Page 64 of The Omega's Fake Mate

“Really? Are you starting to miss Oceanport? Even when you're surrounded by the glamor of LA?” Dean led me into the kitchen where he poured himself a cup of coffee as I sat at the table. “You want some too?”

“No, thanks, I'm fine.” Most days I only had one cup a day—right after waking up. “I'm starting to think LA isn't all I'd hoped it would be, you know?”

“I never quite understood what drove you there anyway, to be honest.” Dean sat at the table across from me, both of his hands around the cup.

I shrugged. “A thirst for adventure? Tam made it sound fun. And you know I never even considered college, not really. I thought in LA I could... I don't know... escape from everything it meant to be omega in a small town.”

As if on cue, Dean's son came running into the kitchen just as I said that. I'd seen him before of course, but the little one had grown since last year. Now the two-year-old stared at me, question marks all over his adorable face and a plastic cup in his hands. “Who that?”

“That's your uncle Nick,” Dean's mate Griffin said, showing up in the door to the kitchen shortly after his son. “Say hi to your uncle Nick.”

Bastian did no such thing. Instead, he climbed straight up on my lap. “Hey, there,” I said.

Instead of responding, my nephew emptied his cup of water over my pants, shrieking with laughter before he ran away again. Little bastard. Clearly, he knew he wasn't supposed to be doing that.

“I'm sorry!” Griff threw some tissue at me before chasing after Bastian.

“We've been trying to get him off sippy cups,” Dean said. “Now this is his new hobby.”

“I see,” I said wiping at the stains on my pants that made me look likeIwas the toddler. “Awesome. And you have another on the way, don't you? Bet you're looking forward to that!” Putting the tissue away, I grinned at my brother.

“Actually, yeah, I am.” My brother's smile was so sincere that it made me smile too. I glanced in the direction of the door where Griff and Bastian had vanished. “How far along is he?”

“Just about three months now. All done with the morning sickness, thank God.”

“I guess that's good.” I licked my lips. “Rhys told me he wants to have children too.”

“You spoke to him? Oh, that's right. Shane mentioned you were going to visit him in his community.”

“I did. I needed to see how he lives, you know? I still can't stand his husband.” Under the table my hands balled to fists. “He speaks to Rhys like he's some second-class citizen! And now Rhys wants to have children with the asshole. Can you believe it?”

Dean's forehead creased. Well, good. Heshouldbe worried. Rhys was his brother too. “Love makes you do the stupidest things,” he said on a sigh. “I'm just glad I fell for someone who doesn't abuse me aside from demanding an ungodly number of cupcakes every Sunday.”

“I just wish we could help him somehow.”

“I'm afraid Rhys is old enough to make his own decisions. I hope he knows he can come to us when he decides to get out.”

“I think he knows, but I'm scared he'll have a child by the time he changes his mind. He'll never regain his freedom then.”

Dean took a sip of his coffee. He wore a thoughtful expression on his face, but it didn't seem like he had any solutions, either. Of course not. He was right; we couldn't force Rhys to do anything.

“I just don't get why he wants a child so badly,” I said, venting my frustration. “Am I the only omega who doesn't?”

“I'm sure you're not the only one, brother. Having a child can be a fantastic experience, though. It's—”

I held up a hand. “Spare me the lecture. I'm omega, how often do you think I've heard that?” And I still didn't understand why people were breeding left and right. There was a reason I insisted on condoms with Zander last night.

Unlike that first time when I went into heat and lost all reason.

I felt the color drain from my face just thinking about that. That had beenstupid.

But surely, I wasn't gonna get pregnant from being stupid just once.

Right?

23

Nick