Holly Ch. 10

Holly grumbles as he looks for parking.

"No, no, this is a good thing. Everyone's eager to spend money locally. A place like this could vanish. You don't want that, right?" she asks.

"No, darlin'. Probably one of the best places to raise the pups... I certainly don't want anything to happen to it. I just feel a little exposed here sometimes. You're the only A/o I know."

"Ha! Is that why you chose me? I'm the only omega in town?" she teases him.

"That was fate, not convenience. Fate brought us together. I wonder what it would be like to live in a city, though, where there'd be more of us," he muses.

"I know. But we're hard to find in cities, too, since we tend to be heathens, literally. I guess we prefer to be lost in the countryside or lost in a metropolis."

"It's how we do it. We've had to."

"If you come with me to the A/o clinic for my check-up, you'll meet some good A/os. The staff is all A/o, my PT is a guy omega... I guess having health needs allowed me to feel like there's a community here. You really have been all alone," she realizes with amazement.

He simply shrugs. "I haven't been alone-alone. Just different. It's okay, 'mega. I'm not so weak I need much in the way of other people," he concludes with a determined clench of his jaw. 'Just her whole being, everything she is, all of her, dumbass,' he thinks to himself.

MK knows when to stop talking and he likes that about her. Allison never realized that her chattering on and on caused him physical pain.

"I think you'll like this place," Holly says before adding, "Stay."

MK's brow furrows and her lips shape a question as he walks around to open her door for her. "Oh, that's what you meant! I was confused."

"I know. You ain't used to it, but you'll learn," he says as he takes her hand and watches her footing on the ice.

The coffee house is humid and toasty from lots of warm bodies, melting snow on the floor, and the constant hissing steam of espresso machines. It smells of pine, cranberries, and baking spices... even Holly, one of the least Christmasy people despite his nickname, can't deny his nervous system unwinds to the array of pleasing stimuli. It counters the stress of being surrounded by betas quite nicely.

Holly finds a comfortable spot for her to sit. "I know what you want to drink. Would you like something to go with it?" he asks her, now in attentive alpha-mate mode.

"You remember my obnoxious drink order?" she asks, looking impressed.

Holly taps his head. "Right here. If they don't have organic cow milk, which kind do you like?"

In other words, the hormones in cow milk are harmful to her and the pups, so he won't let her have it.

"Almond or oat milk, please," she answers demurely with an almost shy smile.

"Be right back."

As her mate waits in line, MK looks out the window at the world passing by. She sinks into the soft armchair and it's not the warmth in which she basks but the feeling of her Alpha watching her from his peripheral vision. He's protective, even in the most benign settings, such as a quaint coffee shop. A secretive smile forms on his lips; the psychic connection that accompanies their chemical bond is growing nicely, along with their relationship and his babies inside her. He knows she can feel him keeping an eye on her like a warm sunbeam and this pleases him to no end.

He's only half-listening when the girl behind the counter tries to flirt with him about his name. He's not thinking about her lame seasonal quip, but rather one of the first things MK ever said to him, that his name's nice for a boy. He smiles and nods vaguely at the young woman who had obviously hoped the interaction might go a different way. He realizes she might think he's mentally challenged. He doesn't mind.

Holly strides across the floor, doing that floating thing that A/os do when they're being themselves and life is good. It turns heads, but he senses he and his family are safe enough. There are too many handicrafts in here for this to become the scene of a bloodbath.

MK smiles up at him as he carefully hands her a cumulous drinking chocolate in a ceramic cup. "We're staying? Where's yours, Alpha?" she asks.

"Nope, you're staying. I'm doing a couple of errands, but I won't be long, I promise, baby."

She eyes him with mock-suspicion. "Is the surprise?"

"Maybe. Oh, and don't pee, if you can help it. Try not to."

"Yes, Alpha." His mate is smart enough he doesn't have to explain what that's about.

"Good girl."

When Holly walks down the street, it's his turn to feel his mate's gaze on him, watching him walk away. It makes him swagger just a little. Even in a puffer coat, he cuts a striking black silhouette against the winter glare.

He arrives at the drug store. It follows the town's ordinance about signage with just the small shingle that's allowed, but inside it's the same as any of the hundreds of locations all across the country. Good. They're more likely to have the specific items he needs. He goes first to the family planning aisle and grabs a stick test. He doesn't put too much thought into the selection as MK already has an appointment at the A/o clinic. No, this is mostly to let her down gently if she didn't (or possibly can't) conceive.

For them to find out in the doctor's office seems like too much of an event. Hollis has decided to keep it casual and then distract her with a day out; he senses that disappointing news could cause her to take to her bed, which never helps. As he looks over the box in his hand, he realizes he's not sure how hard she'll take the news her pregnancy was wishful thinking. What he's certain of is that the less time she spends feeling pregnant, the easier it will be to get over it.

Maybe they'll get wonderful news. It could happen, even to him. Until just over a week ago, Hollis had learned to accept that life was a struggle and that those small moments of peace, like a good laugh with Damian over family dinner at his house or a solitary retreat in the woods, were as good as it gets. Maybe he'll have proof he's about to be a father. He needs no proof that he's in love with the brood mama his old gods chose for him. Holly has not forgotten them, not even today. He keeps his spirituality to himself; he figures that his mate is religious enough for one household and there's no reason to confuse matters, especially for the little ones.

Holly goes to the nutrition aisle. He's feeling depleted, which means he needs minerals that are hard to get even from MK's healthful kitchen. Truth be told, they did skip meals frequently during the breeding cycle. And then there was this morning. 'Damn, she near sucked me dry,' Holly recalls happily.

He scans the energy bars, expecting to find the Alpha formulas on the bottom shelf with a layer of dust on the wrappers. Not even that. So much for shopping local. How many Alpha customers does this place have? Perhaps they just didn't buy revealing products on Main Street. He can relate- he always thinks of that scene from Boys Don't Cry in which the young man shoplifts tampons so no one will know he still menstruates. Holly has to improvise, so gets a bottle of water, bottles of individual minerals he guesses he's missing, such as chromium, selenium, and copper, and some natural maple salmon jerky for something in his stomach with all the capsules.

It is much easier for A/os to find things to eat on the go than it was when he was growing up. The beta population now also sees the benefits of eating snacks that won't kill A/os. Holly's on the shorter side for an Alpha because when he was growing Mama didn't have the knowledge or resources to get all the nutrition he should have had. A short time before she passed she'd apologized to him. "Stop, Mama. Bein' 5'10" isn't a disability!" When she asked if he was upset she'd refused to have him circumcised: "Stop! Jesus, Mama, stop already! I'm fine." He'd spent the rest of the day cursing the internet. His grandmother's new hobby seemed to be researching ways she'd been an inadequate mother to him. His ravenous omega doesn't seem to mind the way he turned out.

Holly pays for his items, then ducks into an alley to use a window ledge as a table for his odd repast. He must have guessed correctly because a few minutes later he feels sharper and steadier. Onward.

He walks briskly to an art supply store that stocks some crafting materials, too. Holly likes the smell of paints and pastels, fresh paper... it feels like creative potential and fills him with inchoate inspiration. Today's purchases will not be for art, however, unless one takes a broader view of 'art' to include the life he's building with MK.

He buys a skein of yarn in a rich ruby red and superglue. This is the surprise promised for today, though pseudo-exhibitionist sex on church property had been a rush.

Holly nearly trots back to the coffee house, estimating MK is just finishing her chocolate and probably wondering when he'll be back so she can use the restroom. He taps the window as he walks by and she looks up from her reading and beams. Seconds later, he's placing the pharmacy bag in her hands. "Go ahead, babe."

"Thank you, Alpha," she says in the same volume she'd use for normal conversation in a public place. A woman at a nearby table immediately looks away from her Kindle, curiosity winning out over good manners. MK smiles at her, but just with the corners of her mouth, not her eyes. Hollis is sure she doesn't mean it, but the effect is damn unsettling.

His omega takes the shopping bag and hurries to the ladies' room. Holly sits in the chair warm from her body and smelling like her rare perfume. He fidgets and, out of character, wishes he had his phone for amusement to survive the next few minutes.

His mate appears wearing a very different type of smile. The light in the establishment is much brighter than in their woodland home. He notices for the first time that her teeth are expensively white. Perhaps they'd been knocked out in the course of her career. 'I never knew she had so many teeth,' he thinks, then again recalls her on her knees before him.

He rises to greet her like they've been apart too long. "That smile... does that mean..."

She nods vigorously. "This test and my body agree. Now we just have to go have a look at them."

Holly crushes her to his chest, needing to hold her that hard for some primal reason. When he releases her she takes a deep breath and asks, "Shall we jet?"

"Yeah, let's jet," he chuckles.

They walk back to his truck. "Where would you like to go now, babe?" he asks.

"Is home okay? Unless there are things you want to do while we're here, of course."

"You need to rest," he realizes aloud. "And I need warm fingers for your surprise."

"Oh là là!"

"Heh heh."

Back at home, Holly carries her up the stairs. "I'm not so tired I need to be carried!" she exclaims.

"Yeah, but you love it."

"I do."

MK changes out of her Sunday best and puts on a slinky cotton nightgown that goes all the way to the floor and makes her look like a child playing dress-up. It's not for walking, anyway. She climbs into her high bed. "Do I get my surprise when I wake up?" she asks with less trepidation now that she's intrigued and in the mood to be spoiled.

"I can do it while ya sleep if you want me to. I think I can do it without disturbing you much," he smirks, drawing out the suspense a little longer.

"Okay, I give up. What is it?"

"It's this," he says, producing the red yarn. "Do you like the shade?"

"Ohhh. Oh, my love... that's beautiful. It's the most beautiful color there is. Thank you! Will you have one, too? I know not all males do. You do have the hair for it."

"Sure. I don't mind people knowing I'm off the market," he jokes.

Most people won't know it means anything at all. Being historically poor, salt of the earth people, A/os don't wear engagement rings and only a few have wedding bands if that's expected of them in whatever beta circle they inhabit. Ages ago, A/os would cut a thin lock of hair, lay it against a piece of their mate's, still attached, and wrap them together with the red yarn. Nowadays, they use superglue to fasten the cut lock in place like a hair extension before winding the cord around the whole length of the strands. People wear them until they grow out or look ragged, then it's done again, usually for a meaningful occasion like an anniversary, birthday, or the conception of pups.

"Where do you want yours to go?" Holly asks her.

"Right in front, of course. I've no desire at all to hide that I'm yours. What about you, Alpha? Something more discreet? I'd understand-don't make life difficult for yourself, my love."

"No, put it wherever you think looks good. You've got a knack for presentation. You'll make it cool."

Holly starts on hers first, cutting a piece from his perpetually windblown hair without looking. He takes much more care with the placement and gluing, then wraps with dexterous fingers. He has unexpectedly deft fine motor skills for the size of his hands. "I can picture you tying tiny shoes and buttoning little clothes," she says dreamily.

"Mmm," he answers. He's used up all his words for today, but he's happy in the knowledge they're never wasted by talking to MK. He finishes her hair while she naps. Now they're officially engaged.