Chapter XXVII
“It’s a female Alpha!” Dr. Raul cheers, being the first to hold my baby and welcome her into the world.
Another doctor quickly stitches my stomach closed as I struggle not to pass out.
They warned me that it’s perfectly fine to let go and be unconscious during the extraction and clean up, but I can’t let myself miss this moment. It’s too beautiful. They’ve numbed my lower belly, so I power through the exhaustion no matter how blurry my vision is.
“Yes! I fucking knew it!” Knox’s cheer is muffled as he pops up beside me with uncontained excitement, “Can I hold her?”
I watch the doctor carefully transfer the precious bundle to my mate’s arms. He gazes down at her, unblinking and smiling wide with joy.
The picture is one that I commit to memory, and I know it will live at the forefront of my mind for the rest of my life, the way he’s cradling our baby for the first time.
The emotions strike us and I can feel the overwhelming gratitude across our bond as a third one solidifies within our souls.
My heart swells with love for my new family.
I feel as complete as the day Knox and I became mated.
“Hi, Luna,” he sniffles through a broken whisper as she starts to cry with him.
My gratification soars, and I’ve never been prouder to be an Omega. I feel so accomplished seeing my mate holding my greatest victory in his hands.
Knox’s pink, watery eyes raise to mine.
“Thank you,” he mutters with deep sincerity, trying hard to contain himself during the tender moment.
Rocking back and forth, he holds her closely, fueling her bond with fatherly love.
Without much energy, all I can do is smile back, converting my words into feelings and then pouring them into our family bond.
Knox has a hard time letting her go once I’m stable enough to connect with her against my chest. I can hardly wrap my mind around how small she is. Just a soft, tiny bundle tucked beneath my chin. It’s crazy to think that my little Alpha is going to be bigger than me when she’s older.
I accept her warm weight on my skin, funneling love into our fresh bond to strengthen it. Her tie to us thrums and vibrates with life, immediately becoming familiar with us.
Wiping his eyes, Raul eventually leaves me and my daughter to rest, while Knox sits beside me to place a hand on both of us as I drift to sleep with my baby. He stays by our side for hours. My protector. My love. My everything.
“Thank you guys so much,” I say for the thousandth time as my mom and Knox’s mom quickly put together the necessities for the nursery.
Our dads are downstairs with Luna, attempting to capture some of her first baby pictures.
At this age, she mostly just sleeps and eats, but every breath she takes is adorable and photo-worthy.
She’s a beautiful baby with one big blue eye and one big brown one.
A unique and perfect mix of me and Knox.
“It’s nice getting together with everyone,” my mom says while filling the crib with bedding. “We should do this every weekend.”
“Now that would be fun,” Knox’s mom agrees with a chuckle, situating the reading corner and clearing out empty packaging.
My mate pops in a second later. He’s been disappearing to the balcony for business calls a lot lately since our leave came earlier than expected. His stress heightens as he sees me standing in my white lab coat instead of resting in bed.
“What are you doing up?” he whispers, joining my side.
“I’m just going to stop by work to wrap up a few things and check in with everyone.”
“I already called and told them you were in labor.”
“I know. I just want to go in person, make sure everything is situated before I’m gone for a few months.”
“You don’t need to go in for that. They’ve got everything under control.”
I stare at him with my brows dipped, unsure why he’s so antsy. Our moms eavesdrop, but don’t comment on our argument. Closing the nursery door, I usher my mate to the hallway.
“I wasn’t asking for your permission, Knox. I’m not going in to do work; I just want to update my operators and say bye to everyone. That’s all.”
“Gomez is already handling it.”
“Knox.”
“They’re running business as normal. Everything is fine and they all know you had the baby so– “
“Knox!” I interject, reaching up to hold his face with worry, “What is going on with you? Why are you so jittery?”
He avoids my gaze, buzzing like he had too much caffeine.
Even if we weren’t mated, I would recognize his emotions immediately to know that he’s hiding something.
It’s how he was the week before our tenth birthday, trying his hardest not to tell me that he got me a gift and spoil the surprise.
Fidgeting with his hands, rocking on his feet as if there’s a tac in his shoe, and casting his eyes down to the left like a sad puppy.
I know him better than he knows himself.
“The baby,” he confesses, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just…making me anxious.”
If my arms could cross any tighter, they’d morph into one. My tone is deceitfully calm when I speak, my jaw set tight as I look him in the eye.
“Knox Beckett do you honestly think I wouldn’t know if you were lying to me?” I whisper low and threatening.
Eyes wide with a surprising amount of genuine fear for an Alpha, Knox licks the nervousness from his lips.
“Ari…”
“Knox.”
He exhales with distress.
“Look, there have been some messy things going on at work with really bad timing. I’m trying to handle it without stressing you out. You don’t need to deal with that right now.”
That’s it? A work problem? We handle stressful company setbacks all the damn time. That’s like our main job!
“It involves me?” I ask, probing for more information. I’ve never seen him like this over a work-related hiccup. His face pales and he scratches his chin.
“A little bit. Maybe. But I’m handling it.”
“What is it?” I push, reaching to grab both of his hands in mine, “Knox, whatever is going on we’ll handle it together. You can tell me.”
Finally, he meets my gaze, though he looks defeated rather than confident.
“I signed a deal recently, not realizing that…it phases out StarPoint production.”
My eyes pop at the admission, understanding the weight of that bomb. I stare into Knox’s sorrowfully flustered gaze, waiting for the part where he tells me that it won’t affect my Omegas. That they’ll still be employed. That I won’t lose the department I worked so damn hard for.
But he doesn’t say anything more.
Zero reassurances.
I toss his hands away as if they stung me, offended by the sour news. He gives me a hurt expression, but I’m the one who got burned here.
“How could you do that?” my voice is hoarse with betrayal.
“I’m going to fix it.”
“Are you?” I ask doubtfully.
“Yes! I won’t let them take out the department,” he brushes a hand through his hair, pacing in front of me, “I’ll fix it, Ari, I promise. I just need to figure some things out.”
“See to it that you do.”
I brush past him and head downstairs, hot with anger inside.
How will I be able to relax at home with the baby knowing that my operators could be fired before I even return?
Knox doesn’t make hasty or stupid decisions, otherwise he wouldn’t be an engineering executive, so how the hell did he manage to overlook something so crucial?