Chapter 13

Milo's POV:

"Happy birthday," I smiled as Adriel opened the door that Saturday morning, rubbing his eyes.

"Thanks," he sighed, stepping back from the doorframe. "Come in, it's cold."

"Thanks," I repeated, stepping in and stomping for a few seconds on the mat to rid my shoes of the snow before sliding them off. "I brought you a present."

"You didn't have to do that."

"Yeah I did. And here's Liam's gift, and Julie's." I gave him each present in turn until his hands were full and the basket I had used to carry them in was empty. I giggled at his slightly bewildered expression. "Sage said his isn't done yet so he'll bring it over when it is. They wanted to come but they knew you like your privacy so they told me to just bring them instead."

"I'll have to tell them thank you when we see them again," he replied, setting the pile of gifts on the floor. "Are you enjoying winter break so far? I haven't seen you since it started."

"It started two days ago," I frowned. Adriel's birthday was on the twenty-first of December, a fact that he didn't like since it meant he got two days of gift giving in the same week, then nothing for the next three hundred and sixty days. He just shrugged, though.

Daniel entered the room with a broad smile and a red and white box of donuts. "I was going to make crepes," he informed me as he set the box on the table and opened the lid before walking back into the kitchen for paper plates. "But they turned out very burnt and we had no more milk so I just went to get donuts instead."

I nodded, smiling a bit. We sat down at the table, where Daniel led us in our round of thanks to the Moon Goddess and dished out donuts. I ended up eating one that was small, vanilla flavored, without filling but with a thin chocolate glaze. I did end up scraping some of the too-sweet frosting off but I actually finished the whole thing; a first in a very long time. I couldn't contain my grin as I swallowed the last bite and neither Daniel nor Adriel could, either.

"Let's open the presents," Daniel insisted after they were both finished as well, standing to take the plates back to the kitchen and throw away the now-empty box. Adriel groaned but there was a smile on his face as he went to sit on the couch, the presents in a pile by his feet. I sat at the other end of the couch he was on, tucking my legs up to my chest so I could leave room for the gifts once they were unwrapped. Daniel returned and sat in his armchair, so Adriel sighed again and picked up the first gift.

After he was finished opening the gifts, a stack of the items on his lap, Daniel turned on a movie, a Christmas movie. I scooted closer to Adriel as he grabbed a warm blanket and set it over us. Daniel moved to his other side and we all sat close together as the characters were introduced into the scene.

Later that day, after lunch, Adriel and I went outside to the snow since it was new, fresh, and blanketed the ground in such a manner that he kind of just wanted to destroy it and I tailed along because it was his birthday, and also because it might be sort of fun. In a strange way.

I squeaked as I stepped outside in my borrowed boots. Even though my feet were shielded, they sunk into the snow and some got inside, wetting my socks. Adriel grinned at me and sat down on a larger pile where it had been pushed from the street.

"What do you want to do?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied, sitting next to him. "We could make a snowman?"

"Childhood nostalgia, I like it," he teased. I frowned and poked him in the side. "What, I said I liked it!"

I didn't reply, instead jumping off the mound and beginning to pack a small ball together.

By the time a half hour had passed, my snowman was done and Adriel had reappeared with a few rocks and a scarf, along with a long carrot for a nose. "His name is Greg," I decided as I stepped back, looking with pride at the creation.

"Should we make Greg the snowman a friend?" he asked, grinning. I shrugged, but I couldn't hold back a smile. Nearly two hours later, with chilled fingers and noses, we finished our snowman family with seven members, Greg and all of his family.

"You kids," Daniel groaned as he hurried around to make us hot chocolate as we stripped ourselves from the wet snowgear and curled up with blankets on the couch. It was warm, warm and comforting and nice and I felt nice and safe.

Once we had the hot drinks in our hands, Daniel led us in a Disney movie binging session. Movie blended into movie as we sat, wrapped in each others' warmth and spending time indoors after the snowy morning outdoors.

It was comforting, like a family.

-

Daniel left to go check on his chickens at around four, swearing to us that he wouldn't be gone for more than an hour, but we moved into Adriel's bedroom all the same, just sitting and talking and playing unimportant games of Uno.

"Did you know that cold is just the absence of heat?" I asked him as I laid down a blue two on top of the pile.

"Yes, I did," he replied. "We learned that in ninth grade science class."

"I just think it's kinda cool, that when you touch something colder than you are, the heat moves from your hand into the object." Adriel switched the color to red.

"Kind of, I guess. But it's just science."

I hesitated for a moment, laying down another card and saying 'uno' before finally saying, "Have you heard anything from..."

"No, Milo," he said, his words sharp, though not backed by malicious intent as he threw another red card, mostly in vain, at the pile. "I haven't heard anything from... her."

"Didn't she say..." I placed my last red card down on top and began to shuffle the discard pile, having won but with nothing as a prize.

"Yeah." He sighed. "She did. But she only said 'when you're an adult', not 'the day you become an adult'. I've got seventy more years that she could possibly come see me in."

"I know," I sighed too. "I'm sorry. I was just curious."

"I know," he repeated as someone knocked on the door. "I'll get it."

I watched as he left the room, leaving the door open behind him and feeling guilty for bringing up a topic he obviously didn't want to talk about. His business with his mother was none of my concern, but there I had to go, acting as though his business was mine. I had acted like such an awful friend, and the regret I felt over it caused my throat to tighten.

Soft words were being said downstairs, and I recognized Sage's voice. Yet Adriel seemed to be not speaking. Deciding something was obviously off, I moved to stand at the top of the staircase and realized with a start that the way Adriel was staring at Sage was awfully similar to the way Liam had stared at me when...

I probably needed to leave them alone.

I descended the stairs, not meeting either of their gazes as I reached for my shoes in the shoe shelf and pulled them on, grabbing my basket from where it sat on the floor. "I think I forgot to feed Bubbles this morning," I said, blatantly lying. "I don't want her to be hungry. Um, let me know if you want me to come back." I directed the last part of my statement at Adriel, who nodded wordlessly. Then I slipped past them, nodding a hello to Sage who smiled confusedly back, and walked off.

Oh Goddess, I thought in my head. That's certainly something.

What? Liam's voice asked in my mind. I hadn't even realized I was talking to him.

I... don't think I should say, I replied carefully. He gave a mental shrug but didn't push it.

Are you home?

I'll be there soon, I just left Adriel's house.

Can I come over? Paisley's driving me insane.

Sure. I fought against the butterflies in my stomach.

Be there soon.

I arrived at my house and took my shoes off, leaving them on the mat by the front door to dry. Then I sat down next to Bubbles on the sofa and grabbed the book from the coffee table that I'd been reading. I laid down on the couch, propping my head up on the armrest, and opened it to where my bookmark had been.

Only a few minutes later, Liam announced, I'm here, in my head and I smiled.

Come in, the door's unlocked, I replied.

He walked in with an easy smile. "Hey."

"Hi," I smiled, looking at him upside-down.

"What are you reading?"

"A book. It's in Spanish."

"Hmm," he hummed, sitting down on the floor behind me. I held the book up more and sort of angled it towards him, which made it harder for me to read but probably made it a thousand times easier for him. I also tried to take longer on each page so that he had a fighting chance of getting to the end of them. He didn't complain, at least, or say much of anything. I just hoped I was giving him enough time to digest the information in the book. As a native Spanish speaker, it was kind of like reading with a first grader.

"How much are you actually understanding of this?" I asked a few pages later, craning my neck to look at him. He shrugged, smiling.

"Not a lot."

I hesitated for a moment before moving to a sitting position, patting the place on the couch next to me. His expression brightened as he took my invitation and sat next to me, curling our bodies together.

"Would it help if I read it out loud?" I asked quietly, studiously keeping my gaze on the book.

He laughed, kissing my forehead. "I can't say I'd understand more, but it would be nice."

I let out a little sigh as I returned my attention to the text, beginning to read aloud. The Spanish was nice to read aloud, since it was my first language, so in some ways, I understood it better than I did English. I didn't think Liam understood a lot, but it felt good to me.

"That's the end of part two," I realized with a sad little sigh a while later. While there were three parts to the book and therefore I wasn't completely finished yet, I felt like it was the end of an era, like I'd never get that part of the book back even if I read it again.

"Do you want to continue reading?" Liam asked me, nudging my shoulder with his.

"No," I decided quickly. "My throat feels hoarse."

"You have been reading for about an hour," he told me, making my eyebrows rise in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You must really like that book."

"It's pretty good." I set it aside and leaned onto his shoulder. "It was one of my mom's."

"Your mom was the last omega, before you?"

"Mmm hmm," I answered him.

"I think I remember your mom," he said slowly. "She made those strawberry cupcakes for the bake sale in second grade, right?"

I nodded, my eyes growing wide. "They were so good."

"Why did the role of omega pass to you after your family passed? Is it unlike the role of an alpha or beta? Sorry if I'm overstepping boundaries, I'm just curious," he said quickly. I shook my head.

"It's fine. I... don't know the exact reason. I guess because omegas aren't really a chosen role, omega families just appear, naturally created- whenever there's an alpha, there's gotta be an omega, I guess," I smiled. "To keep the power balance. And I guess because we don't really have any special duties, since we're not in charge of anything, an omega can be any age. Having a ten-year-old alpha would be a disaster, but I was a ten-year-old omega, and I don't think there's really been much of a change in the pack from when my mom was the omega."

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that so young," he told me, his eyes wide.

I shook my head again. "It's fine." Then, before I could overthink it, I leaned forward to press our lips together. He smiled against me, biting softly at my lower lip. I opened my mouth, unsure what this meant, and he slipped his tongue inside. The feeling was strange, but the sensation rippled across my body in a good way. I tried to stay still as he explored me, but eventually I ran out of air and had to pull away, gasping.

"Sorry," he said, breathing deeply as though he was trying to get the missed air into his lungs. "Was that bad? I've never kissed anybody like that before."

"No, it," I took a breath, feeling myself turn red, "it was good. I just have small lungs."

"Ha ha," he grinned, poking my ribcage lightly. I rolled my eyes at him, turning my body to face him and leaning onto his chest, hearing the steady thumps of his heart through the fabric. I protested softly as he scooped me up and sat me on his lap. When I leaned back to see his expression, I found him smiling down at me.

"What?" I asked, eyes narrowing.

"I like it when you're this close to me," he smiled, "I like that I can feel your warmth and smell you all around me."

I blushed. "I don't feel any of that," I said bluntly.

"Well, yeah, I think it's a mate thing. You've got a good half year until you'll be able to feel it too."

"I can smell you, though," I said shyly.

"And what, good sir, do I smell like?" he teased, poking me in the stomach.

"Umm..." I took the excuse to lean close to him again. "Sort of like lemongrass, but also lime and wildflowers."

"Correct!" he cheered, causing us both to laugh. "Congratulations, you seem to have a working nose."

"Thanks for the verdict," I grinned. "Now I can be sure."

We snuggled into each other quietly for a few minutes, or maybe a half hour- time seemed distorted when I was on his lap like this, feeling warm and safe in his embrace.

"Liam," I said quietly a while later.

"Hmm?"

"What are we going to do about kids?"

Immediately the question made him stiffen. He pulled back from our embrace to look me in the eyes, but I looked down so I wouldn't have to meet his.

"You'll have to clarify," he smiled, keeping a warm facade.

"I can't exactly carry kids, Liam," I said to him, frowning as I stared at my crossed legs. "I don't know if you've noticed."

"Believe it or not, I did notice," he said in response. "I'm not sure, honestly. We could look into surrogacy, but we don't need to have kids if you don't want to. Anyone with alpha blood could become the next alpha, and that includes Paisley and any of her kids."

"Don't give me that," I sighed, tired. "The pack would go crazy. They're already upset that we're disrupting their way of life by being mated as both males. We can't change more from the usual."

"I can't believe they're still mad about that," Liam agreed, reaching to cup my face in his palm. "It doesn't seem too difficult to comprehend, does it?"

I shrugged. "Do you want dinner?"

"Sure. I'll help you," he sighed as I climbed off of him, reaching for my hand even though he'd have to let go when we started cooking.

"Is spaghetti okay?" I asked, looking through my cupboards.

"Sure."

I put the pot on the stove, filling it with water and letting it start to boil as I took a few cherry tomatoes from the fridge and put them in the bottom of Bubbles' bowl before getting some of her chicken feed out. Liam chopped carrots quietly by the counter as I poured in the spaghetti noodles.

"We should go on a date," he said suddenly, looking up at me with those piercing green eyes.

I blinked, feeling my cheeks start to color. "What?"

"A date? Where usually two people go to a restaurant or something, eat some food, and get to know more about each other?"

I tried to not make it known how much the idea repulsed me. "I'm not one for crowds. Remember at your house when everyone was looking at me and I had a panic attack? It's the same when ordering at a restaurant." I shoved the memories of the few times Daniel had tried to take Adriel and I out to eat aside in my head and looked up at him. He was frowning as he returned his attention to the carrots.

"I still think I should take you out," he muttered. "Maybe we could go for a picnic when the weather's nicer."

"That could be nice," I said in relief.

He set the knife down and turned to me, pressing our bodies together. What started as a simple embrace turned into a simple kiss which then turned into a slightly less simple kiss, him invading my mouth again as I tried to keep standing.

"Don't be afraid to tell me when you really don't want to do something," he smiled down at me when we finally pulled away. "Someday I'll take you to a restaurant. For now, we can plan a picnic even though it's in the middle of winter."

I smiled up at him, my face shining like I had just seen salvation, until I remembered something very important. Turning away from him, I whipped around to see that the spaghetti had boiled over and there was now a mess all over my stove.

"Dangit," I sighed.

--

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