Chapter Five
Thomas
Part of me was nervous inviting Isaac back to my place for dinner, but another part of me felt it was a very smart decision.
I wasn’t ready to announce our mating to the world, or even to fully accept it, if I was honest with myself.
Being drawn to him in a very real and all-consuming way didn’t keep me from thinking about all the omegas I’d met in my life who embraced their matings and let go of their dreams and careers.
That wouldn’t be me, just another omega who gave up their career for a man who was hardly ever home to help take care of our children.
Other omegas said that they made the best choice for them, and I respected that.
I just wasn’t sure yet what the best choice for me would be and had to take my time in getting to know Isaac and exploring our bond.
Our mate, my dragon huffed, not convinced that waiting to complete the bond was the right path. He would just have to deal with it, though.
It’s not like I am shoving him away. I am just taking time to make sure our values and priorities align. What’s wrong with that? I pointed out to my beast. Allow me this time to make sure he really is the kind of mate we need.
Fate says he is, my dragon argued.
I know. But I need to say he is as well.
“Everything okay?” Isaac stared at me from his position on my light-brown leather couch. “If this isn’t a good time after all, we can reschedule. I know meeting your mate can be overwhelming and you do seem a bit—”
“No, it’s okay.” I approached the living room from the kitchen area of my apartment, carrying two cups of coffee. “I was just reminding my dragon of a few things. Sorry for being quiet. I really do want you here tonight.”
“If you’re sure.” Isaac took one of the mugs from my hand and settled back onto the couch. “Thanks for the coffee. I know most people don’t drink it at night because it might interfere with their sleep, but I don’t have any issues with that.”
“Neither do I.” I sat on the other end of the sofa and placed my mug on the coaster on the side table. My cat, Spice, lay across the back of the sofa and purred on my arrival. “The baked mostaccioli should be ready in another twenty minutes.”
“I’ve never had it before. I can’t wait to try it, though.” Isaac placed his mug down and turned a bit so he was facing me on the couch. “So, do you like to cook?”
“Sometimes.” I thought about my answer. Was cooking something I enjoyed or something I just did because no one else was around to do it for me? “I love to eat, so preparing the food holds some joy for me. But I do sometimes wish it was already done for me, and I could just dig into the meal.”
“I understand that.” Isaac laughed, deep and rumbly.
“I feel the same, honestly. I can cook, and do often help out in the kitchen for my family. Depending on who I am cooking for or what I am baking, I enjoy it immensely. But other times, I just wish I could snap my fingers and have it all ready. I wonder if there’s magic like that.
I see it on the television shows but not in real life.
Now that would be a spell I would use half the days of the week. ”
“At least we both can cook. We can share the pleasure and pain of that chore.” I mentally marked off cooking on my checklist of household duties. If we were living together, I could at least share that duty with my mate and not oversee every single meal like my sister was.
“I definitely believe in sharing household duties. Even if one mate stays home with kids, household duties should still be split.”
“Do you expect your mate to stay home with kids?” I asked an important question since he brought up the subject. I had no plans of giving up my career, even if we had babies in the future. I had to make sure now that he understood that.
“I think it’s a decision between both mates, not just me.
If you wanted to stay home, we would figure out how to make that work for us.
But if you want to work outside the house, that is something I could also support you in.
Daycare wouldn’t be an issue, since I am a freelance programmer and am home most of the time.
” Isaac reached over and took my hand in his.
“I believe in equality in a mating. Raising the kids shouldn’t automatically be shoved onto the omega.
Unless that is what the omega parent decides they want.
I want a partner in life; you know what I mean?
Someone who has their own thoughts and dreams and shares them with me and works with me so that we both have the best life we can build together.
So, if you are afraid I will force you to give up on what you want, you don’t need to be.
I want you for you. That includes every part of you.
Including your hopes, dreams, career, and hobbies. ”
Some of the worries that had been plaguing me dissipated with his words. Perhaps Fate did know he was perfect for me.
The rest of the time waiting for dinner to be done was spent talking about our favorite books, television shows, games, and movies.
I was surprised to find that a lot of our interests matched incredibly well.
Even among fated mates, I knew there could be a lot of disconnect when it came to these things.
But Isaac and I were almost matched perfectly in those areas.
And it looked like even my cat was enamored with my mate.
“I can’t explain the obsession; it’s just there.
” Isaac shook his head. Spice lay in his lap, allowing Isaac to pet her without complaint.
Something unheard of normally. “No matter what mood I’m in, I can pick up a zombie apocalypse series and be content for the next several hours.
My brother used to joke with my sister that I secretly wanted a zombie outbreak to occur so that I could test out my theories on which books had it right or which shows had the worst ideas on how survivors would truly react. ”
“My sister gives me a hard time, too.” I chuckled, thinking of all the times she’d poked fun at my interest in the apocalyptic genre.
“It’s hard to explain that I get comfort somehow out of reading or watching people face these situations and overcome the obstacles.
But in a scenario that isn’t actually going to happen.
I mean, at this point, I won’t say never, but zombies are still pretty unlikely to be the cause of our fall. ”
Isaac bounced a bit in his seat. Spice decided she was done with him for now and leaped off the couch, wandering off down the hall leading to my bedroom.
I wondered if Isaac did that a lot when excited about a topic and just how often Spice would choose to sit in his lap now that she was aware of that possibility.
“I get that. If I have anxiety, there is something about reaching for my favorite box set and reading about a group of survivors that makes me realize we always will find a way to overcome. I’m not sure why others don’t understand that logic.”
“That’s okay though. I make fun of my sister’s obsession with collecting trading cards with pretty men on them. I mean, I will listen to music and follow a group too, but I stop at the collecting photocards and obsessing over collecting them all part.” I didn’t even collect baseball cards as a kid.
“My friend does that.” Isaac shrugged. “I tried to see the charm of collecting things like that. But I found that I either have to go all in on the obsession and get every single one, or I must decide to stay sane and just not start a collection. I am not one for casual collection or things. I need all the pretties, or none of them, to feel satisfied.”
“Ah. I see.” I understood completely. “That’s how I was with collecting hardback books.
If I got a book from a series, I needed the whole series.
Then I needed the whole backlist of titles from the author.
Then I found they did collabs with other authors, so I needed those authors’ books as well.
I started to run out of space and money pretty quickly. ”
“But physical books are so amazing.”
“They are. But my obsession knew no boundaries.”
“So, what do you do now?” Isaac pointed at the small bookshelf in the corner of the living room. “Did you learn to say no to the new books?”
“More like my bank card reminded me I can’t buy all the pretties.
I had to rewire my thinking. I will get all the books, but it might take years instead of days to complete the collection.
It wasn’t easy. But it was necessary.” The alarm on my phone went off, indicating the oven was done with dinner.
“Looks like dinner’s ready. Let’s go introduce your taste buds to the deliciousness that is baked mostaccioli. ”
“I’m ready.” Isaac stood up and clapped his hands. “Noodles, Italian sausage, ricotta and mozzarella cheeses? All the goodies in one dish. There is no way I won’t fall in love with it.”
Much like, there really was no way I wasn’t already falling in love with my mate.