Chapter Fourteen
Seth
When I woke my head ached, but I felt rested. I sat up, disappointed that Pierce wasn’t still in the bed with me. Glancing at the clock, I saw it was almost eight in the morning. I frowned and got out of bed slowly, touching the bump on my head. When had I hit my head? I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, staring at my pale reflection and struggling to remember how I could have hit my head.
As I shaved, the memory of my last assignment filtered in—Lola attacking her husband and being dragged away in handcuffs. Why hadn’t I remembered that right away? I pressed my temple, recalling the plane ride home now, and me and Pierce making love a while ago and then taking a nap. But—wait—I rechecked my watch. How could it be eight a.m. when I’d arrived home at ten this morning? I frowned, feeling confused. What the hell was going on?
I got dressed and left my bedroom. When I entered the kitchen, it was empty. In fact, the entire house was silent. I made coffee and struggled to work out the timeline that had me puzzled. It occurred to me to look at the date. When I saw it was a day later than when I’d come home, my stomach dropped, and I set my mug down unsteadily.
How did I lose an entire day?
The front door opened and Pierce came rushing into the house. He started to hurry past the kitchen, but he must have caught sight of me out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and moved into the kitchen, looking harassed. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”
“Confused. The last thing I remember was lying down for a nap with you.” I swallowed. “Yesterday.”
He moved closer. “That’s the last thing you remember?”
“Yes.” I grimaced.
“But you do remember me?”
“Of course I remember you.”
Relief moved through his intense gaze. “But I mean, not just that I work for you?”
I cocked my head. “Pierce, I remember you. I don’t understand why you’re questioning that.”
His laugh was tense. “You will in a minute.”
I moved closer to him. “I seem to have lost a day.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you let me sleep all night or something?”
“Not exactly.”
“No?” I frowned. “Where were you just now?”
He sighed. “Taking Emily to school.”
I frowned. “Why didn’t you kiss me goodbye before you took Emily to school? Like usual?”
He sighed. “You wouldn’t have wanted me to.”
I scowled. “Are you nuts?”
He moved closer and held my gaze. “Listen, something happened yesterday. We need to talk about it.”
“Okay.” My stomach clenched at his serious tone.
He moved to sit at the table, and I followed suit. He cleared his throat. “After our nap yesterday…” He stopped.
I nodded to encourage him to keep speaking.
“After you woke up you… um… you didn’t remember some things.” He shifted uneasily.
“Like what?”
“Like me for one thing.” He winced.
He had to be kidding. “There’s no way I didn’t know who you were.”
He swallowed hard. “You didn’t at first. But then my identity seemed to seep back in gradually. But you didn’t remember that we had any sort of personal relationship. You just—” He shook his head. “Didn’t remember our connection at all.”
I scrunched my face in a frown. “That’s just not possible. I love you. I wouldn’t forget you.”
“You did, Seth.” His eyes were dark with worry. “You… you didn’t love me anymore.”
I reached out and grabbed his hand because the pain in his voice was hard to bear. “Pierce, I love you. That won’t change. I promise.”
He dropped his head. “All I know is I’m not lying.”
“Well… what was wrong with me? Did you figure that out somehow?”
“I took you to the ER because I was so worried.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “I can’t believe this all happened and I don’t remember any of it.” I raked a hand through my hair, feeling rattled. “You actually took me to the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“I have no memory of that at all.” I widened my eyes. “Did I remember Emily? Please tell me I didn’t make her feel horrible too.” The idea I’d rejected her had me sick to my stomach.
“You remembered her. You got her name wrong once, but you knew she was your daughter. But you were disoriented and didn’t know where you were. It was awful.” He looked pale.
“Jesus.” My head ached with confusion. “What did the doctors say was wrong with me?”
“Well, I was afraid you’d had a stroke. But your speech was fine, and so the doctors didn’t agree.”
“So it wasn’t anything like that?”
“No. Apparently you had what’s called transient global amnesia. It’s like a sort of temporary amnesia.”
I squinted at him, finding all of this difficult to believe. “I’ve never heard of that.”
“I hadn’t either. But… it happened. I witnessed it with my own eyes.” He squeezed my fingers so tight it almost hurt. “And you’re back to yourself now, just like the doctor said you’d be.”
I held his wary gaze. “God, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry if I hurt you.” It was the worst feeling to think I might have said or done hurtful things and not even been aware of it.
“It’s okay. I mean, it wasn’t intentional. You were simply lost. I felt bad for you because you looked pretty scared, and you really never seem scared about anything.”
“I’m not usually.”
“The doctor thought it was probably the bump on your head that caused it.”
“Shit.” I touched my temple. “What if it happens again?”
“According to the medical experts, it’s rare that it would happen again to the same person.”
“God, I hope not.” It was terrifying to realize I’d been unable to remember one of the most important people in my life. He already barely trusted that I would be a good alpha. “I don’t know why that happened to me, but I swear on my life I love you, Pierce.”
His eyes glittered. “I hope so.” I expected him to pull his hand away and possibly retreat back into his shell, but he didn’t. Instead he stood and came to me, kneeling beside me and laying his head on my lap. “It made me realize how much I need you. I can’t believe how horrible it was when I thought I’d lost your love.” He shivered. “It was a good reminder of how fragile life can be and that we need to grab hold of those happy moments.”
I tangled my fingers in his soft hair. “Yes. I’m not letting go of you. I can’t think of anything worse than losing you or my memories of you.” I sighed. “Look at me, Pierce.”
He lifted his head, his gaze warm and searching.
“I’m back. I’m here. I don’t want to lose you,” I said quietly. “Don’t doubt what we have. Please.”
“I won’t. That scared me, but I won’t let go of you so easily.”
Relief filled me. “Good.” We kissed and the warm touch of his lips was reassuring. When I lifted my head, I smiled at him. “The last thing you need in your condition is to be stressed-out about me.”
He laughed gruffly. “I was so distracted by what was happening to you, I didn’t even throw up once this morning.”
“I’m glad my global forgetful thing was good for something.”
“I’m so happy you’re back to your old self again. I’ve allowed myself to envision a future with you, Seth. And I want that. I really do. It was pretty upsetting when I thought it had been snatched from me.”
“I didn’t even realize I wanted an omega and a family until I met you.” I stroked his flat stomach. “What do we have, one more month before we go to the compound?”
He nodded. “Yes. That’s when I’ll start to really show.”
“Is it weird that I can’t wait for your stomach to get bigger?” I laughed, feeling self-conscious. “I never really was into pregnant women.” I flared my nostrils. “But I think about your belly full with my child, and it’s a turn on.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“The only thing I think is how unattractive I’ll be with a big fat stomach.” He sighed. “You’ll probably be grossed out by me.”
“I doubt that.”
He grinned. “I guess when I’m as big as a house, we’ll know the truth.”
****
“You’re back!” Emily hugged me tight.
“I’m sorry if I was acting weird.” I patted her skinny little shoulders, feeling protective of her.
“It’s okay.” She looked up at me. “You couldn’t help it.”
“You don’t have to worry about it happening again,” I reassured her.
“I know.” She grinned. “I’ve been researching.”
I laughed. “Really?”
She nodded. “Having it happen once doesn’t in any way increase your chances of getting it again.”
“You should be a private detective when you grow up.” I smiled.
“No, thanks. They sit in cars a lot and try to catch people cheating on their spouses. That sounds depressing.” She moved to sit on the couch.
“Yeah, it really does.” Pierce nodded.
“Oh!” She raised her eyebrows. “But I might like to be a doctor.”
I widened my eyes. “I will start working overtime immediately to fund that.”
She giggled. “I’m not going to college for a long time, silly.”
I pretended to wipe sweat from my brow. Pierce smiled at me and I got the usual butterflies. I sat on the couch. I’d wanted to talk to Emily about Pierce and my relationship for a while now. She knew we were together, but I needed to feel her out about how she’d like a baby brother or sister. After all, a baby was in our near future. We were going to use the adoption story, but I wanted her to feel secure and happy about the new arrival way before the baby came.
“So, Emily, I wanted to ask you how you feel about me and Pierce being together. Does it make you uncomfortable?” I kept my voice light.
She frowned. “Why would I be uncomfortable?”
I shrugged. “Well, because we’re both boys.”
She laughed. “So?”
I met Pierce’s amused gaze. “Sometimes people don’t approve of that.”
“Pfft. I don’t care. I approve.” She smiled. “You two are good together.”
“Oh, I’m glad you’re okay with it, then.”
“Do you feel weird? Is that why you asked me that?” Her gaze was curious.
My face warmed. “No. I just feel, as your father, I should talk to you about things like this.”
“You only dated girls before. I could see if you thought it was weird.” She put her feet up on the footstool and folded her hands over her stomach. “Plus, you dated my mommy, so maybe you want my permission to date Pierce?”
I gave a gruff laugh. “No. Hey, I’m trying to figure out how you feel. You’re turning it all on me.”
“Perhaps you should be a psychologist, Emily.” Pierce smirked.
My face warmed. “I feel great about dating Pierce. I’m just being a dad and checking in with my daughter.”
Emily smiled. “Okay. Well, I feel fine about you two also.”
“Okay, good.” I cleared my throat. “What would… what would you think about me and Pierce adopting a baby?”
Her eyes bugged. “You mean a real baby?”
I frowned. “Is there any other kind?”
She sat forward. “I would love a baby. Could we have a girl?”
“Um…” I had no idea what the sex of our baby would be, so I wasn’t sure how to answer.
Pierce stepped in. “We should adopt whichever child is the right fit for us.”
Emily nodded. “True. I hope that is a girl though.”
I laughed. “Why?”
“Cuz, it would be nice to have another girl around. I could do her hair and stuff. You know, when she gets hair because most babies are bald, I think.”
I was relieved she was open to the concept of another child. It would have been pretty awkward if she’d hated the idea. “I see.”
She clapped her hands. “The baby can sleep in my room.”
“Oh, well, no. The baby would have its own room. But you could be in charge of helping to decorate the baby’s room.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “I helped paint my room, so I can help with the baby’s room too.”
“That would be great.”
“Gosh, are we really going to have a baby?” She grinned. “I can’t wait to tell Susan. Her mommy is having a baby too.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay with all of this, Emily. I know there’s been a lot of change in your life the last month.” I smiled at her.
She sighed. “Yes. Even though I didn’t want to come here at first, it’s been good.”
I nodded. “I’m glad.”
“When Mommy died I thought I’d lost my family forever.” Her voice wobbled. “But now I have a bigger family. And it’s going to get even bigger. Maybe we can adopt ten babies.”
“Whoa.” Pierce widened his eyes. “Let’s slow down here and see if we can handle one more.”
Giggling, Emily said, “Of course we can. We’ve got this, guys.”
“I appreciate your enthusiasm.” Pierce laughed.
“Let’s see how long that lasts after she helps change the first poopy diaper.” I smirked.
Looking horrified, Emily said, “You two have to handle that stuff. I’m just the decorator,” she squeaked.
I sighed. “I’m sorry I missed out on all your early years, Emily.”
“It’s okay.” She gave an impish grin. “You can get me a puppy. That should make up for it.”