by Aiden Bates
“Thank you. I do it for the chicks.”
Zachary ignored his corny joke. “Secondly, the apartment looks perfect.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Will you be there?”
“Mmhmm.”
“It’s perfect.”
The conversation turned to the latest gossip. The future astronauts in the Mars simulation were a bunch of horny bastards, it turned out, and by now Zachary knew all their names and who had slept with whom. In turn, Bastian wanted to know the latest in the wedding planning adventures of Gladys, who was getting hitched to a woodworking guitar player from Seattle. Zachary was to be her best man, which worked out just fine because Gladys’s best friend was a lesbian woman, so everything was as perfectly weird and wonderful as Gladys.
“I know it’s only been a week, but I miss you like crazy,” Bastian said. Neither of them said it, but they were both thinking it. The baby was too young to fly out in five weeks so Zachary would be staying home instead of making his usual biannual trip to Mauna Loa. They wouldn’t see each other for twelve weeks this time.
“Well, what about Jasmine?” Zachary asked, referring to one of the astronauts in training. “She doesn’t seem to be too picky about who she hooks up with. Maybe she can help you out.”
Bastian snickered. “Maybe I’ll give her a call. But, seriously, Zach. How are we going to do this?”
It wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation. The first time was three years ago. The second time was two years, six months ago. They had it every six months when Bastian first arrived for a shift.
Zachary felt it as strongly as Bastian, but in slightly different ways. Zachary missed the smell of his man, the erotic energy, the way Bastian could make him laugh in his deadpan way. But he also missed having help with the girls. It was hard, so hard, to have one baby who needed a diaper change and one who wanted to have a conversation about Dora the Explorer and a snack.
And Zachary knew how Bastian felt because he told him all the time. He missed his friend and lover, but he also missed the little daily changes, the weekly milestones that his little girls were experiencing. He wondered out loud if he would miss Annie’s first steps like he had missed Stella’s. He worried that Annie wouldn’t remember him in three months (“Nonsense,” said Zachary. “She’ll know her Papa.”). He worried that the girls would never bond with him like they were with their omega-father.
What Bastian needed was reassurance.
“Do you know how much Stella loves you? I mean, I know you hear her tell you, but she talks about you all day, every day. And you know what she tells people? ‘My papa is helping people get to Mars!’ She is so proud of you, so inspired. You’re a hero to her. And you’re a hero to me. I can’t tell you how full my heart is, knowing that you are doing what you are passionate about every single day.”
Bastian nodded and took a sip of his drink. “I’m passionate about you three, too.”
“Of course you are. You wouldn’t spend an hour with me on skype every night if you weren’t. That’s not being questioned. And we’ve already agreed that next year will be the last year that you do this. But if you stop being passionate about your job and your research before then, then you come on home sooner, and find the next thing. So tell me, Sebastian Byers. Are you still passionate about your job and your research?”
Bastian looked at him through the screen and smiled shyly, then nodded. “I am. Did I tell you that we discovered that listening to binaural beats during sleep might affect dopamine reuptake inhibition?”
Zachary told him no, but in fact, Bastian had told him about it a few days ago. He was just so excited that Zachary wanted to hear him tell it all about it again.
That was what made this separation worthwhile. The joy that Bastian experienced doing the things he loved, and then the joy he brought home and shared with his family. Similarly, Zachary hoped that the satisfaction he gained from teaching the world about alpha/omega families improved not only his own life, but that of Bastian, Stella, and little Annie.
At least once a week, while Bastian was gone, he and Zachary got frisky on Skype, but not tonight. Both of them were tired from their days and simply happy to talk.
When they said goodnight, Zachary kept his computer on and documented his day for the blog, like he so often did at the end of the day. He told his readers about the exhaustion of being a “situationally single dad,” and how he tried to document the things the girls did for their Papa. He wrote about the occasional twinge of loneliness he felt when he wanted to turn to Bastian and tell him something, but instead he had to remember it to tell him later. But he also told the readers that the surge of love he felt at the end of the day, seeing his husband’s face, was greater than any he felt when they were together day after day, and that the high he got from those first few moments after being apart for five weeks lasted him for months.
In short, the relationship between an alpha and omega was just as powerful, frustrating, difficult, wonderful, and loving as between any other two lovers.
Zachary turned off the computer, satisfied with his work for the day.
After he climbed into bed, he texted Bastian goodnight, as he always did. He thought about how, for many years, he’d refused to date a man with an adventurous streak, but now he was married to a man whose main professional goal was getting humans to the moon. And then how he, himself, went from continent to continent, searching out the most colorful creatures and the most unusual humans, but now he was content to stay in one place and photograph the same two little creatures day in and day out.
He thought about how Bastian had been afraid to get into a relationship because he was afraid of rejection, but then he opened up his heart to the same man he himself had previously rejected.
It was the definition of irony.
Zachary remembered telling Bastion once, during a fit of intellectual passion, that it was human nature to explore.
Their human nature had helped them find each other, take chances on each other, and support each other. They had explored each other’s mind and bodies. He couldn’t wait until they were together again, to explore the world around them with their children.
That was the definition of happiness. That was the picture of love.
Preview (Silver Oak Medical Center Book 1): Deliver Me
Torn between passion and profession, what will he choose?
Losing his brother at a young age sets Carter Idoni's future in motion. Dedicating his life to saving people, Dr. Carter will do anything for his patients. And when the medical center gets taken over by a national network of hospitals, Carter is instantly attracted to the new CEO. Finn Riley may be handsome and rugged, but his icy demeanor is a turnoff for a loving man like Carter.
As the two strong-willed men fight over patient care and procedures, more than their anger heats up. Suddenly, their passion is undeniable and irresistible. But when one night of desire turns to promise, tragedy strikes, threatening to destroy all they've built. Can they find comfort in each other or will the pain ultimately rip them apart?
This 100,000 word steamy first book in the Silver Oak Medical Center series is a stand-alone novel that will pull at your heartstrings. When one man ends up pregnant, the worst happens. You will be cheering for these two lovers as they claw their way back from pain for a future and a family together.
Click Here to check out Deliver Me!
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A musician's tune can cure any bookworm's broken heart....
With his nose in a book and his heart on his sleeve, Mel has no interest in any more drama in his life. After all, he's just discovered he's pregnant with his ex's baby. And when, a popular and sexy rockstar moves into his building, Mel keeps his distance. But after a chance encounter in an elevator, he can't resist the musician's charm.
Connor is comfortable in the spotlight. Everyone likes him--except for his mysterious and reserved neighbor. Connor would like nothing more than to get the at
tention of studious librarian. But when they finally succumb to their desires, Mel's pregnancy isn't all that jeopardizes everything they've worked for. Suddenly, the omega and the alpha have more to overcome. Will music bring them together or tear them apart?
In this 25,000-word gay romance novel, Love in Stereo, two men create beautiful music together while one man carries his ex's baby. With explicit scenes and strong sexual content, this ballad will have you singing for more.
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One Big Family
Aiden Bates
© 2017
Disclaimer
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.
This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).
