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  When I got home, I was surprised to find Philip there. He had brought the ATV over and he was on the porch.

  “Hey,” I said as I stepped out of the car. “I told you that Christopher was at my friend Kayden’s for the weekend, right?”

  “Yeah,” Philip said as he stood and came down the porch steps. “But I knew you were painting, so I figured maybe you'd want a little bit of help.”

  “Oh,” I said. “That's not necessary. I can handle it. I don't want to…” I trailed off. I didn't want to what, inconvenience him? Spend time with him? No, that wasn't it at all. I wanted to spend too much time with him.

  “I bet that with two sets of hands we could get this entire house done by tomorrow night. And then when we pick up Christopher on Sunday, we'll have the whole place back to normal. Free of the paint smell.”

  “When we pick up Christopher?”

  Philip smiled and shrugged. “That is, if I could perhaps come along?”

  “You're more than welcome to come with me. It's going to be a pretty boring drive, but you'll be able to meet Kayden. I'm sure you'll meet him and his son sooner or later, anyway. They’ll be living with me and Christopher once the house is ready.”

  “I'd love to meet Kayden. I'm really glad that you had a friend like him.”

  “Me, too,” I said. “I was pretty lost those first few months. When Kaden moved into the apartment next door, it was a lifesaver.”

  Philip flinched and looked away.

  “Hey,” I said. “Didn't we agree not to dwell on the fact that your father's an—” I clamped my mouth shut.

  “That my father’s an asshole?”

  “Yeah.” I chuckled. “That your father's an asshole.”

  Philip’s eyes turned sad. “It just sucks that I wasn't there. That I missed everything.”

  “I know,” I said. I wanted to hug him, comfort him in some way. “I can't even imagine. But I might have something that can help.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “If we get my laptop out, I can show you all the pictures and videos I've taken over the years. I've got them on there somewhere. They're not very organized, but they’re there.”

  Philip’s eyes widened. “That would be amazing. Let's get this paint inside, though. We can get started on the basement and as a reward, we can look through pictures of our amazing son.”

  “You really don't have to help,” I said.

  “I want to.” Philip grasped my hand, taking the keys from me. He popped the trunk and started taking out gallons of paint.

  “All right. I suppose it would be pretty silly to turn down free help.”

  Philip laughed. “Finally, he listens.”

  Chapter Seven

  Philip

  Ollie and I managed to paint the basement in two and a half hours. It was a wide-open area, with a few closets and one bathroom. It was nicely finished in that there was a kitchen area with a refrigerator, plenty of counter space, and a sink. I didn't know a lot about daycares, but I assumed that this type of setup would be ideal for an in-home. There was plenty of space to put up a divider between younger and older kids.

  “So, what made you decide on white?” I asked. “Why not something bright, colorful, and fun.”

  Ollie shot me a grin. “Well, it might be white now, but pretty soon I'll break out the colorful paints and the plan is to put a couple of scenes from our books on the wall.”

  “That'll be cool,” I said. My cheeks burned a hot red and I ducked my head.

  “What?” Ollie asked, not missing a thing.

  “Nothing,” I said. “I just… I ordered the complete series the other day and they arrived yesterday. I had them delivered to the station. Me and a few of the other guys read through them all. Well, I looked at the pictures mostly. Your artwork is fantastic as always.”

  Ollie grinned. It was a look I loved to see on him. “Thank you,” he said. “You didn't have to buy them, I have plenty of copies, I could have given them to you.”

  “I know, but I wanted to buy them. Cam is going to buy a set as well, he thinks his nephew will love them. Although I might have to bring them over so you can sign a few. Make them real collector’s editions.”

  Ollie snorted. “Sure, I'll sign them. But if I find them on eBay next week, I'm not going to be very happy.” He gave me a stern look, but I knew he was teasing. I laughed at that.

  “So where did you and Kayden get the idea for the series anyways?”

  “Oh, it just kind of sprang up over time. Every time the kids were a bit unruly, we would try to calm them down with a story and soon they started making requests. They really enjoyed the story Kayden made up about the wolf and the bunny that were best friends. It works out well to kind of pave the way for later relations between Alphas and Omegas.”

  “Yeah, I grasped that underlying theme.”

  Ollie gave me a bit of a sad smile. “Well, one of the things that drew Kayden and I together is that both of us were raising our children alone after our Alphas abandoned us.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but Ollie held up his hand.

  “I realize now that our circumstances are completely different from Kayden’s, but that was how I felt. We both fought very hard to raise the boys with the knowledge of the good parts about their Alpha dads. I always told Christopher what a kind man you were, and Kayden has always told Jackson about his Alpha dad's unrelenting honor.”

  “That's very big of you to do that,” I said. “Not many others would go out of their way to say nice things about their exes.”

  Ollie shrugged. “Everything I told Christopher was true. And I can't tell you how happy I am to realize now that you didn't say those awful things that your dad said you did.” He bit his lip. “I just… I’m really happy that things are different than what I thought and I'm sorry for thinking you were so awful for all those years.”

  I stepped forward and closed the space between us. I dropped my roller to the ground. “Hey,” I said. “You had every right to feel that way. I'm not going to lie, I had many of the same negative feelings toward you when I thought that you didn't want to be with me. That you had ghosted out of my life like I meant nothing.”

  “You meant everything to me,” Ollie said quietly. Then he looked at me through his lowered lashes.

  Just like that I was thrown back to six years ago, parked out on Lover’s Lane in the front seat of my truck. I cupped Ollie’s cheek and lifted his chin to look at me. He leaned forward ever so slightly. I closed my mouth over his.

  Six years ago, we'd been young. It had been his first time and my second or third. I couldn't even remember. We were awkward and unsure of what we were doing. The experience had been enjoyable, and I’d never forget it, but this was lightyears different. Just the taste of him as a man was absolute perfection.

  He stepped forward and closed the last remaining space between us so that our thighs, hips, and stomachs touched. He molded against me, like he was made to fit with me. And he was. Oliver Stone was my omega. There would never be another for me.

  I just had to convince him that we were meant to be.

  He tore his mouth away from mine and stepped back. I reached for him, but he stepped back even further. “This isn't the best idea,” he said.

  “No,” I said. “It is. I promise. I need you.”

  He grinned and kissed me. “Me too,” he said. “I want you more than anything.”

  “Oh, thank God.” I grasped his hips and pulled him towards me again. He came but he lifted his hands to my chest and stopped me.

  “Not here, though. Not in the basement. I can't—I'm going to be watching kids here. If we have sex here, I'll never get the memory out of my head.”

  I chuckled. “That's understandable. Let's go upstairs then.”

  Ollie nodded, then headed toward the stairs, I followed him, going up two flights of stairs to his bedroom. He had tossed his shirt at some point and by the time he hit the bed, his jeans were already down to his knees. He shucked th
em off and tossed them across the room.

  “You've got too many clothes on for such an occasion, Alpha.”

  I tore my shirt and jeans off, and joined him on the bed. My body covered his, our skin touching in delicious ecstasy. I kissed him fully, burying my tongue into his mouth and tasting every sweet inch of him. I slipped my hand under the waistband of his boxers and grasped his already hard shaft. He moaned beneath me and bucked his hips.

  “I'm not going to last long, Alpha. Take me, please. We can go slow later.”

  “Anything you want, Omega.”

  He rolled over and pulled the nightstand drawer open. He tossed a bottle of lube at me. “This will help. I don’t have condoms, but I’m on suppressants.”

  I clicked the cap open while he tore off his boxers. I loved this side of Ollie. Gone was the shy boy from six years ago and in his place was a confident man who knew what he wanted. And at this moment he wanted me.

  Ollie pulled his knees to his chest and I pressed my slick-coated fingers to his hole. He moaned as I inserted one, then two fingers. My cock dripped pre-cum on to the sheets. My other hand went to his dick.

  “No, don’t. I’ll come too fast. Want you inside me.”

  I lined my cock up to his stretched hole, then slowly pressed forward.

  Ollie wrapped his legs around my waist and pulled me closer. I plunged forward. The walls of his channel squeezed around me and I nearly lost control.

  I met each buck of his hips with a thrust, slamming into my Omega, claiming his body as mine.

  “Fuck, Alpha. So good.” Ollie writhed under me. His nails dug at my ass cheeks, then raked up my back and I dove into him again and again.

  Warm cum spurted between us and he shouted my name over and over.

  I plunged into him again, deeper than before and he came unglued. I crashed my lips to his in a bruising kiss.

  We lay like that while we caught our breath. Ollie’s chest heaved, and he massaged slow circles on my back, soothing the scratches he’d left there.

  “That was amazing, Philip, Alpha.”

  I lifted my head from where it rested on his shoulder and kissed him. Slow and sweet.

  “Thank you,” I said. “That was… beyond words.”

  I slipped out of him carefully and went to the bathroom to get a cloth to clean us up.

  Once we were clean, I climbed back into bed and pulled him into my arms. My eyes drifted closed. Never before had I felt so at home, so content with a lover.

  Ollie sighed against me. “Stay with me tonight?”

  I kissed his forehead. “Always.”

  Chapter Eight

  Oliver

  By some miracle, we managed to get the basement, the living room, and three of the bedrooms painted, including my room and Christopher’s. I left the other rooms for Kayden and Jackson to decide on the color, after all they'd be living here in a few more weeks.

  Sunday morning, I got up and made coffee. Philip hadn't gone home at all throughout the weekend. Instead, he’d opted to stay with me, in my bed. I worried about what others in town would say, but then again, I didn't really care. In the past two weeks, Philip had informed a number of people about Christopher and myself. He’d done a good job stating enough of the facts to not spark malicious rumors, but also give off the vibe that it was nobody's business but our own. By now, I’m sure everyone in town knew that Christopher was Philip’s son.

  “When do you have to leave to pick Christopher up?” Philip asked. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my neck.

  I glanced at the clock on the stove. “I need to leave in about fifteen minutes if I'm going to make it there and back before lunch. Otherwise, we'll have to pick up some fast food or something. Christopher will need a bath before bed tonight and I'm sure he'll be exhausted from playing with Jackson all weekend, so he may take a nap this afternoon.”

  Philip hugged me tighter. “I want to see our son, but I don't want this weekend to end.”

  I turned around in his arms so that we were facing each other. “It doesn't have to really. I mean, unless you want it to. I just figured that…”

  He raised his eyebrows.

  “Well, unless this was just a…” I trailed off again, words weren’t coming to me.

  Philip chuckled. “No, this was not just a one-time thing. But how do we tell Christopher?”

  “I don't know. I would think he'd be ecstatic that we're together. But I don't want to throw too much at him at once. New school, new house, new dad, and me in a relationship. He's never seen that before. Let's just take it slow.”

  “Okay,” Philip nodded. “That's what I was thinking. We can continue like we've been doing. Maybe on the days I don't have to work, I'll just stay overnight, and we'll see what happens? I can sneak in and out.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “But we can also talk to him about it. No sneaking required.”

  Philip grinned. “I'm going to take your lead on this. You're the expert. I'm still new.”

  I smiled. “You're doing a great job though. Christopher already loves you.”

  “I love him,” Philip said. “He's amazing.”

  “Yeah, he is. Do you want to come with me to go get him? You can meet my friend Kaden. Once he moves in here, you’ll be seeing quite a bit of him.”

  “Sure,” Philip said. “I don't have anything to do today. I've got to work first thing in the morning, but that's all right.”

  “What’s your schedule for the next month,” I said. “Christopher has a class field trip to tour the town at the end of the month.”

  “I know. I made sure I was on shift for that.” Philip’s face lit up with delight. “I’ve been waiting to show him the station. He's going to love it.”

  “Yeah, no kidding.” Christopher had loved all things firefighting and fire engines since he’d been born. It shouldn’t have surprised me, his Alpha dad was the same way.

  “Are you guys going to the library first, then the fire station?”

  I grabbed the paperwork off the fridge. “Library, Post Office, then Fire Department and we finish up the day at the town hall. It's going to be a full day of Millerstown history. For Christopher it'll actually be a lot of Miller's family history as well. Since you all own the damn town.”

  Philip rolled his eyes. “Oh, God. Don't get me started. Saying things like that will give my dad an even bigger ego.”

  “I think his is already out of control.”

  “I know,” Philip said sadly and looked away.

  “Have you talked to him much since you confronted him?”

  Philip shook his head. “I’ve talked to my mom. She said he hasn't changed his mind at all. Still doesn't think he did anything wrong.”

  “I noticed on the next town hall agenda is a motion to enforce term limits for the office of the mayor. A petition has been going around. Seems to have quite a bit of support.”

  Philip grimaced. “It's does. My dad's done an okay job. But personally, I think the place could manage money a little bit better. Seems like every time we turn around, there's a budget cut. A couple of things around the town could be fixed up. Hell, the crosswalk lights haven’t worked for over two years now. The town could use some different leadership.”

  “Yeah, that is kind of weird. You’d think the town would have money for that kind of thing.”

  “Right?”

  “I noticed the treasurer position is empty, who handles all of the budget stuff.”

  Philip shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m terrible at paying attention to that stuff.”

  “Don’t you go to the town hall meetings?”

  He shook his head. “Not as much as I should. Attendance has been pretty terrible. No one has time for that stuff anymore.”

  The back of my neck tingled, and I got goosebumps at the thought of Philip’s dad, a man I knew to have an awful heart, running this town completely unchecked by it’s citizens. I’d have to look into that more.

  I kissed Philip. “C’mon, let'
s go get our son.”

  Chapter Nine

  Oliver

  I arrived early at the school on Monday with Christopher in tow. Today was the big field trip day, and though I had plenty to do at home, I was excited to spend the day with Christopher and his classmates. It was always fun to watch him interact with kids his own age.

  Plus, we would see Philip at the fire station. I wasn't quite sure what to expect there. After all, we were back in the real world now. Not secluded together at my house. Now we had a kid, responsibilities, and the watchful eye of the town to worry about. Although, I knew Philip could care less about the gossip, I worried for Christopher's sake.

  Once Christopher and I entered his classroom, he ran off to catch up with his friends. His teacher came over to me. I smiled.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Fletcher.”

  She gave me a grin. “Thank you for chaperoning today. If we get a chance, I'd like to talk to you about your day care.”

  I tried to quell the anxiety that rose in me, but she must have seen it.

  “All good things,” she said quickly. “It’s just, we've never had a formal licensed daycare this close to the school. And I thought maybe you and I could talk about curriculum and what your plans were to see how it aligned with our preschool and kindergarten curriculum. I'm assuming that many of the kids you have will also be going to our school.”

  Anxiety changed to excitement. “Yeah,” I said. “That'd be awesome. Why don't you come over for dinner sometime? You can see what we'll have for a set up and what we have planned. My friend Kayden and I ran a daycare in the city. So, we've got our curriculum set pretty well. We change it as needed, but for the most part, it stays the same.”

  “Of course,” she said. “That would be wonderful. It will be great to have a daycare so close by. And I must say, it was very smart of you to put it outside of city limits.” She said that last bit quietly, as if it was a secret.

  “Really? Why’s that? I would think it'd be more convenient to have it within the town.”