Page 32 of Mate Match: Curtis & Jae
When we returned to the house, Marty was inside, having used his key to get in. Maddy was nowhere to be seen. “Hey, hope you don’t mind but Maddy wanted to meet your cat. I’m Marty, the best friend and half the reason he was on the app in the first place.” Marty stepped forward to shake Jae’s hand, but saw he had his hands full of the things I let him carry in. The lighterthings only. “Let me.” Marty took a couple of things off Jae and headed for the kitchen.
Watching his response, I breathed a sigh of relief, it hadn’t seemed to bother Jae at all. I’d forgotten Marty had a key and I’d have to check that Jae was alright with that going forward. This was his home, too.
“Oh, that’s fine. Percy loves kids. I’m glad you came early. I think Curtis went overboard with the food.” Jae looked vaguely stunned, though relieved to hand over his share. He trailed Marty to the kitchen, where the other omega had already put out the reusable plastic cups and biodegradable plates.
“Daddy! I saw the cat!” Maddy came racing into the kitchen. She stopped at the sight of Jae. “Is the cat your cat?”
Jae dipped down to speak to her, eye to eye. Maddy was eight now and growing like a weed. “He is. Do you want to meet him properly? He might come down if I’m there.”
“Yes, please.”
“That’s good manners, Maddy. Why don’t you follow Jae and let me help Uncle Curtis?”
The pair left the kitchen. Once they were out of sight, Marty whispered. “When were you going to tell me Jae is pregnant?” It wasn’t an accusation, though there was hurt in his eyes.
I checked that no one could overhear me. “Not until after we told my family. It’s really early. We’re just being cautious.”
Marty nodded. “Okay, I get that. But you were going to tell me soon, right?”
“As soon as we told my family, I was going to come round with cake.”
“That is the correct response. We can still be best friends.” He laughed. “Okay, the crew might not figure it out if me and Jae pretend we aren’t drinking in solidarity of Grace. Us omegas sticking together. Hannah might pick up on it, so what do you want to do there?”
“How did you know?” It was confusing the fuck out of me.
“There’s a subtle change in the pheromones of an omega when they are pregnant. I could tell when I got close,” Marty explained. “Most omegas wouldn’t pick up on it, but Grace’s scent has recently changed, so I could pick up that note in Jae’s pheromones.
“Wonder why they do that?” I mused while I helped Marty arrange the rest of the food.
“It’s a protection thing. Omegas notice it first to support the pregnant omega. Alphas notice it subconsciously. Watch how they will automatically do things for Grace and Jae later.”
Sure enough, I watched Grace have a whispered conversation with Marty as soon as she was introduced to Jae. Hannah did the same and was included in the secret. Then alphas like Jerry constantly moved to make space for Jae, like they did for Grace. They gave up their seats and offered to get him drinks. It was quite amusing to watch.
We spent the day and into the evening eating and drinking. Some of the crew had alcohol, though I abstained. They took turns telling stories about jobs we’d done. Some of the crew brought their kids around and they all played well with Maddy when we could get her to leave Jae. There were a couple of board games going on in the dining room and a soccer game in the backyard, which a few of the neighbors joined in on. All in all, it was pretty chill. Exactly the introduction Jae needed to my work family.
My boyfriend had a fast friend in Maddy. The little girl had stuck by his side most of the day after their cat wrangling adventure, where not only did Percy allow Maddy to pet him, he also permitted her to carry him around like a baby. Percy was back in his catio where he’d retreated to once the majority of the guests arrived. He was happy to watch them from a safe space. Maddy was curled up against Jae’s side, dozing lightly, alltired out from playing with the crew who were like her extended family.
Our guests helped clean up before they left, so all there was to do at the end of the night was brush our teeth and climb into bed.
“You work with some great people,” Jae said against my neck. He was cuddled in close, an arm over my stomach. I didn’t think he realized he was rubbing it.
“Yeah, I do. They liked you a lot.” More than I thought they would. I’d expected politeness and maybe some distance, but they were warm and welcoming, soon telling Jae funny stories about me at work. It couldn’t have gone any better.
“I’m looking forward to telling them about the baby. They’re going to be so happy. They spoil Maddy. All of the kids, really.”
“Maddy’s different. It’s like she belongs to us all since she doesn’t have an alpha dad. She’s a sweet kid.”
“Yeah.” Jae yawned. “I like all this. The friends, the house, having a quiet life with you. It makes me happy.”
“Having you in my life makes me the happiest man alive.”
Fifteen
Jae
BythetimeI’dgotten to eight weeks pregnant and my first appointment with a midwife, I had decided to make a real go of living with Curtis. It was time to sort out my place and put it up for rent, maybe even sell it.
We just worked. I felt like we’d been dating for a much longer time. We still couldn’t keep our hands off each other to the point I worried about harming the baby. I didn’t know all that much about pregnancy, it wasn’t talked about in my family, so I didn’t know if I was hurting the little one. It was just that resisting Curtis was too difficult. Our chemistry in and out of the bedroom was fire. I loved being around him. He was my big, cuddly, protector mate. I longed for the day he’d mark me as his, though I wanted to wait until we got married first.
