Page 13

Andreas

I wanted to stay so badly, but as a responsible dad who once again had a babysitter who wasn’t staying over, I couldn’t. But this time, I would have stayed if I could have. Instead, I headed for home, paid the sitter, and sent them on their way and flopped onto the sofa to pout. I knew a lot of single dads who never seemed to have a hard time finding a way for casual sex to happen, but with my wolf chanting mate louder and louder, there was not a thing casual about Julian and Ime

He was everything I ever wanted, kind enough to be a dad to Reed—once I was ready to introduce them and see that for sure it would be a weight off me. But he was a tentative kinkster, so turned on by what we did together that it had taken most of my self-control not to take him right there in that bed.

In truth, we only had it for a limited time, and that helped. I wanted this male in my arms for a lot longer than the twenty minutes we had left. So, while it had been one of the most amazing, if mild, scenes of my life, and I was extremely excited to see where it would go, I was having a heck of a time with pacing myself and what was growing between me and the omega.

Whenever things got tough or I got down, I remembered how early Reed came and how fortunate I was to not only have him with me but in good health. The healers at the time had been very concerned about what types of delays or other problems he could have experienced due to his early birth. But Reed had caught up to himself quickly and was now ahead of many of the milestones the healers had me watching for.

They said his being a shifter had helped a lot, but when I was sitting with him in the NICU watching him fight, all I could think was how unfair it was that he had to do it with just one of us. What had his omega daddy been thinking?

All that time he was pregnant, he was so incredibly excited and into it, and I would never understand how he’d been able to look into that tiny face and decide to leave. I hadn’t had the time or energy to mull that over much then, grateful just to be there with Reed and cuddle him when I was allowed, encourage him with words the rest of the time.

The NICU staff was the best. Of course, the healers were wonderful, but it was the nurses who had the moment-by-moment care of him. I had never seen anything like it, but I’d be so grateful to them for the rest of my life.

Pulling myself out of what was becoming an annoying habit about having pity parties, I dragged myself off the sofa and went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water before heading for bed. On the way, I stopped at the door to Reed’s room and slipped inside. My son was sleeping under a light blanket, his cheeks flushed, soft snores emerging from those tiny nostrils. He rested like he did everything else. With gusto.

And every time I thought I couldn’t love him any more, I did.

Julian was incredible, but would he work in our family?

Not until I got up the courage to tell him a family existed.

Once burned…

I could risk my heart again, but could I risk my child’s?

I needed to think some more.