Eric

Eventually, Lorenzo and Vincenzo came back to the room. Vincenzo smiled when he saw me sitting there. "I could get used to that view, seeing you here again, in my home.”

“Go back to your own suite if you’re gonna get all gushy,” Lorenzo said.

Dominic slapped at his alpha’s shoulder playfully. “You used to get that excited when you saw me, alpha.”

Lorenzo smiled down at his omega and kissed him on the temple. “I still do, love.”

Vincenzo grabbed my hand and led me out of the room, leaving those two to be alone.

“Are you terribly tired, love? Or are you up for a surprise?” he asked.

“What sort of surprise?”

Vincenzo grinned and held my hand as he led me down the hall. Two guards followed us, Davy and someone else I didn’t recognize. It was probably my guard. I would have one now, assigned to me full-time, like Dominic did. That would take some getting used to.

We went to the full birthing suite that had been set up in the family wing. The family kept a medic on-call at all times. The equipment was originally brought in for Dominic but would be left for me. It just made more sense to have a full delivery room with access to state-of-the-art equipment that would rival the most modern pediatric center in the country than to go to a public facility and risk running into an enemy.

“What are we doing in here?” I looked around, wondering why he’d brought me here. “I don’t have an exam scheduled for two more weeks.”

Vincenzo kissed my cheek and pulled me a little tighter to his side. “Actually, you have an appointment today.”

As we passed the doctor, he gestured us into the room. “Eric, it’s good to see you again. Just get comfortable on the table and I’ll be right with you.”

I looked from Vincenzo to the doctor. Why was I here? “Do I need to get undressed?”

He looked at me and shook his head. “No, you should be fine. Just lower your pants to your hips so I have access to your belly.”

“What?” A spike of panic flooded through me as I looked at Vincenzo. “What’s going on?”

“Babe.” He looked at me as if I were being irrational. Maybe I was. I hoped I was. “Don’t give me that look like something bad is about to happen.” He cupped my cheek and gave me a soft kiss, lingering against my lips as my heartbeat slowly calmed down. “He’s agreed to do an ultrasound.”

“What? Already?” My hand immediately went to my belly. It wasn’t huge yet, but I definitely felt the growing life within me. “I thought it was too soon.”

“Too soon for a hospital to agree to it, maybe. But look around, sweetheart. We make the rules here, and if you want an ultrasound, you’ll get a fucking ultrasound.” He reached for my pants to help with the buckle and noticed they were the elastic kind that didn’t have any fasteners. He raised an eyebrow and grinned. “These look comfy.”

I laughed and shoved his shoulder. “Don’t make fun of me. This is your fault.”

He slowly dragged the front of my pants down in the front and dropped to his knees, kissing my belly. “My fault this time and every time.”

A warmth filled me as I imagined future babies with him. Babies that were planned in advance and welcomed into the family from day one. “Let’s see how this time goes before we plan the next one.”

He helped me onto the table and placed his hand protectively over my belly.

When the doctor came back, he quickly lubed up a wand and scanned the lower part of my belly until we could easily see our little one glowing on the monitor. “Okay, there we go.”

It got a little hard to see the tiny details the doctor was pointing out through the layer of tears in my eyes, but it was one of the best moments ever. Especially when a drop landed on my arm and I looked up and realized it had fallen from Vincenzo’s eye.

“That’s my boy?” He had been listening to the doctor closer than I had.

“Wait, it’s a boy?” I wiped my eyes with my shirt sleeve and looked closer. “You can tell already?”

The doctor nodded and moved the pointer to a little speck on the screen. “Looks like a boy. Congratulations, Dads.”

A boy.

I turned to Vincenzo and the tears streamed more freely. “We’re having a baby boy?”

“Damn right we are.” He coughed through his emotion, attempting to seem tough but not at all pulling it off. “I love you, Eric. Thank you for making this dream come true.”

He was my dream come true, but we had a lifetime to debate the topic.