Thorns And Roses

Epilouge

Demi slowly sat down in the hot bath, his round belly making the journey down, or up for that matter harder than it was supposed to be. He knew that Theo would be home soon and would help him out when needed. But for now, he was going to enjoy the hot water infused with vanilla bath salts.

The water and bath salts helped ease the swelling in his ankles and took some of the weight off his belly. The two beings inside of him loved to kick and jump around, one usually on his bladder. He can't go to meetings with Theo anymore because he can't sit through one without having to use the bathroom.

The doctor even said that as he furthers along, he might even end up on bed rest for the last two months of his pregnancy. Demi wasn't looking forward to it at all.

Demi leaned back against the tub and circled his belly. The twins, a boy and a girl, were already the love of his and Theo's lives, and they weren't even out in the world yet.

And Theo, his beautiful, amazing, strong dragon, was starting to get better. There, for a while, it was touch and go. Their sex life took a hit, but Demi wasn't expecting anything less. They still had a long way to go.

Theo still went to therapy. He still slept in the same bed as Demi when, in the beginning, he didn't even want to be touched. He ate when he wanted to after not being able to eat even when his throat healed up. In the end, the wounds became scars that needed more time to close.

It was taking time to get back to the way things used to be, and that was okay. Theo didn't want to do field work anymore, so he usually stays at the office dealing with clients and paperwork. Mentioned once or twice that it was easier for him to deal that way.

That just meant that Theo was home more often than not, smothering Demi in hugs and kisses whenever he could get his hands on the Omega. Loved lying in their bed, his nose nuzzling at Demi's belly as he talked to the twins. He would say silly things and make Demi giggle when he would burrow his nose in his sides. Things like that made Demi fall in love with Theo more and more.

It wasn't all good, though. Most times, Theo would wake up in the middle of the night, sweaty and screaming. Pushing, yelling, begging for an imaginary Joseph to not touch him. Demi had to be careful when comforting him in moments like that.

One time, he hit Demi in the arm and refused to sleep with him for weeks. Terrified that he would hurt Demi and the babies. It didn't last for very long once Theo realized that the Omega kept the worst of the nightmares away. Demi was always careful after that.

His therapist suggested anxiety meds and sleeping pills. The anxiety medication helped a lot, but the sleeping pills did very little in terms of making Theo sleep. The nightmares were too strong sometimes.

So yeah, he and Theo were coming along. It wasn't easy, and Theo may never be the same again, but it was getting easier to deal with.

"Demi, you in here?" He smiled as he heard Theo walking around in the bedroom.

"I'm in the bathroom." Demi heard it when his Alpha toed off his shoes and made his way to the bathroom. Theo peeked in, a smile on his lips. Demi knew the scar in his bottom lip pulled when he did, but Theo said he couldn't help but smile when he saw the Omega.

"Were you planning on getting out on your own?" Theo came to stand beside the tub, and he dropped to the ground to sit criss-cross on the bath mat. He put his arm up on the edge and then laid his head on top of it. His gold eyes trained on Demi.

"Of course not, pup. I knew you would be home." Demi lifted a hand from his stomach and ran it through the dragon's soft hair. He pulled his hand away to finger at the scar on his lip.

"How was work?" All Theo did was shurg, and then he sighed.

"Work was work. What about you? What did you do today?" Demi dropped his hand from Theo's mouth before he got the sudden urge to push his fingers inside. That was something that Theo didn't like. Not anymore, at least.

He didn't like a lot of things that they used to do. Sex was pretty much non-existent for them now. Yeah, they did a few things, like hand jobs and fingering, but that was it.

There were moments where Theo did want to have sex and that meant that Demi bottomed. He didn't mind doing that. Demi knew it was good for Theo to be on top, so he always let it happen.

"You know, the same old, same old. Watched some TV, ate a bunch of food, and took multiple naps." Theo chuckled at him, then he moved his arm off of the ledge and traced invisible patterns on Demi's belly.

"I missed you today. Will you be in therapy with me tomorrow?" Demi sighed at that question. He didn't mind going to therapy with Theo, and in reality, it brought forth a lot of revelations.

Like how toxic Demi's family really was when he was younger. How the abuse he went through at the hands of his father wasn't his fault at all and the fault of an adult that took advantage of his own son. Theo's therapist even said it was a good thing that he cut off the bad people in his life and kept contact with the ones that truly loved him.

"I missed you too, baby. And I can, if you want me to." Sometimes Theo wanted, needed Demi there at certain sessions, and other times he would rather have the Omega wait in the lobby for him.

"I would like you to. We're talking about that man again tomorrow, and I'm scared that I might have a panic attack." The man in question was Joseph Anderson. Theo didn't like saying his name.

"Then I'll be there." Theo and his therapist have talked about Joseph on multiple occasions, but sometimes just the thought of him would send his dragon into panic. It's gotten better over time, especially since they figured out the reason as to why Theo blamed himself for the abuse.

Theo had believed from the age of eight till recently that he was just a bad person. Joseph had told him back in the orphanage that the reason this was happening to him was because he was bad. But that wasn't the case.

His therapist explained it in terms that Theo and Demi could understand that Joseph was just taking his anger and horrible situation out on Theo. And after a while, it had turned into something far more sinister.

An obsession is what she called it. Joseph had become infatuated with Theo, and that's when it became dangerous. He had thought of himself in love with the Alpha despite how Theo really felt about it.

Theo had mentioned that Joseph wanted to get him pregnant back in the warehouse, which was news to Demi at the time, and got off on the thought of knocking him up. The therapist called it a power trip and manipulation. If Theo had become pregnant, then it was just another way to control him even if he had died right there, and then.

Joseph knew that Theo wouldn't have gotten rid of the child and knew that he couldn't stand the thought of ending an innocent life. It was a good thing he didn't end up pregnant and that Joseph was dead and gone.

They went to get test done after that session and figured out that there was no chance in hell Theo would ever get pregnant. He didn't have the reproductive system to do it. So that was a relief in the end.

Theo said all the time that he couldn't possibly do what Demi was doing. The belly, the constant need to pee, the morning sickness or in Demi's case, the all-day sickness. And the Omega didn't think he could. Especially not carrying his rapists baby. It would have been horrible for everyone.

"You ready to get out? Your fingers are turning into rasins." Theo lifted one of Demi's hands out of the water and kissed the pad of his pointer finger.

"Yeah, I am. Help me up." His dragon lifted Demi out of the water with ease and pulled the drain in the tub before he wrapped a towel around the Omega's shoulders. Theo kissed an exposed shoulder blade, his soft lips brushing against Demi's skin. They locked eyes for a minute.

"You're the best thing that ever happened to me, Demi. I couldn't ask for a better Omega. I love you." Demi smiled at him, wrapped his arms around Theo's shoulders, encasing him with the towel and his scent, and planted a kiss to his scarred lips.

"I couldn't ask for a more perfect Alpha. I love you too, Theo."