Chapter 25: The Packing
The golden light had faded to a bruised amber by the time they crossed the threshold of the penthouse. Julian kicked off his loafers with more force than necessary, the soft thud against the marble echoing through the silence. Theo hovered behind him, carrying the bag with the ultrasound prints, his presence a warm, steady pressure at Julian's back. But Julian didn't turn around. He couldn't. Not yet.
The nursery door stood ajar, and he found himself drawn toward it as if pulled by an invisible thread. His hand pressed flat to the hard, low curve of his belly, feeling the unfamiliar weight of the news Dr. Chen had delivered. Three centimeters. Effacing. A week, maybe less. The words rattled around his skull like loose change.
Theo had followed him. Of course he had. He was always there, quiet and devoted, his soft hazel eyes tracking Julian's every move. Julian watched him from the doorway now, his broad shoulders silhouetted against the fading light, his large hands dwarfing the tiny white onesie he was folding with absurd, painstaking care. Julian's throat constricted. He watched those hands smooth the fabric, fold the sleeves, stack it neatly on top of the others. Simple. Ordinary. A task so gentle it made something in Julian's chest crack wide open.
"Stop," Julian said, his voice rough, frayed at the edges.
Theo's hands stilled. He looked up, concerned, that golden retriever earnestness flooding his face. "Julian? Are you okay? Do you need—"
"I need you to strip me." The words came out hard, commanding, his chin lifting even as his voice trembled at the edges. "Right here. On the rug. Under the cranes."
Theo blinked. His pupils blew wide, a flicker of heat and confusion warring in his gaze. "Julian, you just had a checkup. Dr. Chen said—"
"I know what Dr. Chen said." Julian stepped into the nursery, the plush rug soft beneath his bare feet. The paper cranes swayed gently overhead, casting delicate shadows across the walls. He reached for the bottom of his midnight blue Brioni shirt, but his fingers shook too badly to make good work of the buttons. "I know exactly what she said, Theo. My pup is coming within the week. My body is going to do something I cannot control. And I need to feel owned before I lose everything."
Theo crossed the room in three strides. His hands came up to cover Julian's, stilling them. His voice was barely a whisper. "You will never lose me. Or control. I'll be right there with you, every breath."
"I know." Julian's jaw tightened. His amber eyes glistened. "But I need it now. I need you to claim me. I need to feel you inside me, to feel that I belong to something bigger than my fear. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Theo breathed. "God, yes."
Theo's hands were careful, reverent, as he unbuttoned the shirt. His knuckles brushed the swell of Julian's belly with every movement, deliberate and worshipful. Julian tipped his head back, letting Theo slide the fabric from his shoulders, letting him unclip the trousers and peel them down his thighs. The cool air hit his skin, raising goosebumps. He was so bare, so exposed, his body a landscape of want and fear and desperate love.
Theo knelt before him, pressing his lips to the taut skin of Julian's belly. "Tell me what you need," he murmured against the warmth. "I'm yours. Everything I am is yours."
Julian fisted his hand in Theo's sandy curls, tugging him up. "Then take me," he ordered, his voice dropping to a filthy, shaking rasp. "I want to feel your cock stretch me open. I want to feel claimed. I want to feel your knot lock me down until I can't think anymore."
A low, possessive growl rumbled from Theo's chest. He pushed Julian down to the rug with a tenderness that bordered on violence, cradling the back of his head as he laid him out beneath the paper cranes. The shadows danced across Julian's flushed skin, across the heavy swell of his belly, across the wet gleam already slicking his thighs.
"You're so beautiful," Theo rasped, crawling over him, his own shirt already discarded, his muscled chest heaving. "Wrecked, pregnant, absolutely perfect. Let me take care of you, omega."
"Yes," Julian hissed, spreading his legs wide, showing Theo everything. "Fucking do it."
Theo's hands found Julian's thighs, pushing them wider, spreading him open to the fading amber light. The slick between Julian's legs was obscene, glistening, his body already yielding in ways his mind refused to. Theo's cock pressed against him, blunt and hot, and Julian's breath caught.
"Slow," Theo whispered, his voice rough with restraint. "I need to go slow."
Julian wanted to argue, to demand more, to order him to bury himself to the hilt in one brutal stroke. But when Theo's tip breached him, a thick stretch that made his eyes roll back, Julian found he had no words left. His mouth fell open, a low, reedy moan spilling out as Theo pressed deeper, inch by agonizing inch.
"That's it," Theo breathed, his forehead pressed to Julian's, his whole body trembling with the effort of holding back. "God, Jules, you're so tight. So perfect. Taking me so well."
Julian's hands clawed at Theo's shoulders, dragging nails across his skin. He felt every millimeter of that thick cock sinking into him, filling him, stretching the walls of his slick, pregnant body until it ached in the best possible way. The weight of his belly pressed between them, warm and heavy, and Theo's hand slid down to cradle it, his thumb stroking the taut skin.
"I can feel you," Julian gasped, his voice broken. "I can feel everything. Don't stop."
"I won't," Theo promised, and finally seated himself fully, his hips flush against Julian's, his knot swelling just enough to catch. "I've got you. I've got both of you."
Julian's omega instincts purred beneath his skin, the raw, animal part of him that craved this, craved being filled and claimed and held down. He arched into the pressure, his hands sliding into Theo's curls, yanking him down into a filthy, desperate kiss.
"Move," Julian demanded against his mouth. "Fuck me like you mean it, alpha."
Theo pulled his hips back, the drag of his cock against Julian's walls making them both groan, and then thrust in again, deep and slow, grinding against the spot that made Julian's vision white out. He set a rhythm, heavy and possessive, each stroke pressing against Julian's prostate, against the huge swell of his pup, until Julian was a wreck beneath him, whining and clutching and begging for more.
"Harder," Julian keened, his legs wrapping around Theo's waist. "Come on, don't you fucking hold back on me."
Theo's control snapped. He drove into Julian with a growl, the wet slap of their bodies filling the nursery, the paper cranes swaying overhead as the shadows danced across their tangled forms. Julian took it all, his head thrown back against the rug, his hands fisted in the fabric, tears of pleasure and fear and overwhelming love streaking down his temples.
"That's right," Theo rasped, his rhythm turning punishing. "Feel how much you're mine. Feel how deep I am. You're not alone in this, Jules. I'm right here, inside you, anchored to you. You can't lose control because I won't let go."
Julian sobbed, a sound caught between ecstasy and release, and came undone beneath him, his body clenching and fluttering around Theo's cock. The wave of it crashed through him, his omega instincts flooding his senses with the thick, possessive scent of his alpha, and Theo followed a heartbeat later, his knot swelling fat and hot, locking them together as he spilled deep inside.
Julian's body went limp, the fight draining out of him like water through cracked glass. He collapsed forward, his forehead thudding against Theo's shoulder, his breath coming in wet, ragged gasps. Theo caught him, of course he caught him. His arms wrapped around Julian's back, one hand splayed between his shoulder blades, the other cradling the heavy swell of his belly, holding him close as the knot pulsed and throbbed, locking them together in the aftermath.
"Breathe," Theo murmured, his lips pressed to Julian's temple. "I've got you. Just breathe."
Julian tried to obey, but the air came in shudders, his body still trembling with the force of his release. The weight of the past hours, the past months, pressed down on him like a physical thing. He buried his face in the crook of Theo's neck and breathed in deep, the familiar scent of his alpha flooding his senses, soothing the frayed edges of his nerves.
"I'm scared," Julian whispered, the words hushed and raw against Theo's skin. "I'm so fucking scared, Theo."
Theo's arms tightened around him. He rocked them gently, a slow, soothing rhythm that made the paper cranes sway overhead.
"I know," he said. "I know, Jules. And that's okay."
Julian let out a sound that was half laugh, half sob. "It's not okay. I've never been scared of anything in my life. I've never let anyone see me like this."
"I see you," Theo said softly. "I see all of you. And I'm not going anywhere. Neither are you. We're locked together, remember? Can't get rid of me even if you wanted to."
Julian choked out a wet laugh, his hand coming up to slap weakly at Theo's chest. "That's a terrible joke."
"I thought it was pretty good." Theo pressed a kiss to Julian's hair. "But the knot's going to go down soon, and then you're going to want a bath. I've got the good salts from the apothecary. The ones you like."
Julian closed his eyes, letting the steady thrum of Theo's heartbeat ground him. The knot was still pulsing inside him, a constant reminder that he was held, filled, claimed. Not alone.
"Stay with me," Julian said, his voice barely a whisper. "Don't leave. Not yet. Not while I can still feel you like this."
"I'm not going anywhere," Theo repeated. He shifted, settling more comfortably beneath Julian, adjusting the angle to ease the strain on his back. Then he began to hum, low in his chest, the same six-count rhythm they'd practiced on the kitchen floor that morning. In for four, hold for two, out for six.
Julian's breathing synced to it without conscious thought, his body remembering the pattern even as his mind drifted. The fear didn't disappear, but it quieted, settling into something manageable. Something he could carry.
"Two days," Julian murmured. "The next appointment is in two days."
"Two days," Theo agreed. "And then we take it one breath at a time. Together."
Julian pressed his face deeper into Theo's neck. The knot was softening now, slipping, and he felt a pang of loss as Theo's cock slid free. But Theo's arms stayed wrapped around him, and that was enough. That was everything.