Page 58 of Roommates' Alpha
“Mm-hmm. Feels good.”
“You do too.”
Another satisfied hum.
I made sure the blankets were secure around us, then held my man tight as we fell asleep.
∞∞∞
~September~
The backyard was almost as packed as it had been for the party a year before. But this time was for a celebration of new life, rather than a party for party’s sake.
And being the star that he was, was Micah—hugely pregnant with triplets. He’d seated himself next to the fire pit, where everybody would be able to visit and chat.
He was currently deep in discussion with Eric, who was only a few months behind with his own pregnancy. They’d become fast friends at some point, and I was glad that they’d been able to commiserate with each other about pregnancy woes.
As I looked around I saw that both Jace and Ryan seemed to be avoiding alcohol, and that made me chuckle. They hadn’t said anything yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they announced their second pregnancies sometime within the next couple of weeks.
Plus, my Bug had that glow about him.
Another scan of the yard, and I sighed. Mama hadn’t arrived yet. And while she was known for making an entrance, it was late, even for her.
She hadn’t taken well to the notion of boundaries when it came to me, my mates, and our children, and her displeasure only increased when I actually enforced them. Instead of accepting our invites to dinner, or answering the phone when I called, she’d tried to reverse tactics and had almost completely cut us out. When we did speak, she acted like her life was too full for us—which I knew was a lie. According to Aunt Janice and Uncle Eli, she sat at home alone most days.
Some part of me had probably always known that it would be like this, and that was why I’d allowed her to be overbearing for so long. She’d gone low-contact for a while after I’d moved out, too. I hoped that once the babies were born, she’d come around and realize that my terms were better than her self-imposed isolation.
Even Aunt Janice and Uncle Eli had agreed that she would have been a nightmare had I not made it clear that there would be boundaries. But they’d expected her tantrum about them too.
Now it was just a matter of waiting to see what she did.
Crow’s sister—Raven—walked over, stood beside me, and bumped my shoulder with hers. “Crow’s happy. And he says you have something to do with that.”
I smiled. “I hope he is. I’m happy he’s here, with us.”
“I know my brother, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so content. He found himself here, and he found the four of you.”
I smiled. “He’s talked a bit about the long road you were both on to get here.”
She sighed. “His was longer than mine. Though frowned upon and rare, female alpha and male omega pairings did happen in our church. But what he has, they would never have allowed. I only had to get free to get what I wanted. He had to unlearn a lot of bullshit, and come to terms with his desires being taboo where we grew up.”
“Thank you for getting him out.”
She smiled. “I didn’t get him out. He made that choice for himself. I only made it easy for him.”
She paused. “Deep down, he knew. It wasn’t the right place for us. Even if he’d stayed that night, I have no doubt that he’d have left before marriage.”
“Would you really have been able to cut him off?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t like to think about it. Even now, neither of us has contacted Mama or Dad. At first, it was to keep the church from harassing us—trying to draw us back in. But now? I can’t forgive them. They may have thought they were doing the right thing, but that life—those beliefs—really messed us up. We left the day we turned eighteen. That was sixteen years ago. We’ve spent almost as much time outside that life as we did in it, and we’re still trying to undo some of the damage.”
“At least you have each other.”
She smiled. “Yeah, and he has you and the others. He needed that.”
I returned the smile. “And how’s your own relationship going? Your omega’s name is Dale, right?”
Her smile grew and turned radiant. “We’re good. We’re both at good places in our careers and we’ve started to discuss settling down—me claiming him and starting our family. I’m excited for the day I get to throw one of these parties, and he’s the one with a bump.”