Chapter 11
Kiss Me if You Can
âDaddy!â
The child who ran in as soon as he saw her face clung to her tightly and wouldnât let go.
Ah, my angel.
Josh felt all his fatigue and stress fly away at once and hugged her tightly. Pete rubbed his lips here and there on Joshâs face and licked his spit, but he didnât care. Josh turned his head and kissed her cheeks, lips, and forehead, and then carried her in one arm and went inside the house.
âJosh, come in.â
His mother greeted Josh happily and kissed him on both cheeks.
âEmma said sheâd be late today. She must have a date.â
His mother said as she busily walked around the kitchen.
âCan I help you?â
His mother lightly scolded him as he sniffed the sweet smell of pie.
âDonât tell me not to, but you look like youâre starving. If youâre hungry, Iâll make you something. âWhy donât you take off your sunglasses?â
Josh couldnât hide it anymore, so he followed her instructions and took off his sunglasses and looked up. His motherâs eyes widened at the sight of his still bruised face.
âOh my god, what happened? What are you doing right now that you got hurt like that? Are you back in the military?â
Josh smiled awkwardly at his motherâs urgent words.
âNo, itâs just a celebrity security⦠⦠Itâs not that big of a deal, itâs just a lot of fun to look at.â
âDaddy, does it hurt?â
Pete asked, looking at her bright-colored eyes. His heart raced as he saw her innocently blinking green eyes, just like Joshâs.
âNo, not at all.â
Josh couldnât hold back his loveliness and gave her a kiss. The child soon laughed and squirmed. Chaseâs face naturally overlapped his smiling face. He realized anew that they looked alike.
Josh's mother was a beta, and since his grandmother was an omega, his mother once told Josh that the trait was probably inherited. His weak pheromones might be due to atavism. Josh was the only omega in the family at the moment, and everyone else was a beta. Even so, it was only his mother and sister, but thanks to that, people naturally thought of him as a beta.
Josh quietly looked into Pete's face. The child, who was still innocent, could either manifest as an extreme alpha like Chase Miller, or an omega like Josh, or he could just live his whole life as a beta. Either way, if he manifests, he'll know before he's twenty. Mutations after that are really rare.
Not knowing what the child will grow into made him more fearful than excited. The thought of this adorable child growing up like Chase made him shiver.
Please, just look like him.
The child who had crawled up Josh's tall body and was naturally riding a horse grabbed his hair and played with it. Josh, who was holding Peteâs leg to keep him from getting hurt, said to his mother, craning her neck as much as she could.
âBe careful not to hit Peteâs head, if you ride a horse with your height⦠⦠.â
âYes, I know.â
Josh said coolly and kissed Peteâs plump calf.
âSo, how many days is your vacation?â
Josh answered two days to his motherâs question.
âYou can go back tomorrow night.â
âYouâre only going to sleep one night?â
The mother showed a disappointed look, but her gaze was immediately turned to Pete. Seeing the child clinging to her tightly and not wanting to leave, she could easily imagine what tomorrow night would be like. She was at that age, so there was nothing she could do. The mother shook her head and then opened her eyes as if she had remembered something late.
âHey, by the way, I have to get some medicine⦠⦠Would you mind going? You can buy these for me on the way. âItâs still an hour before the pie is ready, so come with Pete.â
Josh nodded as he accepted the shopping list his mother had handed him. When Pete lifted him up from his neck to prevent him from hitting his head, the boy struggled to climb up again.
Josh, who had been holding his struggling body in his arms, finally let the boy do what he wanted after they got out. Pete quickly grabbed Joshâs shoulders and climbed up onto the horse again.
âKyahahaha.â
Pete, feeling good, wiggled his butt and let out a child-like laugh. In Boston, he would walk around the streets with his child on the horse. Josh intentionally parked his car in a parking lot about a block away from the drugstore and began walking with his child on the horse for the first time since leaving Boston.
As he walked, he often received stares from people riding in cars or walking with dogs. Pete was so excited that he didnât know what to do when people passed by under his gaze.
âDaddy, head.â
Pete patted Joshâs head with his small hand and rubbed his cheek, acting spoiled. Josh felt guilty for making him feel lonely because the child was acting more unusually than usual. Pete patted Joshâs head here and there, but he just left him alone. They arrived at the pharmacy soon after.
âPete, come down for a minute.â
Before the child could even startle, he quickly carried him into his arms and went inside. After getting his motherâs medicine, Pete sat on his arm the whole time while he picked out a few items on the list.
It didnât take long for them to find all the items on the shopping list and put them in the basket. They scanned the barcodes of the items they bought into the machine to check out, but one of them didnât work. An employee who had been watching Josh repeat this several times quickly came over and helped him.
âHeâs so cute.â
The smile on his face and the look in his eyes as he looked up at him were full of affection. Josh couldnât help but kiss Peteâs head on his arm.
âRight?â
âYes, I think heâll be cool when he grows up, just like his dad.â
âThank you.â
Josh put the bill in the slot and took the change.
âGoodbye, Hannah.â
The employeeâs face lit up as she greeted him by calling out the name on the name tag. Josh turned around and stopped because he saw a familiar face.
âEmma.â
He smiled and approached his sister.
âI heard you were running late, why are you here?â
âMy appointment got canceled. I stopped by because my mom asked me to buy something⦠⦠Josh already bought it.â
Emma glanced at the envelope he was holding and nudged him in the side with her elbow.
âStop flirting with girls, you rascal. âDo you want to come here and do that with your face like that?â
âWhat did I do?â
Josh insisted on his innocence, but Emma wasnât fooled.
âYou donât have to hide it, right? You have the mark, and if itâs Josh, an omega, Alphas wouldnât dare look down on him and think of attacking him. If they knew he was an omega, there would be far fewer women who would talk to him. You donât enjoy it, do you? Youâre like the villain of the world.â
âVillain, villain.â
âYou canât say that.â
Josh, pretending to sternly reprimand Pete, winked at Emma.
âWatch what you say in front of the kid. You donât have to show it, itâs just a distraction from working.â
Josh purposely set the kid on a horse so that he wouldnât learn useless words. Pete started playing with Joshâs head again. As they walked side by side, Emma spoke.
âIs work worth it? The pay must be huge, but that kind of work is hard.â
She said that after seeing the scar on his face. Josh took it lightly.
âYou get what you pay for. Ouch.â
âPete, Daddyâs going to go bald.â
Emma stopped Pete and continued.
âBut itâs fortunate, because itâs close. I wish I could see your face like this every day off.â
I donât know when Iâll get another day off.
Emma said to Josh, who added inwardly.
âMy mom asked me if Josh was dating anyone these days.â
âSo?â
âI said I didnât know. Thatâs the truth.â
âYeah, he kept walking. Emma glanced up at Josh and asked.
âItâs hard to raise a child alone, right? You know, like an introduction, or is there anyone good among your colleagues? âEveryone is an alpha except for one married man.â
âYou donât date at work.â
Emma clicked her tongue when he said it sternly.
âRomance usually starts at work. Well, Iâve never been in a proper relationship, so what would I know? Josh doesnât stop anyone who comes or catches anyone who leaves, right? He really managed to have a child.â
Emma, ââwho had said it absentmindedly, looked at Peteâs expression and quickly lowered her gaze. Pete was playing with Joshâs hair, completely uninterested.
âThat, Peteâs dad⦠⦠. You havenât been in contact, right? Youâre lying, right?â
âWhy?â
âWhy⦠⦠.â
Emma glared lightly.
âThereâs no way Josh, who takes good care of himself, would sleep with just anyone and get pregnant. He must have known her, so itâs strange that he hasnât contacted her even once.â
â⦠⦠Heâs not that thorough.â
âAnyway, this isnât like Josh. Josh has always gotten through heat cycles without incident.â
Of course he did. It was a one-time, sudden accident. The heat cycle coming that time wasnât planned in the first place.
If it werenât for that guy, the cycle wouldnât have come by force.
Josh suddenly felt guilty as he thought about it. That was the best luck of his life. Thanks to that, he got Pete, his one and only treasure.
Josh drew the line coldly.
âIâm not meeting him because I donât need to see him anymore. I have no intention of doing anything with that guy again. And Iâm sorry, Emma, ââbut please donât forget that I was the best quarterback in high school before I manifested.â
âJust one year?â
âYeah, I had a lot of girlfriends in that one year. You know, even before I had Pete.â
Emma rolled her eyes as if she was annoyed. In fact, Josh had never been without a girlfriend before he met Chase Miller. Emma knew that too.
âAre you stupid? The girlfriend you kissed in the morning and the girlfriend you dated at night were different.â
âI broke up with my friend during lunch, and after class, someone else confessed to me.â
Emma didnât seem to trust him that much, even though she corrected him. Huh, she turned her head and continued.
âWell, you suddenly cut off all ties, and then one day you showed up with Pete in your arms. I was wondering how long you were going to be so cautious. Why donât you get another girlfriend? Everyone says Josh doesnât care if heâs an omega, right?â
She couldnât say that everyone in the world turned into an old Halloween pumpkin the moment they saw Chase Miller. And just when she thought she was finally getting over that guy, she was back to square one. Josh said, trying to be sarcastic.
âYou should be cautious until Pete grows up a little.â
Emma blinked.
âAre you really thinking about dating a girl?â
âWhy wouldnât you?â
Josh snickered.
âThereâs no need to worry about getting pregnant, and itâs the best for fun, right? If itâs not your job, then being an omega isnât bad. Of course, if the other person thinks the same.â
â⦠⦠You donât plan on dating another alpha or beta? You still havenât forgotten Peteâs daddy⦠⦠.â
Josh paused for a moment to answer Emmaâs cautious question.
âI donât plan on having another child.â@@novelbin@@
That man was the first and last time he slept with an omega. Josh had no intention of sleeping with a man again. In fact, he was closer to being heterosexual. He had been and still is attracted to women more than men.
Except for Chase Miller.
When he thought of him, his eyebrows furrowed. The only man he had ever slept with was that bastard.
At that moment, Pete laughed and shook his body above his head. His expression immediately relaxed at the childâs loveliness. He quickly put the child down, held him in his arms, and smiled as he faced him. Josh, who was looking at Pete with a smile, stopped for a moment. He remembered the face of a man he really didn't like from the face of the child he loved so much.
For a moment, Josh's expression became filled with complicated emotions. Emma looked up at him in confusion. Josh pretended not to know and held Pete in his arms, staring straight ahead. If this were really over, he would never come back to California again. Josh vowed again.
Nevertheless, what came to mind again was the sight of him looking up at him with tears in his eyes. Even the sound of his fragile, pitiful breathing came back vividly to his ears.
No one knew what happened that night. Only Josh knew.
Another memory that was his own grew.
When he thought about it that far, Emma opened her mouth.
"Won't Pete be curious about Papa when he grows up?"
"I guess so."
Josh muttered absentmindedly. There are many families with only one parent. Pete would naturally accept that.
That man can live freely as he has lived so far.
Josh frowned without realizing it, but he didnât realize it. He didnât want to think deeply about why something he had taken for granted until now was making him feel so uncomfortable.
However, no matter how hard he tried to erase it, Chaseâs terrified face and tearful eyes wouldnât go away and kept lingering in his mind.
Even the kiss that had made his insides hot.
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