Chapter Fifteen
Brent
#DinnerandaShow
So somehow, my mother let Jay’s comment about the baby go, meaning she totally knew. Technically, it had been my secret to share, but in this one case I was glad he had spilled the beans. It was a chicken way out and I’m sure she’d mention it at some point in the future, but in the meantime, she was a happy grandmother-to-be, and that worked for me.
Reservations meant a table in the back of The Diner. The only other restaurant was open sort of kind of on a schedule when they felt like it. They overcharged for weddings and didn’t seem to be too concerned about the rest.
I loved The Diner. I really did. But it was far from romantic. Not that I needed to woo or be wooed, but still. Heck, my cousin took his omega on their first date to my mom’s house and had her cook for them and then hightail it out of there. Not that I should judge, it totally worked.
All heads turned our way as we walked into The Diner. Not that we could be missed, seeing as how my aunt or cousin or possibly Reid had the booth decorated with flowers and a tablecloth. Blending wasn’t an option.
“So, is this normal?” Jay quirked an eyebrow as we settled into our seats.
“Dates at The Diner? Yeah, pretty much the only place to eat unless Francesca’s decides to open. Honestly, this tastes hella better.”
“More the fancy setup.” He didn’t mention our built-in audience, which I appreciated.
“Naw. That was all my family. They kind of rock.”
“What are you drinking, fellas?” Marsha, the evening waitress asked. I hadn’t even noticed her coming over.
“Ginger ale, please.” What I wanted was coffee, but I knew once I smelled it that desire would be over.
“Same for me,” Jay answered as she looked his way.
The lighting in The Diner was butt awful, but he still managed to looked movie star amazing with his slight scruff, his deep-brown eyes, and that jawline begging to be nibbled.
“I’m not taking your order because your mama—she had plans.” Marsha winked at me before turning her eyes back to Jay and blushing slightly. I couldn’t blame her. He was hot as Hades. “But you will eat soon.”
And then she stood there just staring at Jay as if she asked a question needing answering. She had not.
“Works for me. You?” Jay directed things back to me after answering her non-question.
“Works for me, too.” I wasn’t hungry, even though I knew I should eat.
And with my response, she walked away, presumably to get our food.
Jay reached across the tabletop, placing his hand on mine. It’d been a long time since I’d been out on a date, a real date, much less had someone be affectionate with me in public like that. I liked it. A lot.
“So, your stomach?” I must’ve looked perplexed, because I was, and he immediately tacked on, “I mean, with the ginger ale. Is it bad?”
“It comes and goes.” And that was when it clicked that I hadn’t felt any queasiness all afternoon. “It’s less bad now that I know what it is, if that makes sense.” Not that it did for me, but I was rolling with it.
“It actually does.” He gave my hand a squeeze. “Are you fine else-wise?”
“I am. Better since you’ve been here.”
“It’s my scent. They say it’s an old wives’ tale but I know it’s true. I’ve seen it time and again at work.”
Marsha picked that moment to bring our drinks. I took my straw and tapped it on the table to loosen the paper before pulling it out of the wrapper with my teeth. No way was I going to give up my hand holding time for the easy way out on straw removal.
“Speaking of which.” I had dread in my belly even thinking of, much less asking the question. “When do you need to go back?”
I knew I should be savoring the time we had and not thinking about it being gone, but I couldn’t help it. We fell back together so quickly, it was almost scary. No, not almost. It was terrifying, but at the same time spectacular, and I didn’t want it to end too soon—or possibly ever.
The hormones probably were doing more of the speaking than they should, but chatting with him, hugging him, watching him with those patients—all of that had him worming his way deeper into my heart. I might have magnified our connection during my longing selfie times, but it was there and strong, and I wanted to see if we could make it sustainable.
“I work at will. So, I don’t need to be back.”
I still didn’t fully understand how his job worked. The only nurses I knew were local ones who got a position and stayed there until they retired. Which was probably why what he was saying sounded more than a little bit off to my ears, even if he said it with sincerity. He was probably right that he didn’t need to be back, but technically I didn’t need to finish school. That didn’t make it a viable option, either.
“But you love your job.” Why was I arguing. Jay told me he could stay. Not how long he wanted to, but that it was possible, and I was arguing for him not to.
“And I love my baby.”
My jaw fell open, and I just stared at him a solid minute before I found my voice.
“How can that even be?” I asked more in wonder than in disbelief. “I mean, how have you even wrapped your head around it? It took me days to even get out of denial enough to acknowledge I might need a test.”
And even then, I held onto that denial. Yet, there he was, slipping smoothly into the role of expectant father.
“I kind of had it cross my mind a few times.” He shrugged off before taking a sip of his ginger ale. “I mean, not that I thought you were, but how someday might look.”
“You think of me as a someday.” I wasn’t asking, just absorbing it all. He was so forward with how he felt. It was both refreshing and a wee bit scary.
“No. I think of you as from now on, but I did then.”
“Here you go, boys.” Marsha placed two plates of steaming food in front of us. I swore she lay in wait, hoping to catch us at the worst possible moment. “Fresh from—not us. Enjoy.”
Jay looked at her as she walked away, a quizzical look upon his face.
“My mom’s pot roast with cranberries.” I pointed to his plate with my fork.
It near pained me to pull my hand away so I could eat. Mom picked my favorite meal and one that would go down easily. She was a keeper.
“I’m guessing that means I’m in like Flynn.” He wore a shit-eating grin as he took his first forkful.
“Something like that.” Probably exactly that.
We ate in silence for a few minutes, enjoying her home-cooked goodness.
“So, I need to finish school,” I blurted out just as he had put a forkful of potatoes into his mouth. “That’s not a question.”
I sat there, waiting for his response. Kayson had told me once that he and Reid worked because they didn’t let things grow and fester inside them, and the going-to-school thing would be one of them, so out it came.
“I assumed you would,” he replied when he finally swallowed his mouthful. “But tell me this, why did you say it that way?”
Because I was scared.
“Because I’m a pregnant omega,” I said instead. It was also true. I didn’t want to be one of those omegas who forever wished they had buckled down and finished their class or their degree or their internship.
“That doesn’t make your dreams float away. How much more school do you have?” And just like that, my fears fell away. He was being all pragmatic and fabulous, and I knew instantly, my worries were for naught. “Because fall might be hard for you with the baby coming. You would need to miss some classes.”
“I’m done in May.” I had thought about going another year and seeing if I could add an endorsement for school leadership, but that was my fallback if I didn’t get a decent job, not the main plan.
“Then, easy-peasy done.” He took a drink of his ginger ale as I picked at my peas. Mom knew they weren’t my favorite but never tired of trying to convince me of their awesomeness. “What do you want to do then?”
“Teach.” Or stay home being a dad. But I kept that part to myself. Daring not to dream such a thing. “Not in the fall because that would be too hard. But maybe subbing second semester?”
“You don’t need to decide now.”
But I kind of did. Babies didn’t feed themselves. Nor buy themselves diapers.
“Do you know where you’ll be working then? Maybe—”
“I will be working where you are.” He cut me off.
Jay was working where I was. But I was in Mapleville, and he was an important big shot in his field. How was that going to work?
Instead of asking, for fear of the answer, I shoveled a fork of peas into my mouth. Most of a forkful, anyway. A few that fell right off, one rolling toward Jay and earning me one of his glorious laughs.