Making a Family [Full Collection]

Chapter 6

Chapter Six

CLAY

I hold the bags as Aiden pushes the stroller into the lobby of the hotel. I have to force myself to stay calm because whatever happened in the car just now… That was not part of the plan.

We didn’t do anything but hold hands and it totally overloaded my brain.

That has never happened before. This is not going to be easy, is it? Not because of my family, but because of Aiden, beautiful and crazily smart Aiden… Crap.

I take a deep breath, forcing all those thoughts away. I’m here for my family, I need to be the eldest son, the big brother, the smart and sensible one. The one who has it all together…

When we’re halfway down the lobby, my Omega sister, Jasmine, greets us, her eyes big and her voice a little too shrill. “Clay! Oh my god! You made it!” She rushes over in her stiletto heels and flings herself at me.

I try to catch her as well as I can. “Hi Jas. I said I’d be here, right? I said I wouldn’t miss any of my siblings’ weddings.”

“I know, I know.” She rolls her eyes. “Now, if you could only free up your schedule for holidays and birthdays, that would be even better.”

Then she looks at Aiden, her eyes travelling from him to Seb and then to me. “Who is this?”

I wrap an arm around Aiden’s shoulders. “This is Aiden, my Omega, and Sebastian, our son.”

“Oh my god!” Aiden flinches at her shriek. “Why didn’t you tell us? Keeping such an important thing from your family!” She shakes her head at me, then she steps in and hugs Aiden quickly.

“Welcome. Welcome. Aren’t you handsome? And such a cute kid!” She looks at Seb. “It’s obvious he’s got your genes mostly, because Clay’s never been cute, not even as a baby.” She keeps babbling and Aiden meets my eyes.

Yes, we both know why he doesn’t look like me. It’s got everything to do with genes and, specifically, this kid not having any of mine.

While Jasmine is fawning over Seb, and I have to admit that Aiden was right, he’s a great distraction, my Omega brother, Wes, comes out of some hallway down the side and his eyes shine when he sees us. “Clay!”

He comes over, looking at all of us. “When Jas sounds like that, it can’t be anyone but her favourite brother. Well, that, or ice cream. And I see that you brought company, a whole family!”

He grins, though he doesn’t get to complain about bringing extra people, as he’s got a belly like he’s about to give birth and he’s already got three kids.

“Wes.” I give him a careful hug, my bags and his belly not really making this easy. “This is Aiden, and the little one is Sebastian.”

“Welcome to the family. No wonder he kept you hidden away. You’re so cute, I could eat you right up.” Wes walks over to Aiden, taking his hand for a moment and then looking at Seb. “Oh, and he’s adorable!”

My family is a little… odd… They take complimenting and fawning over things to a totally new level, especially my Omega siblings. I get why Aiden looks a little uncomfortable by now.

“Guys, I gotta get these bags upstairs and greet Rose. Where is she hiding?”

“Rose is in her room, we’re all on the same floor, so we’ll walk you to your room and get your key from Mum.” Jasmine grabs one of our bags and starts walking.

When we’re in our room, the door closed and finally getting a moment to ourselves, Aiden lets out a deep sigh and sits down on the bed.

One bed. A single king-size bed that takes up quite a big chunk of the hotel room.

Luckily, we were able to get a bed for Seb fairly easily, since they, of course, hadn’t provided one. But we both knew that asking for a separate room for Aiden, or a separate bed…

That wouldn’t have gone over too well.

“Your family seems nice.” He looks at me, his eyes kind, and I see no judgement there.

“They are, generally.” For a couple of hours at a time, but I can’t spend days on end with them. Just, no.

“Too much?” He laughs a little.

“Yeah. They’re intense. I love them, but they’re intense.” I sit down in a chair, leaning back and relaxing for a moment.

“I can imagine.” He really laughs now. “Like I said, I’m the eldest of seven. Alphas, Betas and Omegas. It’s a full house.”

“You were glad when you got away?”

He looks like he has to think that over for a moment, then he nods, his smile fading. “Yeah.”

Wow. okay. Not the right question to ask then.

I stand up again. “Let’s get freshened up, I think they’re about to start.”

I duck into the bathroom, closing the door behind me and looking at myself. I look good. I look like what my family likes me to look like. This is good.

Then why do I feel like such a fraud?

I wash my hands, putting my cool hands to my face for a moment. I’m pretty sure that the reason for that feeling is sitting on the bed right now.

Not because he isn’t my mate but is pretending to be, but because I really want him to be…

I walk back into the main room and Aiden passes me to get into the bathroom. If I just reach out a little, I can touch him again… Bad. Bad idea.

Instead, I turn to Seb, who is looking at everything around him, happy and curious. When he meets my eyes he lets out one of his happy sounds and waves his arms. I go over to him and pick him up.

“At least you seem to be perfectly happy. Don’t you, little man?” He squeals as a response and I can’t help but smile at him.

Then, as the door to the bathroom opens again and Aiden steps out, he takes my breath away. He apparently took ‘freshening up’ to a whole different level as me, his hair redone and his suit perfect.

At least me looking at him won’t be taken the wrong way today, because I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my eyes off him.

I put Seb back into his stroller and push it towards the door. “You ready?”

Aiden nods. “Yes. Let’s do this.”

Well, at least he doesn’t seem as scared to face my family as I feel.

That’s gotta be a good sign, right?

The ceremony was beautiful, and apart from at one point Seb being bored and not agreeing with being in his seat, things went pretty smoothly.

Aiden’s prediction was correct. With Seb by our side, they don’t seem to really question our story. And since they ask all the questions about Seb of Aiden, the one who is actually the parent of the little boy, it also doesn’t matter that I don’t know a lot. He’s the Omega, he’s the one who’s supposed to know everything in their eyes anyway.

After the ceremony, we move to one of the huge ballrooms and are seated at the tables. They’re filled with flowers and frilly things that I have no idea what they are, but I know that they’re supposed to be on tables at weddings. At least all the weddings I’ve been to.

They quickly make space at one of the tables to seat Aiden and Seb with me and when everyone else has been seated, the toasts start.

First my Alpha mum, giving a teary toast about her youngest daughter finding a mate, then Mummy, my Omega mother, also gives a toast. But Mum has to console her about halfway through as Mummy can’t seem to finish her speech. Mummy has always been a little emotional, but I think that’s normal for almost everyone in my family…

My Alpha sister’s Omega is a young man, about the same age as her, as I think they said that they were classmates. Something like that. He seems smart and a good calm counterpoint to her hyperactivity.

They seem so happy together, so in love. And they’ve barely kept their eyes off each other ever since this all started. I don’t blame them.

Next to me, Aiden’s fingers find the cuff of my suit and grab onto it, holding tight.

I look his way and he seems to be emotional, but shakes his head, flashing me a smile. ‘I’m good.’ He mouths the words. Though, he doesn’t seem to be that well.

Something seems off, but I’ve got to follow his lead. There’s not much else I can do as the toasts are still coming and I think they’re about to cut the cake.

On Aiden’s other side, Jasmine points at Seb, who is again not liking having to be quiet, and Aiden nods. She takes Seb and sways him in her arms.

The little man seems to enjoy that, happily looking at her and becoming quiet again. One of Jasmine’s kids reaches out and touches Seb’s cheeks, laughing at the funny faces he pulls.

Aiden abruptly lets go of my cuff and gets up.

I look up at him, holding his jacket for a moment so he’ll stop. “What’s wrong?” He looks uncomfortable, but again, he does that smile thing, that thing that’s supposed to make him look better, that’s supposed to tell me he’s fine when he isn’t.

“Nothing.” He swallows hard, there’s an edge to his voice. “I just gotta use the loo.”

He steps past me and something inside me makes me want to follow him, makes me want to make sure everything is alright. It takes all my strength to not follow him. I have to stay calm.

After a few moments, Wes leans in, his voice low, his face serious. “Is everything alright? Did your Omega not take his suppressants today? I have some in my bag if he needs them.”

Supp— Suppressants?

“He’s in heat, right?” Wes looks at me like I’m supposed to know this. And, if Aiden was my real Omega, I would have known this. I would have recognised the signs.

Fuck.

I stand up. Even if he’s in heat, Aiden isn’t going to tell me. He’s not going to ask for my help. Because he doesn’t ask for help.

“Can you keep an eye on Seb? I’ll be right back.”

“Sure.” Wes nods. “You go take care of your Omega.”

I’m not sure what the tone of his voice is supposed to convey but I’ve got bigger problems on my mind now.

Aiden’s in heat?

As I turn into the hallway with the bathrooms, I see Aiden step into the elevators at the end. He looks even more distressed than before.

I call out for him, but he just shakes his head as the doors close and take him upstairs to our room.

Fuck.

“Aiden, please, let me in.” I’m standing in front of the hotel room door. I try the key card in the door again, but Aiden’s locked the door from the inside.

Now I’m standing here, I can feel his hormones, I can feel his heat and I feel how my body responds to it.

“Please.”

“No. Go downstairs. Forget that I’m here. Tell them I fell ill.” Aiden’s voice is strained. “Something. But please, leave.”

Like I can. Like I can leave him like this. Like I can leave him now. Because there is nothing in my body, in my mind, that will leave him alone, that will allow my mate to be alone…

My mate?

“Aiden? Why am I reacting to you? You have kid, and that means you have an Alpha.”

I hear footsteps on the inside, and then a thump near the door. It’s quiet for a moment and I’m worried that he may have fainted, but his voice comes through the door, softer this time. “He’s not mine.”

“What?” That makes no sense.

“Seb’s not mine. Everyone just assumes that he is, so I play along.” There are tears in his voice now.

“Then whose is he?”

“My sister’s. Seb’s my nephew, not my son.” His voice hitches.

I need a moment to process that. “Your nephew? That means…”

“I don’t have an Alpha. I lived with my sister and Seb. She left us, left me all alone with him.”

Why do I feel relieved? Why do I feel relieved knowing that he’s been left alone to take care of a three month old baby that’s not even his?

“Aiden?” I put my hand on the door.

My feelings for him, the way I respond to him, it’s not wrong, it’s not bad. It’s normal. It’s… It’s right.

“Can you leave, please? I just need to be alone.” Aiden sounds so broken, so defeated.

“You’re in heat.”

“Yeah, well, I can fix that myself.”

Fix it? “It’s not going to get any better unless…” Unless what? Unless I f**k him?

But we both know that that’s the truth.

There’s only so much that Aiden can do himself by jacking off. The heat will barely go down unless someone actually f***s him, unless an Alpha f***s him.

“I don’t care. I can’t get you wrapped up in my own stupid mistakes. I need to solve this myself.” His footsteps retreat to the back of the room.

“Aiden.” I stand up too. “Open the door.” Something inside me has switched. Something that I know he’ll find hard to resist because I’m an Alpha, and I’m pretty sure he’s my Omega.

“No.” His voice is quieter now.

“Open it. Or I’m opening it myself.” I’ll barge right through it.

There are footsteps, and then, finally, the click of the lock being undone and the door opens.

Aiden looks at me, his face flushed, his breathing laboured, he’s opened the top buttons of his shirt. Then he steps closer, reaching out to me and pulling me against him, his heat now fully hitting me.

I grab him around his waist and push him inside the room, closing and then locking the door behind me.

I need this man. I need him now!