Page 44 of Unforgettable Omega
“What would you like to drink?” Blonde-and-Perky asked.
Drew glanced down at her name tag, “Could we have a moment, Noah, please.”
Huh? When did Noah become a girl’s name?
When she excused them, Drew looked down at his son, who was seated beside him, and not Shay. And why did that make him feel like he’d won some sort of prize?
Drew put his menu down, and looked down at Andy’s, “What would you like son?”
He looked down and noted that Andy had a kids menu.
“He likes chicken burgers, and maybe a strawberry milkshake,” Shay spoke up. When Drew looked over at Shay, he saw Shay was watching him and Andy, a small smile on his face.
Andy pointed at a picture on the menu, “I want this one.” It was a chicken fingers meal.
“He’ll have a strawberry shake with that, but a small one,” Shay said.
Drew called the waitress over and ordered for his son and himself, and Shay put in his order too. When it was just the three of them, Drew asked Shay, “Are you having fun?”
“I am. This was Andy’s first time at the zoo. I always planned to take him but…” Shay shrugged.
“Well, I’m glad I got to take both of you then,” Drew said. There was a feeling in his chest he couldn’t quite place, but all he knew was he was content in that moment.
He hadn’t known about this being Andy’s first zoo trip, but he was happy to be a part of one of his son’s firsts after missing his early ones. But he refused to dwell on that. Today was a good day, and he didn’t want to color it with regret.
“Me too,” Shay said. It was said very low, but Drew caught it anyway.
Their son, tapped him on his arm to get his attention, “Color?” Andy said hopefully.
Drew was about to pull his phone out, having downloaded some kid-friendly apps, but Shay beat him to it. He pulled out a coloring book from the backpack he’d insisted on bringing along. He also got out some crayons, and that had their son whooping.
Drew and Shay shared a smile. Drew recognized that smile. He’d seen it among his friends. It was like that moment when you had the same thought with someone, because you were both connected. Okay, this was about their son, but Drew hoped they’d have some shared smiles, because of themselves, shared secrets, and joys…
He hoped.
22
Shay
The next couple of days passed in much the same way. A lot of family time and Andy and Drew cementing their own relationship. It put a huge smile on Shay’s face seeing his son fall in love with his other dad.
It also warmed his heart to see how much Drew was trying. How much effort he was putting in. Shay wasn’t sure what he expected, but it wasn’t Drew becoming Mr. Dad. Not that he was complaining.
Shay had also spent more time with Drew than he ever thought possible. Whenever the alpha made plans, he included Shay.
Shay kind of expected he would be just an add-on to the trip, but that wasn’t the case at all. Instead, they’d gone on so many family outings during the past several days that Shay started imagining things he shouldn’t be.
From the moment Drew left his home after their… night, Shay resolved to be strictly co-parental with Drew. He was Andy’s father and that was all there was to it. Shay had gone as far as searching on the internet how to be a good co-parent. He had bought a book and everything.
He’d prepared himself to watch as Drew picked their son up for mini outings during spring break. Ready to be cordial, as he handed Andy over for his day out with his father. But that wasn’t how it turned out.
This vacation was proof of that.
Andy and Drew got a chance to get to know each other, but honestly, that wasn’t necessary. Apparently saying to a three-year-old, here’s your other dad, was enough to get him to fall in love with Drew. Father and son just had a connection.
And it warmed Shay’s heart.
After a few days of being in the same house with Drew, sitting across from the alpha at the dinner table, putting their son to bed together, and sharing a bath time with Drew that had turned into a some kind of splash fight, which had their son giggling and managing to drench the floor, and themselves.