Rich and I were practically hovering over poor Josiah where he lay spread out on the exam table while Dr. Rosenberg spread slimy goop over his small baby bump. Or his pooch, as he called it. Personally? I just called it adorable. And Rich, well, he couldn’t keep his hands off it. I kept teasing him about being a fucking perv for his pregnancy fetish, especially the way that he got more turned-on the larger Josiah’s belly grew.

I felt bad for Josiah, though. The poor guy had already endured a full three-months worth of constant morning sickness, although why they called it that, I couldn’t say. He’d been sick in the evenings, usually after his dinner had settled. He was fine in the mornings. Especially after a cup of tea with that ginger crap he liked so much. No, I felt bad because of the current indignity the pregnancy brought. Right now, he was naked under a flimsy paper gown, his feet up in stirrups from the physical part of the exam he’d just had.

“Alright, gentlemen! Are you ready to meet your child? Now that you’re at the halfway point, if they decide to be agreeable, we may even be able to assess gender today.” Dr. Rosenberg’s usual no-nonsense manner was lighter today as she readied the ultrasound. I guess even cranky middle-aged women liked seeing a good ultrasound. She picked up a handheld wand device and began to run it over the baby bump while she watched the static-filled screen on the ultrasound display screen.

Rich gasped as the familiar whooshing sound of Josiah’s womb and the rapid beating of our child’s heartbeat came rushing into the room via the speakers on the ultrasound unit. I looked over to see suspiciously watery eyes on his blank face. I reached over and threaded my fingers through his, knowing how much this meant to my seemingly stoic husband.

I’d been along for the past few visits and been lucky enough to hear the heartbeat, but Rich had been out of town working. He’d taken time off for this visit. He’d been determined not to miss this milestone. I was thrilled that we were finally both in attendance for one of our omega’s doctor visits instead of it just being me and Josiah. Not gonna lie, hearing that heartbeat was always the highlight of the visit for me. I’d toyed with the idea of buying a gadget to listen to it at home, but I hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

That was the good part of working from home. I could be there for everything, I felt bad when Rich missed out on things like that. And to hear that today we could possibly find out what we were getting? That was just the icing on the cake... as long as the little stinker decided to cooperate and let us see. I was hoping to find out now that I knew it was a definite possibility. I had a nursery to design and decorate.

Josiah sucked in a breath, and Rich leaned into me and laid his head against my shoulder as the screen suddenly filled with the image of our child. “That’s the baby!” I whispered in awe. “Are you guys seeing that? Look at our little bean all filled out!”

Rich pulled away from and took a step closer to the machine for a better view. “Look at those tiny hands! There are fingers.” I didn’t miss the wonder in his voice as I looked over and shared a knowing grin with Josiah. Over the past five or so months that he’d lived with us, he’d noticed what I already knew.

Our Richard was a big marshmallow when it came to some things. And the twenty weeks of pregnancy had definitely brought out his inner fluff. Not that we called him on it. He’d just get all gruff and alpha up if we did. Josiah was a good fit for us. He shared many of Rich’s blunt, salt of the earth qualities, but tempered it with the more omega-like nurturing skills.

Josiah was a patient listener, who didn’t mind listening to me babble when I was trying to figure out a project or worrying about Rich while he was gone. And watching him with Sam? That made me smile on the daily. He was firm but loving with the darling girl. He had definite ideas of respectful obedience and discipline, and wasn’t afraid to call us out if we spoiled her. I was just glad that he’d finally relaxed on the “mister” shit. He’d finally agreed to ““uncle,” which was a step in the right direction. I was nurturing the dream of one day having her call me Daddy, but I was willing to be patient.

When Dr. Rosenberg finally finished measuring different things on the screen, she turned to us with a smile. “Okay, now for the fun part! It shouldn’t be a problem, because this little one is moving all around!” She turned and winked at Josiah. “Let me guess, orange juice?”

Josiah blushed as he flashed a guilty grin. “The pregnancy website said that orange juice before the ultrasound visit would help get the baby moving. And I knew from there that we’d be able to see the gender this week maybe, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt.”

Dr. Rosenberg winked at him. “It’s a good tip. Now let’s see what we can see, hmm?” The baby turned right then, one of the legs moving just enough to make the doctor smile triumphantly. “Yep! There it is! Congrats, Daddies. It’s a boy!”

Rich leaned closer and pointed at the baby’s nether regions. “Is that the umbilicus, Eleanor?”

She chuckled softly. “No, Richard. That would be your son’s penis.”

Rich looked over his shoulder at me with a cocky grin. “Guess we don’t need to wonder who the seed donor was now, huh?” Josiah rolled his eyes while I snorted out a laugh. Fucking size queen, always had to brag.

After a few more minutes, Dr. Rosenberg began to wrap things up as she tapped on her keyboard. Rich pulled out his phone, his finger hovering over the screen to take notes for the rest of the visit. I shook my head with a grin and watched as she turned everything off and wiped Josiah’s belly clean.

After she was done, she pulled the CD from the machine that she’d had us bring, and passed it to Josiah along with a few printed still shots of the baby. I was fascinated that such low-grade tech could do so much to record this moment for us. Dr. Rosenberg looked around at us with a raised brow.

“Okay, gentlemen. Now is when the expectant parents like to pepper me with questions. Let’s hear them.”

Josiah spoke up before I could gather my thoughts after the excitement of seeing our son. “Yes, I have a question. Can you tell me if the placenta looks okay, Dr. Rosenberg? I’m just concerned after, well... you know.” I reached for Josiah’s hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. I hadn’t realized he’d been carrying that burden of worry.

Dr. Rosenberg removed her glasses, tucking them into the pocket of her lab coat before giving Josiah her full attention with a kind smile. “Everything looks perfect. The tests have all confirmed that things are just as they should be, bubbeleh. I believe what happened with that last pregnancy was a fluke, although I wasn’t your doctor at the time. All I have to go on are the records, yeah? But I see nothing here to cause any alarm. You’ve been keeping your weight in check, your blood pressure is perfect, the placenta and amniotic sac are solid, and your son is the exact size that he should be right now.”

Rich was tapping away at his screen. He looked up then. “What about heartburn, Eleanor? Josiah has a lot of heartburn, even though the morning sickness has passed. Should this be a cause for concern?”

“You try having something that big pushing up on your innards and see if you wouldn’t get heartburn, Richard. No, that is a normal pregnancy irritant. The only cure for it is to have the baby.” She smiled over at Josiah, and patted his hand. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better, but it’s nothing that another twenty weeks or so won’t cure.”

Rich nodded. “And what about penetrative sex, Eleanor? Should we be concerned about hurting him or our child?”

Dr. Rosenberg shrieked out a bawdy laugh. She was still wiping away mirthful tears as she shook her head. “My husband and I were going at it like bunnies up until my water broke, and our Tara was just fine. Trust me, Richard. It doesn’t matter what kind of monster python you think you’re packing down there, it won’t get anywhere near the uterus, no matter how hard you try. It’s just a matter of whether or not your omega wants that thing near him, am I right?” She turned to Josiah with another wink.

Josiah looked like he wanted to crawl under the table, but just moved on and ignored the whole matter. “I have one more question, Doctor. Does your office work with any local doulas? I’d like to find one. In my research, I’ve found so many positives to having one.”

“Oh, I agree. And for your special circumstance with two alphas hovering, I would definitely advise having a doula. For you, I would recommend Kai. I’ll get you his card before you leave.”

Rich looked up from his phone. “And does this Kai have a last name, Doctor?”

She shook her head with a chuckle. “No, you’ll find that young Kai is one of a kind. Like Cher, he’s just simply... Kai.”

Rich looked perplexed, but Josiah and I both nodded in understand. After all, didn’t all true artists just need one name? After she was satisfied that we had no other questions, Dr. Rosenberg stepped out so Josiah could get dressed. He passed the disk and pictures to me while Rich helped him out of the stirrups. I tucked them away into my messenger bag before sliding it over my shoulder and across my chest. I got Josiah’s clothes from the chair he’d left them on during the visit and passed them to Rich once Josiah was up on his feet.

Rich helped Josiah dress; he loved attending to our omega’s needs whenever possible. I watched them with a feeling of peace in my heart as it sank in that this was real. This was my family. The only thing missing now was our Sammy. That in mind, I cleared my throat.

“Josiah? Can we finally tell Sammy tonight about the baby? She’s going to be so excited, and honestly, I don’t see how you can hide it much longer. Those baggy shirts aren’t doing much for camouflage, pumpkin.”

Rich nodded. “Not to mention, we need to get you out of that room and get it turned into a nursery. These next few months will fly by before we know it.”

Josiah sighed. “I just don’t know what kind of an example it sets for her to see us sharing a room, let alone a bed.”

“Umm, that we are in a loving, committed relationship and are having a baby together?” I shook my head.

“You don’t need to offer information that she’s not ready for. It’s frankly not her business anyway,” Rich added. “I believe it sets a better example to model a healthy relationship for her by being honest.”

Josiah gritted his teeth. “And when people mention that I’m shacking up with a married couple? Then what?”

Rich looked over at me with a smile. “Dusty? Can I have a divorce?”

“Absofuckinglutely. If that’s what it takes to make Josiah feel like an even partner, then let’s call the lawyer and file the papers today.”

“No! I don’t want you guys to break up! I’m just...” Josiah’s voice trailed off miserably as he wrapped his arms around his chest.

“You’re just trying to say that you feel like you’re on the outside looking in. That’s not getting solved until you take the next step and jump into the deep end, pumpkin. If us getting a divorce is what it takes to get us to the next level where I get to wake up with you in my arms? Then yeah, we’ll get a divorce. And you’re not breaking us up. That’s just a fucking paper. We’ll still be together in every way that matters, except we’ll have you as a bonus.”

Rich nodded in agreement as he stepped over and pulled Josiah into his arms. “We want you to feel like you belong. To us, you’re the missing piece of our puzzle that we never knew we needed to form the complete picture of what our family could be. Let us love you, Josiah. No more walls, no more boundaries, and no more separate fucking bedrooms.”

Josiah sniffed against Rich’s shoulder. “Well, we do need to have a nursery.” He pulled back and narrowed his gaze at both of us. “But no over-the-top decor like you tried to do in Sam’s room. Honestly. I still can’t believe that you wanted to build a playhouse castle in there to tie the princess theme together.” After a final shuddering breath, he nodded decisively. “Okay. Let’s do it. We’ll tell Sam over dinner.”

I rushed over and wrapped my arms around Josiah from the back while Rich hugged him from the front. We held our omega sandwich until he giggled. “Enough! I can’t breathe with you two alphas squishing me.”

Hours later, we sat around the table eating ice cream after Rich had cleaned up from dinner. Josiah looked over at Sam and brushed a stray hair out of her face.

“Sam, I need to tell you some important news because things are going to be changing around here.”

She looked up at her brother with a raised brow and spoke firmly. “It better not be that we’re moving out, because I finally have my bears organized in my room. Besides, I can’t leave. I’d miss Uncle Rich and Uncle Dusty too much.”

“No, you’re not moving. I am. I’m moving from my room into your uncles’ room.” He looked a little queasy when he said uncles in that way, making me think that we’d be revisiting that moniker pretty soon. “We’re together now, and when grown-up people in a relationship love each other, they share a bedroom.”

Sammy looked around at the three of us. Rich and I were staying silent for the moment, letting Josiah run the show. She grinned after a second. “Is it because of the baby in your belly?”

Josiah paled. “Um, yeah? How do you know about that?”

Sammy rolled her eyes. “Aside from the fact that you were puking all the time like our old neighbor Mrs. Sampson did before she had her baby? You’re getting fat and I can see your belly. Duh. Does this mean I have to share my room?”

Shaking his head, Josiah grinned at the little scamp. “No, my room is going to be your brother’s nursery. Do you want to make a picture for the wall?”

Sammy shrugged. “Maybe a free-form 3-D sculpture from paper-mache? I’ll have to think on it. And, Siah? Your baby isn’t my brother. He’s my nephew.” She looked around at us with a satisfied smile. “I’m going to be an aunt!”

I chuckled and pulled out the ultrasound photo I’d been carrying in my shirt pocket all evening. “Would you like to see a picture of your nephew that the doctor took today?”

Sammy jumped up, ice cream all but forgotten as she rushed to my side. I held it carefully away from her sticky fingers while she looked at it curiously. After a moment, she nodded and went back to her seat to take another bite of ice cream.

“Well? What do you think?” Josiah asked after a few moments of silence.

Rich and I both laughed as she shrugged and gave her opinion. “I dunno. He looks like an alien, if you ask me.”