Page 17 of The Bear, the Eagle, and their Wombat Omega (Omegas of Animals: SD #14)

Arkyn

Sunday was a great day. I got to lounge in bed if I wanted, watch TV, order a pizza. The only downside was that the next day was Monday, and the work week started all over again.

I didn’t mind work. In fact, I loved it. Working for Bruno was the best. So I loved Sundays.

But today…today was different. Tomorrow was Monday, and Bruno and I were going home. We were leaving San Diego. And Steve.

Steve was in the middle of the bed. Bruno and I hugged him tightly. I didn’t want to let him go. No one said a word, but we all knew what the others were thinking and feeling. Our bond was working better and better every day.

The deadline loomed. One more night was all we had left.

I was afraid to bring up the subject. I was sure they were, too.

Our time together had been so precious. I wanted to hang onto that feeling for as long as I could.

Not ruin it with logistical concerns. We were all still so new in this relationship.

Were we ready for abrupt changes? And if not, waiting would be so hard.

I did love San Diego, but I loved Bear Run, too. A big city was chaotic, and there was never any parking here. We found that out all this week. It was something I never had to think about in Bear Run. And I loved seasons. San Diego had one. Plus, it was extremely expensive.

I let out a heavy sigh.

Bruno raised his head, looking at me over Steve’s chest. “Something on your mind?”

“I don’t want to go home.”

Steve sat up. “Could you stay longer?”

Bruno reached out to him. “We both have to be back to work early Tuesday morning.”

Steve bowed his head. “Yeah. I know. Me, too.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Bruno said. “We can come visit every weekend until then.”

“Yeah. It’s only a two-and-a-half-hour drive,” I said.

“Barring traffic,” Steve added.

He was right. There was always traffic coming through Riverside and Temecula. Both directions.

“I don’t care,” I said. “We’ll be here.”

“And during the week, we’ll Facetime every morning and every night.”

“You can stay at my apartment,” Steve offered. “Or I could come visit you sometimes.”

“That’s a great idea.” Now, I sat up. “We can show you around Bear Run. It’s a city, but small. Really pretty. Surrounded by woodland. Your wombat likes the woods, right?”

Steve smiled. “He does. Wombats like all terrain.”

“This is a good plan. No big decisions right away. We need to be smart,” Bruno said.

“Right, Boss.”

“Right,” Steve echoed.

With that settled, we made plans for showering and breakfast.

I still felt restless. Unsettled.

Steve should be going home with us.

I was standing alone on the balcony waiting for Steve and Bruno to finish dressing. I felt comfortable enough to speak out loud to my beast. “He has commitments. A job. A life. That’s not fair to him.”

Being apart is unfair.

“We won’t be apart forever. And weekends come very quickly. Friday through Sunday. That’s practically three days a week we’ll all be together.”

You all know you’ll get married and nest. Why wait?

Honestly, I didn’t know what to say to that. I replied with the first thing that came into my mind. “We wait because people move at a slightly slower pace than eagles.”

I would move in a single day to a different perch for my mate.

“I know you would.”

The French door opened behind me. Bruno said, “Catching a breeze?”

“Yep. It’s really nice.”

“Are you ready for breakfast?”

“Very.”

I turned. Bruno didn’t move. He stared out at the horizon, his mouth slightly open. I took a step toward him.

Without looking directly at me, he said, “Would you want to live here?”

A warmth began to form behind my eyes. “I don’t know,” I lied. I really wouldn’t choose San Diego as my home. But if my mates were here, as my eagle stated, I’d move my perch anywhere for them. “If you both wanted it, then yes.”

I walked up to him and put my arms around him.

Bruno said, “I agree.”

“But…” I buried my face in his chest. “Where would we work?”

“I guess we’d figure it out.”

“I guess.”

Steve called from the bedroom. “You two ready to go?”

We replied in unison. “Yes.”

We closed the balcony door behind us and followed Steve out to the elevators.

On the way to breakfast, Steve said, “Maybe for this first weekend, I could come to Bear Run.”

Bruno jerked as if shocked. “We’d love that.”

“What’s your housing situation like?”

“I have an apartment,” I said. “But Bruno has a lovely big cabin.”

Bruno nodded. “I do. I have a deck and a barbeque and all that, too.”

It was still too early, but I could picture us all living there, raising a family, with skiing in the winter and going to the lake in the summer.

It’s not too early.

I kept my mouth shut. My eagle was ready for anything all the time. I was the careful one. Moving in with another person was still a bit of a trigger for me.

At breakfast, we all talked a lot and gazed at each other like the new lovers we were. But there was an undercurrent I couldn’t ignore. Encroaching sadness. The empty places inside me, newly filled, started to pulse as if from fear.

It’s only two and a half hours away, I told myself. After Monday’s drive home, we’d see Steve again in four days. Only four days. And Bruno would be with me every day. Would we sleep together? Would we share his bed or mine?

I didn’t know. And I didn’t like that feeling.