Chapter 29
F our in the morning was astonishingly peaceful. While I hated extracting myself from Charlotte’s bed, it did allow me to stay on top of things at work.
An email from Autumn pinged when I was halfway through my coffee.
Sir,
Attached is information on a company I think would be an appropriate partner.
Alve Sato runs the Omega Housing Initiative in Las Vegas. While he is an alpha, he has omega VPs and a team of omega consultants.
Let me know if I should reach out to arrange a meeting.
-Best, Autumn
I read over the information she provided. The OHI was very similar to my own business. The Swedish/Japanese CEO was the child of two immigrants, and he had begun the company about a decade ago.
Autumn,
Please arrange a meeting. Any day but the 23rd.
-Beau
Regardless of whether I pursued expansion, it was in Charlotte’s best interest more affordable omega housing came into existence in her chosen city. A lot of cities were slow to adopt our philosophy, but it was catching on.
I hopped on a morning call with my team to check in on everything before I’d have to transition to speaking with stakeholders. Ollie emerged a few minutes after the meeting started, padding over to me with his bed head and rumpled pajamas.
“One moment, please.” I muted myself and covered the camera before turning to him. “You’re up early.”
“I heard you talking.”
“I’m sorry I woke you. I’m just having a meeting with my team in New York.”
He peered at the screen, where they all sat in a checkerboard. “Can I say hi?”
What harm could it do? “Sure, but you have to promise to be quiet after that or I’ll have to send you back to your room.”
Ollie mimed zipping his lips before grinning at me.
I turned the camera and mic back on. “Ladies, apologies for the interruption, but I have a visitor.”
Ollie climbed onto my lap, waving excitedly at the screen.
I couldn’t help taking a screenshot of their surprised faces.
“Who is everyone?” Ollie asked.
“These are my executive team: Sienna, Chelsi, and Caroline. And this one right here—” I tapped the screen. “—is my executive assistant, Autumn. Ladies, this is Oliver.”
Sienna tilted her head in question. “Whose child is this?”
Unsure how much to say in front of Ollie, I was relieved when Autumn came to my rescue. “I’ll send everyone an explanation.”
“A sparsely detailed one,” I added.
“Can I stay for the meeting?” Ollie asked. “I can be businessy.”
“Does anyone mind if he stays?”
Not a single one of them opposed, and Ollie parked himself on my lap while we finished up. It gave me some rather aggressive flashbacks to when Bryce was little and I had done this a thousand times, working to get my company off the ground without sacrificing time with him.
Ollie was blessedly quiet, soaking everything in before falling asleep against me. When the meeting finished, Autumn stayed on, her smile mischievous. “I see Las Vegas is treating you well.”
“No need to gloat.”
She did anyway. “I told you things would work out. It didn’t take you long to cave and cancel the rental I got for you.”
“It didn’t make sense to be there instead of here.”
“Yes it did. A quiet rental with an office space is exactly what you needed professionally. But I’m glad you chose to stay with her instead.”
My cheeks warmed. “It’s temporary.”
Ollie’s grip on me tightened, but when I looked down at him, he was still deep in sleep.
“What does your son think?”
“I haven’t been to see him.”
“Sir, what, and with all due respect, the fuck? I thought half the reason you were going was so you could work on your relationship with him?”
“One thing at a time, Autumn.”
“The longer you wait, the more hurt he’s going to be. I would message him for you if I could, but since I can’t, you’d better do that as soon as I’m off this call.”
“I will,” I said, unsure whether it was a lie or not. Thinking about seeing Bryce, telling him I was staying with Charlotte, made me queasy. He said himself he didn’t believe Emily would want me to be miserable forever, but that was very different from knowing I was with someone else in any capacity.
I indulged Ollie as long as I could, but I’d put myself in charge of meals, and I wasn’t going to have Charlotte wake up to nothing. Cradling him in one arm, I put on a fresh pot of coffee and awkwardly washed up some blueberries. It was a task in itself to make sure they were all sliced for safety, knowing how rambunctious Ollie could be at meal times. He slept like a rock in my arms, and I silently wished I’d spent more time on arm workouts.
Once the blueberries were safe, I put together some fruit-and-yogurt parfaits before making quick work of their lunches.
Charlotte emerged, looking breathtakingly beautiful even though she was still half-asleep. Drawn to her, I crossed the small distance and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, dipping to breathe in her scent as I kissed the top of her hair.
“Good morning.”
She yawned, burrowing against my chest. “Morning.”
Ollie stirred, blinking owlishly at her. “Hi, Mommy.”
“Good morning, baby.”
“He met my executive team this morning.”
Charlotte paled. “I’m so sorry.”
“No, no, there’s nothing to apologize for. Children will be children, and I think the team enjoyed his visit.”
“Really? Andrew used to get so angry when the kids would interrupt him.”
I stroked my knuckles along her cheek, threading my fingers into her hair, gratified when her eyes drifted shut and she leaned into my palm. “I’m not angry. Ollie behaved very well.”
Tension dropped out of her shoulders, and when she met my eyes again, a soft smile graced her lips. “I should get the boys washed up. Come on, baby.”
Ollie went readily into her arms and she disappeared to wake up her Sammy and prepare them for the school day. I moved all my work items aside, tucking them safely on the counter before moving breakfast for everyone onto the coffee table. They ate while still in their pajamas to avoid needing to change fresh clothes. I sat with my coffee watching the chaos. The boys inhaled their food, proving Charlotte wise for making them wait to dress for the day. While she finished morning prep with them, I took their lunches from the fridge, put in ice packs, and added baggies of cereal for extra sustenance, tucking it all into their backpacks.
She hadn’t asked me to put in this level of care with her children, but it took me so little time in the quiet of the morning, and I wanted to be able to do this for them.
“Be good for your mother,” I told them both as she hustled them out the door.
With Charlotte and the children gone, the apartment descended into silence. I worked for another hour until she returned.
“Are you busy today?” I asked when she stepped through the door.
“Nothing that can’t be pushed off. Why?”
“I’d like to take you shopping for nesting supplies.”
She froze, looking at me like she wasn’t sure if I actually meant it. “What do you mean?”
“I realize I’m not your alpha, but since I’m staying with you and you don’t have a nest worthy of an omega, I would like to help change that.”
“Beau.” Her voice shook. “You don’t have to do that. I don’t need?—”
“But do you want it? Would it make you more comfortable?”
“I… yes.”
“Please, let me do this for you. You can get as much or as little as you like, but you deserve a proper nest.”
Her gaze slid down the hall to the tiny bedroom we were temporarily sharing. “There’s no space.”
“There’s enough to indulge a bit. Maybe we skip the six-foot-tall plushies, but we can certainly get you some more blankets and pillows.”
She chewed her lip, wringing her fingers. “You won’t feel crowded?”
“Pardon my French, but fuck me. This is your nest.”
“All right. I suppose I could get a few things.”
“Good. I don’t have another meeting until two. Why don’t we go now?”
It took very little coaxing after that, and we were quickly on our way to Best of Nests.
The store was an omega wonderland. I insisted we get a cart, and whenever Charlotte longingly touched something but moved on, I dropped it in behind her. She didn’t even notice until we were halfway through the store, stopping short and glancing from the pile to me.
“Beau, this is too much.”
“Nothing is too much for my scent match. Whether you’re mine or not is irrelevant. You deserve nice things.”
Her lip wobbled. “I’m going to need all of you to stop being so sweet. I’ll get dehydrated from all this crying sneaking up on me.”
She burrowed against my chest, scent marking the fabric.
“Oh my god, Charlotte!” A brunette omega bounded over to us.
Charlotte peeked over at her. “Hi, Madison.”
The other omega’s gaze sharply perused me. “Who’s Mr. Tall, Blond, and Daddy?”
Heat rushed over my cheeks.
Charlotte hugged me a little tighter. “This is Beau. He’s one of my matches. Beau, this is my new friend, Madison.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, nodding stiffly.
“You’re buying nesting supplies without me?”
“I insisted. I was inspired after you bought her that pillow.”
“We love an inspired alpha.” Madison grinned. “Do you want any assistance coordinating, or is this a romantic shop?”
Charlotte flushed pink. “Not romantic.”
I knew it wasn’t, but somehow I didn’t like that truth on her lips. “I understand you’re something of an expert, Madison?”
“Oh, I just do things for fun, but I love designing nests.”
Even with Madison added to our party, Charlotte stuck close by my side, keeping her fingers laced with mine. Every time she balked at a price, I had Madison add it to the cart anyway.
She obviously knew the cashier very well, flirting ostentatiously as he rang through all of Charlotte’s purchases. “Jude is my store buddy,” Madison explained. “I know what I want, but I’m not always tall enough to reach it.”
“I’m pretty sure she’s bought the entire store at this point,” Jude replied with an easy smile.
Given our current stockpile, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that statement was true.
“I’ve gotta finish picking things out for my orders,” Madison announced after I paid. “Have fun setting up your nest.”
She gave Charlotte a hug and me a cheeky salute before enlisting Jude to help her gather up some coordinated towel sets.
Charlotte was quiet the whole drive back, and her eyes were misty as she added each of her new pieces into her nest. By the time the last item was in, tears were silently tracking down her cheeks. “I love it. Thank you, Beau. I don’t deserve your generosity, but?—”
I pulled her close, muffling her words against my chest. She nuzzled against me, fingers clutching the back of my suit jacket. “Hush. You deserve more than I can ever give you, and even though we can’t be together, I’m still going to strive to make sure you believe that.”