Baby duty. It was my turn.

They called it baby duty—I’d heard that term plenty of times before, but I didn’t see how it was a duty at all. Holding your child was a duty? No. It was a blessing. And so was my beautiful boy.

I looked down at him, unable to believe the miracle I was holding in my arms. Scotty had called him a little pink potato, and I couldn’t help but agree. Swaddled in a little blanket, his soft baby hairs matted down on his head, he was like a tiny little bundle of soft skin that made my heart soar.

My baby boy…I thought as I smiled down at his sweet sleeping face.

The birth couldn’t have gone better. In fact, Scotty wasn’t even in labor for an hour. Jamie had declared him a “total baby maker” after it was over. I cracked up and agreed.

He’d gone right for Scotty’s chest to feed, and just watching that happen was one of the most amazing things I’d ever seen. Everything was just so…natural. I understood now the incredible bond Preston and Kenneth had with their baby boy Schuyler. I could never have prepared myself for the feeling, and that was part of the thrill.

Nothing that had happened to me had been anything I could have prepared myself for or anticipated. When I’d met Scotty, I hadn’t even been looking for a mate. In fact, I had been actively not looking for one. I’d had my walls up, built high and sturdy to protect my heart from feeling pain like I’d felt before. But Scotty, like an expert burglar out of a movie, had scaled those walls and stolen my heart before I even realized what was happening.

Then, I thought I’d lost him. I was sure of it. But again, my fated mate had come back to me—pregnant. We’d stood up together against his family, but he’d done the real work there and I was beyond proud of him. And then to top it all off, he’d given me a child. Given us a child.

We named him Fletcher. Neither of us knew why, we just liked the name. He was still just a little bundle so we had no idea what he would end up looking like, but he was an alpha, so probably more me than Scotty. But he had Scotty’s eyes. Beautiful green eyes.

My parents were on the way out to visit and meet him. It had been years since I’d seen them last and I was a little nervous, but super excited to show them how far I’d come. When I left, I was a heartbroken young man running from his pain. Now, not only did I have my own personal shit together, but I’d found a mate and was a proud father.

How things change… I thought as I gazed out across the farm. Scotty was inside taking a nap that he desperately needed, while I sat out on the porch with the rest of the pack. Everyone was so excited to see Fletcher that I couldn’t keep people away from me even if I wanted to.

“Damn, son,” Juan remarked from a chair beside me. “The more I see you smiling like a doofus, the more I want to find myself an omega to pump out a little baby Juan for me!”

“That’s the last thing we need!” Jamie chimed in. “One Juan is enough for me.”

“That’s a bit of a tongue twister,” Chuck remarked. “One Juan? One Juan was wondering around one day—”

“Ah, fuck off,” Juan chuckled.

“Language!” I scolded him.

“He doesn’t know what we’re saying,” Juan scoffed.

“You forget one thing, Juan,” Preston said with a smile.

“What’s that?”

“In order to have a kid, you actually have to find an omega who’s able to stand you.”

Everyone laughed, even Juan, who threw Preston the finger.

“You know, I was thinking,” he went on. “You mentioned to me that Scotty was into painting right?”

“That’s right,” I replied.

“Well, I’ve been wanting to put up another barn here on the other side of the house,” Preston explained. “Somewhere to get some woodworking projects and other things done. If you guys want to help out, we could build it a little bigger and add on a small studio for Scotty.”

“That would be amazing,” I nodded. “I’ll work every day on it.”

“I’ll get the lumber,” Preston smiled.

Scotty would be ecstatic. He’d only told me about his love for painting in passing, but I’d yet to see anything he’d ever done. Everything was back at his apartment and we hadn’t gone back there yet. But I couldn’t wait to see what he would create when given the chance. I wanted him to have the life he never could while he was under the oppressive thumb of his family.

The freedom of the farm was undeniable. If I was out here on my own I would have been lonely, there was no doubt to that. But with my pack, my mate and my child, it was a wonderful place to be.

We could go into Austin for anything we needed, and of course to make runs to the store, but the sense of community and belonging out here was just awesome. The farm was producing and our vegetables were selling like crazy down at Evening Glory. Our zucchinis were going so fast we couldn’t keep them stocked no matter how hard we tried.

Fletcher stirred in my arms and while still sleeping, stretched above his head lazily. I couldn’t help but laugh as his face contorted into a goofy little yawn as he resituated himself.

“Awwww,” Jamie cooed, echoing my own sentiments.

“I know,” I nodded. “He’s so fucking cute.”

“Hey, language!” Juan scolded me.

Fletcher stirred again and I saw his mouth contort into that telltale shape that let me know he was probably getting hungry. He stirred again and I knew it was time to take him back to see Scotty.

“Feeding time,” I told everyone as I got to my feet. “Somebody’s a hungry boy.”

“You wanna take over the duties, Jamie?” Chuck joked.

“Hey, if one of you boys wants a suckle, I’d be happy to oblige,” she said with a wink.

“Still trying to convert us, huh?” I chuckled.

“One of these days,” she laughed. “I’ll break you down. Just you wait and see!”

Shaking my head, I meandered back into the house and into Scotty’s room. He stirred as I came in, and without opening his eyes, smiled and said, “Feeding time?”

“How did you know?” I asked. He stretched out his arms and took the baby from me. I sat down on the bed beside him as he pulled his shirt aside and made space for Fletcher to latch on.

“Dad’s just know these things,” he said quietly.

“Can I get you anything?” I asked. “Something to eat? A drink?”

“Some water would be nice,” he replied.

“Okay.”

I made my way to the kitchen and filled a glass with cool water. Not too cold, it made his stomach queasy lately. Once I got back to the bedroom he finally had his eyes open and was gazing down at our baby with the eyes of love that only a parent could know.

I handed him the glass and brushed a piece of hair from his forehead as he took a drink.

“That’s nice, thank you,” he said sweetly, looking up at me. I took the glass and set it on the table beside him.

“Can you believe it?” I asked him as our baby boy fed.

“Can I believe what?”

“This,” I said, motioning to the room. “All this. The farm, us, our baby boy. It’s just perfect.”

“You’re absolutely right,” he said with a smile. “It’s perfect.”