The Omega's Price

Chapter 20: A Close Bond

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months as Gulf tried to navigate Mew's elite world, attending parties and standing by Mew's side during functions, letting the world know that Mew was now mated and soon to be a father. It wasn't his favorite past time.

They had successfully moved into their new house and while Gulf tried to remain modest, the opportunity for him to design his home how he wanted, buy anything he needed, and Mew nagging for him to prioritize his health and comfort over money quickly overturned that. His home was beautiful, a mix of Victorian and modern design elements with sprinkles of color in their predominantly black and white house that a professional interior decorator and himself designed together. Mew had helped and offered suggestions every step of the way and they had, had the most fun with the nursery, going so far as to paint it themselves and move all the furniture exactly as they wanted. The memory of Mew playfully swiping paint along his apron and teasing him until they had wound up on the floor of the nursery always brought a smile to his face, although it had taken days for the paint to be scrubbed from his sensitive skin.

The appointment to determine the sex of their babies had come and gone, and while they knew there were at least two boys, the other two would not show themselves. They had picked out names for the two they knew of and had names and backup names for the other two, discussing for hours on end as they fell asleep in each other's arms each night, at first in Gulf's apartment and later in their shared home. Mew was determined to win alpha of the year as he waited on Gulf hand and foot, feeding him every change he got and rubbing his feet with expert massages each night.

Gulf was a whale. There, he said it. His belly had grown rapidly in size and now at eighteen weeks he couldn't even see his feet. How much bigger was he going to get? The answer was still unknown but with four babies shuffling around in there and food at every opportunity, he must be in some unknown contest for biggest belly. Surely, he was winning.

The timer on the oven beeped loudly and disrupted Gulf from his thoughts as he waddled towards the stainless-steel piece of art and worked the oven mitt over his hand, grabbing the hot pan out of the clutches of the heated appliance. Transferring the pan over to a cooling rack, his nose picked up the smell of slightly burnt cookies and he winced at the remembered conversation between himself and Mew's sister:

"Alright, this is a fool proof recipe, there's no way you can mess this up. Follow the directions clearly and concisely and you'll have perfect peanut butter cookies."

"I can't mess this up?" Gulf muttered in extreme doubt.

"Not even you brother-in-law."

The flashback melted away and Gulf stuck his mitted hands on his hips and sighed deeply. There was no way he could serve these to his guests tonight.

Mew's parents were coming to the house for the first time to have dinner and although Mew pleaded with Gulf to let the family's cook prepare the meal, Gulf had argued for the desserts, determined to make himself useful and settle his nerves. But this had the opposite effect, he was even more nervous.

"I just knew you would mess this up somehow", a teasing voice interrupted his musings and his head jerked up to see Jom in the doorway to the kitchen with a small smile. He had only been allotted an hour and a half with the kitchen before the cook took over and he glanced at the clock that signified he had only twenty minutes left. There was no way he could make a new batch in that time. Look how long it had taken the first batch.

"I followed all of the directions!" Gulf whined as he shuffled towards Jom and laid his head on her thin shoulder, "your mother already hates me. Now what will they think if they know I can't even bake cookies? How am I supposed to take care of their grandchildren!"