Chapter Twenty-Four
Linc
“This is nice.” Yash raised his bottle of beer before taking a swig. “Almost makes me want to leave the city to buy a house way out here.”
I chuckled. With the amount of time the singer spent on tour and in the studio, I doubted he would want to live outside of Saramto.
“Are you moving all of your equipment here when it’s finished?” Ren asked.
I shook my head. “Not everything. I’m going to have to buy some new equipment for my studio here. There are some things I need at Adan for when I’m there.”
After claiming Knox, I convinced my omega to come live with me at my condo in Saramto. It hadn’t been hard since he hated his job at the high school, and apparently loved being with me. He’d worked as a hygiene technician at the medical clinic in tower one for a little bit, not satisfied with spending the day simply taking care of himself and our forming baby. When it became too much for his body, and he began to miss having family around, we decided to move closer to Shifter Crossing. Both our parents loved the idea, and we found a place with enough room for us, plus an extra space I could convert into a studio so I didn’t have to commute to Saramto as often. My studio wasn’t done yet, but with ONE’s debut album set to release in less than a week, I had a chance to move, get my studio set up, and take some time off to spend with Knox and our new baby, who was due the same day as ONE’s release.
“So, are you ready to be a dad?” Buan asked. “You’re the first one of us mated, and the first to have a kid. That we know of, at least.”
While all my former boy bandmates chuckled, I tried to swallow away the panic that had been building inside of me as we neared Knox’s due date. “Is anyone ever ready?” I worried from one moment to the next whether we had all the necessary gear to take care of our baby, whether I would be a good enough father to support both our child and Knox, and if my mate was really okay when he told me over and over that he was fine and to stop asking. Everyone I knew with young children had their babies when I wasn’t around, so I had no clue what to do. Luckily, both our parents promised to help as much as we wanted them to, claiming there would be moments where we would want to be by ourselves. Though sure they were right, I doubted that time would occur in the first few days after our child arrived.
We headed upstairs to where the rest of our guests chatted and enjoyed giving Knox advice on giving birth and raising a child. All stuff we’d heard before, especially from our parents and my sister. It was nice to have everyone over for our housewarming party slash baby shower. I hadn’t expected so many of my fellow artists from Adan Records to show up, especially with us being so far from Saramto, yet, even artists such as TK and his model husband, Kish, had been thrilled to help us celebrate.
“When did you say Knox was due?” Ash took a piece of shrimp from the plate in his hand and sucked it out of its tail before swallowing it down.
“Not for another week.” The date was ingrained in my brain regardless of how many times others told me that the first born is usually never on time but often late.
“Hmm,” Kish said beside him. “I don’t think he’s going to last that long.”
“Me neither.” Ash tilted his head as he stared at my mate. “You see the way he’s holding his belly there? I would bet he’s having false contractions.”
Kish nodded. “Do you have your hospital bag ready?”
“Knox wanted a home birth.” Something he and his dad had argued about for so long, but we’d found a good birthing coach who lived nearby to assist us when the time came.
“Oh, that’s nice.” Kish eyed my mate before taking a bite of his carrot stick. “Then you’d best have your coach on notice and make sure anything you need for that is ready. He’s going to go soon.”
Glancing over at Knox among friends and family, I noticed how pale he’d become. At that moment, I wanted everyone to leave. Maybe the party had been too much, regardless of his insistence that he wanted to have it before he gave birth. Perhaps we’d cut it closer than we’d intended.
Somehow, our guests seemed to leave on their own over the next hour. Maybe Kish and Ash encouraged them to leave, or they saw the same deterioration of Knox’s social battery. He laid on the couch as the last of our guests left, only our parents still at our house, helping to clean up.
When the doorbell rang, I expected someone to have forgotten something, but it was Derek, Knox’s birthing coach. “Your sister said to come. Thinks that Knox has been having contractions all day but didn’t want to tell anyone.”
Exactly what Kish and Ash had said. I led Derek inside and helped to bring in his gear then I held Knox’s hand as the coach checked to see if my mate was indeed in labor.
Derek gave a confident nod. “It’s time. I’ll get the tub set up and then we’ll proceed as you find it most comfortable, Knox. But you’ve come a long way on your own already.”
Three hours later, after more screaming and cursing from our fathers than I heard from Knox, my mate gave birth to a little boy. Our little boy. I had a family. One that I hadn’t expected when I’d boarded that train to Saramto ten months earlier. Yet, every day, I thanked the Fates for bringing us together.