“Oliver, Oliver, Oliver.” Little Suzy pulled on my sleeve, a habit I had long since stopped trying to break her of.

“Yes, Suzy.” I squatted down to her eye level. Technically, I was off for the day, but I always had a hard time leaving until I saw all the new caretakers settled in. Plus, going back to the staff dorms was boring. I was grateful for the job and all of the money I’d been able to save because of it, but I was getting restless. Change was in the air.

The room shook as the booming of thunder shook the air. So maybe it was a storm a brewing and not change, but I could feel something. My life was about to take a turn and I could only hope it was for the better.

“I wanna go on the slide.” Silly Suzy, that was always her plea. Rain. Sleet. Snow. It didn’t matter. Ever since she and her mom got here three months ago it had been the same. She wanted the slide, weather be damned.

“Suzy, let’s go look out the window.” I stood and offered her my hand, which she grabbed as she bounced along as we got to the window. “What do you see?”

“A slide.” She pointed to her favorite of the three slides we had.

“And what is all over the slide?” Lightning struck in the distance, lighting up the playground. The staff was busy distracting the other children from it with playdough and huge cardboard blocks and Suzy was still holding onto the idea of going outside on the slide.

“Rain.” Her little hand dropping mine as her fists settled on her hip. She knew this where this was going even though she was strong willed enough I knew we weren’t quite done.

“So does today look like a good day to use the slide?”

“Yes!” she shouted before motioning with her hands how her journey down the slide would go. “I goes fast when it wet.”

“I’m not sure you would go fast.” I motioned her journey down the slide in the same way she had only with a bit more science thrown in. Her legs would get caught on that slide, not to mention her chance at getting hurt by a fallen branch, of which there were plenty. “I think your legs would stick to it.” I scrunched up my nose, in the way that she did while thinking.

“I wanna go fast,” she conceded.

“Then maybe we should go tomorrow when it is supposed to be sunny?”

“Oliver. I wanna play playdough.”

“That sounds like a fabulous plan.” I pointed to my co-worker who was working at getting out playdough accessories for the group of kids following her around like the pied piper. Playdough held a magic for this particular group of kids. “Go ahead. Mary is already getting it out for some others. Let her know you want to play too.”

“Love you, Oliver.” She squeezed me tight. Poor Suzy was tested before it was legal and found to be an omega. That led to all kinds of badness I couldn’t stomach enough to finish reading and now she was thirsty for love. It was just her luck that Omega House was filled with it. I was grateful her mom, also an omega, had found the strength to escape to here.

“And I love you.” I hugged her back before shooing her to her next activity. “Now off to play. I have to go do grown-up papers.”

“Yuck. I’m glad I’m a kid.” She made her way to gather all of the purple she could get her little hands on.

I made my way to the office, ready to fill out the state required health report for the week and add up the time sheets. I tried to convince Marge more than once that we could be more efficient not using pen and paper to record our hours, but she assured me this was just as good. That was because I did all the calculating, but that was fine. I loved my job, even the paperwork. Okay, more despite the paperwork.

Working at Omega House had been fulfilling in a way I still had yet to process. I was helping omegas, kids, and co-workers, fostering a climate that was structured and loving. My gut told me it was time to move on, though. I kept pushing the feeling down, but it was true. I either had to move on or be stuck here.

Stuck here was a crappy word, yet oddly accurate. I was so emotionally invested in this place that if I stayed any longer, I’d never leave. I probably felt like this partly because I chose to use my money to go back to school online instead of getting an apartment. I had a few more classes and I could officially take on some bookkeeping clients. Initially, I pursued it to try and help Omega House and possibly earn a bit more responsibility. But honestly, Naheed, the financial guru here, knew what he was doing and had all the help he needed and I knew that. I was looking for a Plan B, since Plan A, being a stay at home omega was a bust.

It had been a few years since the harsh reality I’d never be a biological father hit me. At the time, I thought it was the end of the world. Now? Now it still hurt, but I could see another future. One where I owned a small bookkeeping business and possibly found a mate, one who was okay with their fur babies being their only babies. Or maybe I would be lucky and find a mate who wanted to foster to adopt one of the young omegas in need of a home. None of that was going to happen here, though. Two more semesters and I would need to move on.

The bittersweet feeling of the decisions I would eventually have to make washed over me as I settled into the desk and began adding up the hours we all worked. Poor Mary was the sweetest thing, but she had no idea how to add up time, constantly putting twenty minutes as point two and losing far too much time in the mix. Time sheets done, I grabbed the to-do pile of paperwork Marge left for me. Usually it was filing, but sometimes it was running errands or getting ready for an inspection by cleaning something obscure. Today, however, sitting right on top was an inquiry for a live-in manny that must’ve been misdelivered here instead of the occupational readiness director.

Looking for a live-in manny to care for one three-year-old girl in Greenfield. Father is a veterinarian with unusual and unpredictable hours and mother is deceased.

Hmm…was this the sign I was looking for?