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It began slowly, so gradually and subtly that he barely noticed the first tear sliding down his cheek and landing on his trembling hand, which clutched the plastic stick. He took a deep breath trying his best not to let emotions cloud his mind and vision, but his stubborn brain didn’t listen. Within moments a dam broke loose from baby blue eyes making it impossible to see clearly. Making it impossible to see his reality. Cruelly compelling him to stand before the verdict yet unable to see it.
He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Then he wiped them again. And again. Never had he imagined there would come a day when he would be angry at his own tears, angry because they weren’t stopping and he desperately needed his eyes at the moment.
"Henry? Is everything alright?" his husband's worried voice broke his chain of thoughts.
"Yes," he sniffled, "just two minutes, darling. I'll be out of the bathroom."
The distress in omega's voice didn't go unnoticed by the alpha, but he managed to restrain himself, resisting the urge to tear the door down.
“Baby, open the door, okay? I’m worried. Whatever it is, we can talk it out,” the alpha’s voice was filled with desperation, his foot tapping nervously on the bedroom floor.
When no reassuring sound answered his plea, the taller man spoke again, “Okay, Hen, I’m going to count to ten. If you don’t open the door by then, I’m coming in my way.”
“O-One….
Look, Whatever it is you can tell me Sweetheart.”
“Two…
Did anybody say something to you?”
“Three…
They didn’t touch you, did they, Henry?”
“Four..
I am gonna break their nose, I swear, whoever it is. Just tell me their name.
“Five..
Is it someone I know?”
“Six..
Just give me a name and I will punch him so hard that even his mother will not be able to recognize him.”’
“Seven…
No one is going to hurt you while I’m here.”
“Eight..
I will cut their dick off even if anyone tried.”
“Nine..
And then I will feed it to dogs.”
“Ten..
And then..”
But before the alpha could utter another threatening word, the door swung open abruptly, cutting him off mid-sentence. Standing in the doorway was a glaring omega with bloodshot eyes. "How dare you say such a thing. You will not lay a finger on that person."
The alpha’s eyes first scanned the omega’s body, his own muscles relaxing slightly upon seeing that he wasn’t hurt. Once his mind was assured of the omega’s safety then it processed the words spoken by the love of his life, he stammered, “What??”
“You heard me.” the omega declared, stepping closer to the alpha, “And don’t even think about harming that dick. I love that dick.”
“You? Love—baby, it’s me? I made you cry? I’m so sorry. Whatever it is, just tell me, and I’ll make it better. Is it something I said? Was it because I made fun of your cooking? I swear, I didn’t mean it. I love your cooking. That croissant was..uhm…d-delicious—no, the best croissant I’ve ever had in my life!”
Henry took a deep breath, looked upward, and shook his head, unable to stop the smile spreading across his lips. He stepped forward and kissed his babbling fool of a husband. The rosy lips locked themselves with their counterparts, silencing all thoughts, blanking the mind.
As they broke the kiss the baby blue eyes looked up into the molten brown ones, now filled with astonishment and wonder as if looking at the omega for the first time. “I know that croissant was..uhm.. Beyond the category of ‘edible' so keep your insincere flattery to yourself. Next time, I’ll serve you something that’ll truly make you rave.”
The alpha’s eyes widened slightly and he swallowed hard, letting out a strained chuckle. “S-Sure. I have no doubt in your capabilities.”
The alpha pressed his forehead gently against the omega’s, pulling him closer and tightening his arm around him so their bodies pressed together. “Now tell me what I need to do. If I’ve hurt you in some way, just let me know how to make it right.”
The omega pecked the alpha’s lips again, smiling softly. “There’s nothing to make right because everything is perfect—more than perfect—and it’s all because of you. I must have done some incredibly good deeds in my previous life that you came into my life.”
“Well, it’s certain that you haven’t done as many good deeds as I have,” the alpha replied with a playful smirk, his eyes twinkling with affection.
The omega scoffed, giving the alpha an eskimo kiss before gently pulling away from his embrace. “I need to tell you something—or maybe I need you to tell me something.”
“Yes?” the alpha asked, his eyes wide with anticipation.
The smaller man asked his husband to extend his hands. When Alex complied, he gently placed the plastic stick into his palms. “Tell me, Alex, what do you see?”
The alpha’s mouth fell open, and his eyebrows shot up as he stammered, “It—it’s.” and then he turned to look at his mate, whose eyes were welling up with tears once more. Gently placing the plastic stick upon the nearby table, the alpha cupped the omega’s face,“Youuu… I.. We?”
The omega nodded excitedly, and now it was the alpha’s turn to have tears well up in his eyes. “Hen, oh my God. You’re pregnant. I’m going to be a father. We’re going to be parents.”
“Yes, darling.”
“OH..MY GOD!” The alpha covered his own face with his hands and his eyes roaming right and left, feeling the gravity of the situation. Once he fully processed everything, he moved toward the omega, wrapped his arms around his waist, and lifted him off the ground, spinning him joyfully. “Thank you… thank you… thank you, Hen, for making me the happiest, the luckiest man in the world once more.”
/
Later that night, as the alpha slept with his head resting on his omega’s chest, lulled to sleep by his mate’s sweet scent, the omega remained awake, gently caressing his scalp. He marveled at the reality he had been given—a life better than any dream. A mate who loved him so unconditionally that he married him despite knowing Henry was barren; a used, second-hand omega; good for nothing who was discarded on the street like unwanted trash, with a leash around his neck, tied to a pole in the middle of the road where nobody comes.
But Alex came, like an angel without wings—driving his car at full speed to outrun the storm and reach home. His home, which he had newly bought on a whim. His home where he should have arrived hours earlier if not for the emergency case that had come up. His home that he would have reached via a completely different route if the storm hadn’t forced him to take a less traveled shortcut.
"How careless!" Henry huffed, his chest rising and falling with the emotion. It wasn’t a rational decision, in his opinion. A hard-learned lesson in life was that the road less traveled could end with a flat tire. But his foolish alpha was an idiot who took risks daily, turning Henry’s life into a roller coaster.
And that single decision that day was the reason Henry was now lying in his bed, nestled in the safety of his home with the sweetest alpha in the world and the proof of their love growing in his womb.
A proof of love, not a fruit of duty and obligation, as Henry had always feared he would end up with growing up. He never imagined he could have it all. He was convinced he was going to die that day, he was certain he was sterile because that’s what he had been told—again and again, countless times by his previous mate, Miguel.
Alex made sure that Miguel lived the rest of his life in jail for physically, sexually, and verbally abusing Henry, and for manipulating him into believing he was sterile just to conceal his own impotency.
“Hmm,” Alex’s sleepy grumble interrupted the omega’s thoughts again. “Thinking too loud,” he mumbled in a voice thick with sleep, “Baby needs sleep.”
Henry placed a tender kiss on the alpha’s forehead, gently lulling him back to sleep. Then, he silently thanked all the deities he knew of because he didn’t know that the ‘baby’ in question which was referred to was the literal baby or him.
____________THE END_____________