Page 20 of Such a Shy Omega (His Alpha Desires #8)

Erik

“I can’t go to work.” Heath flopped on the sofa and thrust out his lower lip in the most adorable pout. “I can’t close any of my pants.”

I sat down beside him. “That’s terrible. What do you think we can do about that?”

“I’m not buying paternity pants.”

“Up to you, and I’d be glad to let Talon know you’re taking leave from now on because you can’t close your pants.” I reached for my phone on the side table, but he grabbed my hand.

“You can’t say that to him. He’ll think we’re just lying around here fucking all day.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“W-well yes, I mean no. But I don’t think I could bear everyone snickering at me because they think I’m a pregnant sex maniac.”

“Again, how is this bad? I mean, I’m very attached to you and your sex mania.”

“Stop that!” He slapped at my arm. “That’s private stuff. And I’m going to be late for work.”

“We’ve already gone over the calling-in idea, right?”

“If I was sick or tired, yes. But the pants thing? How is that acceptable.”

“I’ll tell you what, omega. We’re gonna call you in, for tonight, and tell them it’s a pants emergency.”

I got my hand free and picked up my phone, but when I got Talon on the phone, I didn’t say it was a pants emergency, just that we needed to deal with something.

He promised to cover the shift, although since we were basically the tech crew, it wouldn’t be easy.

He’d make it happen. And then I found a pair of sweat pants, mine, and helped him into them.

“See? Pants that fit, and they are not paternity.”

“Yeah, well, I can’t wear sweats to work.”

“Why not?” I stood him up and stepped back.

“Not these, of course. They have some holes in unfortunate places. But maybe we can go to the athletic store and see what we can come up with.” I could have had bespoke paternity sweats made for him, but he wasn’t any fancier than I was, and so off we went with the unfortunate sweat pants hidden by his long jacket. Most of the holes were, anyway.

It probably didn’t help his pants to fit better when we stopped for ice cream on the way.

Sundaes with whipped cream and hot fudge and nuts.

But no cherry on top because as my omega mate explained to the teen behind the counter, he had to watch his calories and those cherries were soaked in a sugar syrup.

The kid was either too fixated on his phone screen or too polite to point out that he’d do better just to have the cherry and not the rest. But the treat elevated his mood, and by the time we got to the athletic store, Heath was amenable to trying on styles he’d never worn before.

He was a much happier pregnant omega, modeling all the different styles of track pants and other similar types I did not even know the names for.

But, however that worked, he was enjoying himself, laughing and telling the salesman that he was going to have pups and needed to get a wardrobe before he got too big to make it out the door.

The clerk was apparently all there for it, and I took a seat in a chair along the wall and watched the show.

My mate picked out his first armload and stepped into the dressing room.

From that moment, he never emerged unless he loved something and wanted me to see it on him.

If he liked it, I did, and I was so glad that he’d gone along with my idea because other than real paternity clothes, I was at a loss as to what he might choose to wear.

I had considered a kilt but couldn’t see how that would be much better.

He would look cute in it, though, with his belly sticking out the way it is.

While I waited, I worked a little on my phone, answering emails and reading even more of them.

Just because I was happier now with my career didn’t mean it wasn’t pretty encompassing, but maybe I needed that.

I spent far more time at the club either working or relaxing with my omega than I’d ever done before.

Scening wasn’t happening right now for safety’s sake, but we had a lifetime for that, and it was one more thing to look forward to.

When we left the store, I was carrying three big bags, probably more clothes than he’d had with him when he moved in. We stopped for a quick dinner on the way home, and when we got there, I had some suggestions about what we could do with pants that would not close.