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Ezekiel sat down on one of the stools at the kitchen counter with a sound that was a mix between a groan and a sigh. "I just got up two hours ago," he muttered, crossing his arms on top of the counter and leaning down to rest his head on them. "Why do my feet already hurt?"
Camille, who was cleaning breakfast dishes at the sink, smiled faintly. "It's quite common, actually. You're four and a half months pregnant." He turned off the water with his elbow and shook his hands free of clinging droplets. "Speaking of which, you still up for your appointment today?"
Ezekiel lifted his head enough to nod, then dropped it back down, and continued to watch Camille move around the kitchen. "Yeah. Thanks for going with me."
"Of course," Camille replied easily, organizing the drawers Zay had left a mess earlier. "I'm glad to help in any way possible."
"Not to be difficult or anything, but are you really supposed to drive? I mean, you're bipolar. What if you suddenly decide today's a great day to drive the car into a bridge?"
Camille smiled faintly. "It doesn't work like that. I've been taking my medication consistently for more than a year. And besides, I'm not technically bipolar."
Ezekiel sat up at that. "Say what?"
Camille nodded, continuing to move around the kitchen as if he desperately needed to keep himself busy. "Noah and I just found out a couple days ago. I seem bipolar, and bipolar medication does help keep me from swinging too far into the extremes, but my official diagnosis is hybrid secondary gender disorder." He crouched down and reorganized the stacks of pots beside the oven. "My parents were both alphas. I should have been an alpha."
"But you're an omega," Ezekiel put in, concerned about where this conversation was headed.
Camille let out a bitter laugh. "Yeah, I'm an omega. At least most of the time. Sometimes the recessive part of my genome activates and my brain switches into alpha mode. When it finally settles again, the shock of being an omega again sends my mind into a depressive spiral. It gives the appearance of bipolar disorder, but that's not it at all." Camille's hands paused their movements as he added very quietly, "The worst part about it is that when that recessive part awakens, even if for just a moment, it immediately terminates any pregnancy I might have. Noah and I are never going to have kids."
Ezekiel got up and walked around the counter to join Camille.
Camille held up a hand to stop him from crouching down beside him. "Don't. You won't be able to get back up."
Ezekiel smiled, the curve of his lips feeling false. "Yeah, probably not."
Camille slowly stood up. "Don't worry about it. It gives us space to adopt."
Ezekiel tentatively placed a hand on Camille's arm. "Is that why you told me yesterday that you and Noah wanted to try to adopt any of my kids I couldn't get CPS to give me?"
Camille nodded, the motion almost reluctant. "They'd only be our kids legally. But it would give me kids to take care of. I'm sure that you'll be given full custody of most of them, especially with the huge scandal the arrests caused."
"There's one that we're going to see at the hospital after my appointment, right?"
"Yes." Camille kicked the cabinet door shut. "It's the second oldest, Liam. The CPS agent I talked to said the family that had him had hurt him pretty badly."
Ezekiel rubbed his eyes, too exhausted to be as furious as he should be. The boy would probably hate him. "This is going to be so complicated."
Camille rubbed Ezekiel's back reassuringly. "Don't stress about it. We'll figure it out. And maybe it'll be less complicated than you're thinking."
Ezekiel mulled that over during their drive to the hospital, but he could not decide if he agreed or not. When he lay down for the nurse to take an ultrasound, his mind was torn between staying anxious and just falling asleep.
As the nurse was finishing up, the door suddenly opened and quick footsteps pattered over to the examination table.
Ezekiel looked over and almost had a heart attack when he found himself staring at an eleven-year-old carbon copy of himself.
The boy hesitated when their eyes meant and then grabbed Ezekiel's arm with both hands and hid his face in Ezekiel's elbow.
The door opened again as a woman who was probably the CPS agent came in. "I'm so sorry," she apologized frantically. "He's been difficult ever since he came here." She tried to gently pull the boy away.
But the boy clung even tighter to Ezekiel, his fingers digging in deep. "I want to stay with Papa."
Ezekiel and the CPS agent exchanged surprised looks.
"That's the first thing he's said since we found him," the CPS agent whispered, like she was scared of breaking a spell. "And we never told him who you were."
Ezekiel lowered his gaze back to Liam. His son. A boy who had recognized his parent without even being told. "It's okay," he said soothingly, making no comment about how painfully the boy's fingers dug into his arm. "You can stay with Papa for now."
Liam looked up with teary eyes. "For now?"
Ezekiel could have slapped himself for his poor choice of words.
Liam's expression suddenly switched from sad to highly concerned. He loosened his grip so it was not quite so painful and leaned closer. "Don't be anxious, Papa. Isn't it bad for the baby?"
Ezekiel closed his eyes and took a deep breath to stabilize himself. Then he smiled gently at Liam. "You're very observant, aren't you?"
Liam kind of smiled in return, but his eyes were still scared, a look Ezekiel had seen in his own eyes far too often. "Papa's nice smell changed."
Ezekiel blinked. Could Liam smell his pheromones even through a suppressant patch? But Liam was still on the young end of the differentiating age range. "What does Papa smell like?" he asked, curious to test his theory.
"Mint," Liam replied without hesitation. "Like toothpaste. But better. Like a whole field of toothpaste flowers." He giggled, and Ezekiel's heart stumbled. Liam was so cute and precious. How had anyone had the heart to lay even a finger on him?
"And what did the mint smell change to?"
Liam frowned in thought. "Sour. Like lemon in the toothpaste. That means you were anxious, right?" So he could smell pheromones.
Ezekiel nodded. "That's right. What about now?"
Liam shook his head immediately. "You're not anxious now. What scared you, Papa?"
"Papa doesn't want to hurt you."
Liam's frown deepened. "But Papa doesn't talk like any of those people."
Ezekiel carefully caressed Liam's hair. "Papa's never met you before. I want to do everything right."
Liam's face settled back into a subtle happiness, and he put his head back down on Ezekiel's arm. "I like Papa."
The CPS agent was smiling when Ezekiel glanced up at her. "The paperwork is all cleared if you want to take him home with you today. The only thing we needed to see was how safe he felt around you. I'd say he feels very safe."
Ezekiel swallowed down his tears. He could not cry in public, even though his pregnancy hormones would make a great excuse. "Thank you so much."
She nodded and left the room.
Ezekiel barely heard what the nurse told him, so he was glad Camille was there taking notes.
Liam refused to let go of Ezekiel and held onto both his hand and wrist as they walked out of the hospital and continued holding on as they drove home. He looked like he wanted to explore Noah and Camille's house, but he would not let go, so Ezekiel showed him around. When exhaustion caught up with Ezekiel again, Liam seemed to notice instantly and tugged him toward the couch. "Nap?" he suggested with a timid smile.
Ezekiel smiled and lay down on his side. "A nap sounds good."
Liam hovered nervously, clearly trying to figure out how to make Ezekiel feel better.
Ezekiel held out his arms in invitation. "You can stay with me if you want."
Liam quickly climbed up onto the couch and curled up against Ezekiel, his presence more comforting than any anxiety medication could be.
Before he knew it, Ezekiel was asleep, his arms finally holding his child close.