23. Somethin’s Definitely Baking in There
Chapter twenty-three
Somethin’s Definitely Baking in There
Are you sure you’re not pregnant?
Her words reverberated in my head like a pinball, dislodging all attempts at trying to tell her that, as far as jokes go, it needed some work. There was no way that I was pregnant...
Right?
I try to laugh but fail spectacularly, the sound coming out more as a strained wheeze than anything of mirth. She pats my back gently and tells me to breathe in a soft voice. I was glad for the reminder, otherwise I’d probably asphyxiate right there on the spot.
After taking a few gulps of air, I was able to find my voice. Or at least a facsimile of it. The voice that seemed to emanate from me sounded high and reedy, like a person that was way out of their depth and was struggling to digest a piece of news they had just received.
Oh wait, that sounds about right.
“I don’t think that’s possible…”
‘And why the hell not? You’re an Omega. I told you, I’m no doctor. With that being said, I think its entirely possible since you’ve been taking it raw since—“
“Sarah!” I had to cover my face. There was no way I could look her in the eye while she just... told the truth. It’s not like I can deny it. Even without getting knotted until recently, we usually went without protection. But still! I had a reputation to uphold.
“Okay, Grandma. What I meant to say was, ‘Since you and Derek were intimate with each other’. Better?” she said with a smirk.
“It’s a start.” She stares at me for a long moment. So long that I caved and asked her why she was staring at me.
“I rather not say.”
“Oh c’mon, now you have to tell me!” She pressed her lips into a thin line, the picture of being stubborn. She could’ve been the poster child for the saying ‘stubborn as a mule’. No matter how much I hounded her, she refused to budge.
“I don’t want to say ’cause it’s kinda mean, and this could all be one big assumption on my part.”
“Well, why don’t you tell me so I can be the judge of that?” She heaves a weary sigh, then speaks in a whisper so low I had trouble hearing her despite us sitting next to each other.
“It’s just... it’s just that you don’t seem too thrilled at the idea of being pregnant...”
“Oh no! That’s not it at all! I love the idea of it, I just never thought that that would be a reality for me. Being pregnant—“
“You're pregnant ?!
Ah, shit.
I whirl around to see Derek behind me, his mouth doing its best to reach the floor. He wasn’t the only one, as the others quickly filed into the living room since Derek practically shouted for the whole house to hear. I wouldn’t be surprised if our next-door neighbors knew.
He rounded the couch, eyes wide as saucers as his eyes debated whether or not they wanted to look at my face, or at my stomach, where the possibility of life was currently growing.
“I don’t want to get your hopes up but... maybe?” At this admission, Derek jumped to his feet and started whooping like he was twenty years younger. His buddies clapped him on the back and congratulated him on the news even though it was not confirmed yet.
Some of the guys tried to give me a hug in celebration, but Derek quickly put a stop that that. If you weren’t an Omega or a Beta woman, you weren’t getting past him. That was especially true for Jason. Despite the gift he gave Derek earlier, he received a glare that promised violence if he so much as sneezed in my direction, let alone moved toward me.
Jason gave me a sad smile, shrugging his shoulders as if saying Whelp, what’re you gonna do? I appreciated how amiable he was taking everything. The last thing I needed was for Derek to become even more territorial, but here we are. Well, as soon as we receive confirmation, that is.
Someone suggested that we get the party started by opening the bottle of bourbon Jason brought over. Other voices called out in ready agreement. Derek took one look at me and said no with such crystalline authority that no one argued the point further.
I have never been more turned on.
The get-together ended soon after that. Our various friends told us for the nth time how excited they were for us, and I believed them. They looked so happy at the prospect of us starting a family that I got choked up.
“I can’t believe it never even crossed your mind you might be pregnant,” Sarah said with a smirk, her barbed words doing little to hide the fact that she was surreptitiously wiping her eyes.
“Leave me alone! Why would that be the first thing that comes to mind?” I said, patting her on the back. She slapped my hands away in annoyance, clearly peeved that she was caught in the act of having feelings.
“I better be the godmother, or there’ll be hell to pay!” Not one to miss the opportunity to have a dramatic exit, he storms off, her innocent husband in tow.
Jason was the last to leave, likely cause he deliberately stayed at the back of the entourage.
“I’d shake your hand, but something tells me I’d get a punch to the face if I tried.”
“We wouldn’t want that, now would we?” I said, chuckling. Derek cleared his throat, giving me a warning look that said everything and yet nothing at the same time. Was he upset that I was even talking to another man?
Before I could ask though, Jason asked if he could speak to Derek alone, Alpha to Alpha. I immediately agreed, as I felt like they needed to squash whatever beef was between them, and there was no time like the present.
Naturally, I was curious, so I rounded the corner in the hallway and plastered myself against the wall. At that point, I was one with the wall. There was no point where the wall ended, and I began. We were one.
I stood there ripe with tension, not even daring to breathe. What was going on? Why weren’t they saying anything? I was seconds away from poking my head out when Jason finally spoke.
“Listen Derek, about before. I just want you to know that I really am sorry about what I said. It was totally out of line and beyond disrespectful. I completely understand if you’d rather not have anything to do with me, but I consider Damon a good friend, which is a rare commodity these days.”
“Yeah. He’s really something, isn’t he?” Derek said after a moment. I shivered as I could practically hear the words left unsaid, from his lips to my ears.
And he’s all mine .
“Apology accepted. You don’t seem like a bad guy Jason. To be fair, I may have just been a tad bit self-conscious about my age compared to Damon’s. I’m sorry for overreacting.“ Wow, the conversation was going better than I hoped! No meaty slaps of fists hitting flesh, no yelling or grunts of pain. Maybe I was worried for nothing.
“From what Damon has told me, you seem to be a decent friend to him. I just hope for your sake it stays that way.”
“If you’re implying that I’ll hurt him—“
“I’m not implying anything. I’m just telling you to be careful. You and your sister.” The ensuing silence was so quiet you could hear it if one of our neighbors sneezed. Even the crickets stopped their nightly serenade to hear Jason’s reply. I didn’t even want to breathe lest I miss what was being said.
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have a sister.” Jason said hoarsely. He sounded like he was hit straight to the gut and struggled to catch his breath.
Derek snorts, the sound harsh and alien coming from him.
“Sure bud, whatever you say. But Alpha to Alpha? If anything happens to him and I find out you were involved, I’m coming for you.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.” The sounds of footfalls, followed by the telltale sign of a car door opening and closing, told me that the conversation was pretty much over. I didn’t hear the front door close, so like an idiot begging to be caught, I peeked around the corner to find Derek standing in the doorway, watching Jason’s car as it drove off into the night.
Um, what the fuck ?!
I was left in a tricky situation. If I asked him what the hell that was all about, he would know that I was eavesdropping, the same thing if I were to ask Jason later. I had so many questions, like ‘Jason has a sister?’ Or, better yet, ‘How do you know Jason has a sister?’
I was so lost in thought that Derek nearly stumbled into me crouching on the floor, looking like the world’s worst spy. I hightailed it out of there as quickly as I could, praying that the floorboards wouldn’t give me away.
What was discussed that night plagued my mind for two days . What was worse was that my brain had the notion that this would be a great inspiration for my story. Wasn’t that one of the themes? A secret.
They say that life is the world's greatest muse. Don’t ask me who, because I couldn’t tell you. Either way, I wrote with a single-minded focus. So focused was I on trying to find out this secret, both fictional and real, that I had completely forgotten about the doctor’s appointment. The doctor’s appointment that I didn’t want, if I may add.
The night Derek planted a mysterious seed in my mind, he started calling to set up a doctor’s appointment. I had to gently remind him that it was Saturday night and that no one would answer his calls until Monday morning at the earliest. That did nothing to deter his determination, though. If anything, it made him more stubborn than ever.
He began searching for practices that accepted new patients. Once he found a few, he refined the list even further by filtering whether appointments could be made online. He seemed to exude absolute joy when he found one that matched both of his criteria. Three, if you count that they had an availability for Monday.
It didn’t matter to him that it would take us almost two hours to get there, as the practice was located in New York. New York City.
“I’m not going all the way to New York City when I can just go to a drug store to get a pregnancy test,” I told him adamantly. He simply smiled and nodded his head, looking like a complete dope I didn’t know whether it was cute or annoying. Knowing him, there was no way he was gonna give up that easily.
Fast-forward to Monday morning. I was woken up at the butt-crack of dawn with gentle kisses and a soft voice telling me to wake up. I opened my eyes blearily, confused to be woken up in darkness. I woke up to see Derek smiling down at me with a broad grin, the scent of crisp mint flowing off of him. The fool had already showered and dressed!
“I told you I’m not going all the way to New York just for an appointment,” I said, pulling the cover over my head before his smile cracked the wall that was my resolve.
“C’mon baby, you don’t even have to get changed!” He placed a hand on my stomach and began to rub it in gentle circles. “Don’t you want an actual doctor to confirm whether or not you’re pregnant?”
“Isn’t that what pregnancy tests are for? You can take the test in the comfort and safety of your own home so you won’t waste your time, money, and in this particular case, gas.”
“I already made the appointment though! They charge us a cancellation fee if we decide to change our minds now,” he said, trying to pull the comforter out of the death grip that I currently had on it. He was gonna have to drag me out of the bed and carry me to the car if we wanted me to go.
“Besides, I wanted to make it a day trip. When’s the last time you’ve been in the city?”
“Then pay the cancellation fee. And I don’t have a burning desire to go to the city. It’s loud, dirty, it smells awful, and it takes too long to get anywhere.”
“Don’t make me toss you over my shoulder,” he growled in warning. Apparently, he had enough of my obstinance. Good. That made two of us.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
He dared.
He threw the cover back on the bed, and I took that as a sign of defeat. Oh, how wrong I was. Naive even. He set out to do exactly what he threatened; throwing me over his shoulder. Trapping my limbs in the thick comforter, he carried me out of the room and into the cold brisk morning. I wasn’t going down without a fight, though. I thrashed around like a fish caught on a hook, seconds away from screaming my head off if he didn’t put me down.
Derek only tightened his hold on me, a grunt escaping him when I felt one of my limbs hit him in the face, but he kept on walking. The fight went out of me soon after that. If he was so determined that he would take a hit to the face without a word of complaint, then this must have been really something he wanted.
“After the appointment, you’re taking me shopping.”
“Whatever you want, baby.”
“Can you put me down so I can at least get dressed? I rather not show up in pajamas. I know it’s New York and people have seen weirder, but still.”
“It’ll be fine. Like you said, it’s New York. They probably won’t even look twice and go on about their day.” He proceeded to open the front door, jostling me into this weird embrace where he had one arm and his knee prop me up while he locked it, doing the same for the door to the passenger side of the truck.
“Wait a minute, you’re seriously not gonna let me change?”
“Nope!” He sounded proud of himself. Proud!
“You’re gonna pay for this, I hope you know that. And I don’t just mean pay with your money either!” He nodded his head and smiled as if there was nothing in the world wrong with my statement. Threat, depending on who you ask. I didn’t know how he was gonna pay, but I’m gonna make sure I’ll get my revenge.
He placed me in the passenger seat and buckled me in, replete with a comforter and some fuzzy slippers he pulled out of god knows where. I was left there to simmer in rage and indignation, sort of like a lobster placed in a boiling pot after being trapped in a cage and taken from its home in the sea.
If Derek noticed my foul mood, it didn’t deter him in the slightest. He hummed and tapped the steering wheel, sometimes even serenading me when a country song about love came on the radio. I tried giving him the silent treatment, a staple when letting someone know without words how displeased you were, but he ignored that too, and carried on with the conversation without a care in the world. For. Two. Hours.
I stopped being mad at him after the first.
I couldn’t keep the smile from my face after the second.
At least this would be a fun story to tell our baby, how happy their dad was at that moment.
Despite Derek’s assurance that it was New York and that its occupants probably saw strange sights all the time, I felt embarrassment wrap its arm around my shoulders, the limp lying heavy across my shoulders.
Well, that could’ve been Derek’s arm, now that I thought about it.
The lobby of the planned parenthood clinic was empty, likely because it was still eight in the morning, and sane people—or lazy people, depending on who you ask—would schedule their appointment at a more reasonable time. They would also try to go to the nearest one instead of driving two hours out of their way, but such is life.
The worst thing about this whole situation? I’ve had to pee for the past fifteen minutes, but I couldn’t go because they’d probably need some of it to conduct whatever tests they needed to run. I didn’t even eat yet!
“You know,” I say to Derek, who still looked fresh and bright-eyed despite waking early and driving the two hours to get here, “all of this could have been avoided if I had just taken a test at home.”
“True, but there’s no guarantee that the test would be accurate. What if it’s a false negative?”
“There’s no guarantee in life, period!” He wrapped his arms around me and planted a couple of kisses on my temple.
“Aww, c’mon baby. I thought you forgave me already…”
“What the hell gave you that impression?” I mean, I did forgive him, but he didn’t need to know that. At least, not yet. Let him stew in the dog house for a little bit.” He only grinned wider, his eyes crinkling in amusement.”
“Who are you trying to fool? I saw you smiling at me with so much love and adoration on the drive here. Admit it, you love me.”
“You’re mistaken, I was scowling because you’re singing was giving me a headache.”
“Sure, whatever you need to tell yourself.”
“Damon Dreyfus?” a nurse called, saving me from trying to keep up the charade. “C’mon back and we can get you settled.”
The nurse, an older woman with a kind smile and wearing pink scrubs with yellow ducks on them, made small talk with us while heading back to one of the rooms reserved for patients. Once inside, she confirmed that we were there to get a pregnancy test, to which we answered yes. Once that was confirmed, she gave a knowing nod, as if that answered a sneaking suspicion on her part. Derek took to the conversation with gusto, asking questions he had written down in a little notebook. My heart melted when I saw that. He was really happy at the prospect of me being with child. I really hoped I was, because it would break my heart to see the look of disappointment if I wasn’t.
“Woah! Why don’t we get the test started to see if you actually are pregnant, and then we can go over your questions together. Sound fair?”
She handed me a plastic cup, and I trust I don’t have to explain what happened next. But suffice it to say that I accepted the cup and ran to the bathroom, sighing in blessed relief after holding it for so long.
The transaction where you hand someone else your urine will never not be weird, but she took it in stride and let us know the doctor would be in once the test results were in.
Once she leaves, Derek pulls out his notebook and rattles off some of the questions he had written down, asking me if I had any.
“Hmm, I think we should wait until we hear the results like the nurse said.”
“Oh! Yeah, you’re probably right.” He settled down a little after that, contenting himself with waiting by wrapping me in his arms. It seemed that not a minute went by when he wasn’t touching me if we were in the same room. I leaned into his touch, a sigh escaping me as my hand absently stroked my stomach.
While the prospect of being pregnant was exciting, I didn’t want to get my hopes up.
After about thirty minutes, the doctor came in and introduced herself as Dr. Jessi Carlyle. She was young for a doctor and had an easy, relaxed manner about her.
“Damon, right? It seems you’re here about a—“ she refers to her chart for a second before looking back up, “a stomach parasite, is that right?”
“Um, I’m here for a pregnancy test, actually…” She shrugged, waving her hand as if the mix-up wasn’t the slightest bit of concern.
“They’re the same thing, really. The only thing different about a pregnancy is that you get a cute baby in the end.” I could tell she was making light of the situation to ease the mood, but I honestly couldn’t muster the energy for a pity laugh at that point. I was too anxious to find out the results that were currently hiding in that manilla envelope.
Luckily, Derek made up for my lack of humor by laughing for the both of us, his voice filling the room with his booming laughter.
“I’m glad one of you thinks I’m funny,” she said to Derek with a wink. “I was going to be a stand-up comedian, but my parents thought this would be a more stable career.”
“I’d have to agree with your parents,” I said with a mutter. She cries out, miming pulling a knife out of her back. I caved and let out a chuckle.
“All joking aside, I do want to say congratulations. You’re pregnant!”
It felt like time stopped, the sounds of the world fading away until the only thing that remained were her words echoing in the small room.
You’re pregnant.
You’re pregnant.
You’re pregnant!
“How is this possible?” Dr. Carlyle gave him a flat look, Derek stiffening at my side.
“Well Damon, when an Omega and Alpha engage in acts of coitus, there are—“ I shake my head, frustration building up inside me as I was failing to express myself for them to understand.
”I mean , how am I pregnant? I’m a recessive Omega. It’s almost impossible for recessives to get pregnant, right?“ She scoffs, laying a hand on her forehead as if the mere question gave her a migraine.
“Who told you such nonsense? You’re not even a recessive Omega!”
“…I’m sorry, what?” Either I suddenly lost the ability to understand English, or I was lied to for most of my life. “Are you sure?” She took a deep breath, and I could tell she was trying not to roll her eyes at me since her eyes didn’t quite do a full rotation, but it was close. Excuse me for asking! Trust but verify, as they say.
“Let me ask you, what made you think you were a recessive?” Well, there was absolutely no way in hell I was gonna tell her that I just assumed this whole time, coupled with what people told me to my face. Seriously, people literally told me I was a recessive straight to my face, Yasmina being one of the chief offenders.
“I dunno, I never really had it confirmed really. I thought it was pretty obvious, I mean look at me!”
“Oh, I am, and what I see is a perfectly healthy—and fertile, might I add—Omega.” She pulled over a stool and sat down, looking me square in the eye.
It was kind of intimidating.
“This is just a guess on my part, but did you assume you were recessive because you didn’t look like a typical Omega?“ she asked, using air quotes for the word look .
“Well yeah…” She takes a deep breath and runs a hand over her face, clearly fed up with my nonsense.
“Damon, I want you to listen to me very carefully. Those ‘typical’ traits you see in Omegas today are due to selective breeding and gene manipulation. You’re even a product of gene manipulation yourself! You didn’t think having silver hair and golden eyes was possible, did you? Your parents must’ve had eccentric tastes.
“Regardless, without further testing to confirm, it seems like the only thing that was manipulated were your hair and eyes. They didn’t touch anything in your DNA that dictated your height, skin tone, or weight. Those are the most common traits that are changed in order for Omegas to look more appealing. Alphas generally go for those who seem weak and helpless. They can’t help themselves. No offense, Derek.”
“None taken, I think?” he said, chuckling. I could feel the pressure of his eyes on me, but I couldn’t bring myself to meet them. I felt like such an utter fool . I took what people said at face value, and what’s worse? I agreed with them, always comparing myself to others and telling myself I was undesirable.
“Dr. Carlyle, can you give us a few minutes?”
“Of course, take all the time you need. Sorry for dropping such a bombshell on you, and congratulations again to you both,” she said, her voice gentle as she stood and left the room.
Once the door closed, Derek took the vacant spot on the stool and took my chin in his hand, forcing me to look at him.
“What’s going on through that head of yours?”
“I dunno, it’s just a lot to process. It’s been one bombshell after another. It doesn’t help that I’m tired, haven’t eaten anything yet, and I’m still in my pajamas —“ I cut myself off, not trusting myself to say anything else.
“Listen, I know you’re mad at me for dragging you all the way out here, in your pajamas no less, but I hate to say I told you so…”
“Excuse me?” Did he slip some drugs while I wasn’t looking? What the hell was he going on about? You only say ‘I told you so’ when you did, in fact, tell someone and they refused to listen.
“I told you so,” he said, completely unaware that his life was in danger.
“And I told you that we could’ve taken a test a home. They say it’s 99% accurate. Even the nurse said so!“ The nurse gave Derek the side eye once she asked where we were from, asking us why in the world we traveled two hours for a pregnancy test.
“Yeah, that’s fair. Sorry baby.” Usually, when someone says the word sorry, they would have the decency to look repentant or guilty. That was probably the most insincere apology I’ve ever heard from him. He was probably too excited that I was…
“Oh my god. Oh. My. God!”
“What?! What is it?!”
“I’m pregnant. I am currently carrying your child. We’re going to be parents!”
I couldn’t believe it. Even after multiple assurances from Dr. Carlyle that the test was accurate, I was still in a state of disbelief. Me, pregnant? Never in my wildest dreams—okay, maybe some of the more erotic ones— did I think this would be happening to me. Me. The Omega that seemed to be passed up so many times, whether it was because of my looks or my scar.
As soon as we left the clinic, Derek called his family to share the good news. I could practically hear Lauren screaming on the other end of the phone, telling Dimitri to call Danny and Dylan while she spoke to Derek. She started to pepper him with questions and then ordered Derek to hand me the phone so I could be interrogated in turn.
“Hi sweetie! Oh, I’m so happy for you! How are you feeling? Are you excited?”
“Hi Lauren. Excited is definitely one of those emotions I feeling, followed by shock and terror.”
“Oh honey! You don’t have anything to worry about. I’m just a phone call away if you ever need anything, and I’m sure Adam can help you. Actually, why don’t we come up there until the birth?!”
“Oh, That would be lovely, but I don’t think—“ I should have chosen my words more carefully because it seemed Lauren stopped listening after the ‘that would be lovely’ bit. But I didn’t really mind. It’s a comfort to know that Derek’s family is so supportive and there in case I need them.
I handed the phone back to Derek. On the other end, Lauren was yelling at Dimitri to pack as many clothes as he could and start looking at rental car prices.
“Hey Ma. Hello?” Derek brought the phone to his face and gave me a perplexed look. “I think she hung up. What did she say?” I looped my arm in his and gently guided him to a diner down the street. My mouth was already watering!
“We should probably get the guest room ready, your parents are coming to stay.”
“Oh. Did she say how long?”
“I dunno, she told Dimitri to ‘pack as many clothes as he can’, so you tell me.”
“Ah, shit. I think we’re stuck with them until the foreseeable future.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too…”