Chapter 15
Chapter fifteen
Ben
Isobbed into my pillow on the bed I shared with Colt and Angus.
I still couldn’t believe that they wanted me.
That was miraculous enough. But how could they possibly think that I had anything to do with making Oliver feel better?
The idea was ludicrous! Especially the part about Angus’ late wife telling them to get me, like I was some kind of special person. I wasn’t.
The bed dipped, and a strong hand came to rest on the middle of my back, softly patting.
“Angus,” I choked out, the word muffled in the pillow. I recognized his scent, and it settled me a little. “I’m not special. I’m trash.”
The hand left my back and smacked my ass, hard. I was so surprised, I lifted my head and looked at him through tear-blurred eyes.
He looked angry.
“You are not trash. You are my and Colt’s beloved mate, and if I ever hear you call yourself that word again, I’ll turn you over my knee and tan that cute butt of yours. You hear me?”
Bottom lip trembling, I nodded solemnly. But in my mind, I was thinking, Just because I don’t say it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
“Ben,” Angus said warningly.
Taking my chin between his thumb and index finger, Angus gave me a hard look. “I mean it. Get that word out of your head. You are a wonderful person and my mate. I love you. Colt loves you. Everyone in this house loves you. Would I mate with someone any less than perfect?”
Sitting up, I lowered my head, staring at my hands.
“You could be m-mistaken,” I whispered.
“Sounds to me like you mean I’m wrong. Is that what you’re saying? You think I’m wrong, Ben? Because I don’t take that lightly.”
I didn’t want to say he was wrong, but I couldn’t say he was right, and the word mistaken didn’t seem to sit well with him. So, what was I supposed to do? I shrugged weakly.
“Ben,” Angus said harshly.
I raised my eyes to meet his.
“I don’t make the kind of mistake you’re talking about.
I know people. I know your heart.” He placed his hand over mine, which was beating wildly.
He must have felt it because his voice softened.
“You are a special person. I’m not just talking about what Colt was saying, I’m talking about you. You are a very special human being.”
Struggling to keep my chin from wobbling, I said, “They were my parents, Angus. They threw me into a dumpster like a used tissue. Maybe what you think you see in me isn’t really there.”
With a frustrated growl, Angus made a grab for me, but I scooted away to the other side of the bed.
“I didn’t say it again! I’m telling you that you could be wrong about me, that’s all.”
“Well, you can damn well stop thinking that way,” Angus snapped.
“Putting aside the fact that you are my and Colt’s perfect omega mate, the fact is, you helped little Ollie tonight.
I held him right before you did, and I could feel him slipping away, but then you held him, and he rallied.
So, wipe the snot from your face and stop feeling sorry for yourself.
” He stood up and strode out of the room, passing Colt in the doorway.
“He’s angry with me,” I said in a small voice when Colt sat beside me on the bed.
“What about?”
I gave him a sidelong glance. “Because I said I was trash.”
“Ben,” Colt said, tugging me onto his lap and turning us so his back was against the headboard.
His next words ruffled the hair above my right ear.
“Angus loves you very much. So do I. It hurts us when you say something so terrible about the person we love. I’m sorry that you were treated poorly by the people who were supposed to take care of you and cherish you.
But everything happens for a reason, and, selfishly, I feel like if doing what they did brought you to me and Angus, I can’t say I wish it hadn’t happened.
” He kissed the side of my head. “I guess I’m just selfish. Now you know what a bad person I am.”
Upset, I turned to look at him. “You’re not bad! You’re a good man, Colt. One of the best.”
Cold smiled. “Thank you for saying that. Did it upset you to hear me call myself bad?”
“Of course!”
“Triple it, and you’ll have what Angus, David, Maddox, Jackson, Carter, and I feel when you say you’re trash.”
I guessed I understood that. It didn’t change my mind about how I felt about myself, but I at least got why I shouldn’t say it in front of them. I didn’t want to hurt my alphas or my friends.
“As for helping Ollie, why don’t we just see what happens? You can at least be there to support David. He actually slept while you were holding Ollie.”
An uncomfortable feeling crept into my chest. “But he’ll think I can do something magical when I can’t,” I whispered.
“When you’re scared, you’ll grab onto any hope you can. But giving a person hope isn’t a bad thing. What do you say?”
I nodded, and he kissed me. “I do love you, you know. Very, very much. It shocks me how much, to tell you the truth, because everything’s happened so fast.”
“I love you, too, Colt,” I said, wiping the tears from my face. On impulse, I threw my arms around him and hugged him. He returned the hug just as tightly.
“Why don’t you go spend some time in the room with the baby? If nothing else, it will help David to have you there.”
“Okay,” I said, willing to do anything to help David and the baby if I possibly could. They were family.
***
“Ben,” David whispered.
Turning my head, I met his eyes. He’d been asleep for the past two hours, and I had been lying on the bed, on the other side of the baby, listening to them both breathe.
Every so often, Oliver would make a little cry and wave his arms and legs in the air, and, although asleep,David would instinctively put his hand on the baby’s chest and gently pat it until Oliver settled again.
Every so often, Angus or Jackson would poke their head in the room to check on us.
“Hey,” I said quietly.
“What are you doing in here?”
“Keeping you company.”
“What time is it?”
“A little past three, I think.”
David stilled as though listening. “It’s still raining?”
“Yeah.”
Rising to his elbow, David pressed the back of his hand to Oliver’s cheeks and forehead.
“His fever is gone,” he said with relief, lying down again.
I smiled. “That’s great!”
“Thanks for being here with me.”
“I’m glad to be here. But,” I hesitated. “Well. I just don’t want you to get the idea that I’ve somehow made Ollie better. I don’t think I have anything to do with it.”
“What about Angus? He really has improved tremendously since you got here.”
“I was thinking about that, and maybe finding a mate did it for him. But, come on, David. We’ve known each other for a long time. Have I ever healed anything?”
David frowned. “What about that time Mr. Tibbs got really sick and you had to hold him all night? He got better. He also lived a lot longer than rats usually do.”
“That isn’t exactly proof that I can heal,” I said.
“And what about that time Gleesa had the flu? You were the one helping her eat and giving her medicine. She recovered in half the time other people did that we heard about.”
“David, come on, be real, would you?”
“It’s possible, Ben.”
“It’s ridiculous,” I said. “You know my story. How could someone like me be special? I’m glad Ollie is doing better.” Gently, I ran my finger down the baby’s arm.
“You are special to all of us,” David said.
I gave him a look that said he knew what I meant, and we dropped the subject.
Eventually, Oliver began to fuss, and David tried feeding him.
He latched on, like he did the last time, and I held my breath, hoping he wouldn’t stop too quickly.
When he kept drinking, raising his little hand to his ear to play with it like he liked to do when he nursed, both David and I breathed sighs of relief, and a tear slid down David’s cheek.
“I was so afraid he was…” he left off.
“He’s going to be okay,” I said, resting my hand on Ollie’s head. I didn’t believe I had anything to do with the positive turn, but if believing it made David feel better, I wasn’t going to keep arguing the point.
When Ollie finished nursing, David changed his diaper and wrapped him in a blanket before we ventured into the living room. Alisanne and Serena were playing in a little gated area someone had set up, and Angus was talking with Carter and Jackson.
When Angus saw me, his eyes lit up. Then he took in David and the baby.
“Ollie doing better?” he asked hopefully.
David nodded, smiling. “His fever’s gone and he’s nursed a lot. Where’s Maddox? I want to tell him.”
“He and Colt went out to check the newborns. Gotta keep them warm during this cold downpour,” Angus informed him.
I went to sit beside Angus on the loveseat, resting my head against his arm, which he immediately rearranged to wrap around my shoulders.
“How are you doing?” he asked me.
“I’m good,” I said.
“You sure?”
I nodded. Maybe he was worried I was upset because he spoke harshly to me earlier, but I knew that was just Angus’s way when he was worried or frustrated. He didn’t like when I put myself down, and I told myself to try harder not to do that in front of him.
When Maddox and Colt came in, they were muddy and soaked through. I jumped up and helped Colt get out of his rain slicker and boots, setting them both out on the covered front porch.
“Come take a hot shower,” I told him, taking him by the hand.
“I’ll start dinner. Come keep me company,” I heard Jackson say to David.
Colt was so cold, he was shivering. When we entered our bathroom, I turned the heat lamp on in the ceiling and adjusted the water in the shower as hot as it would go without burning.
Tsking, I helped him get out of his sopping clothes, throwing everything I peeled off him in a pile in the corner that made a splat upon landing.
“You’re covered in goosebumps,” I said, running my hand down his broad chest, tugging lightly at the hair growing there. “Get in the shower. I’ll go throw your clothes in the laundry.”