The coffee shop is busier than ever.
Packed full, all the seats are taken. Even with Mick helping out, five sets of hands aren't enough to dwindle the queue that seems to never end.
Still, the business booming is always good news for Caoli, so she tries to ignore how there are a lot of eyes and hushed whispers following her only Omega employee. Constantly moving, the only thing she can do is pay close attention in case someone is foolish enough to do anything more than look.
Seth and Jed, the Beta twins, have also noticed the unusual attention on Kaiden. They keep finding ways to minimize Kaiden's interactions with the customers. They take cups out of his hands when he's done making the orders, and they man the register so it's them who are facing the crowd. Try as they may at being subtle, their small actions don't go unnoticed under Caoli's radar. She makes a mental note to reward them later for their good behavior.
Thanks to cups after cups of coffee being brewed, the line in front of the register gradually decreases to a manageable queue. When the last customers of the extended morning rush place their orders, Caoli pulls Kaiden to her office in the back without a word.
--
Kaiden, who has yet to catch his breath, looks like a lost child as he stands in the middle of Caoli's office.
"Sit," she tells him while pointing to the chair in front of her desk.
Kaiden follows her command, grateful to take the weight off his sore feet. After this, he promises to buy shoes specifically designed for long hours of standing and walking.
As he's massaging his aching legs, he hears Caoli suddenly ask, "Did something happen?"
His hand pauses. What does she mean?
"Did you get into trouble or something?" She phrases the question differently.
Confused, Kaiden answers, "I don't know what you mean."
Instead of providing an explanation, Caoli boots up the computer on her desk. After several seconds of clicking and typing, she twists the monitor around, showing Kaiden the screen. It's a paused CCTV footage, dated thirty minutes ago today.
Caoli presses play and Kaiden watches as a group of teenage boys and girls discreetly points their phone at the counter. Caoli rewinds and forwards the clip while pointing out the different people who have done the same thing, some more obvious than the others.
The footage does nothing but raise questions in Kaiden's mind. Are they … taking pictures of the snacks on display? But why?
Seeing Kaiden's bewildered expression, Caoli sighs to herself. Instead of questioning him further, she enlightens him by saying, "They were taking pictures of you, Kaiden."
Huh? Kaiden is even more confused, asking, "Why?"
Caoli shrugs, turning the monitor back to face her. "I don't know either. That's why I'm asking you if something happened."
"Are you sure they were taking pictures of me and not the shop?" Kaiden has no reason to doubt her words, his gut telling him it's true, but if it is, then it's not good news for him.
Caoli stares at him, expression unreadable. "I heard them," she finally says after the silence becomes unbearable, "say that you must be 'K.' Now, I don't know who this 'K' is, but you're the only one with that initial here."
Oh. Oh /no/.
There's that telltale sign of panic rising within him again. First, it's Lucy and now, this. Why can't the world let him live in peace?
He must have been releasing distressed pheromones because, in the next moment, Caoli's comforting ones are scenting him from head to toe. She's crouching in front of him, one warm hand over his—his knuckles white from clenching it too tight.
"What's wrong?" Her voice is as sweet as her chocolate scent.
Kaiden inhales a lungful in an attempt to relax, breathing in deep and slow. When it starts to work—the tension slowly leaving his body, he replies, "Nothing. I … panicked."
Any other person will say that there's no harm in a few pictures, but Kaiden knows that malice has no age or gender.
"It's okay. Anybody in your position would freak out." Her words, along with her soothing scent, calms him down a little. "How about you take the rest of the day off?"
"But—" Kaiden attempts to reject her suggestion.
"It's okay." She interrupts his refusal. "My husband is here to help, don't worry."
Kaiden bites the inside of his cheek, carefully assessing if he's in the right condition to work. With Caoli's sympathetic eyes boring on him, he makes a decision.
"Okay," he relents, saying, "I'm sorry for the trouble."
"It's no trouble at all. Your safety is important." She pats him on the shoulder, dismissing her worries with this simple action.
As she sits back down on her chair, she asks, "By the way, when should I schedule a week off for you?"
Confused again, he parrots, "A week off?"
"For your heat. It should be coming soon, right?" Caoli states while checking the calendar on her computer.
That's right, heats come once a month. For him, who has more pheromones than average, it should have arrived weeks ago. So, why is it not here yet?
Does that mean the pheromone-sharing with Damon didn't work?
"I think I need to go to the hospital," he whispers to himself.
Of course, in the enclosed room, Caoli's keen senses don't miss his words. "Do you need advance pay?"
"No, thank you. I'm good." He offers her a small smile, one he hopes can assure her that he's not lying. After all, he has a lot of money now. He can afford a treatment or two.
"Alright, let us know if something comes up. Take a rest today." With that, she dismisses him.
Kaiden stands up to leave as he says his thanks. Clocking out and saying goodbye to Mick and the twins, he searches for the nearest walk-in clinic on his phone.
--
"I'm WHAT?" Kaiden wants to shout, but there's no hiding the disbelief in his voice.
"Congratulations, Mr. Wester." The doctor slides his test results across the table. "You're five weeks pregnant."
Kaiden is as still as a statue in his seat. He's certain he heard it wrong. It can't be true.
"I'm on birth control," he says after a while, as if the words will make the truth disappear.
Used to this situation, the doctor doesn't hesitate when she explains, "It's not often, but there are cases wherein birth control fails, especially between alpha-omega pairs with 85% or higher compatibility rate."
Kaiden is dumbfounded, lost on what to say. The words bounce around his head, matching the increasingly speeding beat of his heart.
The doctor doesn't wait for him to recover as she continues, "and as I'm sure your provider informed you, there's a different form of contraception used during heats and ruts. Pregnancy is almost guaranteed otherwise."
Kaiden doesn't know if he was told that. He doesn't remember. His mind was a mess then; it's even more so now.
The doctor says something about prenatal care and further tests at a bigger hospital, but Kaiden isn't listening.
All he can think about is what he's going to do now.
He is truly, utterly, fucked.