Epilogue
The drive to Glenoak seemed to take much longer this time around. It was the near-constant roiling of his stomach that had nothing to do with the motion of the car. So far, there wasn’t much Jay liked about being pregnant. Except the little patter of a heartbeat he could just about hear under his own. And the way Byron looked at him, like he’d done something just a little amazing.
The Alpha in question reached over and squeezed his hand.
“We’re almost there. How are you holding up?”
“Why call it such a stupid name? Why not all-day sickness or when-you-least-expect-it sickness.”
“I know it’s rough right now. But it’ll get better.”
Jay grumbled under his breath. Byron wouldn’t be saying that if he was the one whose stomach was flip-flopping every minute.
“Your parents were delighted to hear our news.”
That put a smile on his face. They had been pleased. And the girls, his sisters, were so excited. His mother was already knitting a blanket. And booties. Jay had had to get Odin to show him a picture before he knew what booties were. Babies needed a lot of stuff.
He gave an audible sigh of relief when they arrived. There was already a line of cars parked along the driveway. Odin and Scott parked behind them. They all got out and ambled towards the house. In the near distance, they could hear the sounds of people and music.
Byron slowed down and Jay matched his pace.
“There are going to be a lot of people here, Jay. If you need a break, some time out, just let one of us know and we’ll make it happen, okay?”
“Thanks, Byron,” he said, linking their arms. While he was looking forward to seeing their friends again and making some new ones, he wasn’t the biggest fan of crowds.
They didn’t go into the house, but skirted around the side. Martin was already rounding the side of the house to meet them, shaking each of their hands in turn.
“We’re glad you could make it. Seb plans to make an announcement later.”
“What about?” Byron asked.
“Well, that would be telling, wouldn’t it?” the man said, grinning.
They came around the corner to find the garden a hive of activity.
“Look, there’s Ro,” Jay said, making a beeline for the Omega, Byron right behind him.
He and Ro hugged, and spent a minute comparing bumps.
“How’s that morning sickness?” Ro asked. Jay made a face and the Omega nodded sympathetically.
There were children running riot around the garden, playing a chasing game that looked like lots of fun.
Seb arrived, having a quick work in Byron’s ear.
“Jay?” Byron called a minute later. “Let’s head inside for a few minutes.”
Curious, Jay followed his Alpha through the back door into the kitchen. They found Ben and Adam there, and Jay let Byron handle the greetings.
“We wanted to thank you both, in person, for what you did to help find Noah. You especially, Jay. It can’t have been easy taking that journey,” Ben said.
“I’m really glad you got Noah back,” Jay said.
“Speaking of,” Adam said, as their boys ran into the kitchen. He picked Noah up and the smiling toddler waved shyly at Jay. Jay waved back.
“Alicia is upstairs, you should head up,” Ben said, while wrestling with a giggling Xander.
“Come on,” Byron said, taking him by the hand and leading him out through the living room and to the stairs. Jay was part-mystified, part-fearful
“Isn’t she the doctor?” he whispered to Byron as they reached the foot of the stairs.
“She is a doctor, with a lot of experience taking care of pregnant Omegas. She has a little surprise for us.”
Jay wasn’t sure he wanted a surprise and dawdled on the stairs.
“It’s nothing bad, Jay. She was seeing Adam and Ro, and had all the equipment laid out anyway.”
Jay didn’t like the sound of that.
“Hey.” Byron caught his hand. “Trust me. You’ll enjoy this.”
Holding tight to his mate’s hand, he followed him up and into one of the bedrooms. Alicia stood as they came in.
“There you are. I thought we might as well offer you a scan seeing as we’ve everything ready.”
“A scan?”
“An ultrasound scan. A picture of your baby.”
Oh. He’d seen some of those in the baby books Byron had got them.
“We can see our baby?”
“That’s right. Why don’t you hop up on the bed.”
Byron helped him get settled, pulling up his t-shirt before Alicia tucked a large piece of tissues into the waistband of his pants. “Just so the gel doesn’t get on your clothes. Now, this will be cold.”
It was cold and a little strange but with Byron holding his hand, he didn’t mind.
“Now, let’s see if we can’t get you a good picture. You’re about ten weeks along?”
“Ten and a half,” Byron replied.
“Pregnant on your first heat?”
Jay nodded, smiling to himself. Those were good memories. They’d been making lots of good memories recently.
“And there we go.”
She angled the screen towards them. “There’s the head, and that’s a hand there. And the feet.”
Jay was lost, watching the tiny image on the screen.
“That’s our baby?”
“Uh-huh,” she said. “That’s him. Or her.”
He turned to Byron. “Our baby.”
His Alpha was staring at the screen in amazement.
Alicia turned the screen back towards her and Jay let out a little whine of disappointment.
“I just need to check a few measurements and I’ll print you some pictures.”
She shifted the probe and frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she said quickly, moving the probe over and back across Jay’s stomach, intent on the screen.
Byron squeezed his hand but Jay could see he was nervous too.
She angled the screen back towards them a little.
“There,” she said and Jay relaxed as he saw their baby again but the picture was different. “He’s moved.”
“Not exactly,” she said. “Watch closely.”
She angled the probe carefully. Byron stood and leaned across the bed to see better and Jay craned his neck to see the screen fully.
“There’s two heads.”
“There’s two babies,” Alicia said gently. “Were you expecting twins?”
Byron sat down heavily beside him.
“No, we… twins?”
“I’m two for two this morning,” Alicia said distractedly. “At this rate, you Omegas will be out-populating the rest of us.”
“Twins like Noah and Xander?” Jay asked no one in particular.
“Exactly like that.”
Jay wasn’t sure what to say, especially when Byron had gone so quiet beside him. Two didn’t seem so bad. He had two hands. Two hands for two babies. And between them they had four hands. Adam and Ben managed, so they would too. And Odin would help, Jay was sure of it.
Alicia printed out pictures of each baby and one with both of them. Then she tidied up and gave them a few minutes to themselves.
Byron was holding two of the pictures, with baby A and baby B written across the top.
“Is two too many?” Jay asked.
Byron stretched out on the bed next to him, resting a hand on his stomach.
“Oh, no. Two is a perfect number. You are full of surprises.”
As if on cue, his stomach grumbled.
“I’m not full of anything right now, except babies.”
Laughing, Byron leaned in and kissed him before helping him up.
“Let’s get that sorted, then. Can’t have you going hungry with two babies in your belly.”
Hand in hand, they rejoined the party.
Adam and Ben brought the twins back outside to join the festivities.
Luke and James were sitting at a table, James rubbing a hand across Luke’s back. It wouldn’t be much longer before they welcomed their little one into the world. Matthew and Zack were sitting on a picnic blanket with theirs and Alicia’s kids, and Duncan was chattering away to Casey, Seb, and Ro while Nathan napped nearby.
There were others there too; Andrew and Etta, Sam and Lianna, Matt’s sister and her mate. Even Yellow Rock’s Omega had joined them. The Pack had kept his existence under wraps until a few weeks before. He wasn’t bonded yet but was almost at mating age. His older Alpha brother had come too, to keep an eye on him, and seemed bemused at being accosted by a different child every few minutes.
Noah squirmed in his arms and Adam let him go, watching as he ran to join Duncan while Xander made a beeline for Chloe. Ben was making his way over to James. Adam followed more slowly, soaking up the atmosphere.
This was more than he had ever hoped for. A community of Omegas. Before, he’d been alone, separated from Luke. And then there’d been Ro. He too had thought he was alone, until Adam. But now they were many and growing in number. It was such a joy to see the happy faces of the adults and children. These weren’t people living in fear. They lived with hope, determined to make their children’s future the best they could. He prayed they’d never know the dark days their parents lived through.
He sank into a seat next to Ben.
“Penny for your thoughts?” his mate asked.
“It’s just so great to see everyone here. Like one big family.”
“Speaking of family,” James said. “How did your visit to Gray Valley go?”
Adam let Ben answer.
“It was good. I got to catch up with lots of people, and Adam and the boys got to meet my aunt and cousins and old friends. The Pack are forming a council to manage the day to day running.”
“And an Alpha line?”
“They’ve asked us to consider it. We said that we’d visit more; get to know them, let them get to know us, and see if we’re a good fit for each other. I don’t want to uproot everyone if we’re not sure things will work out. Gray Valley needs time to settle.”
Adam could see Ben was at ease with their decision, happy to let what would be, be. His own feelings were that they’d move to Gray Valley eventually but it might be another two or three years before that happened.
“How did it go with Alicia? Is everything okay?” Luke asked him.
“Everything’s great,” he said, patting his stomach. Ben raised his eyebrows but didn’t speak as James looked from one to the other.
“What are we missing?” he asked.
Ben held up a finger as if to silence him, then held up a second.
“Oh, wow. Again?”
“Again.”
“We should be so lucky,” Adam joked, throwing Ben’s words back at him.
“We are lucky. I mean, we’ll never have a good night’s sleep ever again, but there’s no denying how lucky we are,” Ben said, as James laughed and shook his head.
“I hope we’re not all as fertile as you two.”
They lapsed into silence, distracted by Noah and Duncan playing airplanes across the grass.
“We’re still looking for Duncan and Casey’s parents,” James said. “And for any family that gave up an Omega child. No luck yet but they may come forward now that Tobias is dead.”
Adam tried not to dwell too much on that, on the idea that they might find not just the boy’s families but his and Luke’s as well. Instead, he focused his thoughts on something else.
“I really wish we knew what happened up in those northern Packs. Every record we have suggests the demise of Omegas started up there and moved south.”
“And it was followed by a surge of Alpha migration south, which gave us the Gray Valley and Eagle Creek’s take overs,” James said. “I’m thinking of sending someone north to do a little reconnaissance when things have died down. It would be interesting to see if they’re experiencing the same resurgence in Omega numbers as we are here.”
They chatted for a while about Adam’s pet project; tracking down more Pack records and collating an Omega database. Jay and Byron returned, taking a seat with Odin and Scott at the table next to them. They were both smiling and Adam spotted the ultrasound pictures Jay was holding tightly in his hand. It was hard to miss the conversation that passed back and forth across their table. More twins?
“I don’t suppose you found any information on multiple births in Omegas in the old Pack records?” James asked Adam.
Adam hid a smile. “I did see quite a few mentions of twins but I thought it was just because Omegas were a big deal and twins just made it moreso. I’ll have to go through them again and pull out the data. It’d be nice to know if we’re all in with a better chance for two at a time.”
Seb stood up, Ro by his side, and the conversation died down, everyone turning their attention to the Alpha and Omega.
“I’m delighted to welcome you all here for what I hope will become an annual event. I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished and all that we’re working towards. A time of peace and prosperity for the Packs, led by our Omegas.”
There was a round of applause as Seb reached out and took Ro’s hand.
“We also have two, more personal, announcements. Ro and I are expecting our second child, news we’re delighted to share with you today. I’ve also recently been offered a seat on the Pack Council. I’ve agreed to take it, on one condition that the Council have agreed to: the formation of an Omega sub-council to create new Pack laws around the welfare and freedom of Omegas. I’m hoping some of you here will consider accepting positions on this council, which will be majority Omega, so that your interests are never overshadowed. So that our children will be free to grow up without having to hide what they are, can come of age not fearing being sold into mating for the highest price or for the best trade deal.”
There was a riot of applause and a chorus of support before Ro stepped forward.
“If you’ll all raise a glass, we’d like to make a toast.”
There was some good-natured jostling to pass around glasses and cups to everyone.
“To the future,” Ro said simply. “To hope, love,” his eyes met Seb’s, the Alpha watching him with pride, “and to the cherishing of every child.”
Noah and Xander had returned to their table, climbing into his and Ben’s laps and listening in hushed silence.
Ben’s hand clasped his as Adam pressed a kiss to Noah’s forehead. What was this, if not the beginning?