I can't say that I wasn't surprised when Robin called me the following week. "Hey, can I come over?"

I glanced at the clock hanging above my kitchen door. 7pm on a Saturday evening. Didn't he have anything better to do? "You know you can always drop by," I said as I threw a newly purchased tennis ball through the door into the living room. My puppy watched it go, but didn't give chase. Lazy thing. Maybe I had finally managed to power him out at the park today.

"Thank you," Robin said. "I'll get us something for dinner. Chinese okay?"

"Sure," I agreed, although I wondered why he'd choose to eat Chinese with me rather than hang out with Aaron. "Omegas are weird," I told my puppy. Cooper laid his paws over his eyes as if he didn't want to hear it. "Okay, I get it. I'll leave you alone, buddy."

When Robin showed up about an hour later, my eyes immediately strayed to his belly rather than the one billion take-out containers he carried. He'd been wearing baggy clothes lately, but tonight, he'd put on something a little more form-fitting, and I got a good look at his baby bump.

I tried not to stare too hard, but he noticed anyway.

"I was tired of hiding this," he commented. "The whole town was already talking about me anyway. I can tell." With a sigh, he walked past me and into my kitchen. "It's the way they look at me, you know? Like I've done something scandalous. Something no decent omega would do." He put the take-out containers down with such force I was worried they'd burst open and spill their contents all over my kitchen table the same way Robin's frustration spilled out of him.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. If working with omegas had taught me anything, it was to keep a safe distance when they were pissed off with the world.

"The people in this town! They know about my pregnancy. I don't know how, but they do! Someone must have seen me at the doctor's office."

My eyes narrowed. Who the hell had told on Robin? "But that doctor's visit was weeks ago," I argued.

"I know." Robin plopped down on one of my chairs. "But I don't know how else they would have found out."

"You don't think that kid with the dog..."

"No, not Conner." Robin shook his head. "That family's had enough trouble with rumors to know what trouble they cause. Besides, they never knew anything about a pregnancy. They saw me at your place, that's all—and people haven't made the connection to you, yet."

I rubbed my temples, racking my brain for how else someone might have found out about Robin's special circumstances. "Did you tell Aaron?"

"No. Not before he found out from the gossips."

"And you're sure it wasn't him who started the rumors? He might have seen something in your apartment or—"

"Why would he have done that?" Robin cut me off. "If he'd found something in my apartment, he could have just confronted me then."

I shrugged. "I don't know why bullies do what they do. Maybe he was mad that you were keeping this a secret from him."

"No," Robin insisted. "He's changed. This break-up is on me."

I sighed, even as my ears perked at the word break-up. "You always say that."

"And it's always true. But forget about that. I don't want to talk about it." He dug into the plastic bags with the take-out containers. "Food? I got your favorite. Fried noodles with duck and dumplings on the side."

"You're a treasure." I took seat opposite him and grabbed a pair of chopsticks out of one of the plastic bags.

"I don't know if it's the baby or what, but I'm staaarving. Speaking of babies," he said, fiddling with a take-out container that smelled distinctly of grease, Chinese spices and fried things, "I have another doctor's appointment next month. I might find out the sex. I’d hoped to find out last time, but the baby was being shy." A smile finally took over his features as he spoke about the life growing inside him

I couldn't help but smile back. He was so beautiful when he smiled.

And he's single, my brain supplied. But we had so much history. I couldn't just ask him to be my boyfriend again like that. No, I had to change first. Maybe take Lorene up on her suggestion and find myself a therapist. But would Robin wait for me?

Even the thought of seeing him with yet another boyfriend threatened to break my heart in two.

"Ben?" Robin prodded, handing me the container with my noodles. "You sort of spaced out."

"Sorry, I was just... What do you think it's gonna be? The baby, I mean," I tried to change the topic.

"Oh, I really don't know. I heard from some other omegas that they always knew what their babies were gonna be, but I have no idea. Besides, I don't think it matters all that much. I know they could be born looking like a girl and later tell me they're a boy. Or vice versa." Robin shrugged. "It's still kind of exciting, though."

"Yeah, it is." I made myself eat some of the noodles. "Do you need someone to take you to the appointment?" Now that Aaron was out of the picture, I felt I could ask.

Robin looked down at his food—fried egg rice with chicken. "I'm sure I can find a way to get there somehow, but..." He raised his eyes, staring right into mine. "If you wouldn't mind taking me, I wouldn't say no."

"You know I wouldn't mind." And I could tell that he really didn't want to go by himself. This could be good for both of us, really. The idea that I might be involved in his child's life still terrified me, but maybe I could work on that by being as involved as possible before his birth.

Maybe the first step was to stop thinking of the baby as his baby. It was ours, wasn't it?

"Thank you." Robin's smile grew even brighter. Then his eyes searched the room until he found the dog hiding underneath the table. "Hey, little buddy. What's up with you?"

Cooper yawned at him.

"Sorry, he's not too active today," I said. "I think I've tired him out at the park." Having been born in the snowy winter, grass still excited him.

"That's cool," Robin said, focusing on his food again.

"Do you have any weird cravings?" I asked, suddenly curious. This pregnancy was such a huge part of Robin's life right now that I knew so little about.

"Not really," Robin said. "I mean, seriously, this pregnancy has been way easier than I thought it would be. Haven't even really experienced any morning sickness. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really pregnant at all, and then I feel the baby move." His eyes lit up as he said this last sentence.

I wondered what it would be like to feel a baby move inside of you. By the way Robin looked, it had to be a magical sort of feeling. I was almost a little jealous, even if I wasn't going to say that out loud.

"It's good that it's been easy. Aside from the gossip anyway." I still wanted to murder whoever had spread those rumors.

"Yeah." Robin shoveled more food into his mouth. "I only hope the parents won't start complaining."

"Because you're pregnant? That's ridiculous."

"You would think." My friend gave me a tight smile. "It's like you don't know the people in this town at all. So many of them are bored and ready to jump at any chance of drama. Trust me, the hardest part of my job is not handling the kids; it's handling their parents."

I nodded. Made sense. "Whatever happens, I think it's gonna die down after a little while. We know how to deal with bullies, don't we?"

"Yeah. Don't give them what they want." Robin chewed thoughtfully. "It's not always that easy."

"I know." My heart went out to him. We weren't children anymore, and there were far worse things in our lives now than schoolyard bullies, but I still wanted to protect him from it all. I was going to try as hard as I could, anyway. "You know you can always come to me when you're in trouble, right?"

Robin looked up from his food. "I know. Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you." His lips curved up. It wasn't the widest smile I'd ever seen on him, but it was genuine.

"Let's hope we never have to find out." I swallowed down a juicy piece of fried duck. "You want to watch a movie after dinner? How about My Alpha and his Omega?" Robin loved that cheesy movie. I wasn't sure exactly why, but it cheered him up, and that was enough for me to be a fan as well.

"I'd love that." He grinned at me. "They have it on Netflix now."

"You know because you’ve already streamed it a million times, right?"

"Got me." He stuck his tongue out at me, and then we both continued eating. Once we were done, we settled on my couch together, the puppy warming Robin's legs. The two of them were so adorable together I kind of wanted to take my smartphone out of my pocket and snatch a picture.

Instead, I got us a blanket. Spring had arrived yes, but it was still just cold enough that you could comfortably cuddle up under a blanket with a good movie and your loved ones. An unbidden smile broke out on my face. In this room, under this blanket, I felt I had everything I needed. My dog, my best friend... and our baby. Yes, I included even that in my thoughts. For a moment, I let myself envision a perfect future where I could be a good dad to the unborn life growing within Robin. We'd build Lego castles together, watch the dog inevitably tear it apart and then scold the puppy while Robin laughed at us. In the end, we all went out on a walk together as a family, Cooper happily skipping ahead of us.

It was the kind of future that Robin had always wanted for us. If I let myself dream that it could come true, I kind of wanted it too.

"What are you thinking about?" Robin asked.

It was only then that I realized he'd already started the movie and the opening scene was over. I'd totally spaced out.

"Just..." Should I tell him? What better time than now? If I let this chance slip me by, he might have another boyfriend in a couple of days. Everything in me cramped up at the thought. "I was just thinking how much I really want to be there for you. And for the baby."

Robin shot me a look that I didn't know how to interpret. "You mean you'll drive me to all the appointments? And to the hospital?"

"I guess that's part of it." Not sure how to tell him what I needed to tell him, I ran a hand through my hair. The movie had become nothing but background noise for both of us. "I mean, I want to be there for you and the baby even after the baby is born."

My friend cocked an eyebrow at me. "You want him to know you're his father, after all?"

"I think we should be open about it. Maybe people would leave you alone then too. If we were an item."

"An item?" Robin stared at me. "Are you taking pity on me or something?"

"It's not pity."

"Then what is it? Because what you're saying is going against everything you ever told me you wanted." Robin was growing agitated now, half getting up from the couch. The puppy fell off him with a short indignant bark. "I've made peace with the fact that I can't have those things from you, so don't..." He trailed off as if suddenly losing steam. "Don't do this to me, Ben." His words were nearly a whisper. "Don't fuck with me. I can take getting my heart broken by other alphas. But not you. Not again."

I didn't know what to say. Robin’s expression was so open and vulnerable and the right words just wouldn't come to me. I wanted to promise Robin everything, but how could I, when I didn't know if the future we dreamed about was possible? "I'm not saying this out of pity," I said finally, catching Robin's gaze. "I want us to work. I want us to try again. I'm thinking maybe—"

Gently, Robin laid a finger on my lips, shushing me. "Maybe isn't enough for me right now. I'm so tired of never being enough for the alphas I'm with. I don't want to be in a relationship with you that you don't want, not really. I've been thinking I need to just stay single for a while, until this baby is born, until I've got my life figured out all over again. More than anything, I need you to be my friend right now."

I could only nod as Robin finished speaking. I wasn't going to push him into anything he didn't feel ready for. I could wait, for however long it took for him to see that I was being serious. Just so long as I knew... "You're not going to be dating for a while?"

He actually laughed a little. His mood turned so swiftly I actually wondered if it was pregnancy hormones making him act this way. "No, don't worry. Your alpha instincts will be spared for now."

Well, at least that was good news. Robin settled back on the couch next to me.

"I think we need to start the movie over," he said.

"Yeah, sure." I grabbed for the remote.

Start over... wasn't that exactly what I wanted?