January was nearing its end when I got a surprise in my bookstore. I was just about to take my lunch break when the door bells chimed, making me look up. At the entrance to my store stood Nick, grinning at me like a madman.

I had so many questions. How was he here? Why hadn't he told me that he was coming? How long was he staying?

But my curiosity was soon overwhelmed by the sheer joy that came over me at the sight of him, live and in person and in front of me.

While I was still staring, Nick flipped the sign on my door to Closed, threw his bag down on the floor and then he jumped at me, throwing his arms around my neck. I pressed him to myself without conscious thought. In my arms, he was right where he belonged, and after all these weeks, I wasn't going to let him go any time soon. I didn't care anymore why he was here, just that he was.

“Glad to see me?” he asked with glee in his voice.

I responded by kissing him, claiming his mouth as I re-familiarized myself with his taste. God, I'd missed him. It didn't even bother me that we were standing in plain view of the store's large front windows, where anyone could look in on us. There weren't too many people walking the streets anyway. It was still cold outside—even as the inside of my bookstore seemed to heat up. Nick's body was warm against me and his lips were hot on mine as he responded to the kiss, tilting his head to give me better access. It looked like I wasn't the only one desperate for touch after all the nights we'd spent apart. My arms tightened around Nick's back as he moved his lips from my mouth to my jawline. His hair tickled my nose and I breathed in the scent of it, feeling myself get hard.

“Nick...”

I exhaled sharply as Nick responded by cupping my erection through my pants. “Missed you.”

“Missed you too,” I replied, and then Nick made it hard for me to speak anymore by pressing his lips to my mouth again. At the same time, he rubbed the heel of his hand over my groin. Heat rushed to my lower body. It was so tempting to just let him go on like that, but... God. We couldn't do this. Not here. Not in my bookstore.

Fighting with myself, I managed to break away just long enough to protest. “We should move upstairs.”

Nick paused, but not to move. “C'mon,” he said, placing gentle kisses on the side of my neck before whispering in my ear. “I bet you've never had sex in here before. Don't you want to try something new?”

“I've already tried a new recipe this month.”

“Boooring. I bet what you really wanna get a bite of is me.” Nick grinned at me, the challenge clear in his bright eyes. And he was right, too. I did want to get my mouth on him in the worst way.

But still, we were in my store. With my books. What if—

I lost track of that thought when Nick leaned in to lick my ear. “C'mon,” he said again in a nearly pleading tone of voice that did funny things to me. I couldn't think straight around this omega. I wasn't sure why I even kept trying.

I glanced around the store, then back at Nick, and my decision was made.

“Come here.” I dragged Nick over to the bookshelves lining the wall to our left. Behind us, a set of lower bookcases shielded us at least partially from eyes looking into the store. Anyone walking by would be able to see our upper bodies, but not what was going on down below.

Still, I couldn't believe what I was about to do. The only excuse I had was that this was Nick, and I couldn't resist him.

I sank to my knees in front of him.

He licked his lips and rewarded me with an expression of cautious optimism. “You really gonna do this?”

“You surprised me with a visit. Don't you think a proper welcome is in order?”

“Oh, I definitely do!”

I gave him a grin, and then I opened his pants.

A soft moan escaped him as I reached into his boxers, freeing his cock. Urged on by the sound, I moved my hand up and down his cock in slow strokes until he was fully erect.

My own cock strained against the confines of my clothes when I saw him like that. I needed to make him come, no matter if it was the middle of the day and we were in the middle of my bookstore.

Ignoring all thoughts of where we were and how inappropriate this was, I guided the tip of Nick's cock into my mouth. When I sucked at it, he let out a short stream of profanities that almost made me laugh. Good thing there weren't any kids around.

I took him a little deeper into my mouth and pulled his boxers down so I could roll his balls in my hand.

“Fuck,” Nick uttered under his breath, letting his head fall back against the shelf behind him. One of the books came tumbling down to land on the floor beside me. Neither of us paid it any mind. My eyes were fixed on Nick as I kept working on him. He was stunning in his rapture, his head thrown back, his breath coming shallow as I ran my tongue along the thick vein on the side of his cock.

Already, I could tell he wasn't going to last long.

Maybe it was because we hadn't seen each other for over a month, or maybe the semi-public nature of our encounter excited him. Whatever the cause, the result was that he was digging his fingers into my hair after only a few minutes, panting. His face contorted. Obviously, he was trying not to come so fast.

“You too,” he said on a shaky exhale, opening his eyes to stare at me.

So that was what he wanted. Okay, then. We would both get off in my bookstore. Christ, the things this omega made me do.

Hastily, I fiddled with my belt to get it open so I could reach for myself. Inside my boxers, I was already rock-hard, just from tasting Nick, watching him, listening to the needy little sounds he made.

I wasn't going to last long either. Not when I had my mouth full of Nick and my hand around my cock.

I got the feeling that I was going to wonder what the devil had possessed me when we were done here, but right this moment I didn't care. I forgot where we were or that people might catch a glimpse. My world narrowed down to only Nick and me.

After another moment, Nick groaned and surrendered to his climax. I followed almost as soon as his semen hit the roof of my mouth. There was no way I could hold on with that taste on my tongue. My release hit me like a freight train.

It was a good thing that Nick pulled out of my mouth or I might have bitten him.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I tucked myself back in, trying to clear my head. Getting up, I turned to look at the window. Had anyone seen us?

“That was nice,” Nick said, looking about as satisfied as my dog after a large meal of leftovers from the dinner table. Like he'd gotten an unexpected treat and he couldn't be more pleased with himself.

“Have you read a book?” I asked.

“What?” Still stuck in post-orgasmic daze, it seemed to take him a moment to parse my words.

“Your part of the challenge, remember? I believe I've just fulfilled mine.” I pulled his boxers and pants back up before anyone could walk in on him parading his junk around in my store. The sign on the door said Closed, but we all knew precious few people respected that.

“Oh, that. I... still have two days, right?”

“Don't tell me you're failing your challenge the first month. You're the one who suggested we do this.”

“I'm not failing!” Nick pouted. He was too cute when he did that, so I kissed him.

“Well, better pick a short book then.”

Nick took a step back and bit his lower lip. Was he nervous about something? Which reminded me. Why was he here? “I've actually already kind of picked my book. I just haven't finished it yet.”

I frowned. Was he nervous about his choice of reading material? He should know I would never judge him for what he wanted to read. With some small exceptions, maybe. “What did you pick?”

Scratching his neck, Nick went to retrieve his bag from where he'd discarded it by the door. “You have to promise me that you won't flip out.”

“I won't.” Why would I? What book could possibly make me flip out? “It's not one of those books about how great the bachelor lifestyle is, right? Or 100 Reasons to Break Up with Your Long-Distance Boyfriend?”

Nick turned back to me. “Does that book exist?”

“I don't know, but if it does, I don't want you to read it.”

“Noted. I'll take it off my list. Oh wait, I don't have lists. That's you.” Nick tried a laugh, but his voice wasn't steady.

What had him so upset? “You don't have to tell me what book you're reading if you don't want to, you know.”

“No, I'm going to tell you, it's just...” He took a breath. “It's going to change a few things and I don't know how you're going to react.” Finally, he pulled the book out of his bag and handed it to me.

My eyes flew over the title. What to Expect When You're Expecting.

I blinked.

I read the title again.

Nick was trying to tell me something here, wasn't he? I gulped. But he couldn't be... I took a few steps back to lean on my desk, gripping the edge of it with my fingers. “You're... you're not reading this for fun, are you?” He'd said things were going to change when I knew what he was reading. “Are you trying to say that you want to have a baby or that you're...” God, I couldn't even say it.

Nick exhaled. “You know we didn't use a condom that night at my brother's place. And I was in heat.” An uneasy smile formed on his lips. “Really, this was kind of bound to happen.”

He was right. We'd been stupid and this was the result.

Nick took a step toward me. “Say something, please?”

“I...” I had absolutely no idea what to say. Nick was pregnant. He was carrying my baby. I was going to be a father.

Jesus fucking Christ.

And Nick was still expecting some sort of response from me, looking just about as nervous as he felt.

Of course he's nervous. He's pregnant, you idiot. This is harder on him than it is on you.

I needed to tell him that things were going to be fine. Now more than ever I needed to act like the alpha everybody told me I was. I had to be strong for my omega. And so, in spite of the panic raging inside of my head, I forced a smile on my face. “That's great,” I said, and to be extra convincing, I threw my arms around Nick. “You're going to make an awesome dad! Can you imagine how much fun that kid is going to have growing up?”

“I don't know,” Nick said, but I felt him relax just a bit. “What if they're going to be a book nerd like you and just read all day?”

Something about those words hit me hard. This kid could be like me. It was my kid. Mine and Nick's.

In my mind's eye, I saw a little kid with Nick's eyes and my nose, a book in one hand and a Godzilla action figure in the other. A little kid who would call us Dad and Daddy. It was almost too much to comprehend.

My mother was going to be ecstatic, though.

“Zander?” Nick nudged my shoulder, making me realize that I'd spaced out.

“Sorry. Still trying to process everything. How long have you known?”

“I took a test on New Year's Day, but I didn't want to tell you over the phone or the webcam. It didn't feel right.”

New Year's Day... He'd been carrying this around with him for a long time. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to sort my thoughts. Involuntarily, my eyes strayed to Nick’s belly. I remembered what Conner had asked me. Whether all alphas wanted their omegas to have their babies. I'd never thought of myself like that, but I couldn't deny that part of me wanted to see Nick with a baby bump. Perhaps I was a slave to my genes after all. He wasn’t showing yet, though.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I lied.

“Oh, c’mon.” He boxed my arm. “You were thinking about how I’m gonna get fat and all.”

That was only partly accurate. “I wouldn’t call it getting fat. You’re growing a baby. Our baby. That’s different.”

“Uh-huh. I’m still not gonna keep my figure, though.”

“You’ll always be beautiful to me,” I said without even having to think about it. “Actually, I’m kind of looking forward to seeing you more pregnant.” I could admit that if it might make him feel better.

“Really?” Nick seemed to have his doubts.

“Really.” I kissed his forehead. “I guess it’s an alpha thing.”

“Okay.” Nick rested his head on my shoulder and for a moment, we stood in silence, holding each other. We could get through this, right? If we were together.

I decided then and there that I was going to be Nick’s rock. I would be there for him—and our child—no matter what happened.

We slowly broke apart when the bells above the door jingled, indicating that someone had entered the store. When I looked up, I saw Conner. “Didn't you see that we're closed?” Seriously, people were treating that door sign as if it was nothing more than a decorative element.

“Oh, yeah, I did, but I saw you in and I'm not here to buy anything. I only wanted to ask if the book came.”

What book? Oh, right. He'd come in the day before looking for a title I didn't have in stock, so I placed an order for him. “Not yet.”

“There's a lot of snow on the roads,” Nick joined the conversation. “I wouldn't expect anything to be delivered quickly.”

“Oh, hey Nick,” Conner said as if noticing him only now. “What are you doing here?”

“Just dropping by,” Nick replied, putting on a smile. I noticed that he took a step away from me, though I couldn't think why. Did he not want Conner to know that we were an item? That would be difficult once he started showing. Still, I left him to it. There would be time to talk later, when Conner was gone and the store was closed for the day and we could head up to my apartment...

“That's cool,” Conner said. “Are you coming by later? I'm sure Dad and Kade would love to see you. Oh, and Mary. She's been asking if you were coming back.” Still talking, Conner wandered over to the book shelves. He'd said he wasn't here to buy anything, but it seemed he couldn't resist browsing. I knew that feeling. Book shelves had a magnetic pull on me too.

Conner wasn't looking at the shelf, though. No, he was looking at something on the floor in front of it.

The book that had fallen from the shelf when I was sucking Nick off.

“Why's that book lying there?” Conner asked. “And what are those stains?”

Stains?

I looked at Nick, who, thank God, was reacting way faster than me. When Conner reached for the book, Nick's hand swooped down like a hawk and grabbed it before Conner could even touch it. “Sorry, I dropped that,” he said, holding it close to himself. “I'm gonna buy this.”

“You can't buy anything,” Conner pointed out. “The store is closed.”

I snorted. Darn it, but I liked this kid. And if I liked this kid, maybe I could like other kids as well. Maybe I was going to be fine.

“Zander will make an exception for me,” Nick said. “Won't you?” He nudged my elbow. “Because we're such good friends.” Inching a little closer again he whispered, “Or do you want Conner to examine the stains on this book?”

That was about the last thing I wanted, so I approached the door and flipped the sign. “I guess we're open for business again.”

“Great!” Conner beamed and ran over to the old phone box with all the omega books that had become his favorite part of the store. He spent so much time there I'd started calling it Conner's Corner in my head.

Exhaling, I turned back to Nick. “So, what are you buying?”

My boyfriend gave the book in his hand a quick once-over, and then he started giggling hysterically.

“What?” I asked.

“The mating...the...” His laughter made the rest of the words unintelligible. I had a feeling I knew what book it was, though.

“Please tell me that's not The Mating Rituals of Homosexual Penguins.”

Nick said nothing. He only showed me the cover. It was a detail-oriented illustration of two penguins gazing lovingly at each other. Of course it was. Nick looked at me, I looked back, and then I burst out laughing as well.

“What's so funny?” Conner yelled, a pile of five books in his arms.

“Nothing!” I shot back, trying to contain myself as I walked over to the register. Then I stopped. “You know what?” I said to Nick. “I'm going to give you that book free of charge.”

“Most generous!” Nick wiped his eyes. “It'll be my reading challenge for next month. You can quiz me on it!”

“It'll be my pleasure.” I grinned, briefly wondering if the book covered sex positions.