The first thing I did when I got back to the shelter was corner Ricky and apologize to him.  He still seemed to be upset, but he accepted my apology.  I tried to get him to tell me about the man he was so excited to talk about the day before, but he didn’t appear to be in the mood for extended conversation.  I decided to let the situation rest and not push for more than an acceptance for my apology.  Work consumed me the rest of the day and when I smelled dinner cooking, I realized I had completely skipped lunch.  I walked out of my office and saw Sam busy in the kitchen.  Ricky and Charlie were watching a movie on television and appeared to be engrossed in it.  I took a seat in the chair and tried to catch up, but it was at least an hour into it and the plot was lost on me.  It finally ended and Ricky immediately left the room without saying a word to me.

“I really pissed him off.”  I shook my head and sighed.

“Yeah.”  Charlie rubbed his forehead and brushed his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes.  “I’m sure he’ll be okay when everyone else gets here though.”

“Everyone else?”  I raised my eyebrows in concern.

“Sam invited Solomon, Travis and Lance over for dinner.  I thought he cleared that with you.”  Charlie’s voice hesitated when he realized I didn’t know what he was talking about.

“No.”  I exhaled sharply.  “I’m not going to pick another fight, but we really can’t afford to feed the whole town.”

“They’re our friends.”  Charlie shrugged and brushed his hair out of his eyes again.

“Yeah.”  I nodded.  “I’m sure it will be fine.  Sam always cooks more than enough food anyway.”

“So, I guess things are going well with Cody judging by the alpha scent lingering on you?”  Charlie grinned.

“Yeah, I guess so.”  I tilted my head and smiled.  “We’re working through some complications, but I’m hopeful.”

The dinner was nice, despite my original hesitations.  It was great to see everyone again and hear about Lance’s budding romance with Brent.  They seemed to really be getting along well.  Ricky started opening up about the silver haired alpha that caught his attention at the club and while I wasn’t a big fan of hearing that he was being rather careless with an alpha he just met, I reserved my judgment and remained happy for him on the outside.  Solomon and Travis were both doing very well in their jobs and although they hadn’t lived with us for a few years, they were still family. 

Towards the end of the dinner, I got a text message from Cody asking if I wanted to spend the night with him again.  I definitely did, but I wanted to make sure I took care of things at the shelter first.  I agreed to visit once the dinner was done and we were done cleaning everything up.  It was almost midnight before I finally got away and took an Uber to his apartment.

***

CODY AND I SETTLED into a routine—a routine that involved a lot of sex and very few discussions about the future.  It seemed to be better that way.  The proverbial elephant in the room was left unattended and I just lived in the moment.  A few days turned into weeks and then the weeks turned into months.  We were officially a couple, although I had no idea what that meant for us in the long term.  I loved Cody—I knew that.  Love had always seemed so difficult, but it was easy with Cody.  He seemed to feel the same way about me, even if he didn’t say the words out loud.  I held onto the hope I would hear the magic words, but I didn’t push for them.  I wanted it to be genuine and not a fabrication he was forced to say.  There was rarely a night that I didn’t spend in Cody’s arms.  I rarely even saw the inside of my own bedroom at the shelter except to shower and change clothes.

***

“OH GOD...”  I OPENED my eyes and felt a burning in my abdomen.

“What’s wrong?”  Cody immediately sat up in bed and looked around the room.

“I think—no, I know—I’m about to go in heat.”  The burning in my abdomen was unmistakable.

“I thought you had another week.”  Cody cuddled next to me and put his hand on my stomach.

“It’s early and this isn’t a normal one.”  I grimaced and squeezed my hand into a fist.  “This is the real thing—this is a fertile heat.”

I knew a fertile heat would come at some point since I was having sex regularly and Cody’s scent was practically a part of me.  Most omegas got a normal heat cycle every month and while it increased the chance of pregnancy, it wasn’t a guarantee.  A fertile heat was the closest thing to a guaranteed pregnancy that an omega could have.  They normally didn’t occur unless an omega was mated to an alpha or sexually involved with the same alpha for an extended period of time.  They were nature’s way of pushing for reproduction, whether the couple wanted it or not.  The danger of a fertile heat was more than just an extremely horny omega hopped up on baby craving hormones though—they could also trigger a rut in the omega’s mate.  Cody hadn’t had a true rut in months, which meant it would be extremely difficult for him to avoid one once I was consumed by a fertile heat.

“Can the others handle things at the shelter for a few days?  I don’t want you to have to deal with this alone.”  Cody put his arm around my neck and pulled me close.

“I shouldn’t stay here.”  I shook my head, even as I sank into the warmth of his embrace.  “You know what will happen if you rut and you don’t want that.”

“Do you?”  He squeezed me tight and put his hand on my stomach again.

“You know I do, but we haven’t even discussed it since that night...”  I lifted my head and looked at him.

“There are a few things I’m certain of.”  He lifted his head and his eyes met mine.  “I want to be with you.  I want to spend my life with you.  I love you.”

“You...”  I blinked in surprise and felt my heart racing.  “You what?  Can you say that again?”

“I love you, William.”  Cody brushed his hand against my cheek and smiled.  “You’re the only omega for me.”

“I love you too, Cody.”  The emotions overwhelmed the pain I was feeling in my stomach from the incoming heat and I felt tears forming in my eyes.

“I know that you want a baby.”  He rubbed my stomach and sighed.

“I don’t want just any baby.”  I shook my head back and forth as the first tear rolled down my cheek.  “I want to have your baby.”

“I want that too.”  Cody’s lip trembled for a moment.  “But the thought of it still scares me after what happened.”

“We can’t live our lives in fear of the unknown.  I know there is a risk with any pregnancy but it is worth it to me.”  I let my hand rest on his.

“You have to get regular checkups—more than regular.  You have to get them done weekly.  If there is any sign of danger...”  His words trailed off.

“We’ll talk about it and decide what is right for us.”  I finished his sentence the way it needed to be finished, even if it wasn’t what he was going to say.

“Then I think it’s time for us to let nature take its course.”  He sank back into the mattress and held me in his arms.

I felt like I was going to burst with excitement.  Cody was willing to take a chance and it was almost guaranteed that I would be pregnant with his child when my fertile heat was over.  Even if he didn’t rut and knot, the chances of conception were still incredibly high.  I lay in his embrace for nearly an hour before climbing out of bed.  I had arrangements to make before the heat got so intense I couldn’t focus on anything else. 

I called the shelter and talked with Sam.  He promised to manage the day to day activities and truthfully, he had been doing a lot of that anyway.  I still had to handle emails and donors, but Cody had a computer I could use.  A few hours every day would be enough to keep things moving.  Sam logged into my computer and forwarded me all the financial statements that were saved on my desktop.  Cody scheduled a few vacation days and everything was set.  Judging by the reaction I was already feeling inside my body, I would go into my fertile heat as early as the following day.