Page 176 of Omega's Flight

"I know," he said, leaning back against the headboard. "I like to watch you two together." He leaned in, threatening a kiss for me and I laughed, pretending to dodge it until I judged the time was right to let him catch me. "Morning to you, too. Again. For the fourth time," he said with that cheeky grin I loved so much.

The baby fussed, banging his little nose against my chest. "I guess it's time to switch you over," I cooed and flipped him end for end so he could try the other side. He'd nursed longer this morning—I had hopes that this was a good sign for my milk supply coming in.

"Hi, baby," Henry said in a sing-song voice and patted somewhere in the vicinity of the baby's foot. Ann watched with wide, curious eyes, but I could see her thinking hard about this baby and what he would mean. They already knew he was a boy, and that he was omega like Papa. And that Tadu—Cas had finally decided on that too—was over the moon about it.

"So, you found a new name?" Cas asked, trying to be casual.

"I did. A couple. But this one's my favorite." I leaned carefully across the bed to the little table and fished out a slip of paper from underneath the latest in a string of Bax's novels I'd torn through. "Madoc. It's a little old-fashioned, but I like the meaning."

"What does it mean?" Cas slumped a little closer to Raleigh and accepted the list. It was a small one, only three names, but there was a star next to Madoc.

"It means lucky. Or fortunate." Raleigh's hand patted gently against the baby's back. "I feel lucky to be here, to have him, to have you, to have my other pups." I poked Pip with my toe to keep her away from my toast. "To have enough food that I don't have to feel guilty guarding my breakfast from the ravenous horde." Pip grinned at me and I grinned back. "But if you don't like it, there's the other two." I watched his eyes as he read the other two again, then came back to Madoc.

"Madoc Mercy Hills." Cas's voice was soft, thoughtful. "It fits. It's a good name." He bent and his lips met mine and for a moment, I almost forgot even the baby at my breast in the pleasure of his mouth.

I felt the mattress shift underneath me and broke off the kiss to find Pip crawled up beside me so she could peer at her little brother. "What's up, Doc?" she said, entirely without irony.

Cas started to laugh, and then I did too. Which made the baby cry because he couldn't keep his grip through my laughter.

"Oh, stop," I protested, right on the edge of hiccups. I took a couple of deep breaths, reset the baby to start his breakfast again, and gathered my little pack together for a cuddle. "I am the luckiest omega in the world."

Cas put an arm around my shoulders and wrapped Pip and Ann up in the other. "Eat your breakfast, and then we'll get you out of this bed."

"All right." My pleasure in the moment dimmed slightly, if only because I was picturing the state of the house, still probably half-unpacked, dirty dishes everywhere. I dug into my food, starving with the need to feed two bodies. Madoc finished up and Cas took him from me, ignoring my protest.

"I'll burp him. I made Holland show me how." He suited action to words and after a few open-mouthed moments watching him, I went back to eating my food—what Pip hadn't already raided while my attention was elsewhere.

But it was when we made our slow way down the stairs to the living room that I really understood how much my life had changed. It was clean—not just tidy, but clean, with everything in a place, shoes neatly lined up by the front door. Not even a single dish in the sink, except for the pot that my oatmeal had been cooked in.

"Surprise," Cas murmured. "I'll get the tray from upstairs as soon as you're settled." He led me to the corner of the living room, to a new rocking chair set at just the right angle to watch out the big window and see the rest of the first floor at the same time. "Sit down, I'll make you some tea. Oh, and Jason wants to compare babies sometime. He says, if you're up to it, he'll have Mac bring him over later. They've named her Leilani.”

Numbly, I sat and rocked the baby while the pups fanned out to play with their toys and the sounds of the kettle being set on the stove rang through the air like holiday bells. This was a mating, and I realized I regretted my decision not to tie myself that way to another alpha.

And then Cas came through from the kitchen holding out a glass of water to make up for the milk that Madoc had drunk, and I thought that maybe something official, something permanent, might be a wonderful way to head off into our future.

"I'll have your tea in a minute," he promised and began to turn away.

Hastily, I set the water down on the little table beside me and grabbed for his hand. He turned back, his eyebrows raised in gentle inquiry.

"Mate me," I said, my tongue tripping over the words in my haste to get them out. "I'm sorry for saying no before, it was silly and I've changed my mind." I stopped to take a breath, ready with even more arguments, but before I could start talking again, he laid a finger over my lips and smiled.

"Yes." Then he kissed me and whispered, "Though I'll expect that proper proposal, down on one knee with a nice rare steak on a plate, as soon as you're recovered enough."

"Deal," I whispered back, and watched him disappear back into the kitchen with my heart swelling with a joy that only grew as I watched Henry wander after him to beg to be picked up.