Page 218 of Omega's Heart

Only I took it a step or two farther than I thought she wanted.

Kitchen not clean enough? Oh, I couldn’t show her around the enclave because I was cleaning.

Stain on the towels? I could spend the entire afternoon working on that stain. But if she wanted to go for a walk, there was a very pretty pond in the woods behind the house. Sorry, busy with the laundry, she’d be able to find it easily enough.

Dust on surfaces? Feather duster, damp rag, and beeswax for after. We can chat while you follow me around the house, because I move fast.

I was a busy omega.

And she got everything that she asked for, and nothing that she wanted.

She didn’t pick up on the pattern at first. It took two, maybe two and a half days, and a visit from Holland, Bax, and Raleigh and all their pups to really drive it home. Though it wasn’t any of us that put the final spark to the tinder.

Kaden and I invited everyone for a meal. I made all the food exactly as Veronica wanted until it became obvious that nothing was going to be satisfactory, then I turned the kitchen over to her so it could all be made the right way. I left her there with free reign, gathered up some laundry as an excuse to get out of the house, and walked up to the pack building.

Holland hugged me when I knocked on his door. “Has she chased you out again already?”

“I left her cooking the meal since my standards weren’t up to Salma Woods standards.” I hugged him back and made my way into the apartment. My steps were growing slower now, with so little time left until the baby was due.

Holland made a noise of disgust and strolled after me. “Come on, I was just going to bathe the baby and change his clothes. I can come back with you and run interference after.”

“We’re on the first floor, Holland,” I said, laughing. “No point in throwing her out those windows.”

His cheeks went pink but he laughed at me. I’d managed to draw most of the sting of those memories for him and it was more of a family joke than anything now.

Holland padded over to the fenced corner, where Lonnie was busy banging some plastic toys together. “The pups will be home soon. I wanted to get the baby ready before the rest of them are here.” He picked Lonnie up, blowing raspberries on his bare belly while the little boy squealed in delight, then propped him on one hip. “You can just hang out here if you don’t want to squeeze yourself into the bathroom with me.”

“I’m not that huge,” I grumped, though I wasn’t actually upset. And, given the size of his bathroom, I really was actually that huge. Holland’s bathroom was tiny.

“Not like that,” he said firmly. “I’m just jealous of your bathroom.”

I laughed. “Get your own.”

“I’m going to. Quin’s all for it.” He winked and headed down the hallway to the bathroom, with me right on his heels.

I sat on the edge of the bathtub and held the baby while Holland filled the sink and got out soap and spread towels over the top of the vanity. Lonnie was walking a little now as long as he had help and he was determined to stand on what little there was left of my lap, bouncing and giggling as he reached for my face.

“Silly pup,” I told him and the next time he bounced I lifted him up high like he’d taken off for space like the astropup that Kaden called him. He squawked in delight as I made zooming noises and swung him back and forth in front of me.

“Oh, yes, you love your Uncle Felix more than me, don’t you?” Holland cooed as he reached for the baby. “That’s okay, I know you’ll love me again when suppertime comes around. Come splash in the sink, hm?” He expertly stripped the diaper off and then popped the baby into the sink, where Lonnie promptly slapped his hands down on the surface of the water, soaking the walls around him. “Ha! I knew you were going to do that,” Holland said with a laugh. “Foiled, pup!”

Lonnie squealed and splashed again.

“He really likes his bath,” I said.

“Loves it. Sometimes he cries when I take him out,” Holland explained as he carefully soaked the pup’s hair. “No, don’t do that,” he told Lonnie, tapping him lightly on the nose.

“What did he do?” I hauled myself off the edge of the tub and came over to lean against the wall so I could see better.

“Oh, he was going to change into his wolf form. He’s so much harder to dry off when he has fur, though, and I have to go get Zane soon. There really isn’t time.”

“I’m surprised you get anything done with him around.”

He glanced at me over his shoulder. “I have a lot of help in the office, and my one-handed typing is getting faster.” His eyes danced and I laughed at him because I knew just how many hours he put in. He didn’t have Lonnie in the daycare because he thought this would be his last pup and he didn’t want to let go of this time. Not that he’d said anything about it, but I was pretty good at putting two and two together.

“Do you have clothes set out for him.”

“On my bed. We can dress him in there.” His phone rang and he hastily dried off one hand to pull it out of his pocket. “Jesse,” he said and answered. “Hi, how’s today?”