Letting Alec off at the doors, he swapped places with mom, and I waited until she was bucked in. Pulling out of the parking lot, she smiled, telling me about my nephew, Mico Damien Woods. She was so excited, and I could tell she was already imagining all the adventures they would have together. I smiled, feeling the joy of parenthood for my brother and his wife. I knew Mico was in expert hands.

“I’m happy for them.” I said politely. 

My mother looked over at me the entire ride back home. She let out a sigh and kept quiet. In the driveway, she locked the doors and turned to me. 

“Before you get out, let me ask you something, Samuel.”

I nodded, and she reached out, setting her hand on my lower torso. “I was right, wasn’t I?”

I nodded again, and she pulled a hand through her hair. “I know it isn’t something you thought about in your future, but I sensed your mark on that male, and even if this isn’t the best time, you two are actively creating life, and—--”

“I haven’t told him yet, and I don’t want to until I’m positive it’s safe to do so. I don’t want him to get his hopes up. I’m not meant to carry a child. My body won’t adjust to carry it like an omega’s.”

“I know you will figure this all out, Samuel.” She finally unlocked the doors and let me out of my car. “I’m not a doctor like you, but I’ve had a couple of kids, and I can help.”

“Thank you, I really mean it.” I said, walking around the car and pulling her into a hug. “This whole thing is so stressful to me. I hate how it makes me feel.” 

“Come inside. We can talk about this a little better, and I’ll show you the photos of Mico. I just have to get changed. It might take a few minutes, so visit with Bay and your dad,” she said, smiling at me lightly, looking down at my belly again before heading inside. 

Sitting at the table with my father and Bay, I took a deep breath and touched my dad’s shoulder. He looked at me and set down the cards in his hands. “Sam, you look ill.”

“I don’t feel great, honestly. But there is something far more important right now to tell you. I’m not sure when I’ll have the courage to tell you, if I don’t right now.”

“Then tell me,” he said, and I saw him look at Bay. 

“I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant.” I said, and he took a long sip out of his beer and hummed. He looked at Bay again, and then turned in his seat, and crossed his arms, looking at me. 

“You think you’re pregnant?”

“Yes, rather, I have taken a test, and it was positive. I’ll need a blood test to confirm, but it’s on the safe side to assume I am until proven wrong.”

“Bay’s not saying anything, so I’m safe to assume he is already aware of this?”

“Yes, I came to ask mom for advice and Bay pulled me aside.” I confirmed. 

“Your mother knows?” our father asked me, and didn’t give me a moment to answer. He was following up with another question. “Does your mate know?”

“Mate… he isn’t.. I mean, he is, but we aren’t like that.”

“Samuel, that wasn’t what I asked if Reid knew that you’re carrying his child.”

“No.” I said, honestly. 

I knew he was going to chew me out like Bay had, but he would better understand once I had a moment to explain it all to him. 

“Your mother is taking her sweet time. I want to see photos of our new grandson,” he said, and looked at me again. “Go see what your mother is up to.”

Sighing, I stood up and left the kitchen, heading through the hall to the end and up the stairs. At the top, I could hear her speaking to someone. 

“I just wanted you to be aware of it. Samuel is a good kid, one of my best, but he lacks the understanding right now about this, emotionally.”

She was quiet, and I took a few steps closer. 

“Reid, Samuel is—” Walking a few more steps, I threw the bedroom door open, and I was pissed. She told him about it. 

“Why would you do that? I came to you for a reason. I needed your advice, not for you to run to Reid and tell him all about it. I should have known something like this was bound to happen.” I said, yelling at her. “Further! How the hell do you even have his fucking phone number?”

“Sam, I just wanted him to know he is the baby’s father.”

“We could get into an entire debate right now about this, but I’m going to spare you my anger. I’m going home.” I hissed, and turned on my heels, and went out of my parents’ room, and down the stairs. 

Bay was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and he looked at me with sympathy heavy in his eyes. He definitely heard one or both of us speaking. Stepping around him, he reached out for me. 

“Samuel.”

“Not right now Bay, I appreciate you, as always. But I need my space. I’m just going to head home right now, and I’ll call you when I have some more of this thought out, and I know what I’m going to do.”

I know why she did it, hell it was easy to know why she did it. She wanted him to know about his child. After all, he should be allowed to be present if that’s what he picked. There was never any thought about not keeping this child, at least not without Reid and me talking about it first. 

In the car, Reid was calling, and I answered. 

“Samuel—-.”

“Reid, let me stop you before you start. I don’t have the energy to talk about this all with you right now. We have a lot to speak about, but not at this very second.”

“I understand. I’ll let you go for the night, and come by my office tomorrow when you return to work.”

“Alright. Have a good night, Reid.”

He hung up first, and I exhaled, feeling even more stressed now than I had been before. None of this stress was good for the growing fetus. The rest of the drive was silent, as I just drove and allowed myself to think all this through. There were a lot of things I was going to need to figure out now. I had never really put too much thought into having children, let alone me being the one giving birth. 

I walked through my apartment, getting ready for bed on autopilot. Pulling my covers back, I got into bed, and tossed and turned all night long. The next morning came, and I got up. With only one to three hours of sleep, I needed a long shower to clear my head. I sat down before leaving for work and wrote out a list of questions to think over about where to go from here. There were a ton of things I was going to have to look into now. 

Not feeling the best to drive into work, I called a cab and waited outside the building with all my things. The cool air and the light rain were almost relaxing. I took a deep breath and went over the list again. I knew it was going to be a long day, but I knew I had to figure it out. For the sake of this child, Reid and I had to figure all this out. 

I didn’t relax fully until I got to my office and sat down at my desk. Checking through all my emails and messages, I got ready for my first appointment. It just so happened to be a pregnant omega who was looking for some help with pregnancy pheromones. 

“Doctor, are you not concerned about getting pregnant? I mean, I just noticed you’re not wearing a mask to protect yourself from my pheromones and you’re definitely not giving off omega or dominant alpha pheromones,” she said, rubbing her slightly rounding belly. 

“I’m not super concerned with that. I’m not very far along, but I’m already carrying a child.”

“Oh! I honestly didn’t know. You must be really early into it,” she laughed with a soft smile on her face. 

“I’m not really sure exactly how early I am. I haven’t even had a blood test to completely confirm it yet.”

“Oh wow, you really are early.” 

Together, we put together a care plan and I had the nurse give her the first dosage of her new medication, safe for the child inside of her, and faxed her prescription over to her family doctor and pharmacy. 

Reid called me to come see him for lunch, which seemed to link up perfectly with the time that Doctor Connell came into work to start his shift. He passed me in the hall, stopping, and grabbing my arm. 

“Sam, you don’t look well.”

“I’m not really well. Thanks for noticing.” I exhaled. 

“Maybe don’t go see Reid looking like that.”

“He already knows about me, and this little surprise. My mother called him and told him about it. Also, Alec’s wife had her son yesterday, early.”

“Oh yes, I saw her yesterday. She was having some issues regulating pheromones last night, and the maternity ward called for me to come have a look and help. I even got to see Mico. He really looks like your brother, Alec.”

“I didn’t get to see him. Any photos that mom took stayed on her phone. After she called Reid and told him behind my back, I went home. I didn’t want to stick around and look at baby pictures after all of that.”

“Has he spoken to you?” Doctor Connell asked. 

“Last night, but I asked to be left alone for the night and he respected that. I’m actually on my way to his office for lunch. He wanted to talk. So wish me well. This could go so bad so quickly.”

“Don’t let me keep you then, go,” he chuckled, and I rushed to the elevator and got inside, going to Reid’s floor. I was itching to see him, but also very on edge to see how he was going to react to all this. Doctor Connell’s husband nodded at me as I walked by, knocking on the office door. 

Reid opened the door and gently pulled me into his office before he looked me up and down. His eyes, drifting lower and settling on where our child was actively growing.