I sighed. “I still love you, Dad. But I need a major nonjudgmental zone in regard to this, and I need to not be compared to you. Yes, I will try to learn from the mistakes you made, but I’m also more capable than you all think. I’m not going to un-bond my mates just because you fucked up your career and Grace’s life. Also, I was serious about wanting my money back by graduation. Um, I have to go.”
Before I lost my nerve, I ended the call.
“Shit, I just hung up on a parent.” My whole body shook.
Fiona kissed me. “Sometimes it’s necessary. Hale, I love you. Please don’t un-bond me.”
The thing was, Dad had a point. It would fix everything. It would be easier. At the same time, was the easy way worth giving up the omega in my lap?
I didn’t think it was. My phone rang. Carlos.
“Hey.” My voice shook.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded.
“Hale’s dad told him to un-bond us,” Fiona said.
“Shit. Wow. Hey, you don’t have to listen to him,” Carlos said.
“He doesn’t think I can do it. I just wanted him to believe in me like my siblings do.” Tears pricked my eyes.
“You can do this. We can do this. Just… stay. Please. Don’t listen to him.” Her voice broke as she turned on my lap and buried her face in my shoulder.
“I didn’t mean to get into it. He just started getting on me about my PhD, even though I’m working on it and…” My body shuddered.
“Do you need me to come home right now?” Carlos offered. “I will.”
“I’m okay.” I’d feel bad if he did that.
“Are you sure? You fucking matter to me. So, if you need me, tell me, and I’ll come home, Hale,” he said.
Honestly, I’d like that. But a parent being disappointed in me was just another day in my life.
“I’m sure. I might have to fuck our omega, though,” I replied.
“Fuck away. Iloveyou, Hale. I love both of you. I am here. You are not a fuckup. You can do this. And don’t fucking worry about money. We can fucking support your ass this semester while we get our shit figured out, okay. I can even pay for your PhD. You can always support me when I go back to nursing school, understood?” His voice went firm.
He didn’t just love me, but he wanted to support me? What he said seemed fair. I mean that’s sort of what the parents did.
“One semester would help so fucking much. Just while we got organized… I’m in the process of selling my drug, but it’s not much and I have to think about PhD program costs…”
“We will absolutely help you with any and all of it. What else is money for, besides pillows and chocolate?” Fiona asked.
Could I? Could I let them love me? That would make un-bonding so much harder.
But I didn’t want to do that. Was that selfish of me?
Probably.
However, they didn’t want me to un-bond them, and that mattered, too.
Certainly, I didn’t want to un-bond them.
“Okay.” It came out like a sob. “I love you, too.”
“Good. We’ve fucking got this,” Carlos assured.
“We do,” Fiona agreed.
