― Young lady, it's time to go to bed.
― No!
― What's all this stickiness with your brother? Daddy's gonna cry.
― No and no!
As soon as he entered the house again, almost flying with pure happiness, Theodore found his sister jumping on the sofa all energetic, to the despair of his parents. The clock on the wall read nine o'clock at night, and Lisa was still too excited to sleep.
Staying behind the couch, Theodore watched Pete's failed negotiation to calm the little girl. And as soon as his presence had been noticed by her, Lisa had jumped towards him hugging his belly where she rubbed her cheeks.
― Look at that... She completely ignores me.
― I wonder if it's jealousy at seeing an alpha around Theo. ― Questioned the mother crossing her arms.
Stroking Lisa's hair, Theodore looked at his sister who had been resting her head on his belly for the past few days. There were nights that she slept in that position. Always clinging to her older brother, looking for him when he got home.
It was such a crush!
― Lisa, my belly is already getting hot with you rubbing your cheeks like that.
― You've got to warm it up! ― said the girl, raising her eyes to her brother. ― Mommy bird is warming the eggs.
Shaking his head in confusion, Theodore laughed. Was his sister calling him a bird by any chance? What was she learning at school?
― But I am not a bird. I don't lay eggs.
The little girl tilted her head and stared at her brother's belly, seemingly trying to assimilate the complicated information in her little head. Running her chubby little hand over her brother's body, she looked at him again, still confused.
― But... There's an egg here.
― Egg? ― Theodore had looked at his mother and stepfather, who looked more confused than he. ― What egg, Lisa?
Bringing her little face closer to her brother's belly, the little girl sniffed.
― There's a little bird's egg in here. Big brother's going to lay an egg.
As a snap made in Aline's mind, she had approached the upholstery by getting down on her knees, imitating her youngest daughter by sniffing Theodore. Watching that scene was bizarre and strange, it's not like he had eaten eggs for dinner and was still digesting. Why were they like that?
― Wow, Lisa's nose is really good. ― Commented his mother as she walked away.
― Why is that? I took a shower, I shouldn't be stinking of eggs.
― It's not a question of dirt, but your smell has changed.
― My smell? ― Naturally Theodore had raised his arms sniffing his scent, not noticing much difference. ― I don't smell anything different.
― You wore protection when you did that, didn't you? ― Whispered the mother, making her son redden.
― Mom! Why are you asking me that? Of course we did.
Unlike before when his mother was all elated at Gabriel's sudden appearance, now the seriousness formed a shadow. Theodore even swallowed dryly. Turning to his stepfather, he could see he was also lost in thought.
What was going on with them?
― Do you have something important at school tomorrow? ― Pete asked after a while.
― I don't think so, why?
― I'll take you to the hospital tomorrow then. Mind walking me to work?
― I'll put Lisa to bed. Wait here young man, we still have a lot to talk about. ― His mother said as she picked up the younger girl and carried her upstairs.
― Did I do something wrong?
Pete just stroked his stepson's shoulders, sighing trying to give him the best smile.
― That's what we intend to find out.
Sitting on the upholstered couch waiting for his mother to return, once again Theodore had been plagued by anxiety. He was already tired and his body was begging for a soft and cozy bed. Besides helping with the training he had had the surprise with Jake, and now this moment with Gabriel. Was anything else about to make his day even more intense?
In fact, why had his scent changed? Thinking about it, the omega remembered the biology class he had taken, where his classmates talked about the change in Gabriel's scent. Could it be related?
The alpha had been the only one to notice the difference in his scent, just as he had noticed the same in Gabriel. It had been that day he had found out about being soul mates.
Could it be because of that?
Minutes later, Aline was coming back from the first floor to sit on the couch next to Theodore. Pete joined them as well, staying hugging the omega.
― Tell me, Theo, you've had a relationship with that boy, haven't you?
― I spent my heat with him. I told you.
― And you used protection, all like I taught you, right? ― Theodore nodded. ― Did anything else happen between you besides the heat?
Theodore wondered if he should tell about the bond or not. His mother and stepfather were patiently waiting for him to make his decision, without pushing it or questioning it too much. He could see their concern, which was why he had chosen to be honest.
If they were having this conversation it was because they had noticed something. Theodore had no reason to keep secrets from his family. They had supported him in the moments he needed it most when his world was falling apart. They welcomed him with open arms, showed him how much they loved him.
Nothing fairer than to share his sweet moments.
Theodore had told them about Gabriel being his soul mate, and about how the smell of both of them had changed since spending the rut together. He also said about taking up their romance in front of the school, and the little problems they were facing at that moment. Especially about dealing with jealousy.
Gabriel from Jake and Theodore from Sadie.
The couple were quite surprised to hear that Jake was back in town, and still willing to repair the damage to the co-op. But they praised his conduct, calming Theodore about taking his time in solving his problems. He was still too young to try to solve things as grand as those.
Anyway, the frank conversation had gone on for quite a while, until Alice held her son's hands and smiled at him.
― You see, Theo, you are an omega boy and I have always taught you to take care of yourself. Especially when you first became interested in dating.
― I know, and I'm very grateful Mom.
― Are you sure he is your soul mate?
Theodore nodded carefully. He had no other explanation for such strong feelings and growing desires. He needed Gabriel close to him, and the week they'd spent apart had made it explicit how connected they were in an inexplicable way. There was no mistake about it.
They were fated to complete each other.
― Yes, I do.
― All right... Understand, my dear, when we find our soul mate our instincts adapt to it. You know, you need to take much better care of yourself.
― Oh, we learned about that in biology class. But we've been careful.
― Theo, what your mother means is that because of Lisa's behaviour and the change in your smell, we are wondering if by any chance you are already expecting a baby.
― What? - Questioned the omega letting out a nervous laugh. ― No... No, it is not impossible.
― There's no need to be nervous, it's just a routine examination.
― We took care of ourselves! The way we were taught. And... The teacher said that omega boys have a low success rate of fertilization. I'm not in my heat, so there's no way...
― Theo, every omega gets regular check-ups when they have a steady partner ― His mother had soothed, stroking his back tenderly. ― You'll just start doing it too, to take care of your health.
― That's it, kid. We're not saying anything like that. We're just saying start caring more.
It was too late to calm the mind of that anxious boy. Later, already lying in his bed, the omega would roll over the mattress unable to sleep properly just thinking about what kind of result he would get in the next day's exam.