Page 128 of The Omega Exchange: Omnibus (The Exchange)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Oliver

When I wake up on the morning of Mel’s gender reveal ultrasound, she’s missing. Carver and Miller slept in their own rooms last night, and Nik is still snoring, so I go searching.

I make it downstairs and take several steps toward the kitchen. My nose twitches with the smell of burning food. I pick up my pace.

Melody gags into the trash can.

I skirt behind her carefully and head over to the stove to flip off the element.

I slide the pan to the back burner and turn to face Mel. She’s using the kitchen counter as an armrest, and she looks miserable.

My chest pounds uncomfortably as I watch her cough and gag. Spinning around, I grab a water from the fridge and bring it over to her. I set it next to her hand and head for the sink. Pulling out a fresh hand towel, I run it under the cool water and bring it over to her.

I lay it over her forearm and she jumps.

“Thank you, Oli,” she says as her eyes meet mine. I give her a nod, shoving up my glasses. She looks exhausted. I was really hoping the constant vomiting was a thing of the past. Traveling was one thing, but at home, she’s been doing pretty well.

“Are you okay? What happened? Are you hungry?” I ask as my brain files through another twenty questions. I need to know so I can figure out how to fix this.

“Yeah, I mean I was,” she says, snorting a laugh. “I’ve learned I can’t do eggs. Probably ever again. All I’ve wanted for two days is fluffy scrambled cheesy goodness. But when I cracked them, all I could think about was baby chicken embryos . . .”

She gags, turning her head.

“I don’t think—” I start, but she cuts me off.

“Listen, you saw where I grew up. I understand how farm life works. I know it’s not logical, but . . .” She shrugs. “I don’t think I can do it.”

“That’s okay,” I say, eyeing the pan of eggs. “I’m not a big fan of eggs either. Are you craving other proteins like meat or nuts?”

I’ve done so much research lately. It’s unreal the vast amount of information there is about pregnancy.

Cravings can be nothing or they can indicate a deficiency in something.

“I don’t know. We know I can’t do bacon anymore, but I was hungry before this.” She frowns. “Dammit, I was fine with eggs until I tried to cook them.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Do you want me to make you some pancakes or a bowl of cereal?”

“No, not yet,” she groans. “I’ve got to give my stomach a chance to stop hating me before I put anything in it.”

“How about I grab a bowl in case there’s an emergency and we can snuggle on the couch? Your appointment isn’t for another few hours.”

“Yeah,” she agrees solemnly. “Man, I’m actually really bummed about this turn of events.”

It’s hard to keep a straight face. She’s cute as hell at the most random times.

“I don’t think I can hold it anymore,” Mel whimpers, pacing back and forth across the waiting room.

Our appointment was close to twenty minutes ago, and Mel has felt every single extra second of wait time.

“They’re going to get me on the table, push on my stomach, and I’m going to be sitting in a puddle. ”

I frown because that does sound terrible.

“You’ll live,” Carver says, snorting a laugh. “I’m more impressed that you put away half a bag of jalapeno cheese puffs for breakfast. Not even your toothpaste could overcome that debacle.”

It was the closest we had in the house to satisfy the craving she was having for non-egg scrambled eggs with cheese. Yeah, I’m still baffled by that one.

“Ohmigod, does my breath stink?” She slaps Carver in the stomach. “It’s legally your responsibility to warn me of these things.”

“Legally? Is that right? Are you going to press charges?” he asks, snorting a laugh. “I almost don’t want to tell you . . .”

I raise a hand, swiping it across my throat. Under no circumstances will Melody learn that she has had terrible gas while she sleeps the last few days.

To be fair, some of the concoctions she’s been craving would be hard on even the most hardcore digestive tract.

Miller and I have done our best to mitigate the fact we live with two men who act more like teenagers than actual adults. They think it’s hysterical, but I know it would make Mel uncomfortable, so we’re sticking that one in the vault and taking it to the grave.

Nik really isn’t in a place to judge. I’ve smelled him after corn chips and cheese dip with salsa. He’s got no room to talk.

“Stop picking on her,” Miller says, shoving his way out of the too-small chair and heading over.

“We’re just trying to keep her mind off the bladder emergency,” Nik says, smirking.

“It’s so bad,” Mel says, burying her face in Miller’s chest. “I really am afraid I might pee myself. I’m sorry you’re stuck with me.”

“I’m not,” the big guy says, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “I’m sure they’ve had more than one incident, especially since they want a full bladder for the ultrasound.”

“Pregnancy is more embarrassing than I expected,” Mel mutters as her shoulders slump.

The beginning of the ultrasound is questionable.

I’m regretting not thinking to bring Mel a change of clothes, or possibly adult diapers. She’s made several jokes that she’s as dangerous as a potty training toddler.

It’s cute, but we’re all relieved when the technician says she’s got all the important measurements and offers Mel a bathroom break.

She gleefully accepts. Once she’s finished, the tech goes back to scanning and documenting things I don’t understand.

“Okay, so I have to ask—would you like to know what you’re having?” the ultrasound technician asks after a while.

All of our eyes fly to Melody. She blinks frozen for several long beats.

“We want to know, right?” Nik probes, bouncing on his toes. He’s got his hands in his jeans pockets and he looks like he’s about to burst out of his skin if Melody doesn’t agree.

“We do,” she finally says, reaching out to grab Nik’s hand.

“Fuck yes!” He actually fist pumps the air before intertwining their fingers. He wraps his other hand around her back, leaning in to kiss her forehead.

“Are you sure, Mom?” the tech asks, chuckling.

“Oh yeah, I think I froze for a minute, but I definitely did want to know before we got here.” Mel grins. Her excitement and maybe a little fear slide through the bond.

“Okay, let’s see if we can tell,” the tech says, giving a bright smile.

“Thank you,” Carver says, holding his phone toward the screen.

“All right, so we’ve got the cord up here which means I feel pretty confident in saying it’s a girl.” The tech points at the screen. “I’ll print out a picture.”

“A girl?” Nik whispers. “Holy shit.”

Melody leans forward to get a good look at the screen and promptly bursts into tears.

Carver aims the phone at her, but his eyes cut to mine. My shoulders slump. He needs a bond. I remember what it felt like to wonder what was going on in her head.

“They’re happy tears,” I whisper, giving him a smile.

“Yeah, I’m going to need to get in on that bonding action soon,” Carver mutters.

“We can do it tonight after we give her the thing,” Miller suggests in barely a whisper.

His eyes are glued to the screen, and I’m pretty sure he’s mentally calculating how much savings we’ll need to hire a hitman one day in case someone hurts our daughter.

I mean, I’m only getting mild impressions. He’s excellent about blocking the bond.

My knees go a little weak.

A baby.

Our baby.

And it’s so fucking real that I panic.

I yank out my phone and start searching for companies to baby proof the house. It suddenly feels imperative that we handle this now.

“Oliver?” Mel calls softly.

My eyes fly from my phone to her. She stretches out her fingers and I cross the room, wrapping her hand in mine.

“Are you okay?” she asks, looking at me with slight creases in her brow.

“Yeah, just making preparations,” I assure her, kissing her forehead. She squeezes my hand and I take a deep breath and blow it back out again. I can’t panic right now. It bleeds through the bond, and Mel needs me to be her rock.

I give her as sincere a smile as I can manage while my brain calculates through the fifty-three things on my to-do list in order of importance.

I shove my phone in my pocket and live in this life-changing moment with my packmates.

I can obsess once we’re in the car.

The press caught wind of us being back in Virginia, but I don’t think any of us were expecting to walk out to four or five paparazzi.

Melody holds the ultrasound pictures to her chest along with the bag of stuff they gave us.

“Nikolas, is it a boy or a girl?”

“Oliver, how do you like being bonded?”

“Have you decided if you’ll join Core-Tech? You’re on their short list.”

“Nik, tell us about the arrest.”

“Hey, sweetheart, is it a boy or a girl?”

“Which one of your pack is the father?”

The questions don’t stop. They do the round robin game to see who’ll crack. They don’t care if they get an actual answer; just a snarling response will be enough for their clip or sound bite.

“You’re going to want to back the fuck up now,” Miller growls, tossing up a forearm between Mel and one of the camera men.

“I wasn’t touching her!” the guy complains.

“I’m good,” Mel says, smiling tightly.

“How far along are you?”

“Nik, is the baby yours?”

The questions do not stop even as Carver pulls to a stop with the SUV. Nik and Miller guard either side of Mel, but I make a straight shot for the front seat.

“Please don’t touch me,” I snap as one of the photographers bumps into me on the way by. My chest heaves as I climb into the front seat and slam the door.

Nik and Miller ensure Mel is safe as we take off, but I feel like a giant asshole.

“Can you just give me some space,” Mel grumbles as Nik pats her down. My eyes fly back to the front as Carver pulls away. “Are you okay?” She leans forward, battling the seat belt to pat my arm.

“I’m good,” I assure her.

Melody sends pure steady comfort in the bond, and my anxiety does seem to melt away. Somehow I ended up with the perfect omega for me. Here’s hoping she never realizes just how much she settled when she agreed to bond with me.