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Lando stares at the wall, his eyes empty and arms hugging his own legs. He is still small, flat and almost scrawny, but it would have been changing soon. He had felt the difference in his body, something unknown snapping into place, and Luke… Luke hadn’t looked joyous.
Luke had been smug.
At the clinic he had been alone with the beta nurse, Oscar only for minutes, and Oscar had immediately made the question.
”Do you really want this?”
”No.”
”Do you want to leave? Are you safe?”
”Yes, I want to go.” He was supposed to want nothing more than this, but Lando just wanted away from his supposedly loving alpha partner.
First Oscar went to the door, trying the handle and ensuring it was locked from inside.
”Do you want some water? Maybe a protein bar?” Lando had accepted the cool water bottle, opening it for a sip, and Oscar had nodded.
”Wait a minute”, he told Lando before disappearing through the second door in the room.
Only forty minutes later he had been in what Oscar had called a safe house, in this old and a little too warm brick building. But they have made the space cozy and everything is clean, smelling lightly of lemon. Oscar had led him to an empty bedroom, and the simple single bed, nightstand, dresser, and a small bookcase looked like a five star hotel room through Lando’s eyes
He can smell the baby alpha on the other side of the narrow corridor. Soon the boy is at the doorway. Bright brown eyes and pretty curls. He is still growing up.
”You are pregnant. I can smell it. Your scent is so thick.”
What is he supposed to do with that fascinating piece of information? Don’t they teach kids social boundaries these days? He has always smelled sweet, like an Oreo milkshake, and Luke had had comments to offer about that, like everything else. The man had his opinions and just loved sharing them. He had always been complaining about Lando’s scent, how it was overly sugary and how clearly Lando’s moods colored it, and if even his scent was such a nuisance, why had he alpha been with him anyway?
He is feeling so much more clear-headed with an abortion scheduled and no Luke around. Lando is finally breathing properly.
”I won’t be soon.” Oscar would be helping him through it tomorrow, and Lando would have his life back.
”That’s good. You shouldn’t be if you don’t want that. Do you want to watch a movie?”
Maybe anything else than letting his thoughts run wildly would be a better idea. He accepts, Kimi taking him to the living room, and putting Netflix on. He is being respectful, watching Lando taking an arm chair with his bundle of blankets, and sitting on the sofa then, making sure they have some space between them.
In the evening Oscar returns from the trip to fetch Lando’s possessions.
”The guy wasn’t happy with us. But he let us work, when I told him we could do this peacefully, or I could get the police involved. There are laws against baby-trapping a person, you know. Against alphas and against omegas too.”
Lando hadn’t thought about the term ”baby-trap”. His head had just been spinning. Everything was happening too fast, he had never wanted to be a parent, but on the other hand he had Luke. Steady, trust-worthy Luke who deserved the family, and Lando had to be a good, decent omega. His family had liked Luke. Luke was a good alpha, and he tolerated Lando. It was time to grow up and behave properly.
”You don’t only work for the hospital.” Oscar puts the last plastic box down, and sits opposite Lando, cross-legged, his young face tired.
”No I don’t. This organization is my main job. We work in different places. Very easy to notice potentially distressed omegas in the hospital.”
”Did I look distressed?”
”Yes. I didn’t get the impression that you were interested in the pregnancy. You perhaps have other more motivating goals in life? Nothing wrong with wanting a family, but maybe it’s not your thing.”
Lando thinks about his photography business that had been growing nicely, being enough to pay him salary and support his needs and some small extra joys too. Luke had loved sneering at the whole thing, and living with the assumption that he’d be putting the camera down and focusing on his growing belly. Luke’s 9-5 salary was more than enough to support a small family, but it wasn’t a good sign to their relationship that Lando was always feeling the lightest, when the alpha had to go to the office for the whole day. Even better treats were his work trips, three days or even a whole week of blessed silence in the apartment where Lando hadn’t been allowed to decorate, and had been told to limit his nesting habits strictly in the bedroom.
They had brought all his three cameras and other equipment to him. He holds one of them, the weight calming him down.
”What’s the deal with the baby alpha?” he is quietly asking, the rush of water telling that Kimi is still showering.
”Kimi is George’s… Kinda his adopted pup. George had to travel to France for work, and he is staying for about ten weeks. So Kimi is here, where we can keep an eye on him. He is a good kid. It can be overwhelming, because he is an alpha, but means only well. He has just turned eighteen. He is always very gentle with the omegas.”
”I don’t mind him. I was only curious. Do you have other omegas here right now?”
”We have Franco. He has experienced a really bad alpha. He used to be full of life, but he is still here and still fighting.”
Later he meets Franco who has wide eyes full of trauma, and the scar of a broken mating mark very dark and visible on his fair skin.
On a whim Lando asks Franco to nest with him, immediately wondering if it had been a stupid mistake, but the other omega surprises him. He fetches some blankets and pillows from his own room, and snuggles in Lando’s bed. He is quiet, but kind, Lando keeping their talk in light, general topics.
When it’s over, the cramps and the bleeding being history, Lando picks up his camera, snapping a photo of Kimi reading curled up in the hanging chair in his room. He wanders to the kitchen, capturing Oscar boiling some eggs at the stove, and looks through the window, knowing the marina is only two streets away.
”Can we go out?”
”After lunch, yeah.”
Later Lando uploads the pictures from the marina on his Instagram, writing a few lines about having entered a new phase in his life. It has been a while since he has felt any curious towards tomorrows.