My classes were getting tougher, but I felt better that Oliver and I had become better friends, at least. He was my lab partner for the semester, and I was glad I didn’t have to pair up with some rando.

I wasn’t feeling super well today, though. Maybe I was working myself too hard, or maybe I’d caught some bug. I was quieter than normal, and I was mostly happy to hear Oliver talk about the preparations he and his partner were making for the new baby.

But the conversation swung back around to my illness. Oliver, looking at me with concern on his face, asked, “Do you need pain meds or anything? I’ve got some in my bag, along with anti-nausea medicine…”

I shook my head. “Nah, thank you, though. I think I just need to go home and sleep after this.”

Oliver nodded. “Well, let me know if you change your mind.”

“It’s funny,” I said, “since you’re a parent it kind of seems like you parent other people too. Like, it’s such a dad thing to be concerned and have medicine at the ready.”

Oliver laughed. “I guess so! Once you become a parent, you’re attuned to the needs of everyone around you. It’s hard to shut off sometimes.”

“Well, I appreciate it. You’re clearly a very caring person.”

“Thanks, Danny,” said Oliver, sincerely. “I hope you feel better soon.”

“Me too,” I agreed. “Maybe I’m pregnant or something.”

Oliver snickered. It was a common omega joke for when you felt under the weather. Any symptom of illness could be a sign of pregnancy. Most alphas didn’t really get it, but then, I wouldn’t have expected them to.

We decided to actually focus on the lab, which got done pretty quickly, and the professor checked us off. We were clearly some of the most competent students in the class, so we had some time to relax while everyone else finished.

“Hey, do you want to come with me to pick up Amy after school?” asked Oliver. “It’s a nice day for a walk and I’m sure she’d like to meet you.”

I was touched. Oliver really was starting to think of me as a friend if he wanted me to meet Amy. “Of course,” I said immediately. “I’d love that.”

“Cool.” Oliver smiled. “Now we just have to wait for class to be dismissed…” He rubbed his belly unconsciously in slow circles.

I felt a pang of envy when I saw him do that, suddenly wanting my own belly to be swollen with a child. Specifically, with Archer’s child. But no. That wasn’t in the cards for me, especially not anytime too soon.

“How does it feel to be pregnant?” I blurted.

Oliver looked at me, puzzled. “Pregnant? Um, it’s nice, actually. The experience is different for everyone, though. Sometimes it really sucks, sometimes it’s smooth sailing, and most of the time, it’s in between.”

“It seems unpredictable,” I said.

He shrugged. “Kind of. My pregnancies have been fairly easy, thankfully. This one is even easier because I’ve been through it before, so I know what to expect.”

I didn’t know how to ask him the specific question I wanted to ask, though. “I guess I want to know, like, what does it feel like to have a baby growing inside you?”

“Oh, you mean like that,” said Oliver with a smile. “It’s magical. Really magical. Just thinking that this baby is part me and part Caden… It’s beautiful. And I love that he or she is inside me, safe and sound and waiting to come into the world…” To my surprise, Oliver started sniffling and lifted a hand to wipe away a tear. “Sorry, pregnancy hormones are real. But it really is an amazing feeling to be home to my own baby.”

“That does sound amazing,” I said softly, even though I was sure I had no idea what it was really like. How could I even begin to conceptualize such a thing? It was mind-boggling.

Oliver glanced at the front of the room. “Class dismissed,” he said, carefully standing up and grabbing his bag. I followed him out along with the throng of other students.

“So where’s Amy’s daycare?” I asked as we stepped into the sunshine.

“Right down the street, a few blocks west,” said Oliver. “There’s a pastry shop on the way and sometimes I like to pick up something for her. About once a week or so, as a surprise.”

“That’s so sweet,” I said. “I’d love to have a child to do nice things for.”

Oliver smiled. “It is really easy and rewarding to make kids happy sometimes. You should do nice things for yourself too, though.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. Oliver was so wise. He wasn’t that much older than me but maybe it was his experiences or parenthood or something, because he seemed to always have gems of wisdom that seemed really obvious in retrospect.

We strolled down the road, people watching while Oliver pointed out various businesses he liked to stop at when he was in the area. Soon enough we arrived at the daycare, and I followed Oliver, feeling weirdly like I didn’t belong because I was an adult. The place was covered in murals of jungles and underwater scenes with animals, and there were toys of all kinds everywhere. There were some toddlers playing in front of me, but I could see that further down there were what looked like classrooms where the older kids were sitting.

“Daddy!” came a voice, and I peered around Oliver to see Amy running towards him with her backpack strapped to her back, arms extended to wrap around his legs in a hug.

Somehow, it hadn’t occurred to me that a kid could be this excited to see their parent. I certainly hadn’t been excited to see my alpha father, at least. My omega father had been better, but something about Amy was different. She seemed completely unencumbered. She didn’t have abusive parents to deal with.

I wondered how it would feel to have my own kid excitedly running towards me like that. Would I even be the kind of parent that would inspire such happiness in my child? Or would I fuck it up somehow and become a shitty parent like my own had been?

I didn’t want to think that I’d repeat the mistakes of my parents, but wasn’t that how the saying went? People always turned into their parents.

“This is my friend from school, Amy,” said Oliver. “His name’s Danny.”

I smiled at the little girl, which wasn’t hard, considering her grin was infectious. “Hi, Amy. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too,” she said, nodding. “I like your shirt.”

Startled, I looked down, only to remember I was wearing my favorite band shirt with an elaborate dragon design on it. “Thank you,” I said automatically.

“Amy’s really into art,” explained Oliver. “She notices nice designs like this one.”

“Good eye,” I said, meaning it. Oliver had shown me pictures of Amy’s art in the past and it had been good stuff, advanced for a kid her age, from what I could tell.

“Ready to go home, honey?” asked Oliver, and when Amy nodded and clutched his hand, my heart about melted.

“How’s the baby today?” she asked, melting my heart even further.

“They’re doing great,” Oliver replied. “I can tell they’re very excited to meet you.”

“Me too,” said Amy, as I followed the pair out the doors of the daycare.

Oliver turned to me. “We’re going this way, so I guess I’ll see you in class?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m glad I got to meet you, Amy. Maybe I’ll see you again soon!”

“Yeah!” she cried out enthusiastically.

I shook my head as she waved, and I watched them go. Amy was such a doll, clearly, and I couldn’t help but wonder what my own kids would be like. Would they be like Amy? If I had a kid like her, I knew I’d be happy.

And meeting her made me realize that I just didn’t interact with kids on a regular basis. I didn’t have any in my life. I didn’t have any siblings who would provide me with nieces or nephews, nor did I have any cousins I was close with. And my friends were, for the most part, younger than me, and I didn’t think we were close enough to be friends beyond school anyway.

If I wanted kids in my life, I had to stay friends with Oliver or have my own.

But having a kid was a huge leap of faith. You just had to go for it, even if you weren’t feeling totally confident. More than anything, I didn’t want to mess up a kid through my own incompetent parenting. I knew there were lots of books and advice resources these days, but didn’t every parent leave their kid with some kind of neurosis?

I shook my head as I walked toward the tram station. The first hurdle to having kids was finding an alpha who wanted to have them. I thought back to the conversation I had with Archer, when I’d told him I wanted to just be friends with benefits and nothing more. He’d looked relieved. Not disappointed, relieved, like I’d said what he’d wanted to hear.

So it was pretty obvious that Archer didn’t want a relationship either, which was honestly a blow. If he’d wanted one, maybe I’d be inclined to try one out with him. Just maybe. Even if I was scared of being abused again, even if I was afraid of being a parent.

Something about Archer made me want to try anyway, and the fact that he had that effect on me kind of scared me.

The best I could really hope for was the ability to take care of myself. I was getting a good job for myself, first and foremost. Maybe one day I would feel like I was ready to start a family, but today was not that day.

My phone buzzed in my pocket as I saw that Archer had returned the text I’d sent him earlier, before I’d left for class.

They’d been risky texts. After all, we didn’t have a sexual relationship, or much of a relationship at all, outside of the club.

I opened the message up quickly, expecting the worst—that I’d bared too much of myself and Archer was no longer interested.

But no, he’d enjoyed the photos, and he’d invited me over.

Before I could even consciously process what was happening, my fingers were typing out a reply, and I promised him that I’d come over.

My earlier feelings disappeared as the promise of a night of incredible sex came over me. How could I be upset when I was seeing Archer again? And at his own house, no less. He must have really liked me—but not like that—to invite me over to his house. I got the sense that he was a pretty private guy.

Archer lived closer to here than my house, so even though I would have liked to rest at home, there was no way I was killing precious time by taking the tram all the way back. I located the address Archer had given me on my map and started walking in that direction, my heart pounding all the way.

It felt like I was a prey animal walking into the den of the beast. And in a way, I was. I was walking right into the lion’s lair, where he’d trap me and…

I shook my head, refocusing on the map. When I finally arrived, I realized Archer was rich. Or maybe his family was rich. His house was absolutely gorgeous even from the outside, and given the real estate prices in this part of the city, it must have cost a small fortune.

I knocked on the door and waited, knowing that I was setting something into motion that I wouldn’t be able to take back.

Archer opened the door and when he saw me, a wicked grin erupted across his face, and he chuckled, a low, throaty sound. God, he was just so sexy, and I couldn’t believe I got to have sex with him.

“Come on in, little omega,” he said with just a hint of a growl, and I swear, I nearly came right then and there.

But always wanting to please, I stepped inside and removed my shoes, already feeling myself floating into subspace.

And when I looked into those eyes, bright and piercing, I fell deeper and deeper.