“Our fathers will never let you keep the baby. Not as a single omega… You know that, right? … And they’re the ones who decide.” Asher twisted his hands. “When you told me about being pregnant, I asked my history professor about the law. Just to make sure there wasn’t some kind of loophole in the decrees. There isn’t.”
“I know.” Zeller nodded. Father had already threatened that they’d be looking for adoptive parents if he didn’t agree to marry soon. It was one reason they were keeping him sequestered in the house. They hadn’t said so explicitly, but Zeller could read between the lines. His fathers planned to hide the birth. They would rather send their grandson away than allow the public to see their son as an unmarried father or partnered with someone of Valentin’s background.
Zeller would never forgive them for offering only impossible options.
It had not seemed to cross their minds that he already loved this baby the way a father should.
“What do you think you’re gaining by antagonizing them?” Asher asked. “Play the game. If you get married, you can keep the baby. And you couldn’t possibly be more miserable than Jem.”
“We'll see,” Zeller said, not because he meant it, but because he was done arguing. When he asked Asher to come for a visittoday, he had hoped to convince him to argue Zeller’s case with their parents, but his wishy-washy brother was a conflict avoider above all else.
Knowing he would give birth in five months filled Zeller with anxiety. He needed to figure out a plan to get away, but he had no money, no connections, and no friends. Heck, he didn’t even know how to drive.
Still, he kept his head. For his son’s sake.
He would do anything for his son.
For Valentin’s son.
Chapter Seventeen
Wes
Wes put his device on speaker so he and Assa could hear the most important news they had ever received.
“Congratulations, Mr. Pashuk. The omega you met with last week has decided to move forward with the adoption.”
As always, the agency representative spoke in a crisp, professional manner. It did not deter the effusiveness of Wes’s joy.
“Thank you so much, Talon! Assa is here with me too.”
“I’m sure you both are very excited.”
“We are ecstatic,” Assa said, clapping his hands together as they sat at their dining table.
“What are our next steps?” Wes asked.
“Can you come in on Wednesday around four p.m. to fill out legal documents? We’ll have our notary available. There will be more eventually, but this is enough to get us started. Otherwise, you should prepare your home to welcome a new baby in about two months, assuming the omega delivers close to his due date.”
“We’ll be there.” Wes made a note in his calendar.
“Congratulations again.”
After Wes disconnected the call, Assa leapt on top of him, straining the wooden chair as he straddled his lap. “Three days! In three days we sign paperwork, and before we know it, we’ll bring our son home.”
Wes reveled in his husband’s happiness. Assa had been melancholy these last several weeks, ever since moving Jeral to the skilled nursing side of the assisted living facility.
The adoption process had also weighed heavily on them. After the initial excitement of meeting with the agencies, the past few months had been an agonizing waiting game.
They had met with a few omegas interested in learning more about them, but until tonight, none had chosen to move forward. The closest they’d come was a second meeting with a married alpha/omega pair who worried about providing for a sixth child, but ultimately, that couple decided they could not bear to surrender their son.
The omega who had selected them was a young man they’d met with three times. He was single, twenty-six, and had discovered his pregnancy after using a heat service. Prior to sharing the omega’s heat, the alpha had signed away his parental rights to any child that might be conceived, a standard practice for those contracts.
It would be an open adoption, and Wes and Assa looked forward to having the omega birth father as part of their lives in addition to the baby.
The only thing that caused them some concern was that the man seemed very uptight. He had mentioned wanting his child to be in atraditional familymore than once. Wes and Assa had not disclosed their polyamory. They decided that if it did somehow get brought up, they would assure the omega that they’d be monogamous if he required it.
The next day, Wes arrived at work with a spring in his step. He was so excited that he’d almost forgotten the mysterious meeting Dean Reynolds had put on his calendar the week before. Everyone in the history department was invited, with the subject listed only asMandatory Meeting to Discuss Team Updates.
