Reid smiled at me, and I felt sick. How could he smile at a time like this? He stepped back and took another look over me, his face showing concern. 

“Sam, you don’t look well. Maybe you should have worked from home.”

“I had to come to work, and I’m fine. I just didn’t sleep very well last night.”

“After the night you had, I understand,” Reid said softly, coming closer again and setting his hand against my cheek. “I made us both lunch, something that should sit alright in your stomach.”

I nodded and followed him to the desk when he set go of my cheek. Sitting down on one side of the desk, I watched his movements. He went and got two containers out of the mini-fridge in his office, bringing them to the desk and sitting down. He popped the lids off and slid one container towards me. Passing me a fork, and I looked over the meal inside the container. 

“It’s a quinoa salad, with a ton of vegetables, grilled chicken and a homemade dressing,” he said, taking a bite and looking pretty pleased with himself. Taking a chance on his salad, I took a bite. Chewing slowly, I got a few different flavours, but nothing that was gross or off-putting. 

“It’s ‌actually pretty good for boiled bird seed salad.” I muttered. Reid finished chewing the bite in his mouth and frowned. “The ‘boiled birdseed’, as you said, is good for you.” 

“Sorry that wasn’t an attack on your salad—hmm, I mean, it wasn’t supposed to be.” I said, realising that it really seemed like that. 

“I picked it because it would fill you up and be fairly easy on your stomach. I wasn’t sure if you would be affected by morning sickness already.”

Pushing around the food in the container, I let out a sigh. “Not really, or not that bad, yet. I’m sure it will get much worse through the pregnancy, if I hold this child as viable for the full term. Reid, I was going to tell you, but I didn’t want to get your hopes up. We know my body is not meant to carry a child, and at any point, I could reject the child.”

“Yes, I thought about that. In the end, I am more concerned with your wellbeing than the child growing inside you,” he said and took a drink out of his water bottle. 

“I have no intention of aborting the child, not if I don’t have to. But I won’t force you to be present—--.”

“Samuel.” Reid hissed, cutting me off, and I could tell he was pissed. He loosened the knot on his tie and unbuttoned a few buttons on his dress shirt. He exposed the bite mark I made on his throat. “This mark on my throat. Don’t you dare tell me you’ve forgotten about it already?”

“I haven’t. I wanted to give you a choice, in case this wasn’t what you wanted out of life.”

“I respect that, but that child is my flesh and blood, too. If you’ll allow me, I want to be with you the entire time. Pregnancy, and the after, whatever that is. We are mates, and I intend to make good on that. Much like you said, you would take responsibility for your mark, Samuel,” he said, relaxing back in the chair, his shirt and tie still messy. 

“Let out your pheromones.” I said and watched his face. 

“Is that safe for you and the child?”

“Yes. Your pheromones are beneficial to the pregnancy.”

“Samuel, about the phone call last night. You’re upset with your mother, I assume?” he asked, and I felt angry again, remembering what she did. 

“Yes, I’m pissed at her. She took it into her hands, and told you, but what if you had been angry about it? What if you had been married and didn’t want a child? What ifs are dangerous, and she could have put my life in danger? I should have been the one to tell you. It was my job, not hers. If you and I had been two different people, this entire story could be ugly today. There are people who get killed for shit like this.” I sighed, and took another bite of the lunch he made for us. 

“I agree. What you choose to do with your mother overstepping is up to you,” Reid said, and reached out covering my hand with his, and his pheromones were gradually filling the air. The smell was offering me a bit of comfort that I wanted. “We should speak about Dr Connell. With him being pregnant too, I will have to ask that you two change your patients to reflect your status. Take over all his Alpha patients, and he should take your omega ones. Not that the omega ones will make much of a difference now.”

“My sister-in-law is most likely to blame for this.” I said, gesturing to my stomach, feeling like I needed to clear up Dr Connell was not to blame for this. “But while we talk about all this, I need to book a blood test for total confirmation.”

“Let me see what I can do. I could probably get you in quickly for blood work and testing.” Reid said, reaching for his desk phone. 

“No, don’t. I can wait. There is no need to rush to find out. Don’t pull strings for me, Mr. Hospital CEO.”

“Fine. But if you need anything, just say the word.”

“What time are you leaving work today?”

“Three, I’ll wait for you to be done at three thirty, and I’ll take you back to my house. Even if it’s only long enough for you to have a nap. You look exhausted. Come here if you have to check out early.” 

I nodded, and worked to finish the salad he made, and we parted ways so we both could get back to work. I passed along the information about switching patients, and we agreed to do that for the best results. 

Working on a stack of paperwork in my office, I had to open a window so that the fresh air would help keep my lunch in my stomach while it digested. Like the saving grace that Dr Connell was, he brought me a cup of peppermint tea. 

“You look like you might actually need this,” Dr Connell said, setting the cup on my desk, and sitting down in the spare chair. “How are you feeling? Things went ok with Reid?”

“Things were fine with Reid. We had lunch that he made, which is what is currently trying to leave my stomach.” I groaned and took a sip of the tea. 

“I’ll get some things to help with nausea when I’m out on break in a little while. I know what works, and what to look for,” he said, and smiled softly at me. 

“I hate you look perfectly fine, and I feel icky.”

“Not my first, and unless my lovely husband gets cut, it won’t be the last. I’m used to it. As soon as I was positive, I went and got medication.” 

“This is my only. I hate this.” 

“Just wait. This is only the beginning. It gets worse. Just wait until you’re tired all the time, and then the constant need to pee,” Dr Connell said, and I sighed again. He smiled, and I fought back the urge to shoot him the middle finger. Taking a deep breath, I took another drink of the tea. 

“Send me all your important alpha files and I’ll look over them. That way, I know what the hell I’m getting myself into.” 

“If you need a hand with anything, you know where my office is, of course. After your blood test, and you find out how far along you are, take a week or two and do modified work,” Dr Connell said, like he knew something was coming in the next couple of weeks. 

He left to head back to his office after that, and I slipped the tea, thankful that it was calming my stomach. To calm my nerves, I opened files and folders on my computer about recessive Alpha pregnancy. The healing process for my body would be longer, because I wasn’t made to have children, and a C-section was my only option for delivery. Even feeding the child would prove difficult, unlike some male omegas I wouldn’t be able to breastfeed. 

Reid’s pheromones were super beneficial to me while carrying. They would help ease some of the discomfort the pregnancy gave. I was going to be grateful for Reid’s help, but I knew I couldn’t rely on him entirely. I would need to stay motivated and cope with the physical and mental stress of pregnancy. Then there was the matter of my mother, and her mouth. At the moment, full out ignoring her would be alright, but it would get tiring. 

Dr Connell dropped off a bag of stuff later on, a couple hours before I left, so when I made my climb to Reid’s office, I felt weighed down. He opened the door just a few seconds after I knocked, and he smiled at me. I hated how his smile seemed to affect me now. 

“Just give me a few minutes to finish up this report, and then we can leave. Make yourself comfortable,” Reid said, and went back to working on his report. I watched him work, and wondered if our child would look more like him, or I. I took this free time to look through the bag of stuff from Dr Connell. 

Teas, vitamins and strange snacks lived in the bag and I had no clue what a single one of them was. Picking up a brightly coloured box of tea, I brought it to my nose and took a sniff. The scent of ginger and peppermint was gentle compared to the horrendous box they packed it in. 

Reid stood up and fixed his suit. “I’m good to go now. Are you hungry?”

“Not really, but if you are, please don’t avoid getting yourself food.” I said and followed him out of the office. I was looking forward to napping in his bed. Following him down the stairs, I vowed to never do that shit again. It was terrible. 

Reid let me in the car first and closed my door for me. He waited for me to buckle in before he started the car. Pulling out of the hospital parking lot, he hit the seat warmer while stopped at the red light. 

“Oh, this is nice. I could get used to this.” I hummed, enjoying the warmth on my back and bottom. 

“You can rest. You have time. I’ll wake you up when we get to my house.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. That was welcomed news. Closing my eyes and getting comfortable, I gave into the comfort of the heated seat, and the light scent of Reid’s pheromones, and sank into a light sleep.