“N-No, Ollie. Wait. I’m sorry. Please, just… don’t leave it like this. I’m a dick. These pregnancy hormones make me a dick.”
“Have you told the Inspector?”
“No. I’m waiting until after the twelve week scan.”
“Twelve weeks? Shit, that’s ages away.”
“I know but that’s my choice. Just… don’t you dare push Lucas away. Promise me?”
“I can’t promise anything.”
“Then promise you won’t make any rash decisions. Talk to me first, okay? I might not know him that well, but he seems like a good man.”
“He is.”
“I’m so relieved to hear you say that, Ollie.”
“Can I trust younotto kill our colleagues in a lemon drizzle induced rage?”
“More like an idiot-brother induced rage. But no, I’ll be fine. Julie’s taking me out for lunch.”
Oliver hummed, “Nice. Anyway, I’m going now. Can you tell mum that I’m not dead and I’ll contact her when I get a new phone?”
“Sure. Love you.”
And Oliver’s chest ached, because they hadn’t said to one another in years. “Love you,” he replied, a smile softening his lips. “You too, Julian. I guess.”
“Yes, Ollie. Love you too,” Julian chuckled, before hanging up.
Pressing his face into his hands, he collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs.Shit, he’d never heard his brother sound so angry. Perhaps it was just the heat, but he wanted to cry as his eyes welled up and his lip quivered. What a confusing thing his body was. Though, he found he didn’t hate it as much just recently.
“Is carrying shoppingbags an Olympic sport or something?” Oliver said, sliding two massive sacks of groceries off Lucas’ shoulder.
“I didn’t see the point of doing two trips,” he replied, heaving the rest onto the kitchen table.
Oliver frowned, turning on the kettle. “I would have come down and helped you.”
“Says the man who never asks for help himself.”
Lucas had him there.
Grumbling, Oliver unpacked the bags—amazed at the sheer variety of fruit and vegetables. Usually, he’d have made do with takeout or a ramen bowl, but the selection before him was on another level. “Are you planning on opening a farmer’s market out of my flat or something?” He said, putting away a root vegetable that he couldn’t even name.
Lucas sucked his teeth as he poured two cups of tea. “No. But you’re going to eat healthier, at least whilst I’m here.”
Oliver had the fleeting urge to tell Lucas to stick his vegetables where the sun didn’t shine, before thinking better of it. “You sound just like Matteus,” he said, scowling at a punnet of strawberries. “He texted you, by the way. I called him off your phone. Hope that’s okay?”
“Of course,” Lucas replied, straining the tea and wiping down the countertop. “I saw him when I stopped by the station. He was in the car park, angrily throwing some lemon drizzle around. There are two slices in that box over there.” He pointed to a plastic container on the edge of the table.
Once everything was away, Lucas leant against the fridge and clutched a mug between his hands. “I met Julian.”
Oliver’s eyebrows shot up as he reached for his own cup. “Oh yeah? How did that go?”
Grinning, the alpha looked at him over the rim of his cup. It was only then that Oliver realised he had a mug with the words ‘I LOVE TITS’ printed across it, with a photograph of two speckled blue tits. “I don’t think he knew what to make of me. There was a fair amount of posturing which caught me off guard.”
“What a cock,” Oliver replied, shaking his head. “But his heart’s in the right place. He’s just protective after… everything. And he had his pregnant mate with him, so it was probably to be expected.”
Nodding, Lucas gently placed his mug down. “Reed,” he said, stepping forward to grasp Oliver’s elbow.
