Chapter 20

“Don’t worry,” Derek said as he slipped an arm around Timothy’s shoulders and gently guided him down the sidewalk. “We’ll get you home and get you into bed as soon as possible.”

It was difficult for him to see his omega so exhausted and miserable. It was clear that Timothy had been feeling sick again. The way he’d been clutching to the wastebasket in the office had left little doubt in Derek’s mind that the nausea had returned. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt so helpless. All he could do was offer support and try his best to make Timothy comfortable.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be such a burden.” Timothy’s voice was barely audible as he spoke. He leaned against Derek as they walked and kept his eyes directed at his feet. “I know you wanted to talk more about…well, you know.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Derek reassured him. “There’s always tomorrow. Besides, we’ve got plenty of time.” The alpha hoped he sounded calm he than he felt inside. He’d thrown himself into his work all day and had still found himself plagued by thoughts of the future. It was difficult to picture what parenthood looked like. He didn’t have the best examples, and it wasn’t exactly something he’d ever given a lot of thought to.

He looked up at the clear night sky. Stars twinkled in the blackness overhead. The air was cold and their breaths emerged in clouds of steam. Guests streamed along the sidewalk. Many of them walking between the auditorium building and the condos. Some of them were heading towards the Lodge building where several of the amenities were still open.

A lot of the initial chaos of the first snowfall had died down. There was still an uptick in traffic during the weekends, but for the most part, Snowed Inn had settled into a steady rhythm.

The two of them had nearly reached Timothy’s condo when Timothy stopped short and exhaled sharply.

“Derek, I want you to know that I’m really happy to be with you. I’m really happy that we found each other after all this time.” Timothy took hold of Derek’s hands and smiled up at him.

“I’m happy too, but what brought this up?” Derek smiled slightly but there was a tinge of concern in his voice.

“Nothing in particular,” said Timothy. “I just felt like I needed to say it. I’m pretty sure that without you I never would’ve been able to get through to Andrew. It was only because of your marketing that we were able to make this a success tonight. Thanks to that, the two of us managed to reconcile. I got one of my closest friends back.”

“I’m glad I could help.” Derek couldn’t help but feel a slight tightness in his chest as he spoke. He pushed past the lump of emotion forming in his throat and pulled Timothy into his arms. He gave the omega a warm squeeze and then turned back towards the condo. “Come on, it’s cold out here. We need to get you into bed so you can rest.”

Less than five minutes later, they were back in the living room of Timothy’s condo. Derek was stoking up the fire while Timothy sat on the sofa with a cup of cocoa. The omega had been resistant to the idea of going to bed just yet. From the look in his eyes, Derek could tell there was something he wanted to say, but he was having difficulty saying it.

So the alpha did what he could to make Timothy comfortable and accommodate his needs.

“Derek,” Timothy said at last, “I think…” His voice trailed off. He chewed his lip and looked into the cup in his hands.

Before Derek could say a word there was a knock at the front door. He frowned. “Who the hell is here this late at night?”

He crossed the room and pulled open the front door. The sight that greeted him left him speechless.

Standing before him were Robert and Julia Snow, as well as their six other children.

“What are you all doing here?” Derek narrowed his eyes. He was careful to stand in the open doorway barring the path from anyone that might try to enter.

“Well, it’s come to our attention that the two of you are in a serious relationship.” Julia Snow explained as she stood beside her husband. “We thought we would come and wish you well.”

Derek furrowed his brow but said nothing. He glanced back at Timothy. His omega was sitting on the couch with a frustrated expression on his exhausted face.

“Timothy isn’t feeling well. You’re going to have to come back another time.” Derek wasn’t about to let them have their way. If they wanted to do their stupid family interrogation, they could do it another time. There was no way he was letting them bully his omega when he was clearly feeling weak.

“Look, I understand. We’re not here to cause trouble. This is important though,” Robert Snow said in a calm but authoritative tone.

“I understand that this is important to you, but I have to insist. Timothy is under the weather and this is not a good time.” Derek was doing his best to remain civil despite the fact that he just wanted to chase them all off the porch with a growl and a string of profanities. How could any of them have assumed that this was an appropriate time for this? “Besides, it’s late. I’m sure the rest of you would rather be in bed than doing this right now.”

“You know what it’s like this time of year,” said Robert. “We’re also busy. If we wait until tomorrow or the next day, or the day after that, we’re unlikely to get another free moment.” He offered an apologetic smile but seemed like he wasn’t going to back down.

Derek’s grip on the door tightened in white-knuckled intensity. He glanced around at each of the family members standing behind Robert and Julia.

Tony stood awkwardly to one side kicking at the snow with the toe of his shoe. Peter was near the back with Luke beside him, it seemed that even Derek’s cousin had been inducted into this pointless ritual. Andrew hovered uncomfortably near his mother, it looked like he didn’t want to be there. Eli, Emily, and Morgan all appeared to share their parents’ desire to see this through, however.

Derek felt a hand touched his back and he glanced over to see Timothy standing beside him. The omega had a look of uncertainty in his eyes and his complexion was still as pale and drawn as it had been a few minutes ago. He was in no condition to have this conversation.

“Mom, Dad…Derek is right. I can’t do this right now. I can barely keep my eyes open. I feel like I’m going to throw up any minute.” Timothy’s voice sounded strained as he spoke. He clutched to Derek shirt with one hand as he faced down his parents.

“But, Tim…” Julia began.

“No, that’s enough. You heard him.” Derek stepped forward into the gap in the door way. “I would like you all to leave now. My omega is tired and needs rest. I will not have you all upsetting him.” To Derek’s surprise, the rest of the Snow family took a step back as he moved forward. They seemed somewhat intimidated by the intensity with which he spoke.

“If you insist on going through with this, we’ll find another date.” Derek continued, pressing his advantage. “Until then, leave my omega alone. I will not back down on this.”

Julia and Robert looked at one another in silence. There seemed to be some sort of understanding between them.

“Are you sure about this?” said Robert. His expression was inscrutable.

“Yes, I’m sure.” There was no hesitation in Derek’s voice as he spoke. He didn’t need to think twice. His only desire at that moment was to protect Timothy at all costs. Even if it meant facing down the entirety of the Snow family. He would do so without regret.

Robert turned his back on Derek and seemed to be holding a whispered counsel with his other children. Julia remained facing forward with a pleasant smile on her face.

Derek remained watchful, but looked away when he felt Timothy shivering behind him. He turned from the door for a moment and retrieved his coat from the peg on the wall. It only took him a moment to settle the warmth jacket around Timothy’s slender shoulders and pull the omega close to his body. Keeping him warm and safe was the foremost thought in Derek’s mind. By the time he turned back to the rest of the Snow family, it seemed their council session was over.

Robert faced him once more. “We’ll leave,” the patriarch of the Snow family said with a nod. “It seems that we may have underestimated you. I wasn’t expecting such a strong defense from someone who, not that long ago, had no loyalty to anyone but himself. You’ve impressed me, Derek. Take care of my son.” Robert nodded his head slightly and then turned and withdrew back down the porch steps. Slowly, each of the other Snows followed after him until only Tony remained.

“Why the hell don’t you ever check your phone?” Tony gasped as he stepped towards Derek. “I sent you like thirty text messages.”

Derek frowned again and dug into the pockets of the coat that Timothy was wearing. Sure enough, when he retrieved his cell phone there were several dozen unread text messages, all from Tony.

“So, you knew this was going to happen?” Derek asked as he flipped through the texts on his phone.

“I tried to warn you.” Tony shook his head and threw up his hands in frustration “I figured you’d want to know dad’s plans. When you didn’t text back I was worried that maybe…you know…you two were…” Tony pressed his lips together in an uncomfortable smile and shrugged his shoulders knowingly.

“Yeah, well…I guess it worked out in the end,” Derek said as he shook his head and exhaled heavily. The reality was that the possibility of the Snow family walking in on something they shouldn’t have was very high. If he hadn’t been so ill there was every chance that Timothy would have wanted to celebrate the success of Le Bleu’s grand reopening with something intimate.

“I didn’t think it would be that easy,” Timothy said as he turned away and hung the coat back up on the wall. He withdrew back to the couch once more.

“What are you talking about?” Derek asked as he followed his omega.

“Don’t you know?” Tony hovered in the doorway and leaned against the wall. “You guys passed. It was…a little different than their normal approach, but after the way you stood up to them they figured it was as good a trial is any.”

Derek shook his head as he struggled to understand. “You mean, the whole interrogation that you’ve been so worried about?” He looked over at Timothy in surprise. “That was it?”

“Like I said, I didn’t think it would be that easy.” Timothy picked up his mug of cocoa and held it in both hands as if he was trying to absorb the heat from within. “Normally…normally they surround you, and bombard you with questions, and accusations.”

“Dad said that he had seen a dramatic change in you, Derek,” explained Tony. “Luke confirmed that you would never have done something like this before. Every relationship he’d seen you in hadn’t really meant anything to you. I know, from what you told me, that that wasn’t necessarily true. But even I had to admit that I didn’t expect you to stand up to everyone like this.

“I knew you cared about Tim, I just didn’t realize how much. It took everyone by surprise.” It was difficult to tell because of the cold, but Derek could’ve sworn that Tony was blushing. “Every omega deserves an alpha that stands up for them like that. You looked like you would’ve taken on the world.”

Derek chewed his lip and looked over at Timothy. He knew in his heart that he would give anything for him. However, even he hadn’t expected the ferocity with which he was willing to defend him.

“Tony’s right,” said Timothy, “every omega wants to believe that their alpha would take on the world for them. Not every omega gets the chance to see it.” There was a soft smile on Timothy’s lips as he met Derek’s gaze. “I already knew that you loved me, but if I hadn’t that would have made it perfectly clear.”

“Well, I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone now.” Tony grinned and backed out onto the front porch closing the door behind him.

As soon as the door was shut, Derek locked it once again.

“So, does this mean that…that we’re in the clear?” Derek lowered himself onto the edge of the sofa near Timothy as he spoke.

Timothy nodded slowly. “Yeah, it does. As far as my family is concerned, our relationship passed the test.”

“Why do you seem so glum then?” Derek reached out and gently hooked a finger beneath Timothy’s chin. He slowly directed his omega’s gaze towards him. “Shouldn’t you be more happy about this?”

Derek desperately wished that he had a better understanding of what was going through Timothy’s head. It was frustrating to feel like they had achieved such a great victory and yet something was still bothering him.

“It’s just,” Timothy took a deep breath, “this baby…” He laid a hand on his stomach and shook his head slowly. “We’re officially a couple now. My whole family knows and has given their blessing. Except, we’ve got this big decision ahead of us and no idea what we’re going to do about it. I mean, parents? Us?” He chuckled to himself as he set his cocoa back on the coffee table.

“I admit, it’s an amusing proposition…but,” Derek sighed as he tried to put his thoughts into words. “Would it really be that bad? I mean, I think you’d be a great dad. I know I haven’t had the best parental examples, but I think I understand where they went wrong.”

“So, that means…you want to keep it?” Timothy had a look of uncertainty in his eyes. Almost as if he didn’t dare to hope that Derek’s words were true.

“I do if you want to. I would like to be the father of your children, Timothy.” The word sounded strange but Derek knew at that moment that it was true. He wanted, more than anything, to care for their baby. Together.

“Derek, I…I want to have this baby with you. I want to create a family, with you, me, and this baby that we made together.” Timothy sighed and threw his arms around Derek’s neck. He pressed a soft kiss against his alpha’s cheek.

“I love you, Timothy.”

“And I love you, more than anything in the world.”