Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Hayes
A rbor opens her mouth like she wants to say something, but she closes it again and stays quiet. It feels like I’ve got this one chance to connect with her. I need more information about who and what she’s running from, so I can head off any problems they might cause. The only way I know to set her at ease is to talk about my own pain.
“I was scared shitless tonight,” I admit. “But for the first time in a long time, I was actually grateful I had medical training.”
“I don’t know what to say except thank you.” She looks so sincere that it makes my chest tight.
I nod, digging my teeth into my lower lip. If I’m not careful, she might tell me to get out, but every cell in my body seems to have changed tonight on a fundamental level.
Arbor and Gracie are mine to look after. The universe put them in my path to give me purpose.
My soul is convinced.
Ever since transitioning to civilian life, I’ve been aimless. I thought the gym would help, but even that couldn’t scratch the itch.
I held that baby as she took her first breath, and I’ll keep her safe until my last. “If there is someone out there who’s a threat to the two of you, I need you to tell me who it is.”
Arbor pulls her hand from mine and runs it over Gracie’s back. “I left a not-great relationship.” She shrugs. “I figured if he wasn’t afraid to put his hands on me, there was a chance he could do the same to the baby. He was on his best behavior in the beginning, but I know what he’s like when his patience runs out.”
My teeth grind together so violently that it feels like I might break a molar. “Does he know where the two of you are?”
“No, he’s in Arizona. Only one person knows where I am—my friend Becky from work. She helped me plan everything. I ditched my old cell phone, sold my car, and came to Maine…” She laughs awkwardly. “Where I know exactly no one, and somehow, it was still worth it.”
“Well, you know the three of us now.” I give a tight smile, trying to keep the insanity from escaping.
My god, her scent is potent. It’s dangerous to be this close to her. She’s a scent match, and my instincts want me to tell her she’s safe—that I’ll make sure no one ever has the chance to hurt her or Gracie again.
Omegas are rare, especially up here in the middle of nowhere. I’ve seen a few, but most were already bonded, and the frequency of running across them is way less than where Hael and I grew up in Florida.
“Oh, I guess she decided she’s done with me,” Arbor says, laughing softly. My eyes fly to the baby and quickly dart away as I get a full view of Arbor’s exposed breast. “Would you mind putting her in her little cart? I think I’m going to try to change into the clothes I packed.”
“Of course.” I slide off the hospital bed, collect the gift I grabbed from the gift shop, place the box next to the baby, and pick her up.
Arbor smiles, rearranging her gown. “What’s this?”
I chuckle, bringing Gracie up to my shoulder to burp. We’re going to need to list that feeding on the chart, but I nod at the box. “Open it and find out. It’s not much, but I didn’t want to come back empty-handed.”
I had to sweet-talk the lady at the coffee stand into finding someone with a key. Then they could only accept cash, which is why I couldn’t get more. They also had no idea how to blow up the balloons, so I’m considering myself lucky I was able to get what I did.
Giving birth is a huge life event, and it’s fucking with my head to know she has no one outside of us to celebrate with.
I’m not an overly sentimental person, but it’s been bothering me since we got to the hospital and the chaos died down.
Arbor uses her hands flat on the mattress to push up enough that she’s sitting rather than lounging, and she pulls the top off the box.
It’s a onesie that says “I’m new here.” You fill in all the baby’s details with the marker included, then pop it into the picture frame next to the footprint and a picture. It has the ink for taking the footprint, and it’s pretty basic for costing almost a hundred dollars, but I fully understand the convenience markup.
“Hayes,” she whispers, flipping over the set and checking out the details on the back. “This is incredible. Thank you so much. I haven’t had a chance to get anything like this yet.”
“I’m glad you like it,” I say, studying her in return.
She’s fucking beautiful.
Gracie grunts and lets out a little burp.
I smile like a fool and put her down in the cart, keeping my hand on her tummy to give her little pats while she gets settled. “Now, did you want me to bring you your bags so you can grab what you want to change into?”
She puts the gift set back in the larger box it came in and offers a polite smile. “I can do it. You guys are probably itching to get home and go to sleep…”
That was a nice way to say she’s expecting us to abandon her. If she wants to get rid of us… Well, let’s just hope that’s not the case.
“We brought overnight bags. Hael even packed for Morris. It’s almost morning. I’m guessing you’ve been up for close to twenty-four hours, and you had an extremely taxing day.”
She tucks her hair behind her ear and shrugs. “I know. I just feel like you guys have lives of your own, and I need to let you get back to them.”
I’d say she’s more afraid of counting on someone, only to have them disappear. Or even worse, having us not be who she thinks we are. But that’s just a guess, and I don’t want to push too hard.
Omegas are skittish.
“If having all three of us here will be too much, we can take shifts.” I pull the baby beanie down on Gracie’s head and focus back on Arbor. “We’re in the middle of a snowstorm, and we haven’t slept either. It’ll be safer if we stick around, at least until we get a few hours of sleep.”
Her perfect, straight, white teeth dig into her lower lip as she nods. “Okay, then. Yeah, would you grab my bag for me?”
Hael has always been the twin that women flock to, even way back in high school, which was fine with me. Relationships were distractions I wanted nothing to do with while I was hyper-focused on my goals. Starting something, falling in love, and then leaving for basic training sounded like a nightmare I wanted no part of.
I dated a little over the years, but since getting back from my last stint overseas, I’ve been focused on running the gym. Now that I think about it, it’s been an embarrassing amount of time since I’ve been this close to a woman.
Clearly Arbor is healing.
I’m not a total fucking dick.
Who knows if she’s even emotionally ready for anything after the shitshow with her ex.
Logically, I understand this.
My dick does not. He’s not acting very gentlemanly, and it’s starting to piss me off. Glaring at my jeans, I swipe a hand over my bulge.
It’s her scent.
It’s everywhere.
My system doesn’t seem to comprehend that Gracie isn’t mine, and some primal part of me is even more attracted to the fact Arbor just created life.
Maybe it’s weird.
I don’t know.
I’ve never been attracted to a pregnant woman or one with a baby, but civilization has worshipped fertility and the female body for millennia.
It also could be some combination of natural attraction and her pheromones.
Alpha and omega dynamics are complicated. Hell, for all I know, her body could be releasing pheromones specifically meant to entice her alphas to stay close to protect her and the baby during their most vulnerable time. Her system just doesn’t understand she doesn’t have a pack, so at this point, she’s attracting random strangers.
The no pack thing is still hard to process. She only mentioned one guy, and that’s not the norm for our culture.
“I seem to have a problem,” Arbor says with a tremble in her voice that I instantly hate.
I’ve been watching over Gracie with my back facing Arbor to give her privacy, but I spin around. She holds a bra to her chest and the hospital gown kinda draped over her bottom half.
“I can’t get it clipped, and every time I try to stretch back, I get intense cramps.” Her head shakes, and when she meets my gaze again, her eyes sparkle like she might burst into tears at any second. “I didn’t want to put my dress on without a bra because I’m afraid my boobs will leak, and they hurt really bad. I’m so sorry. I know I’m not your responsibility?—”
I stride around to where she stands on the other side of the hospital bed, and before I know what I’m doing, my arms are wrapped around her.
“I’m wearing a diaper,” she says, burying her nose in my chest. “I just said that to a stranger.”
I chuckle, running my hand down her spine. “Let’s face it, we’re way past that.” Nuzzling my cheek to the top of her head soothes me, so I sure as fuck hope it helps settle her frayed edges.
Hael and I have four dads, and our mom is the omega. Even the thought of my mom or little sister being in Arbor’s situation makes my skin crawl.
Omegas don’t handle stress well. It’s one of those defining characteristics of their designation. They’re meant to have a whole pack of alphas around to help cater to their needs.
She smells so good—like fresh, dewy rain and something I can’t describe. Maybe that electric smell that comes after bad weather?
Is that even a thing?
Fuck if I know, but either way, she smells like mine.
“The nurse helped me shower everything but my hair earlier, but I was beat, and you guys hadn’t brought up the bags yet.” She sighs. “I’m tired, Hayes.”
“I know you are.” I relocate both hands to the back of her bra that hangs open and tug them together to work on getting it hooked. I think I line them up okay. There aren’t any extra hooks once I’m done. Patting her back, I kiss the top of her head. “Okay, this is the dress?” I snag the soft navy blue thing from the top of the pile and shake it out.
“That’s the overcoat or robe. The dress is this.” She points, and I swap out for that.
Arbor lifts her arms, and the material falls to her knees as I help her into it. The top has a crisscross style that will make it simpler to breastfeed. The bottom has two slits down the front, but it falls together in some way that prevents any skin from showing. I’m sure that will make it easy for the nurses to continue the massaging necessary to shrink her uterus and allow easy access if they need to check anything.
“Do you need the restroom?” I ask, collecting the robe.
“I do, but I’m supposed to call the nurse.” She slides her arms into the garment.
“Why don’t you do that? I’ll handle marking off Gracie’s feeding and check her diaper.” I do my best to mimic Hael’s lazy smile. The one that seems to make women melt when he flashes it their way. “Once that’s done, we can both get a little rest.”
Arbor gives a tentative nod. “Thanks, Hayes.”