But Calder wasn’t Valentin.
Calder had kissed him tenderly last night, saying how proud he was of the way Zinn had handled everything with the Pashuks. He told Zinn that he understood his need for space and left him with the reminder that he was there if Zinn needed him.
“I love you, sunshine,” he said. “And I’m so thankful you’ve been reunited with your son.”
“Assa and Wes’s son,” Zinn corrected him.
“No, my omega. You don’t have to do that. Yes, he’s their son, but you’re his birth father, and those men seemed perfectly willing to give you that title. I realize you don’t want to diminish the relationship they have with Ryde. And you want to set their minds at ease so they won’t be scared to let you in his life. Of course they are his fathers, but you have a place here too.”
“I hope so…Stars, I hope so.”
“We’ll figure it out, but not right this minute.” Calder hugged him close. “That’s why they invited us to dinner next week to talk abouthowto introduce you to Ryde. Notwhetherthey would. It gives everyone a few days to take a breath, but they understand you don’t want to wait too long.”
“I noticed that too. Like, it’s already a given that they’re okay with me meeting my son. Only thehowis in question.”
“Assa and Wes are good people. This is going to work out.”
“Other things are going to work out too.” Zinn grinned. “I can’t wait to text you in the morning after I take the test.”
Calder’s eyes lit up, and he kissed Zinn on the nose. “I’ll be waiting for it.”
Twelve hours later, Zinn held the evidence of his pregnancy in his hand. It was surreal that it was happening at the same time he’d finally met his first child. This new baby would have what Zinn hadn’t been able to give Valentin’s son. This boy would have an alpha father, an omega father. And three brothers.
The pink lines seemed to stare back at him. Zinn, Calder, Wes, Assa…and Valentin. They were all connected now.
Zinn picked up his phone and had just finished texting Calder the good news when a message coming through startled him. It was from Assa.I’d like to drop something off for you, but don’t want to overwhelm you if you need some space. Zinn chortled. The last thing he wanted was space from the Pashuks. He was going to be on edge until they could hash out the details of setting up a time when he could meet Ryde. He texted Assa his address.
The beta arrived twenty minutes later. His hair seemed lighter with the sun behind it. Flecks of gold shimmered among the red strands.
“It’s only me,” Assa said. He breezed in as if they hadn’t met less than a day ago. “Wes had an emergency staff meeting at the university. I was prowling around the house getting these together—” he held up a tote bag “—and decided to take a chance and text you.”
“I’m glad,” Zinn said. “When Calder dropped me off last night, I thought I wanted time alone to decompress. But I miscalculated. I was usually on my own growing up and I’m still getting used to wanting to be around people. Can I get you anything to drink?”
“Tea?”
“Chamomile okay?”
At Assa’s nod, Zinn flipped on the kettle in the kitchenette. Assa sat on the small couch, resting the bag by his calves.
“Wes is a professor, right?” Zinn asked.
“He’s the assistant dean in the history department, so he doesn’t teach many classes. Mostly he does administrative stuff. That’s how we ended up in Bellwether. For his job.”
“And you work on campus too?” Zinn tried to recall what Calder had told him about the couple.
“Mm-hmm. I was a stay-at-home father with Ryde until we moved. But I work in one of the labs now. Have you heard of Dayson Bannon?”
“The omega scientist who sued to operate a heat service?”
“Right. About ten years ago, he won that big case. But before that, he worked at the university. I’m a tech in the lab he established to conduct research on omega heats.”
Zinn’s jaw ticked. “Thank you for that. I’ve had some painful and terrifying heats in my life, and I wouldn’t wish them on anyone.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. If there’s one thing the past few months has taught me, it’s that everything happens for a reason.” Zinn poured boiling water into their mugs and sat down next to Assa. “Do you want to hear another wild coincidence?”
“Of course. We haven’t had enough of those this week.”
