Page 19 of Curtis & Jae (Mate Match #1)

Nineteen

Curtis

It felt like the pregnancy passed at lightning speed. Before we knew it, there was only a week to go until the baby’s due date. They grew well, and by all accounts, Jae’s pregnancy was a textbook one for a male omega.

Over the months after the news about AlphaPharm, Jae worked tirelessly alongside a team of lawyers to change the law so that every pregnancy which occurred due to a contraception failure would be tracked to ensure this couldn’t happen again.

Basically, when you bought any type of contraception, the type and batch was noted on your file.

Then an alert would ping out if too many of the same batch led to pregnancy.

The help Hwan had provided was instrumental in ensuring companies wouldn’t get away with hiding that they were selling faulty products.

I tried to get Jae to slow down, but he was adamant he had to help.

All I could do was get him to take breaks when possible.

It wasn’t my place to tell him he couldn’t do something he felt so passionate about.

Besides, the lawyers argued Jae gave a “face” to the campaign and his presence was vital.

Since some of these were old friends from college, they fought harder for him and the affected omegas.

They also often backed me up when Jae was burning himself out.

While he wasn’t actively creating the laws, he was constantly being asked to consult with lawmakers and those in the medical profession about what omegas needed and how this screw up had affected them.

Whenever the subject was broached on the news, Jae’s face was often used as an example of what happened when an omega did everything right, but were pushed into a situation caused by greed.

Everyone knew our love story by now and how the baby had pushed us closer.

Jae was quick to point out he was lucky and that he was fighting for less fortunate omegas.

I just wished he would slow down or that the campaign would use some of the other omegas who had come forward. Jae was putting himself at risk, and though I understood why, I just wanted him to take care of himself first.

Surprisingly, Hwan was good on that front, too. He had experience with willful omegas, as he put it, including pregnant ones, so he knew when Jae was pushing the limits of his endurance and how to get him to back down.

I did not have my mate’s ex backing me up on my bingo card, but here we were. If it meant Jae and the baby were healthy, it didn’t matter who it was.

The process of changing the law was involved and required the pharmaceutical companies to be honest with their test data, along with designing a system for reporting.

The sheer amount of omegas pregnant after DuoStop failure was enough to get it passed into law.

Insurance companies had to ask about their contraception when an omega presented as pregnant, and all the data went into a nationalized system.

No state by state reporting where some areas who were less favorable to omegas would “lose” their details.

All the information was entered into one database.

We were lucky. The pregnancy worked out okay for us.

Jae was the best partner in this that I could have asked for.

We had jobs, money, security. Jae and the team fought with AlphaPharm to increase the payout to not only cover the medical costs of the pregnancy and birth, but for the first three years of costs associated with having a child. Babies were incredibly expensive!

We had Jae’s rich grandparents begging to buy us stuff all the time, partly in guilt for how they’d acted when his sister announced her pregnancy. All the support we had made us incredibly fortunate. There were many omegas out there who didn’t have that support.

AlphaPharm was paying through the nose for their greed.

All they had to do was recall the products already distributed when they found out they wouldn’t work correctly.

Yet they hadn’t, because that would have been costly.

Apparently, there was only a fifty percent chance of the DuoStop batch we had used being effective.

One batch discovered later was only seventy-five percent effective.

The only reason the company didn’t go under was the lack of proof so many omegas had to show they had used the affected batches, meaning they didn’t get the compensation. It was so unfair!

Jae hadn’t worn the jacket since the end of his heat. He had forgotten the package was there, so our payout was processed quickly.

I knew Jae felt a lot of guilt about getting the money, but I argued it was better in our pockets than AlphaPharm’s. He relented, knowing I was right.

Besides, it came in handy when we wanted to take a break from the stresses of life and when getting ready for our impending little one.

A few weeks after our niece, Ella, was born, we went to a spa which specialized in pregnancy massages.

They showed me how to rub Jae’s feet properly.

Again, Jae felt guilty, like we should be helping Jennie and Lara out with Milo or the baby, getting some much needed baby experience.

I reasoned after his months of campaigning, he needed the rest more than our family wanted our help.

Besides, we made Milo’s day when we dropped off Percy for him to look after for the weekend. I worried for Jae’s sake that we wouldn’t get the cat back! Percy was bonded to his owner, though, and purred up a storm when we returned.

Percy seemed fascinated by Jae’s bump. He spent all his time with Jae, often sleeping right next to him at night.

“I’m so nervous.” Jae cut into my daydreaming with his words. I took his sweaty hand and squeezed it.

“We’re nearly there. Baby has been moving today, right?”

“Yeah, not as much as before, and I had an upset tummy earlier.”

As much as I worried, I was pretty sure it was normal for the stage of the pregnancy. “The baby doesn’t have as much room to move now. The tummy thing, though, I’m sure Erika will know what’s up with that.”

Jae gave me a grateful smile. We were sitting in the waiting room of the birthing center for our final checkup before the birth.

“I’m sorry, but your last appointment’s balance needs to be cleared before you can have your anatomy scan today.” The receptionist tried to be quiet, but their words carried through the room.

“But my insurance was supposed to pay for that.” I could feel the omega’s frustration rising. She was arguing with the desk clerk, trying her best to stay calm despite the upsetting circumstances.

“It says here the insurance ran out before the claim went in, so they’ve declined it.” The receptionist grimaced. “I’m sorry.” They really sounded it. Must have been horrible to be in such a situation. “Are you able to pay the balance?”

The woman backed away, muttering to herself. She looked through her phone and shook her head sadly.

“My new insurance should cover the scan. Are you sure I can’t get it done?”

Unfortunately, the clerk shook their head. “It’s against our policy. Outstanding balances have to be paid in full or put on a payment plan with a thirty percent deposit.”

“Shit.”

Jae squeezed my hand, bringing my attention back to him.

He’d been listening in, too. “Can we help her? Pay her balance? We’ve got all this money and I can’t help but think this could have been me.

Without you, I could have lost my job because I couldn’t get through the morning sickness.

” His eyes met mine. His pleading was clear. “I want to help her.”

“That’s all you needed to say. Of course we can, sweetheart.” Anything I could give him, I would. I brushed my thumb over the swell of his cheek. “You are the kindest person I know. It hurts me to see how upset you’re getting.” I stood. “Let’s go speak to her.”

I helped Jae to his feet and over to the desk. His bump was so big and low now, it was uncomfortable for him to walk far.

“Excuse me, I couldn’t help but overhear,” he began in a soft voice.

The pregnant lady reddened. She hung her head. “Fuck my life! Could this day get any worse? I’m so embarrassed!” she muttered.

I glanced at the clerk, who also looked uncomfortable. “This was a private conversation.” She spoke to the lady. “I’m sorry they overheard.”

“We want to help,” Jae interrupted. “We’ll pay the balance, and pay for today’s scan.”

“And for the birth,” I added. Why not help her out? We had decent insurance and plenty to pay for it.

Jae’s head snapped round. “Are you sure?” If I didn’t believe he loved me before, I would have known it then.

“Seriously?” the woman asked. She looked at me like all her Christmases had come at once, though she didn’t quite believe it was real.

“Yes,” I answered, firmly. “We got the payout from AlphaPharm,” I explained to the omega. To Jae, I said, “This is the best way to ease your guilt about it. Let’s pay it forward by helping…” I looked at the pregnant lady, waiting for her name.

“Sophie,” she supplied.

“Let’s help Sophie out so you feel better about the payout.” I figured if I framed it as Sophie helping to alleviate some of Jae’s guilt, then she would be more inclined to take our money.

“I’d like to do that.” Jae went to Sophie, taking her hands. “Please, let us.”

Sophie laughed. “Who am I to turn that offer down? My husband is going to be over the moon. He lost his job looking after me when I was sick. The start of the pregnancy was hard. He’s got another one now, but the insurance—”

“Hey,” Jae said gently. “Stuff happens. I’m just glad we can help.”

“How long do you have to go?”

“A week!”

“Exciting!”

I turned away from them to go to the clerk. “Is her appointment available if it’s paid?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Can we put money on her account to cover the birth or be billed after?”

“We can bill you after.”

“Great. Let’s get the outstanding and the scan paid today and if you could note on the account to bill us. Whatever she needs, okay?”

“Fantastic.” In an undertone she added, “Thank you so much! I hate this part of my job. We try to work with people but—”

“I get it.” I really did. They couldn’t afford to do all the work without being paid. I knew this center had drop ins once a month. A long line of people often formed around the block.

Sophie hugged us both before she was taken for her appointment.

“Thank you for agreeing,” Jae said, looking lighter than air. The good deed had been great for his conscience.

“Jae?” Erika called. “Come on through.”

“Well, your blood pressure is perfect. Your urine sample was also perfect. Are you still enjoying the pregnancy?” Erika was upbeat as usual. Today she was wearing a lilac headscarf covering her braids. The color matched the cheerful scrubs she wore.

“I’m nervous about the birth, but at the same time, I can’t wait to meet them!” Jae was lying back on the bed, a sheet covering his groin, waiting for Erika to check him over.

“Yeah, I get that. The last two weeks feel like they last months, right?” Erika snapped on some gloves. She examined his stomach thoroughly. “Oh, baby is head down. I did think you were carrying low. Have you had any unusual bowel movements?”

“Um, I had a bit of an upset stomach earlier. It was disgusting.” Jae’s face was hilarious. I swallowed back a snicker.

Erika laughed. “Yep, that’s your baby getting into position. Your uterus has signaled its eviction notice to the baby. The hormones have cleared your digestive system so everything can get in the right place for the birth, okay? It’s shut off one line so the other can open, make sense?”

“Yeah, kinda.”

“Jae? Your baby will be here in the next few days.”

“Really?”

Erika was quiet while she examined him internally. “For certain. You’re already three centimeters dilated. Baby is impatient! Good news is, I’m on call for the next few days, so it could be me handling your labor.”

“Curtis!” Jae’s panicked expression caught me off guard.

“What’s wrong?” I couldn’t help going to his side and taking his hand. Erika disposed of her gloves while giving me a fond smile. I liked our midwife and was grateful for her steady presence.

“We have to clean the house! Is the hospital bag ready? Did we buy diapers?”

I couldn’t help my laugh. “Honey, I have it all in hand. You just relax and save your energy. The birth is all on you. I’ll do everything else.”

“Just you listen to that man!” Erika ordered with a wink. “I’ll see you in a couple of days, maybe sooner.”

Our baby could come at any time. I couldn’t wait.