Page 119 of Glitterati Omega

“Mmhmm,” she said with a knowing look. “Okay. You keep walking.”

He frowned at her, but Mama took his arm and led him off again. They did another couple of laps before Charli called them in for breakfast.

“Don’t eat too much,” Mama cautioned him, and he frowned at her, then went back to buttering toast.

“I honestly don’t feel any different,” he protested as he hacked into the omelet.

“What’s going on?” Winston asked, his brow furrowing.

“Omega things,” Mama answered.

“I’m in labor,” Rupert replied, and both Mama and Mandisa scolded him.

“He is an alpha, he doesn’t need to know!”

“Why shouldn’t he know?” Rupert frowned.

“It’s not proper for an alpha to know,” Ndileka said with a nod.

Winston looked a little worried. “It’s fine,” Rupert said, trying to offer some reassurance. “I feel all right.”

“Okay,” the alpha said, concern still plain on his face.

Mama made Rupert go for another stroll after breakfast, and then he was allowed to take a nap. By the time he woke up from that, a deep ache had settled into his back, which he thought was strange.

Still, he meandered out to the kitchen. He sipped at some water, then nibbled at leftover cheesecake that was in the fridge. He left most of the slice on his plate and wandered back to the bedroom, now feeling pressure opening into a burning ache. His abdomen felt tight, cramps shuddering through him.

He tried to get comfortable in bed. He tried the heating pad. He got back up and paced in front of the bed. Then he wandered up and down the corridor.

“Lie down,” Mama told him when she found him at the far end of the hall.

“It hurts,” he whined as she herded him back to the bedroom.

“Yes,” she agreed. She made him sit on the edge of the bed, then spread his legs and looked under his nightgown. He yelped in shock, but she came up, shaking her head. “You have a long way to go yet, goose.”

He took another shuddering breath. Mama considered him. “Let’s go in the pool,” she said.

“I don’t want to go in the pool,” he groused.

“It will help,” she said. “Come on, goose. These babies aren’t nearly here yet. We will keep you comfortable.”

She helped him change into a nightgown that wouldn’t turn see-through in the water, since none of his swimsuits fit his new figure. Mandisa, who was helping, pulled out one of his bikinis and just laughed. She brought Cyril, her youngest, to play in the water with them. That was helpful; Rupert tried to concentrate on the babbling baby, who splashed and laughed and smiled at them, and they helped the tot play.

But it wasn’t long before the cramps were worse, and Rupert sat down on the stairs into the pool, huffing and puffing. He closed his eyes and groaned. Cyril was quiet, then babbled at Mandisa, then pointed at Rupert, concern in their big, brown eyes.

“Do you have blood yet?” Mama asked him, and he shook his head, because he didn’t know.

She took him back inside and checked again. She shook her head, and he moaned in frustration.

He skipped dinner and settled down for the night with Mama Thandiwe. When he woke up, everything was wet. He was groggy and confused, but Mama just bustled about him, humming.

“Oh my God,” he said finally, mortified. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

She laughed at him. “Goose. You haven’t wet the bed,” she said, “not yet.”

“Huh?”

“Your water broke,” she said. “The babies are coming now.”