Page 41 of Loving My Omega (The Perfect Designation Trilogy #2)

Chapter

Forty-One

M arcus didn’t come back the entire day. I didn’t know if our plan was to stay overnight, but it was now. Mrs. Alford helped me into what I thought would be a guest bedroom. Instead, she showed me into Marcus’ old room. It had grown she said but for the most part, not much had changed since high school when he left.

There were bookshelves filled with books of every kind. One entire bookshelf though was dedicated to poetry books. Funny enough, it still felt like the house. It still felt so much like Marcus. The room even smelled like him. Almost stronger in here because he probably didn’t wear as many crystals when he was in high school.

I showered and went to bed around eleven, nearly nodding off while we were talking in the den. Lauren had come back around a few hours later. Beau spoke with her and she seemed a little better, even smiling at me but I’m sure since it had happened to her sister, it hurt a little more. Keith had taken Queen home with the kids and so it was much more quiet now. Part of me wished I could have said goodbye to the kids at least. Hopefully, I hadn’t completely ruined being able to see them.

Rubbing my belly, I started to drift off when I felt something. Sitting up, I stared down at my bump. I rubbed my belly again and pressed against it. Sure enough, I felt another nudge or flutter. Gasping, I covered my mouth. This was the first time I felt her move. Since she wasn’t positioned in the exact spot as females, Dr. Cardiff told me that not feeling her in the fourth or fifth month was normal.

The door opened to the room and I looked up at see Marcus step in. He was wearing his glasses and crystal but otherwise only had a pair of baggy sweats. His eyes caught mine and stepped to the side of the bed I was sitting on.

“You okay?” His hand cupped my face, looking to see if something was wrong.

Nodding, I took his hands in mine and I pressed his hand against my belly. He cocked his head the side when I didn’t letting up. Suddenly, she kicked or moved again. Marcus’ mouth fell open a little and he looked up at me.

“That’s…”

“Our little girl. Marcus, that’s her moving.” I felt breathless, pure joy racing through me.

Marcus stared down at our hands. Reaching out, I brushed away a tear that had fallen down his cheek. He looked back up at me and leaned in, kissing me. I let his hand go as I wrapped my arms around him. Pressing me back into the pillow, Marcus consumed me.

After a moment, he let up and I was able to breathe. “I missed you.”

“I’m sorry…I couldn’t…” He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Nodding, I kissed along his jaw. “That’s fine. We don’t have to.”

“Did you eat? A complete meal?”

Laughing, I leaned back and blinked up at him. “What do you think?”

“I hope so. Just because I’m not there doesn’t mean…”

“Yes, Marcus. I did. I had lunch, snack and dinner.” Completely mistimed, my stomach growled.

He barked out a laughed, leaning down and kissing my stomach. “Is that so? Apparently, snack time it is.”

Shaking my head, I curled up in a ball on my side. “No. I’m too tired. I just want to sleep.”

Marcus stared at me for a moment and I knew what he was waiting for. My stomach did too because it growled, if possible, louder. He chuckled and held out his hand.

“Come on. We can make you a little snack so you can go to bed.”

“Did you eat?” I asked as I let him pull me up out of bed.

He made a face and I rolled my eyes. “Pot calling the kettle black, mate.”

“I’ll eat something too. Mom usually puts the leftovers in the fridge.”

Marcus pulled me out of the room and down the stairs quietly. I had a feeling he did this often as a kid. Especially with how he knew the parts of the stairs not to step on so they didn’t squeak. He snuck me into the kitchen and picked me up, setting me down on the island.

“What does our little girl want?”

I thought about leftovers but nothing sounded great. “Parmesan cheese chips?”

He raised his eyebrow. “Walk me through how to make them?”

Pulling out a few of the containers of leftovers, Marcus started heating those up while following my instructions. It was easy once he realized that it was just sprinkling cheese in a pile over and over before throwing it in the oven to melt and crisp up. He had just pulled my chips and his steak out of the oven when the kitchen light flicked on.

Mrs. Alford was standing in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. She was wearing a bonnet, as well as very cute flowery silk pajamas. Her eyebrow was raised as she looked at Marcus.

“Busted.” I whispered, smiling.

“Busted indeed.” She came over to Marcus, slapping him upside the head. “Did you get the poor boy up just so you could have someone to eat with?”

I decided to come to his defense. “My fault. I was up and he came in. My stomach decided to make itself known and tell me it was still hungry.”

Mrs. Alford chuckled. “You are pretty far along. From experience, I struggled with my increased appetite. Especially with the boys. I pretty much ate everything but the refrigerator itself.”

“Not for a lack of trying.” Mr. Alford yawned as he stepped into the kitchen.

She slapped him as he walked by and opened up the fridge, looking into it. “You brute. You loved that I could match your appetite.”

“Until you outpaced me, woman. I’d never been more mortified when you polished of an entire rack of ribs only to order a second one and finish that.”

My eyes widened. “There is no way I could eat even an entire rack myself.”

“Give it a few weeks, dear. Especially now that your dumb morning sickness is subsiding. You’ll start to want more and more. The cravings will probably come in as well. Marcus best be prepared to make trips whenever for whatever it is your heart desires.”

I shook my head. “Dr. Cardiff said that I should be careful. That if my carvings are for things like junk food to find an alternative that scratches that itch.”

“I can agree with that.” Marcus nodded but his mom hit him again. “Mom!”

“You get this boy whatever the hell he wants, Marcus. That is your job. You do not barter with a pregnant mate. You give them exactly what they want. So what if it’s junk food? Marcus, look at him. He needs some fat. Some good things. Some comfort food.” She turned to me and smiled. “You need to allow him and everyone else to spoil you. You have people to do that now.”

I rubbed the back of my neck for a moment. “I…the reason I was up was because I felt her…for the first time.”

Mrs. Alford gasped and grabbed Marcus’ arm, shaking it. “Oh my god. May I?”

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. Marcus was watching me protectively, knowing that this was a huge step for me. His mom seemed to understand though. She stepped forward and gently put her hand on my bump. There was a moment of nothing and she was about to pull away when our little girl seemed to roll around.

“Oh sweetheart.” She looked up at me. “I can’t…thank you.” Tears filled her eyes and she gathered me to her. “We haven’t been able to have this with Keith’s kids. I’m sorry if we get a little weepy.”

Looking up at Marcus, I cocked my head to the side. He grumbled imperceptibly as he popped the cheese chips off the mat. Handing me a plate with the chips, I grabbed one and munched on one. Marcus grabbed his own plate and stuck a fork in it, mixed a few of the items into each other.

“I told you that Queen drops off the kids basically when they turn one.”

Nodding, I took another chip and ate it.

“Well, we rarely seen Queen during her pregnancy. As you have seen, her personality normally isn’t all the welcoming. It gets far worse the later into her pregnancy. Then we pretty much don’t see her for an entire year. Not until Keith comes home holding a little one year old.”

“So you never see them as newborns or…even babies really?”

Mrs. Alford nodded. “Sadly, yes. We miss out on a lot. We also have no idea how they are raised from the time they are born to when she drops them off. Keith is able to go visit but he doesn’t talk much about the visits.”

“Speaking of Keith…” Mr. Alford was looking at his phone, a call coming through the line.

He walked over to the window and answered it, eating one of my chips that I never even saw him steal off my plate. For a while, he was listening to whatever was happening on the other end. My brow then furrowed and he stood up from his lean against the wall. Mr. Alford looked at us and I looked away, grabbing a chip and chomping on it.

“Keith, I don’t know what you’re accusing your brother of. Neither him or his mate has the means to do what you’re saying is happening right now. Colton has been with us all evening. I don’t think I’ve seen him have his phone once. Marcus was flying most of the evening after getting some upsetting news.”

Marcus and Mrs. Alford were staring at the phone, looking confused. Marcus turned to me and I was looking the complete other way. Grabbing another chip, I nommed on it as I listened.

Colton.

I ignored Marcus.

Colton, look at me.

Slowly, my eyes raised to look at Marcus.

What did you do?

Nothing. I answered to him directly through the mind link.

His eyes narrowed and he took a bit of his food, staring at me. And the truth?

I didn’t do anything.

Who did?

I pursed my lips together. I may have…told…Mike what she said to me.

Colton.

He stared at me, his head turned slightly. What did you tell him to do?

Nothing! I just…told him not to touch Keith or the kids. But…to make…it crumble?

Marcus slapped his forehead and it made both his parents look his way. I looked away again, grabbing another chip. Mr. Alford was looking between the two of us for a moment while he listened.

“Keith, I don’t know what you expect me to do here?”

There was a murmur on the other end.

“She’s put it into the bylaws that the Alford companies can’t touch hers. She wanted to make sure we couldn’t step in to make her heel.” He huffed. “Her words, Keith, not mine. If we had access to the company beforehand, we could have taken over and essentially forced her into giving it up. My hands are tied, son. She made it so none of us can intervene.”

He started to yell on the other end and Mr. Alford let out a sigh. “If she can remove the bylaws, then we can step in. If she doesn’t…”

Mr. Alford put the phone on speaker. “She won’t! She says I need to do something about this! Or that we need to bring Marcus and his mate up on charges for messing with her business! Dad, I need your help!”

“I can’t do anything. If she’s not changing the bylaws, I legally can’t step in. She can try to bring Marcus and Colton up on charges but I can promise you, they haven’t done a thing. I’ve been here the whole time. There would need to be hours of calls, you would need to probably have an army of people to bring an entire company down in one evening.”

My eyes widened and I looked up at Marcus. He gave motioned to the phone.

Did you not know what he was going to do?

I shook my head. I don’t usually ask. I don’t ever really wanted to know. He said he could get Keith removed as Alpha.

What? How?

Do you seriously want to know the answer to that question? Because I don’t.

Marcus sighed and continued to eat. So he’s managed to be an army of people and take down the entirety of Queen Enterprises?

Shrugging, I looked back down at the phone. Mr. Alford was leaning his hands against the counter, looking down at the phone. Keith was yelling things in the background.

“I don’t know how to stop this. She’s going crazy. At this point, she’s going to end up with nothing to her name!”

Mr. Alford blinked at the phone for a moment. He pinched his nose for a moment and I leaned back a little. To my surprise, he was fighting a smile. Shaking his head, he seemed to collect himself enough to speak.

“Has she tried stepping in with her own shares to stop at least whatever is happening to the other shares?”

“Yes! Except that someone, the ones she tried to get to the company itself, were bought and grabbed by whoever is taking down the entire business. I don’t even know really how to explain what’s happening. It’s like everything is getting purchased and then sold off. They are paying the loans owed by the company but there will be nothing left if everything gets paid. Even if the shares are bought and sold too. I think…is what is happening.”

Chewing absently on a chip, I finally nodded. I mean it was a good strategy. If a company was working on capital and had loans they were paying back while making more money that what they originally were lent, it made sense. Except if all that was paid back at once. It would bankrupt the company and the entire business would collapse. The fact that it was happening at an enterprise level was crazy.

“Shit. I have to go. I’ll be by in the morning.”

“No you won’t. You’ll be allowed back as soon as Marcus and Colton leave. I will not have anyone fighting in my house, Keith. End of story. Colton can’t just shift and leave.”

Keith growled. “Dad! I’m your son!”

“So is Marcus, and Colton is his mate! He’s pregnant and he cannot shift.”

“He’s…wait…he’s pregnant right now? Marcus is trying to just fucking upstage me? Is seriously what is happening? Is that why he was so sensitive about the off comment Queen made?”

I slammed my hand over my mouth before I full-on growled. Off handed comment my ass. She deserved what was happening. Not just for the comment but how she has treated her kids and Keith. He shouldn’t even be helping her. He should be sitting back and laughing in her face because she is getting what she deserves.

He loved her, Colt. That’s why. His mate is in distress and he wants to help. She might not love him but he does.

Looking up at Marcus, I letting go of my anger and uncoiling my hands.

“It wasn’t off-handed, Keith. That was uncalled for and completely awful.” Mr. Alford let out low growl. “And no, your brother is not copying you. Colton is almost six months along.”

“Oh, so it’s not my brother’s kid.”

I placed my hand out to stop Marcus from grabbing the phone.

“We confirmed that it was. It was the person your brother was looking for back in August. That was Colton. They just didn’t find their way back to each other until later. Now, if you stop making up scenarios where you are the victim here, I think we are done.”

“But I need your help! Just step in! Fuck the bylaws!”

Mr. Alford stared down at the phone before he shook his head. “No, Keith.”

“No?”

“No. She did this. Her need to refuse to allow us to be her family. For ruining a mate bond and all because she wanted to rule like a Queen over her company…while ignoring everything else around her. No, Keith. Even if I could, I’m not sure that I would. This doesn’t hurt you, or the kids. They are still fine. This is squarely on her shoulders. I’m sorry but…my hands are tied.”

He hung up the phone and silenced it when another call came in. Holding out my plate of chips to him, Mr. Alford took one and ate it.

“You know, these are really good for how simple they are.”

“One of my favorites as a kid.” I ate another chip as well.

The kitchen was quiet before Mr. Alford let out a sigh and grabbed the water he had poured himself. Patting my leg, he shook his head.

“I don’t know how you did it, but thank you.”

“Ty!” Mrs. Alford smacked her husband as he walked by. “How could you?”

He shrugged, sipping his glass. “Because Queen needed to realize that if you take all that money and that company away, she is just a lonely dragon. She is alone. She has ruined anything she could have as a mom for some many years. Maybe now, she can get back on track. So yes, I will thank Colton. Even though I know he didn’t do it.” Mr. Alford winked at me before disappearing down the hall.

Mrs. Alford went after her mate and Marcus chuckled. We ate in silence though until both our plates were empty. Marcus grabbed them and rinsed them off before putting them into the dishwasher.

“Come, little wolf. To bed.”

“We aren’t leaving at the ass crack of dawn again, right?”

He chuckled. “No. We will take our time. I need to call into the school though and tell them I won’t be in until Tuesday.”

Helping me off the counter, I stretched and could finally feel the exhaustion come back after feeling hungry. “You could day you wouldn’t be back till Wednesday.”

“Why would I do that?”

Shrugging, I grabbed the water he poured for me. “I didn’t get to talk to Lauren at all about the nursery.”

“Colt.”

“It’s fine. I guess we can do it later.”

Marcus groaned. “You’re still going to go to class on your laptop, aren’t you?”

Smiling, I nodded. “I can’t afford to skip.”

“I swear.” He swept me up into a kiss. “Bed first. I’ll think about it and get back to you.”

“You might as well say yes now. You know you are going to.”

His hand hit my ass and I yelped, surprised. “Behave, Little Omega.”

“Or what, Alpha?” I dodge his second swat.

Marcus was too quick though and he held me in his arms, lifting me up as we walked down the hall to the stairs. “Or I will make sure that you always have your ears and tail out for the rest of this pregnancy.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Test me, Colton Fisher. I dare you.”

I whined and he threw back his head, laughing at me as I gave up immediately.