Page 19 of Such a Tempting Omega (His Alpha Desires #7)

Liam

Hirsch still wanted to find a job, but his stomach had not taken well to the new inhabitant of his womb, making him quite ill well into the morning and sometimes even in the afternoon for the first few months of his pregnancy.

As a crafty alpha, I took advantage of his weakened state to get him to agree he would put off any kind of job search until after the baby’s arrival.

I might have felt a little guilty if he hadn’t been so utterly miserable and in no shape for pounding the pavement for a job that he might not feel well enough to do.

But a few months in, as his second trimester began, his sickness dissipated.

I came home from watching the little garden installation one afternoon to find my omega in a blue funk.

He was sitting on the sofa staring straight ahead, his lips turned down in a frown.

I glanced toward the TV, but it was on screen saver.

“Hirsch?” I set my laptop bag down on a chair and moved to stand between him and the mountain scene on the flatscreen. “Are you all right?”

He blinked, focusing as if he had just noticed my arrival. “Liam. When did you get home?”

“Just now. What are you doing?”

“Watching TV,” he said. “What else is there to do?”

Good question. He kept the house spotless, refusing to allow me to hire a housekeeper so he could relax.

And since the two of us weren’t very messy, it didn’t take much of his time.

He also did most of the cooking, but once those things were done, all he had to do was rest. Which had been great for a while though it was inevitable that restlessness would set in.

“What would you like to do?” I braced myself for him to insist on finding a job.

The trouble was, everything he was likely to get hired to do would involve being on his feet all day.

Although he was no longer nauseated, for the most part, standing made his ankles swell, and I didn’t think that was a good thing.

But to my surprise, Hirsch didn’t suggest working.

“I’d like to go back to school.” He pulled out his phone and showed me an ad for a college certificate program.

“I can go remotely, at first, and eventually get a degree in education. Since I’ve been pregnant, I’ve been thinking about how many shifter kids don’t have teachers they can identify with.

They either get an education in their pride or pack that rarely helps them learn real world skills, or they are stuck in human schools where they rarely fit in. They bully or are bullied.”

Sitting down on the sofa next to him, I took the phone and scrolled through the website for the program he was considering. “Tell me more about what you’d like to do with this. Did you want to teach young kids? High school?”

“I’m not sure, yet, but I’ve been talking to an omega I met at the club who is already a teacher at a shifter school. It’s private, and they have a really hard time finding certified teachers.”

“I think that sounds wonderful. So, have you applied for classes?”

“I wanted to talk to you first. It’s going to be expensive and then when I start working, the school doesn’t pay nearly as much as a public school. It would be a long time before I earned enough even to cover my costs, much less pay my share of expenses around here.”

Not our first conversation along these lines.

Since he’d been kept from working by his ex, he had a hard time trusting that I only wanted him to do whatever he chose, whatever he might enjoy.

And being a full-time daddy would be more than enough if that was what he wanted.

This was the first time he’d so much as suggested he had a bigger dream than just any job he could get.

“Omega, we’re mates and what’s mine is yours. You’re already on the household bank accounts and don’t need my permission to spend money.”

He shrugged. “I know, but it’s hard…”

I hugged him close. “I understand. But hear me out. Being mates means both of us have responsibilities and privileges, do you agree?”

“Yes.”

“And my responsibility and privilege as your alpha is to do everything in my power to make sure you have the resources to achieve your dreams and goals. That means, if you want to stay home with the baby, I support that. If you want to take up professional yo-yoing, I’m good with that.”

“I would never,” he spluttered, and I laughed.

“But you could. And if you want to become a better educated person and help other shifters to achieve their dreams, I’m honored to be there for you. If this is what you really want to do, let’s get you signed up today. You said it can start remotely, right?”

“Yes, the first couple of years, until I need to start putting in classroom time.”

“Then it’s ideal. Take as few or many classes as work for you, and tell me how I can be helpful to make sure you have the time you need. As in, we have a housekeeper starting next week. And we take turns cooking.”

For a moment, I thought he was going to argue, but then he said, “Yes, alpha,” in such an obedient tone, I eyed him suspiciously.

“That felt too easy.”

“When someone wants to help you make your dreams come true, why argue?” He flung his arms around my neck and hugged me. “Our child will be so lucky to have you for their dad.”

“And you, omega. And you.”