Chapter 50
Waking up next to Sarah is like lying next to a furnace. She’s burning up, and even just brushing her sweaty hair off her forehead feels like it’s going to singe my hand. Her cheeks and forehead are flushed, and she moans a little when I peel the blankets down, trying to cool her off. She rolls against me, trying to bury her face in my bare chest and kicking the rest of the covers off herself. I have to suppress a grunt at the discomfort of having her fevered skin against me. It’s a shock as much as anything else.
“Sarah, wake up. Baby, I need to call the hotel and get you checked into the heat suite, ok?” My voice is higher than normal with an edge of panic. I know she took care of setting all this up, as a just-in-case situation, but I’m glad she did. I grab her cell and slide the pattern across the front to access it. She has all thereservation information. But her hand comes out before I can hit the call button, her grip hot and tight on my wrist.
“S’fine. Don’t call. It’s jus’ a spike. I’ll be fine. Jus…can you get me a cold water, please. It’s too hot in here. I think I’m gonna be sick.” Hell, if I was burning up like she is, I’m pretty sure the contents would have already evacuated my stomach from both ends, so yeah. Me and summer are not exactly simpatico, which is why I like Los Angeles where it’s always moderate. None of these hundred and ten degree summer day bullshit. Unless everything is on fire, and those are horrible no matter how you look at it. If that happens, my stomach is the least of my worries.
I crawl-slide out of bed, eliciting another pained little moan from her when I pull my cooler skin away from her. “I’ll be right back, just hold on, Shortcake.” Her scoff in reply to the nickname suggests she isn’t as bad off as I feared. If she can give me attitude, she can’t be too bad, right?
Padding my way down the hall, I’m met by a bouncing, wagging Jake and a clock that says it’s three in the morning. I guess the big guy heard me get up and came to look for midnight treats. “Sorry, Jake, I just need some cold water for Sarah. She’s not feeling well.” He hops around me a few times, looks at the back door, and then retreats into the living room. It’s kind of a shock that his thundering scramble up the stairs doesn’t wake the rest of the house. But it stays quiet while I fill a glass with cold water and a pitcher with ice in case she needs it for her drink, or to make a cold compress.
I’m just switching off the lights when Garret appears in the doorway. His hair is sticking up on one side, and he has pillow streaks across his cheek and chest. “Hey…um…man. We heard some loud thumping that didn’t sound like the fun kind, and Kelly sent me to make sure everybody was ok. She’s not worried about burglars or anything in this area...and Jake. Plus, Sam is obsessive about checking the door locks and smoke detectorseach night, but…are you guys ok?” He nods to the pitcher of ice in my hand.
I’m still nervous about my omega, but the shock has worn off with the cold air from the freezer. “Yeah. Yeah, I hope so. Sarah woke me up on accident. She’s too hot, like, uncomfortably flushed. She says it’s just a heat spike and asked for some water.” Garret’s eyes are fully awake now, and he starts pacing across the room, so I rush on to reassure him. “She isn’t expecting her heat for another few weeks, but she says it’s always been on a wonky schedule. She also reserved a heat suite at a hotel over in Springfield, so if anything happens unexpectedly, we won’t have to try to ride it out here and risk throwing Teddy into an early one. Though I might need somebody to watch Shaggbutt if that happens. Still, she’s been dealing with a fucked-up cycle for years, so she knows her own body. If she says it’s just a spike, I think we’re clear. I just want to help reduce her discomfort.”
He nods repeatedly, his head turning to look down the hallway, eyes filled with concern. “I don’t know much about omegas. Just Teddy, you know, and that’s just because he’s mated to Kelly. The general medical studies didn’t have a lot of specific omega courses; those were reserved for specializations. But…that doesn’t sound good. I’m gonna head back to bed and let them know you two are ok, but keep us in the loop if anything changes, or if you need anything.” He pats me once on the shoulder, almost as if he knows that it’s an action to offer comfort, but he doesn’t quite understand how it works.
“Thanks Garret. I better get back to Sarah, but I’ll let you get some rest. With any luck, getting her cooled down and back to sleep means she’ll feel mostly normal tomorrow.” He nods again before turning and heading upstairs. Quiet voices drift down, probably just him letting Kelly know what’s up. It’s entirely too early for this…or too late, depending on how you look at it. Hopefully, we can all get more rest soon.
The house is silent again when I make it back to the bedroom. Sarah is snoring softly, her pajama top pulled up under her boobs and her legs tangled in the sheet like she was trying to roll off the bed in her sleep. I put the pitcher of ice on a dresser and bring the water over to the nightstand before reaching out to untangle her. Thankfully, her skin has cooled considerably just in the time I was gone, and I feel like an ass waking her up for a drink now that she’s out again. For good or bad, she snaps awake when I lift her foot out of the knot she has wrapped around it. Her eyes flying open to meet mine.
“I got your water, and some ice. Are you feeling ok? Your fever seems to already be gone. Is that sort of thing normal for omegas?” Her eyes shift back and forth between mine, and she reaches out and snatches up the water cup, chugging it down quickly and letting out a little gasp before looking back at me.
“Not exactly…normal.” Her voice is quiet, and a loud thump and scramble breaks the tension from where we must have woken up Shaggy. She laughs quietly to herself, staring over at his enclosure. She doesn’t meet my eyes when she speaks again. “Not exactly normal, but then again, my body isn’t exactly normal. This shit just makes me feel like a freak sometimes. For now, can you just give me cuddles? I really want to get some more rest before I overanalyze myself in the morning.” She chuckles, a soft, self-deprecating sound before curling up tightly against my side.
By the time she wakes up, she will have shifted at least four different times, and probably be wrapped around my arm like it’s some kind of body pillow. I never used to sleep on my back, but now it makes her comfortable, so I’m adapting. One tiny thing at a time so I can be whatever she needs.
“So, that’s it. My cycles are a bit jacked ’cause of the PMOS. My body may decide it wants to have a heat this week, but more than likely I’ll have a few spikes like last night, and then skip another four to six months. Then it might be twice as long, or it might not be. I rarely skip more than one heat, and if I do, I’ll have about a week of spikes. That’s probably what happened yesterday at the store too. We can still keep the reservation, just in case, but it’s likely I’ll just need your help a little bit during some of the longer spikes...and hopefully those will be done by the time we’re ready to head home. Sorry Thicc.” She looks over her shoulder, addressing the big omega on the other end of the couch.
“No worries, Shorty,” he snarks back. “I’m just sorry you’re having to deal with this on your vacation. I know it makes going out and having fun a lot more difficult if you don’t know when it’ll happen.” The poor guy looks frazzled and stares at Sarah pathetically. “But you can still come hang out at the gym, right? It’s only a few miles away. So you can get home fast if you need to…or use the sauna…it locks from the inside.” Teddy waggles his eyebrows at us together, causing Sarah to snort a loud laugh.
“Fun on my vacation? Why, my dear Teddy, are you hiding all the omega-friendly nightclubs and bars that this area is so well known for? Did I miss an amusement park on the drive in? Wait, don’t tell me, there is a comedy club and theater down the road you were aching to take me to! I hate to be the one to break thenews, mi compadre, but there isn’t jack-shit in this area to do. You even told me that you couldn’t get a pizza delivered. What the hell could two sing—one singly attached omega and her beta and best friend do for fun in the area? Be still, my beating heart.”
Teddy reaches over and slaps her on the arm, causing her to break out in a fit of hysterical giggles. It doesn’t stop the huge grin on his face. “Remember, Shorty, nobody loves a smartass. And I just…I don’t know. There isn’t a lot here, but there are some nice places too. I thought we’d go out for burgers, maybe try the nesting shop again, or hit up the mall properly. Vee wants to hit the bookstore, not for manga this time, and Sam needs to pick up some wood to help Paul build those face frames for his bookshelves.” He looks thoughtful for a moment. “That last one might not be plausible with the van though.”
Sarah is cackling like a madwoman, lying across my lap, tears streaming down her face. I mean, I guess it was an ok attempt at humor, but maybe I don’t get it, maybe it’s an omega thing. She finally starts coughing, and I’m about to pat her on the back when she sits up, taking a huge gasping breath. “Fuck me, Thicc. Are you trying to kill me? You went from snark to sentimental in like two sentences. Talk about a mood shift. But seriously, I love you too…and we can still do those things. Though the wood store sounds meh. And I’m kind of looking forward to spending time at the gym. Do you happen to know what Moose’s schedule looks like? Just so I know.”
Chapter 51
Blending colors is harder than it looks. Maybe I’m simple, but I thought I could just put them one over the other, and they’d sort of…bleed through. Yeah, that doesn’t work. So now I’ve raided the kitchen for bowls to put paint in to mix. Paul isn’t happy with me for that, but it’s one time. He’ll get over it. I tried to explain the problem to him, but he just shook his head and walked off. Poor guy, no sense of adventure with colors. His loss.
Still, it’s coming together really well, minus a few hiccups like the blending and forgetting to tape off the edges…then almost stepping in my paint tray. I think I’ve got it just about right, and honestly, some of the streakiness looks a lot like wispy cloud fluffs, so I’m calling them a win. I started at the top yesterday, so it should be ok for me to start planning constellations this evening when I get home from work.
It’s been a few days since we saw Sarah. I didn’t leave the house yesterday since I wasn’t scheduled for work, and I was trying to get a jump on this. I wonder if she and Greg might like to come over and see the finished product tomorrow. I should have just enough time to get a shower now before my shift. My back and shoulders are sort of stiff. I didn’t realize how many muscle groups painting used, so I don’t feel too bad about skipping arm day yesterday to work at home. Maybe I can turn the basement into a weight room. Wait…do we have a basement? I should probably check that. I don’t like basements; they usually smell funny and are too cold, but maybe if we do, we can brighten it up with some new overhead lights.
This is something I should know, I realize that, but at the same time I’ve been kind of focused on the rest of the house and the nest since we moved in. I’ve probably spent way too much time thinking about what to do in here, but when inspiration struck, I knew it was the right call, and even without the stars, it looks great. Just like I imagined. Picking up all my empty bowls of paint, I carry them into the adjoining bathroom and set them on the bottom of the shower floor. This should be the quickest way to get them washed. We can still run them through the dishwasher later, and as long as Paul doesn’t find out, it’ll be fine. I don’t want any more disapproving looks. The guy is like my brother, and I hate when he gets upset with me. I feel about six inches tall. It’s really unpleasant.
I lay them out on the floor along with my roller and brushes before turning on the cold water, then head back to my room to get cleaned up. My mind wanders again to the tiny omega that was here a few days ago. Paul has asked me three times for my shirt from that day so that he can get the laundry started, but I’m bogarting it in the back of my closet. Since she was sleeping on me, her scent has soaked into it and I’m loath to wash her smell away. If Al finds out, he’s gonna be pissed. Paul mightunderstand, but he hates having dirty clothes lying around. Which I can understand with gym clothes—those get massively funky after even a day, but this smells like strawberry shortcake, so it should be fine. Sure, there’s a little Spencer stank around the pits, but it’ll be ok for now. My gaze flicks over to the cuticle scissors in my nail care case and the thought briefly passes through my mind that I could just cut the sleeves off and that would get rid of most of my smell. Then I could keep it longer, but that would be a waste of a shirt, and I know I couldn’t explain my way out of that.
The water heats while I brush my teeth and hair, getting a few globs of paint stuck in my comb and yanking out some strands. I bring my hand up to rub at the sore spot only to realize there’s a long streak of teal paint stuck to my knuckles. Fuck, I’ll never hear the end of it if I’ve left smears on any of the walls between here and the nest. I’ll check again when I’m clean.
The hot water feels amazing on my sore neck and shoulders as I scrub the speckles off my chest and face. If I paint without a shirt on, then there’s less chance of messing up my clothes, but getting the dried stuff out of my chest hair is a pain in the neck. Thankfully I’m not as fluffy as some guys, not enough that I have to shave or wax my torso. That just looks painful. I wonder if Sarah likes the hairless look, or if she’s more into the wooly booger thing with a chest pelt that needs conditioning and a comb. I can’t pull that off—Paul probably can, but thankfully his hair is so light-colored, it’s probably not obvious. And I think Al either shaves completely or just has no body hair. It’s not like I’m looking at them naked, but we live together and shared a bathroom for years. You tend to see stuff.
My mind turns back to Sarah. I wouldn’t mind sharing a bathroom with her, not that I’m trying to be a perv, but she doesn’t strike me as the type to leave a whole bunch of stuff on the counters. Plus, walking into a steamy room that smells likestrawberry shortcake seems like it would be a nice way to wake up. My dick perks up at the thought of the sweet omega in the shower, and I want to punch myself for thinking of her that way without her permission. It seems…I don’t know…rude? Turning the water all the way to cold, I blast myself with a freezing shot, making my chub wither.
Take that!
Holy fuck, my balls are freezing now.
