Page 20 of Loving My Omega (The Perfect Designation Trilogy #2)

Chapter

Twenty

I ’d finished reading, marking, and sending out follow up emails to my students just after four. Colton managed to clean out two more bowls of rice after eating all the fruit. He was now snoring softly, unable to stay awake while he was reviewing his math notes. Apparently, he struggled with this particular class, but was still managing an A by asking questions.

My heart hurt, thinking how much he had put himself through these past few months. His body needed rest. Not just naps but for him to actually relax . I hoped this weekend I could give him that. It also helped that, for the most part, his classes were online. He hadn’t told me yet how the talk with Duke went, but he didn’t seem stressed about it, so I hoped it went well. That was an extra stress if he was stuck choosing between his dream and getting caught on campus.

The storm had finally called down little. At least the wind wasn’t howling anymore. It was still snowing heavily. The house was up at a higher altitude than the city so I knew that I would get more snow. However, the snow was already piled up to about waist high. I could melt everything around the house, but it wouldn’t bring the power back on and the snow was keeping the heat in the house.

Sighing, I looked down at Colton. His head was leaning against my leg and he was curled up in a ball, his math notebook on the floor. Leaning over, I picked up and set it on the table. I ran my hands through his hair, no longer obstructed by ears or the bun. He really did have all of my heart, my soul, my mind and everything in between. I didn’t think he knew it yet.

Carefully lifting his head and replacing my leg with a pillow, I got up and stretched. There wasn’t a super soft blanket down here but I threw the one that I had over his curled up body. I started out the window for a moment before I looked back down at the little wolf sleeping.

Sometimes, I regretting breaking from my families flight. After so many years, the space in your head gets lonely. Though, I did try to remind myself what it was like before with that many people have access to speak to me whenever they wanted. Eventually, I made peace with the quiet and why I preferred being out this far away from everyone.

Now, I wanted to know what Colton was thinking so badly. What were the things that he wanted to say but didn’t? What were his triggers and what did he hold back for my sake? He had given me some of his biggest secrets but there were still so many things I didn’t know about him.

Grabbing my phone, I drafted and sent off a message to the school administration while I went to the bathroom. Even with the campus closed, I would probably get a call on Monday from them. Telling them I no longer was going to be able to teach Spring session was going to make some waves but nothing would change my mind. I wanted to be there for Colton the entire time for the first few months. I would decide if I wanted to take off more or lower my classes but that could come later.

That was one thing off my to-do list. Now for the thousand of other things I needed to do. Going into the kitchen, I poured myself a glass of water as I scrolled through my phone. I needed to order some things for Colton here. Him coming over opened up the door for him to come back or stay here permanently. Either way, I needed more things for him here. He probably would tell me he didn’t need anything and he was perfectly fine. Instead of fighting with him about it, I would just order a bunch of stuff and let him sulk later.

I searched through a few pages of pillows, blankets, and a giant stuffed penguin that for some reason reminded me bit of Colton. Everything was advertised as extra soft and I kept the colors muted like his wardrobe colors. They wouldn’t be delivered until late next week but it would be something. His nesting might get worse and I didn’t really have a space for him to fully nest.

My brow furrowed and I finally sent off a message to Lauren. She would know better than I would what to do. If we needed to remodel, then it would be better to start that as soon as possible to let Colton nest later into the pregnancy. Dad could probably help as well. He’d be able to pull more information from the archives. Hopefully, more useful than the ones that we read through on Sunday.

We all had our strengths in the family. Unfortunately, none of us really were good with our hands. Lauren managed to fill that hole and we absolutely abused her ability over the years. She loved it though because she didn’t get to do too many personal projects. Everyone else, except maybe my mom, would get in the way.

A knock on the door front door made me cock my head to the side and narrow my eyes. Setting my glass down, I walked over to the front door and opened it. Rolling my eyes, I opened it and let my dad come in after brushing off his shoulders of the snow and tapping his loafers on the mat.

“I told Mom you didn’t need to come.”

He shrugged. “Oh, I know. I came so she would stop bothering me and fussing about like a worried hen. She was starting to give me a headache.” Chuckling, he pointed outside. “I melted most of the snow on the side of the house with your water and gas.”

Shaking my head, I grabbed a couple of the bags he had hanging from his arms. I placed them on the kitchen counter and looked through them. There was some homemade bread and a few jars of some of my mom’s jam. There was also some freshly made compound butter. Sniffing it, she probably put in garlic, thyme, and maybe some oregano.

“I started up the generator too. Since it looked like you were still out of power.” Dad put the rest of the bags on the table next to me, pulling out a box from one of them.

I nodded. “Looking online, most of the city is still out of power as well. They didn’t have an estimated fix for it either.”

“The gas should be back and I made sure to hit your water pipes so they don’t freeze.”

“Thanks. I was going to do that in a few minutes actually. I finished the work I had collected.”

Dad looked at me and I could see him fighting a smirk. When my eyebrow rose, I watched his eyes sweep over the house. He cleared his throat and I was still confused.

“Where is the pup?”

Throwing my head back, I laughed and shook it. “ Now the real reason why you came all the way out here in the snow storm! Dad!”

“I’m also not that young, Mr. Alford.” Colton raised his head up from the couch, rubbing his eyes.

My dad laughed. “Son. I’m a hundred and sixty-four years old. I don’t even remember being nineteen anymore.”

His eyes widened. “No way you are over a hundred and sixty years old.”

“Yes way. So you will always be just a pup to me. Just like my son.” Dad looked at me, tapping the box. “Did you talk to him yet?”

Shaking my head, I pursed my lips. Colton got up and stretched, walking over to us. Dad walked around and motioned Colton to him. I could feel the shift of nervousness as he walked up to my dad. Narrowing his eyes, he looked over Colton and sighed.

“I thought Marcus was exaggerating but you really are struggling with your weight, aren’t you?”

Colton nodded. “I’m trying to get better. I had…a slide back. I’m eating now thought! I had food earlier and I kept it down!”

Dad smiled. “Good. My mate is going to have a field day if she sees you in this state. She won’t let you leave our house without you looking like a stuffed turkey.”

Laughing, I couldn’t help but agree with him. “He’s right. So, be glad that you are only dealing with me forcing you to eat. Mom is ruthless.”

“It’s where the protective streak comes from in the kids. I could care less as long as they were alive but my mate…” Dad whistled and Colton laughed.

“According to Marcus, I could use a little of that. “ He smirked at me and I smiled back. “My parents were pretty involved with my siblings but when it came to me, they were very…’is he still breathing? Yeah? Damn it’…approach.”

Dad shook his head. “You’re still their pup. No matter what.”

Snorting, Colton shrugged. “You get used to after a while. I think now, it probably stings a little more because I can see what it means to have good parents. But they taught me what not to do. I can at least use that.”

“Speaking of, do you know who your father is?”

I hissed at my dad. “That is not how to transition into this, Dad!”

Looking from my dad to me, Colton raised his eyebrow. Glaring at my dad and putting my hand on my hip, I waited for him to continue. Dad looked ashamed. I wish I could say it was unexpected but one thing he was not was tactful. Something Mom complained about a lot over the years.

“My father? It’s Frederick Fisher…?” Colton was rightfully confused.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I shook my head. “This is…how am I supposed to follow that up, Dad? Without making him spiral?”

Dad put a hand on Colton’s back and I didn’t realize how protective I was of him when a growl tore out of me. Both Dad and Colton were surprised but he realized what he did, his hand went up in the air.

“I’m sorry. I should have asked.” He was sincere but there was a smirk on his face.

“What?” Colton looked back at me. “Is something wrong?”

Turning around, I focused my mind on making a snack for us. “Don’t worry about, Colt. It was a slip. Sit down and I’ll make a snack and we can talk.”

The easiest thing I could think of that Colton could stomach would be a simple cheese and meat platter. There were a few non-fatty meats that I had, but I really needed to go to the store. Maybe I would fly to the other city and pick up some things tomorrow.

I did hope that I could get Colton back on meat and eventually stomach vegetables. He needed a more balanced diet. For now though, he just need a diet in general. It was good that he was eating and keeping food down, but there needed to be more than just carbohydrates.

Dad placed his hand on my shoulder and I jumped, not realized he had walked around the island to me. He was smiling, his eyes bright as he let me turn around and set the platter on the counter for us.

“I know you said you were worried the other day but you’re doing good. I’m proud of you.”

I gave him a tight smile. “I’m not so sure. There is so many things up in the air. You know I don’t do well with that.” I waggled my eyebrow at Colton. “It doesn’t help that Colt is the complete opposite. He jumps without even knowing what’s below. It drives me mad.”

Colton scoffed and put his hands up. “Don’t bring me into this!”

Dad laughed and patted my back. “Good. The two of you will balance each other out. You are far too uptight.”

My mouth dropped open, not believing my dad. “You said I was well organized and focused.”

“Yes. You are. It also makes you a stiff. A great professor but I wouldn’t necessarily want you to party with.”

There was a snort and I turned slowly to see Colton covering his mouth.

My eyes narrowed. “Colt, don’t you laugh.”

He squeezed his eyes together and I shook my head.

“Are you serious? I thought you liked me.”

Colton chuckled. “I do. Just not because you’re the life of the party.”

My dad snorted this time. “Mar, you can’t just be learning this now . Your brothers and sister make fun of you all the damn time.”

“Yeah, but you never did.”

I watched as Colton blushed, looking down at the cube of cheese in his hand. “But no one can wear a three piece suit like you. You actually make it look hot.”

I blushed as well, taken aback by the compliment. “I-I’m glad you like them.”

My dad looked between the two of us before throwing his head back and laughing. “You two were made for each other.”

Colton chewed the cheese slowly and I slid over a glass of water for him. “Did…was there something about my father I needed to know about?”

Sighing, I was going to jump in but Dad got there first. “Was your lineage ever called into question? I know Marcus said that they think you’re a Beta-1, but even that’s low for a Fisher.”

“Yes. When they found out, the main branch of the family asked for a DNA test.”

“Did they take blood?”

Colton shook his head. “They swabbed my mouth. Everyone in the family got swabbed. Everything came back normal though.”

Dad frowned. “It’s not easy to alter a DNA test.”

“Do you think they did?” Colton looked from Dad to me.

Sighing, I leaned against the counter and crossed my arms over my chest. “We were talking about how many Omegas there are out there. Apparently, the last Omega born turned twenty-eight this year.”

“Well…I mean…there is me.”

“That’s the conundrum. Do you know how an Omega is born?”

Colton frowned, but nodded. “I asked Dr. Cardiff about the likelihood that my pup would be an Omega. She said that it depended on how strong the Omega and how strong the Alpha was. At least in my case. There was a low chance, especially with Marcus being such a strong Alpha.”

“How did your mother have you? Because I have seen your mother and you look the spitting image of her. She is neither an Omega or an Alpha.”

He opened his mouth and then shut it. “I…never thought about it. I thought maybe there was an Omega somewhere in the Fisher line…it would make sense since they try to keep their line as strong as possible.”

“But an Omega can only be birthed by a leadership Omega. It’s not something that you can have in your line and suddenly it comes up for a random child. We might not have the shortage of Omegas if it worked like that.”

Colton blinked at him for a moment and the skin between his eyebrows wrinkled. “But…as a male Omega…couldn’t I…get someone else pregnant? I mean…technically speaking?”

“You could. The likelihood of an Omega coming from that though is slim. Even slimmer when you factor in that there hasn’t been a male Omega in over three hundred years.”