Overnight••√•• a foreign omega”

chapitre : 8

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Smith's happiness, already so palpable, took on a new dimension after the revelation. A deeper, more visceral dimension that seemed to resonate with the very core of his being. Far from being horrified or disturbed by his Omega nature, he was... delighted. Absolutely and sincerely delighted.

This reaction, so unexpected, did not fail to surprise those around him. Julien, who had prepared himself for days, even weeks of patience, comfort, and laborious explanations, watched him with eyes wide like a child who had just been given the key to an enchanted kingdom.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Julien had said the day after the revelation, as they walked in the garden. "You're not stressed? You're not scared? You don't find it... weird?"

Smith had stopped, a flower between his fingers. The sun played in his hair and he had a smile so wide, so luminous, that Julien's heart constricted with affection.

"Weird? Julien, to me, this whole life was already a miracle. Being loved, having a fiancé like Day, a friend like you... that was already so far beyond my wildest dreams. But this... this is..."

He searched for his words, his eyes shining with an almost youthful excitement.

"In my world, you know, these stories... Alphas, Omegas... it was a literary genre. A fantasy. Something I read in secret, my heart pounding, dreaming that maybe, in a parallel universe, such a connection, such... intensity could exist. I never believed it was real. To me, it was a metaphor, a beautiful invention about desire and companionship. And to discover that not only does it exist, but I am a part of it... it's like being told magic is real and I'm a wizard."

He began to laugh, a clear, liberating laugh.

"I've never felt so... myself. All these sensations I've felt since I got here, this raw sensitivity, the way Day's scent affects me so deeply, this need for closeness... I thought it was just happiness, love. Knowing that it's grounded, that it's biological, that it's normal here... it doesn't limit me, Julien. It liberates me. It gives meaning to everything."

Julien looked at him, mesmerized, then a knowing smile stretched his lips.

"You're incredible. Most Omegas I know went through a phase of rejection, anger at their bodies, at these 'constraints'. You see it as an adventure."

"Because it is one!" Smith exclaimed. "My body is no longer a prison, Julien. It's... a landscape to explore. A landscape capable of miracles."

This euphoria did not go unnoticed. At the family dinner that evening, Smith was unstoppable. He asked Nam questions with a voracious curiosity, without the slightest embarrassment.

"And this thing about heats, is it really like in the books? Is it... intense?" he asked, his cheeks slightly flushed but his gaze frank.

Nam, who was drinking a sip of water, almost choked. Across the table, Mr. Croft hid a laugh in his napkin while Mrs. Croft watched the scene with amused tenderness.

"Smith!" Nam exclaimed, half-shocked, half-amused. "We don't talk about that at the dinner table!"

"Why not?" Smith retorted with feigned innocence. "It's natural, isn't it? I want to know everything. Day is an Alpha, I'm an Omega, I think that's crucial information for our future marital life, don't you?"

Julien burst out laughing, unable to contain himself any longer.

"I adore you, Smith. Truly. You're revolutionizing the codes of family decorum."

Mrs. Croft gently set down her fork.

"Leave him, Nam. It's refreshing to see someone embrace their nature with so much joy," she said, smiling at her son. "We always saw you struggling with yourself, Smith, even if we didn't understand why. To see you like this... so enthusiastic, so alive... it's all we ever wished for."

Her gaze conveyed all the love and relief of a mother seeing her child finally at peace with himself. Smith felt a lump of emotion in his throat. Even in this happiness, he didn't forget the contrast with the other woman, the one whose smile was so rare.

"Thank you, Mom," he whispered.

Later, when Day came to pick him up for a walk, Smith practically jumped on him, overflowing with excitement.

"Day! You'll never guess! Well, you already know, but for me it's new! I'm an Omega! It's official! And it's fantastic!"

Day, surprised by this avalanche of joy, laughed and caught him by the waist to keep him from falling.

"I... am delighted you're taking the news so well, my love," he said, holding him close. "I was a little afraid of your reaction."

"Afraid? Why?" Smith wondered, his face buried in Day's neck, inhaling his Alpha's scent with a new awareness. "It's a part of you I'm discovering too. The way you are... how to put it... so present. So grounded. It's related, isn't it? To what you are."

Day leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"Yes, it's related. But what draws me to you, Smith, is so much more than biology. It's your courage. Your resilience. That light inside you that, clearly, shines even brighter today."

"It shines because everything makes sense, Day. For the first time, absolutely everything makes sense."

This new, radiant acceptance manifested in Smith's smallest gestures. He became more tactile, instinctively seeking contact with Julien or Nam, not out of need, but for the pleasure of connection. He began to recognize and appreciate the subtle nuances in people's scents, like an olfactory color palette he had never perceived before.

One afternoon, while baking a cake with his mother, Smith stopped short, a wooden spoon in his hand.

"Mom, you smell of vanilla and... cinnamon today. It's soothing."

Mrs. Croft looked at him, surprised.

"I used a new moisturizer this morning. Vanilla and cinnamon. You can smell it?"

"Yes! It's... very soft. Like you."

That simple compliment, born from this new perception, brought tears to his mother's eyes. It wasn't the compliment itself, but what it represented: her son, fully connected to his world and himself, using this nature he celebrated to offer her a token of affection.

That evening, curled up against Day on the sofa, Smith murmured:

"You know, in the books from my world, Omegas were often described as weak, submissive. Like prey. I hated that. But I understand now how reductive those stories were. It's not weakness, it's receptivity. It's not submission, it's trust. A different kind of strength. A strength that allows for the creation of life."

Day tightened his embrace, moved by Smith's wisdom and serenity.

"You're right. It's a balance. My strength is meant to protect yours. Your strength is meant to nurture mine. And together..."

"Together, we can create something beautiful," Smith finished, his hand resting on his still-flat stomach, like a promise to the future.

He was no longer the broken man who had fled in the rain. He was no longer the nervous impostor playing a role. He was Smith. A man. A fiancé. A friend. A son. And an Omega.

And for the first time in his life, every facet of his being sang in unison, in a joyful and brilliant symphony of self. The little boy who had secretly dreamed over stories of fantastic worlds had finally found his harbor, not in fiction, but in the most wonderful reality of all: his own.