31. Adam
THIRTY-ONE
Adam
Adam
Pregnant. I struggled to wrap my head around what he’d just said.
Casey gazed up at me with his innocent, doe-eyed look. “Adam?”
When I opened my mouth to respond, I saw someone standing by the door, peering in through the crack.
Marshall. He heard every word. He was going to assume this baby was his.
“Thank you for telling me.” Casey’s already timid expression fluttered with fear.
He thought I was rejecting him. This isn’t how I wanted to react.
I couldn’t tell Casey how I really felt with my son standing outside the door.
“Hey, Marshall!” David shouted, making Casey jump. His eyes darted to the cracked door, but Marshall was already gone.
Taking the one opportunity I had, I leaned down and kissed Casey’s forehead. I couldn’t let him leave thinking I was upset over this. I was anything but upset. He gave me a timid smile before I went back to the kitchen. My stomach was in knots as I stirred the food and finished dinner.
A baby. He was so certain, to the point of pain, that it was impossible. And now he carried my child.
Casey returned just as we were serving everyone’s plates, and we sat in silence on opposite ends of the table as David filled the awkward silence with tales of being a sheriff in a town that had basically no crime.
Marshall seemed equally contemplative as he dragged his fork over his plate and barely ate anything.
What would he do? How would he respond to this?
As much as I tried not to stare at Casey, it was nearly impossible to tear my eyes away from.
His small, sturdy frame seemed to shrink with every bite he took.
He was still in shock, just like I was. It seemed ridiculous to be surprised.
We hadn’t exactly been cautious, but we had no reason to be.
And now… in one single moment, our entire world had shifted.
We would talk, as soon as I could get him alone.
After we finished our meal and the table was cleared, David inched his way towards the front door. “Delicious meal, Pops. I’m heading out.”
“Wait,” Marshall said. As his frown shifted into a hesitant smile, my stomach clenched with dread.
“I heard what you said to my dad, Casey. About the baby. I know you’re afraid of how I might react.
” Casey looked as confused as I felt when Marshall took his hand.
What was he doing? My entire body stiffened, and I felt a suffocating tightness in my throat.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for months.
It’s why I brought you to Oakridge to meet my family.
This isn’t exactly how I would’ve done it, but…
” My son knelt down on one knee and said three words that made my chest ache.
“Marry me, Casey.” A hush fell over the room, and an eternity seemed to pass before he continued.
“Marry me, and we’ll raise our child together. ”
I couldn’t stand still. I’d be risking everything by speaking up, but I would not stand here and watch my omega be taken from me.
Not again. Something propelled me forward, and I interrupted the hasty proposal with my own startling revelation.
“It’s my baby, Marshall.” The stunned silence surrounding Marshall popping the question was nothing compared to this one.
Before I could explain, Marshall stood up, gave me one long, lingering look, and walked out the front door.
Casey quickly tried to go after him, but I stopped him with a firm grip on his arm.
“No. Let him leave.” My hand slipped down to take his, giving him a comforting squeeze.
“Shit,” David swore under his breath as he watched us holding hands.
“This makes so much sense.” My eyebrow raised in question, and he chuckled dryly at me.
“You’ve been different the past couple months, Pops.
You spent five weeks in Hanford. You hate the big city.
I thought you’d met someone, and clearly you did.
I just didn’t think it would be…” He gestured towards Casey, his mouth curling into a tight frown.
“You weren’t just fucking around, were you? ”
“No.”
Sighing, David scrubbed a hand down his face.
“I’m not happy about this, Pops. You shouldn’t have done this to Marshall.
” He paused, staring at our clasped hands.
“You haven’t been with anyone since Mom died.
” His eyes met mine, and without a word spoken between us, I knew he understood.
I wouldn’t disrupt my family this way on a whim.
I was serious about Casey. “I’m going to Dina’s.
We’ll talk tomorrow after the dust settles. ”
My son watched as I tugged Casey's hand and took him upstairs.
There was no question of where I was taking him.
Happiness rushed over me as I opened my bedroom door and took Casey inside.
No matter how this went going forward, everything was out in the open now, and everyone would know who belonged to me.
I drew Casey closer and kissed his forehead again.
He had every right to be upset with me. Every right to push me away.
His doe-eyed expression remained as I lifted him into my arms and took him to my bed.
We lay side by side, his head pressed against the pillow that had remained empty for twenty years.
I gently placed my hand on his stomach. It felt the same as it always had, but there was something different now. My child lay beneath my fingers, carried by the omega I adored.
“Are you disappointed?” he asked, his voice timid and soft. Did he really think I would be upset?
“Of course not.” I spread my fingers across his stomach. My baby. My omega. “Are you?”