There was no use in telling him now. It changed nothing—not what he’d felt, what they’d done, or what they’d made together.

“I loved him,” Heath said. “He’s dead. End of story.”

He almost wanted to punch himself because it was far from the end of the story, and he knew it, but he didn’t want to talk about Nathan tonight. The truth was too close to the surface, and he loved Adrien too much to give up what little time they had left.

Wait. Loved him? He loved him?

Adrien had said it while they fucked, but….

“I’m sorry I invaded your privacy.” Adrien pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. It was a movement that made Heath’s heart wrench with affection.

“I love you,” Heath said sharply. “You should know that.” He nodded firmly. “So there. I love you.”

Adrien’s eyes went wide, and his plump mouth fell open. Heath wished he had it in him to fuck that mouth again tonight, but he would be lucky to plug Adrien’s hole again in the middle of the night, the way he often craved.

It had been a very long day.

“Oh, well, I love you, too,” Adrien said, but his eyes were wet. He smiled wide and shiny at Heath, the photo album and dead man clearly forgotten. “I love you too.”

Heath took his omega back to bed and read to him from the pregnancy book until he fell asleep. This time about what to expect post-partum, how to feed the baby, and what they could expect from the child the first few months.

The next section, though, was the scary part. It talked about the plans the alpha and omega parent should make for the future. Heath considered himself a brave, strong man with a stupidly passionate heart, but if Adrien didn’t want to stay and raise their baby, if he didn’t want to make more children with Heath and marry him, then he simply didn’t know what he’d do with himself.

He kissed Adrien’s soft hair and shut the book. But that was something else that could wait for another night.

“HE DIDN’T LIKE that I looked at the photo albums,” Adrien said as Simon scrambled eggs. He sipped from his juice and watched the milk-and-egg combination go into the skillet, and then he sat down at the counter to wait.

“Did you see anything interesting in them?” Simon asked, with a certain stiffness in his voice that Adrien took for anxiety.

“I liked the pictures of him as a young boy. And you were very handsome back then. Not that you’re not handsome now!”

Simon chortled. “Oh, I well remember how old men look to the young. I was handsome, though, wasn’t I? My Earl certainly thought so.”

“Oh, so you do have a lover?”

“A lover?” Simon laughed again. “Earl and I have been married for forty years. Lover…pfft.” He worked the eggs expertly in the skillet and then slid them onto a plate for Adrien to eat.

“What does Earl think of Heath?”

“He thinks he’s spoiled,” Simon said obviously without a care about how that might sound. “And he is spoiled, but he’s a good man. Devoted. Loyal.”

He said that intently, with a particular gaze at Adrien.

“Yes, I can see that.” He rested his hand on his stomach as he ate. The baby flipped around inside, shoving off his liver. He tapped himself and sighed contentedly. He even liked when the little booger hurt him.

“Sometimes Heath makes poor choices, rash ones, but he’s a good man.”

“Of course.”

“I’m glad you know that.”

Adrien pondered his eggs and then decided to just ask. “Who was Nathan? His lover, I know, but how long were they together? How did they meet?”

Simon froze and stared at him. “So you saw the pictures of Nathan, then?”

“No. He’d removed them from the books I got a chance to see. He came in and found me looking just as I was getting ready to open the one with Nathan’s name on it. Now, it’s gone.” Not that he’d planned to look this morning. It was clear that it upset Heath for him to pry. And yet…

Here he was prying again.

“So they were in love, then?”

“Heath was in love. Nathan was greedy.” Simon frowned. “Don’t get me wrong. Nathan was a delight to be around socially. Made me laugh like there was no tomorrow. But, in the end, he liked Heath’s money and his cock, and that was about all he truly cared about.”

Adrien gaped. He’d never heard Simon be so crude before.

“Truth isn’t pretty,” Simon said as if he was dusting his hands of the whole thing. “What did Heath say when you asked him about Nathan?”

Adrien poked at his eggs, feeling restless and not as hungry as usual. “He said he was dead. That he’d loved him, but he was dead.”

Simon snorted. “Just like Heath to be so brutally succinct.”

“He said he loved me,” Adrien whispered, his eyes down. A smile broke over his lips, and he poked at his eggs again. He took off his glasses and set them aside, wiping at his suddenly damp eyes. “He said it twice.”

Simon laughed and squeezed Adrien’s hand. “I could have told you that.”

“Really?”

“It’s been evident.”

“How?”

“Are you so oblivious?” Simon rolled his eyes, which, even blurry, looked sort of silly on a man of his age.

“So you think he’ll want me to stay? He won’t send me away or expect me to leave him behind?” Adrien stroked his stomach again. “The baby, I mean, or Heath, for that matter.”

“I doubt very much that he’ll want you to ever leave. I suspect that choice will be up to you.”

“I want to stay with him.”

“What about your studies and school? You auctioned your heat and breeding to become a professor. What of that?”

“What does that matter?” Adrien asked, dreamily, his fingers tracing his stomach softly, his heart a pulpy mess of affection for the life inside and for Heath. “Our family matters more.”

“Oh, boy. Those pregnancy hormones sure do a number on men. Alphas and omegas alike. I’m telling you now, keep your options open. Don’t make promises you won’t want to keep.”

“The rest of the world just doesn’t seem to matter,” Adrien said again. He pushed his glasses even farther away on the counter and turned his attention back to his stomach. “Not when I feel happy here. Safe and content. What’s wrong with wanting that? For me and for my baby?”

“Nothing is wrong with it. But life isn’t about safety. And feelings change.”

“Not my feelings,” Adrien said, and even as the words came out of his mouth he felt both certain and stupidly young. “Nothing could change my feelings for Heath.”

“Nothing?” Simon said. Then he walked away mumbling under his breath, “I’ll have to remind you of that.”

But Adrien knew he would never need reminding. His life was perfect.

Nothing could shake his happiness.

PART THREE

Birth and Afterbirth

Chapter Eighteen

“WHICH OF YOU plan to raise the child? Or do you plan to raise the child together?” Heath read aloud from the book, his voice almost shaking with anxiety. His forehead and the small of his back broke out into a sweat, and he held his breath to keep from begging Adrien to stay here with him forever.

“I…” Adrien glanced up at him, as if trying to read his face.

Heath gazed back down at him as carefully neutral as possible. “What would you like, Adrien?”

“What are my options?” Adrien asked.

Heath read the question again, “Which of you plan to raise the child? Or do you plan to raise the child together?”

“No, I mean, could I take my baby with me? Or…” He cleared his throat, gazing down, his neck turning red.

Heath’s heart went off like a bang. He heaved in a panicked breath. “No,”

he said firmly. “You could not take the child with you.”

Adrien fluttered his lashes, his cheeks going pale. “So if I left here, I’d go alone. Would I be allowed to see him again?”

Heath swallowed hard. His mind whirred, and he rubbed at his forehead.