Bit by bit, life in Gray Hollow began to fall into place. Scheduling all the renovations and dealing with the remaining fallout of the previous alpha’s failed leadership required Myron to get organized on a level he had never imagined himself capable of. Avery, the king of planning, had graciously helped him out on more than one occasion, even if Myron got the feeling it was only an excuse for the omega to visit Charles.

He was glad his mate had company when he was away managing the pack’s affairs. They had already brought a few sigma couples into the pack, along with one unmated sigma who’d been studying under Tyr for several years. Slowly but surely, Gray Hollow was starting to feel like a real pack, even if it was the only one of its kind.

Charles had always been passionate about his work, but seeing the way he’d changed and rallied to support the newcomers who’d taken sanctuary with them was giving Myron another perspective on his mate. He had always been a gentle, open minded soul, but he was nurturing in ways that Myron had never before realized. The fact that Charles was going to be an excellent parent had never been in question, but every month that passed, bringing them closer to the due date, Myron grew even more eager to take that journey with him. Even if it was only as partners with the friendship they had slowly rebuilt.

The doctor’s theory about their separation being the cause of Charles’ illness seemed to be correct, since he’d been in good health ever since his arrival. Myron still wasn’t taking any chances. He spent each night on the couch in the living room, despite having his own room upstairs, because he wanted to be close enough that he’d hear if Charles needed anything.

The hallway clock ticked softly as Myron slept that night, and the sound of footsteps woke him. He stopped to find Charles’ silhouette in the doorway. “Myron?” he whispered in confusion.

Myron sat up, checking the clock. It was a little past three. “You alright?”

“I was just restless, so I got up for a drink of water… what are you doing down here?” Charles asked, turning on the light.

Myron squinted. “I usually sleep down here.” Always, but Charles probably didn’t need to know he had an obsessed guard dog listening out for him all night.

The way Charles was looking at him suggested he wasn’t buying it. “Why?”

“I want to be around if you need anything,” Myron admitted, running a hand through his hair. That clock was going to drive him mad. “C’mere.”

Charles hesitated at the door for a moment, before he came in and sat down next to Myron. “The couch isn’t comfortable enough to sleep on.”

“It’s fine,” Myron assured him. He touched the other man’s cheek, frowning. “You feel a little warm.”

“I’m okay. She’s just kicking a lot.”

Myron smiled adoringly down at his mate’s rounded belly. A little less than a month, maybe sooner, and she’d be with them. When he looked up, Charles was staring at him.

“You can feel, if you’d like,” he said softly.

“Yeah,” Myron said, failing to hide his enthusiasm. He placed his hand on Charles’ abdomen and when he felt the gentle thump against his palm, his heart soared. “She really is active,” he laughed.

“She gets that from you,” Charles said with a yawn. He winced, brushing Myron’s hand as he placed his on his stomach. “That one was rough.”

“I don’t think that was a kick, babe.” The word came out of his mouth too easily. If Charles noticed, he didn’t say anything. “I didn’t feel it.”

“Maybe not,” Charles murmured, adjusting.

Myron put a pillow behind his back and rubbed his shoulders. “Tell me if it keeps hurting. You could be in labor.”

“It’s a bit early,” Charles said breathlessly. “Thought I’d have a couple more weeks, at least.”

“Yeah, but you know what Dr. Waller said. They’ve only started studying sigmas seriously in recent years. We still don’t have enough data to know what’s ‘normal.’”

“True.” Charles winced again, clearly in pain. “Maybe I should go in.”

“I’ll call the doctor. Sit tight,” Myron ordered, leaving to grab his cellphone. The doctor had obviously been sleeping, but she promised to head over to the hospital as soon as possible. It was one of the few institutions in town that hadn’t been abandoned or poorly managed in the leadership vacuum.

“Okay, we’re going in. Think you can walk?” Myron asked, helping his mate to his feet.

“Yes, I’m alright. I’m going to have to have a talk with her about her timing.”

Myron laughed, even though he felt more anxious on the inside than Charles seemed on the outside. As he drove his mate to the hospital, he found himself thinking of everything that could possibly go wrong.

“Alpha Myer,” the nurse at the desk called in greeting.

“Just uh, Myron,” he corrected. People had never quite known what to do with him as an omega with an Alpha’s build and attitude, but they were even more unsure now that he’d come out as a sigma. They were trying, at least. “We think he’s in labor.”

“Well, let’s get you back to a room, shall we?” the nurse asked, wheeling out a chair for Charles. Myron helped him into it, wheeling his mate back into the room the nurse led them to.

A few minutes later, Charles was in bed and the nurse was taking his vitals. Myron tried to stay out of the way while staying close enough to respond on a moment’s notice if Charles needed him.

“Is he alright?”

“I’ll let the doctor decide that, but his vitals are fine,” she answered patiently. “She’ll be right in.”

“Thank you,” Charles called after her.

“How are you so calm right now?” Myron asked, in awe.

Charles smiled, even though he had to be exhausted. “Finding out I was pregnant was definitely a shock, but I’ve had a long time to get used to the idea.”

“Right,” Myron sighed. He’d rolled his eyes at the anxious wreck Nicholas had become, but now he was texting his brother and close to having a panic attack himself.

“Good morning,” Dr. Waller said, yawning as she walked into the room. “Or should I say good night?”

“Sorry to interrupt your sleep,” said Charles. “Hopefully it’s not just a false alarm.”

Myron kept his mouth shut, but that would be more than fine with him. More time to prepare. Now that there was a chance it was actually happening, he was as scared as he was excited, not because he wasn’t ready to be a father but because he knew that Charles wouldn’t be out of the woods until he had the baby.

“We’ll have a look,” the doctor said, sliding the curtain around the bed. Myron waited anxiously until she peeled the curtain back and announced, “Well, you’re definitely in labor. It does worry me a bit that it’s happening this early.”

Myron’s heart sputtered like an old engine. “Can you stop it?”

“We could, but I’d like to do an ultrasound to make sure that the premature labor isn’t being triggered by anything.”

“Like what?” Myron demanded.

The doctor gave him a patient smile. “Just a precaution, Mr. Myer. I’ll be right back.”

Myron rushed to his mate’s bedside, taking Charles’ hand. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I was,” Charles said, a little paler than he had been. “Do you think something’s wrong with the baby?”

Myron shook his head. “I don’t know. But we’re gonna take care of both of you,” he promised, kissing Charles’ knuckles.

The doctor and nurse came back in a few moments later, and as Myron listened to the sound of his daughter’s heartbeat, he noticed immediately how much faster it was than the last time. “Why’s her heart beating like that?”

“It is a bit faster than usual,” the doctor said, growing somber as she watched the screen. Myron only managed to resist asking her all the questions he needed answers for because he wanted her to be able to focus. She looked toward the nurse. “Prepare the OR, Maria, we’re going to need to do a C-section.”

“A C-section?” Charles cried. It was the first time Myron had ever seen him lose his cool. “Why?”

“It’s difficult to tell at this angle, but I believe the umbilical cord is wrapped around her neck,” Dr. Waller explained, her voice still soothing even though she’d just delivered news that scared the shit out of Myron more than anything ever had. “If that’s what’s going on and we operate quickly, she should be fine, but it’s a good thing you came in when you did.”

Charles looked terrified, and Myron gripped his hand tighter. “Just do whatever you have to,” he pleaded.

Myron kissed his forehead and stroked his hand to console him, even though he was falling apart himself. “It’s gonna be okay, baby. Our little girl’s gonna be fine.”

God, he hoped so. If she wasn’t…

He couldn’t even think about that. Or what it would do to Charles. That baby was Charles’ world, and they were both Myron’s. He went along quietly as they took Charles into the operating room, but his thoughts were racing. His phone buzzed in his pocket as the nurses were prepping the sigma for surgery and he saw that he’d missed a few calls from Nicholas.

Myron knew he wasn’t composed enough to talk on the phone, so he texted Nicholas a summary of everything that was happening and his brother texted back almost immediately.

On our way. Hayley’s staying with Jade.

Throughout all the years Myron had longed and dreamed of having a family of his own, he’d never imagined that the primary emotion he’d be feeling the day it finally happened was helplessness.

The nurses pushed him out of the room once Charles was sedated and reassured him that he was far more help out there than he was in the operating room. It seemed like forever until Nicholas and Avery arrived. The omega threw his arms around Myron and hugged him tight.

“Where is he?” Avery asked worriedly. “Do they know anything yet?”

“They think the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck,” Myron said, almost too hoarse to speak. “They’re doing an emergency C-section. Charles must’ve known something was wrong.”

“Of course he did,” Avery murmured, rubbing Myron’s arm. “They’re going to be okay. I promise.”

“He’s right,” Nicholas said, giving his brother a reassuring nod. “He’s got an amazing doctor, and he’s strong as hell.”

Myron knew they were trying to help, but nothing was going to reassure him until he had both Charles and their daughter in his arms. They’d been throwing names around for a while, and Isabella was the current favorite, but Charles had expressed some concerns about her not being able to find her name on keychains the last time they’d spoken, so Myron wasn’t sure where they’d settle. His mate could name her Moira Myra Myer, for all he cared. As long as they were both okay.

The moment he heard his daughter’s cries, half his fears were laid to rest. Myron flew into the room without waiting for an invitation and nearly ran into a nurse who was probably planning on coming out to give him just that. “Is he —?”

“They’re both fine,” the beta said knowingly. “Just give us a second to clean her up and bring your mate out of sedation.”

Myron reluctantly stayed where he was, straining to get a better look. He watched as another nurse passed his daughter to the doctor, bundled up in a soft yellow blanket. Charles was still out of it, but he was going to be okay.

They were both going to be okay. Myron felt like he was no longer in his own body, but the moment the doctor placed the infant tentatively known as Isabella in his arms, he settled back into it.

“Hey there, princess,” he whispered, gazing into her perfect, wrinkled face as she screamed and made her displeasure with the lights, sounds and all around offensiveness of the world around her known.

In that moment, all of it faded away. It was just the three of them. The family he had always wanted, and somehow been blessed with even if he’d done nothing to deserve it and everything to push it away. As he held his daughter and waited for his mate to wake up, Myron understood what had been clear to Charles all along.

Whether Myron was a sigma or just a strange omega, it made little difference to him. But it wasn’t about him, not anymore. Their daughter would be among the first of a generation that would be recognized as “other” from birth, and the idea that she might go through even a fraction of the bullshit he’d had to face as a wrongly assigned omega was unthinkable. He’d tried his best to support Charles’ work to help raise awareness of their kind, but until that moment, Myron’s only motivation had been that it was important to his mate. Now, he knew it was so much bigger than both of them. They had created a pack that would be safe for their daughter and others like her, but there was still a whole world out there that could be so incredibly unkind.

It had to change. For Charles, for her, for everyone like them. Myron was just one person, but he was going to devote his life to making sure that his daughter didn’t live in the same world he had.

When he’d first taken his job with Futurus, it hadn’t mattered much to him that he was selling out. Now, he understood the responsibility that weighed so heavily on Charles’ shoulders. He also understood why Charles still kept him at a distance. He didn’t just need a caretaker or a lover. He needed a partner in the work that was so important to him, because it was important to the world. It had the potential to change everything for the better, and now that he had a family to protect, Myron realized that duty meant nothing less than making a better world for them to live in.

No more skating by with the bare minimum effort. No more stylized apathy. No more pretending like he could just check out of the world around him whenever it was convenient. Charles deserved better than that. Their daughter deserved better. Myron wanted to be better, for both of them.

Charles moaned softly as he came out of the anesthesia and Myron carefully brought their daughter over to see him. “Hey, Charles,” he said with a smile of deep relief. “How’re you feeling?”

“Drunk,” Charles answered. That was saying something, since Myron had never even seen him buzzed. His eyes lit up when he saw the baby in Myron’s arms. “She’s okay?”

“She’s better than okay. She’s perfect and healthy, and she has your pretty blue eyes,” he cooed down at the bundle in his arms. “My voice, though.”

Charles gave a tired laugh and Myron sat down beside him so he could get a better look at their daughter. “She’s beautiful…”

“Gets that from you, too,” Myron said, kissing his forehead. As tired as he was, Charles was beaming with pride. “Remind me never to question your instincts.”

“I’ll do that,” Charles teased. His gaze softened as he stared up at Myron, and he seemed to want to say something. Myron wasn’t sure what it was and realized he might never get the chance to find out, because his mate seemed to change his mind at the last minute and asked, “We never settled on a name, did we?”

“I like Isabella, but you definitely get the final vote.”

“She looks like an Isabella, doesn’t she?” Charles mused, stroking her tiny fingers.

“She certainly does.”

“Is your family here?”

“Yeah, but they’ll understand if you’re not ready for visitors for a while.”

“Maybe after I rest my eyes,” Charles said, clearly still out of it.

“You rest as long as you need. I’ve got our little girl,” Myron promised. He was never letting go. Hopefully she wouldn’t mind attending prom with her dad off to the side, glaring protectively.

Charles closed his eyes and Myron stayed another minute, just to watch him sleep. He was sure his mate was out cold when Charles turned his head slightly and murmured something Myron couldn’t understand.

“What’s that?”

“I said I’d like to try again,” Charles said softly, without opening his eyes. “If you’re willing.”

Myron’s heart beat faster. Just when he thought he couldn’t possibly have any more luck. He didn’t deserve any of it, but he wasn’t going to turn that offer down. It was more than once in a lifetime. It was too damn good to be true. “Yes,” he breathed. “Of course I want that, baby. This time, I’m not gonna screw it up.”

Charles didn’t answer, and Myron knew there was a chance it was the drugs talking, but either way, he was going to spend the rest of his life proving himself. Proving that he could be the father and mate Charles deserved to have at his side.