waved his pronged grilling fork in our direction.
“You eat meat!” he yelled, I assumed at me, before disappearing back around the side of the house before I had a chance to answer.
“He eats meat!” Seth hollered loud enough for the house at the end of the street to hear, and I blinked wide-eyed at him. “He eats my meat!”
“You better not let your mama hear that mouth of yours!” Filtered from around the house, along with laughter.
“Where do you think I got it from?”
My eyebrows had taken root at the top of my hairline, and I stared at him, not sure what to say to that little exchange. “Did you just tell your dad I eat your meat? ”
Seth’s shoulders met his ears, and he shook his head. “It wasn’t a lie. It’s fine. Don’t sweat it.”
Rubbing a hand over the tiny bump of his belly that was pretty much hidden in his scrubs, he stage whispered, “They’re going to figure out we have sex pretty quick, Alex.”
Tilting my head at him, I blew out a breath. “We have very different families.”
“I have no doubt about that. Okay, quick rundown of the players in this telenovela,” he talked quickly as he made his way to the front door.
“We’ve got Nate, the old man on the grill.
My mama, Rachel, who is the boss of this place.
Don’t let her size fool you, she can take you down and not break a sweat.
She’s a human in a house full of big cat shifters, and she’s not scared of any of us.
Next we’ve got Kyle, who is two years older than me.
His mate is Toby, who is way too sweet for my brother, but there’s no accounting for taste in some people.
I try not to hold it against him. And their little crotch goblins are Greta and Harlow.
Seriously, that’s their names. And, before you ask, no, we are not naming this crotch goblin something ridiculous. ”
Wincing, I commented, “I’m not sure I like you referring to our baby as a crotch goblin, but I agree with you on a nice, traditional name.”
“Who said anything about traditional?” One hand landed on his hip, and he popped it out saucily .
I was so glad to see some of his spark come back, I decided I would ask what he had in mind for names later. I still planned to find out what had been bothering him on the ride over, but that could wait too.
“I said nothing ridiculous. No one mentioned traditional. Please, Goddess, tell me there is only one baby in here.”
“Are your nieces twins?” I couldn’t think of any other reason Seth had just prayed that we only had one at a time in the middle of his running monologue.
It made sense in Seth’s brain though, and I was doing my level best trying to keep up.
His earlier quietness had been replaced by rapid fire sentences.
“Nope,” he popped the P. “Kyle just has a fascination with old movie stars.”
“Ahhh,” I suddenly got it. “They’re named after Greta Garbo and Jean Harlow?”
“Bingo! Then we have my younger sister, Gillian–Gilly for short. Don’t call her Gillian unless you are armed and prepared for a battle.
She’s five years younger than me, and usurped my youngest child throne.
Yes, I’m still salty about it. No, I’m not going to get over it anytime soon.
Her mate is Regina and we adore Regina. She’s also much too good for my sister! ” he yelled loudly.
“So many things are starting to make sense now.” I grinned at him, then cocked my head when the sound of some kind of scuffle could be heard on the other side of the still closed front door.
“He’s hot! I mean if I was into guys. Looks decent too. How the hell did Seth land him?”
“Gilly, come away from there now!”
“Act right! Your brother will bring him in when he’s ready! And your brother is gorgeous. He could land pretty much any alpha he set his eye on. I love you too, Seth!”
Seth shook his head, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “They act like I’ve never brought an alpha home to meet them before.”
Now my curiosity was piqued. “How many have you brought home?”
“What?” He asked, suddenly all innocent and wide eyed.
“You heard me. How many?”
Seth looked down at the ground, scuffing his shoe against the concrete of the walk. “Um..let me think.”
“That many?” I inquired, my lips quivering, fighting not to smile.
“One.” He held up one lone finger.
Staring at him hard, I said, “I’m the first?”
He huffed, “You don’t need to make a big deal about it. It doesn’t mean you’re special or anything.”
“It sure as fuck does.” I cackled. “I’m número uno .”
“You know I don’t speak Spanish. Stop showing off.”
The door flew open, and an exasperated female alpha filled the doorway. She was tall, with long, sandy brown hair. She was pretty in a girl next door sorta way, and if it wasn’t for her bright blue eyes I would never peg them as brother and sister. They looked nothing alike.
“Oh my Goddess, I can’t deal with this! Bring him in already, for fuck’s sake!”
“Gillian!” A woman’s voice called sharply from somewhere in the house, her displeasure clear in her tone.
“Hello to you too, Gillian,” Seth put extra emphasis on using her full name, and the woman’s eyes narrowed, her lips pursing together tightly.
“Did I not tell you to wait?” A short omega woman shook her head at Seth’s baby sister.
“I’m so sorry that no one in this family knows how to behave.
” She held out her hand as Seth shut the door behind us.
“Besides Toby and me, of course. I’m Regina, this one’s keeper.
” She tossed her thumb Gilly’s way. “It’s lovely to meet you. ”
She was beautiful, her skin and eyes dark, her smile bright. Her hair was wrapped around her head in ornate braids that swished as she moved. I could see why Seth liked her. There was a warmness about her, a friendly aura she put off.