Page 77 of The Omega's Fake Mate

“That's a shame,” my mother said, and she managed to look like she actually meant it too. I was sure on the inside she was relieved, thinking she still had a chance to set me up with someone else. Well, I was going to smash that hope in the next second.

“We have another announcement to make, though.” Under the table, I grabbed my mate's hand and squeezed. “Nick's pregnant.”

I'd never seem my mother's eyes grow so wide. “He's pregnant?”

I nodded, and so did Nick.

“And you're not getting married?”

“Not for now, no.”

“But in the future?”

Nick and I looked at each other in exasperation. “We'll let you know,” I said turning back to my mother. Seriously, I wasn't going to discuss this with my parents before I'd even discussed it with my mate.

“But he's having your baby,” my mother pointed out.

My father, meanwhile, eyed us just as critically. “Don't you think it's time you took on some responsibility, boy?”

“I think being a parent is plenty of responsibility, thank you.” Not that those two would know it. My sister and I had mostly been raised by our grandmother, after all. Something I thanked the stars for every day.

“You have a responsibility to your omega as well,” my father said. I cringed. His tone of voice made it sound like Nick was some sort of object in his eyes. I knew my parents, and yet their archaic way of thinking caught me off guard again and again.

“I'm taking responsibility,” I said through gritted teeth. “Nick and I will be raising the child together. He's moving in with me.”

“Into that small apartment above the bookstore?” my mother asked.

“The apartment you don't even own?” my father added.

My eyes narrowed to slits. The only reason I didn'townthat apartment was because he refused to sell it to me. “It's all right,” I made myself say. “My landlords are reasonable people most of the time. They wouldn't want to see their grandchild living on the streets.”

“They might not appreciate their grandchild being illegitimate, though,” my mother said. “They might even think their child was behaving in a very selfish, inconsiderate way.”

With my free hand, I rubbed my temple. Seriously, these people... “We're not being selfish, Mother. We're simply living life at our own pace. You're going to be grandparents. That's good news, isn't it? Can't you be at least a little happy about that?” Couldn't they see that they were finally getting what they wanted?

“Wearehappy about that!” my mother insisted. “But we have to consider what the neighbors are going to say. We have a reputation to uphold, you know? With the kind of business we run, how's it going to look when our own grandchild is born out of wedlock? Have you thought about that? Of course you haven’t. You only think about yourself.”

I took a deep breath. It was all that kept me from exploding all over my parents' dinner table. They thoughtIwas being selfish? They were the ones who only ever thought about their own needs and what people might think of them. “I'm guessing this means you won't sell the house to me?” I asked, because the sooner we talked about this, the sooner I could grab Nick and get the hell out of here.

“You shouldn't buy a house before you're married, son,” my father said.

I grimaced. “Of course.”

Now that my parents' stance on the matter was clear, I saw no reason to remain. “C'mon, Nick. I think it's time we left,” I said, getting up from the table. Neither of us had actually finished dinner. I couldn't speak for Nick, but my appetite had vanished, anyway.

“Don't be like that,” my mother said. “It's not like what we're asking for is unreasonable.”

“We could argue about that all night, but I don't think it's going to get us anywhere. Frankly, Nick and I have better things to do. The food was very good, though. Thank you for that.”

“It was fantastic.” Nick looked at the food left over on his plate with some remorse. So, he was still hungry. I made a note of that, planning to fix him something when we were home. I hardly ever cooked when I was on my own, but for Nick, I could do it. Especially considering he was eating for two.

“I'll call you some time,” I said to my mother before Nick and I headed out. She didn't respond. Just as well.

Once the door fell shut behind us, I exhaled.

“We have better things to do?” Nick asked.

I vaguely waved my hand in the air. “I can think of plenty things we should be doing that would be better than spending another minute in there.”