The Abandoned Omega

Chapter Twenty Two

The once serene, white toilet in its own small room, decorated with white tiles with only a porcelain sink and a potted plant for company, became victim to a rather violent burst of unpleasantness. The other suffering in this scenario, wiped his lips with a piece of tissue, before rinsing his mouth with cool water and pressing his forehead against the cold tiles. Following that, he cleaned up all evidence of his upset stomach, flushed the chain and left the staff toilet for the front of the shop.

"Hey are you alright?" Eiko asked with some concern.

Jun nodded slightly, then wished he hadn't, but took a deep breath. "I shouldn't have eaten that dark mocha layer cake for dessert last night," he complained, his mind thinking back to Kazuhiko's fork hovering close to his lips as the man encouraged him to taste one of the most decadent desserts to ever fall upon his tongue. His cheeks flushed a little in remembrance. Due to his soft moans, the Alpha had decided to feed him more of the rich, dark chocolate and coffee confection, Kazuhiko's eyes clouding with heat as he watched each mouthful stirring Jun with delight.

"You've never been able to manage more than a slither of rich cake," Eiko recalled with a smile, which morphed into a slightly wicked grin. "Do you recall that tiramisu that you tried to eat in uni?" Jun's stomach curled with the memory and he darted back to the toilet with Eiko's apologies following him.

In the end, she sent him to go and lie down, using the excuse that the shop wasn't overly busy at the moment and that she needed him fit for Valentine's Day this coming week. They would definitely be busy then, fresh red roses were on order due to arrive the afternoon before as well as a selection of special teddies that attached to vases and pots. So Jun didn't refuse her, even though he wasn't really tired.

Thinking back, as he flopped upon his bed, last night had been his third date with Kazuhiko, without their children, and each date had not gone well for whatever reason. Their first date, the original lunch date that they had agreed to, had been a nearly complete disaster. They had sat across from each other in a small bistro, both self conscious and nervous and unable to break the awkward silence between them. Any questions risen were answered with one or two words and killed any possible extension leading into conversation. The atmosphere had grown more difficult with eat passing minute. Jun could not recall what they ate in the end and the tension was only shattered at the end of the meal when Kazuhiko had confessed that he was as nervous as Jun had been and could they please try have a second attempt.

Jun had giggled, finding this date, in hindsight, as funny and had agreed and both men had finally been able to relax. If only the time they could spend together had not been at an end!

Their second date was in a restaurant and they had managed to make small talk over light meals.  Kazuhiko had offered a few tales regarding the antics he and his best friend had gotten up to when they were teenagers and Jun had laughed along admitting that he was homeschooled, until college and that had been a culture shock in itself.  Things had been going well this time, but midway through the meal, they had been interrupted by a small fire in the cafe's kitchen, which set off the fire alarms and all customers and staff had to evacuate, despite the chef putting out the fire. The fire brigade came and gave things the all clear before anyone could renter. The staff had waived bills of effected customers, even offered a free glass of wine or soda, but Jun had to return to work and Kazuhiko was expected home, so that was the end of date two.

Last night, Keiichi had stayed around his friends house, Abhi. Rekha had suggested the sleepover out of the blue during the week, to which both Abhi and Kei had responded by looking up at Jun with large, pleading eyes and he felt he was unable to decline. He probably wouldn't have anyway, he admitted to himself, he did have a tendency to give into Kei too easily. Coincidentally, Kazuhiko had called him, wanting to arrange another date.

"It is a pity we can only get together during lunch hours," Kazuhiko had lamented, "the time is too short." To which Jun had admitted that in actually fact, he had Friday night, last night, free. Although, he could not drink as he had work on Saturday.

Chloe no longer worked at the florist, having found herself another job with better pay and hours elsewhere, although that was alright as Eiko had returned to work at her florist part time. So now it was just the three of them, Eiko, Shaheed and himself. Eiko had arranged things to ensure that Jun could have Sunday's and Monday's off, while she covered those and worked Fridays beside him, although she would also come in on busier days. Ordinarily, Shaheed would work with Jun today, but he had asked for the time off as he was going away with his parents this week.

Jun rubbed his stomach, which was beginning to settle now and wondered if this, if all of their issues dating were a sign, that he was just not meant to be with Kazuhiko, despite him being Jun's only choice of partner. It was very rare for an omega to be marked against his or her will, if not only due to the precautions they took themselves, but due to the fact that an Alpha wouldn't instinctively bite down upon the omega's neck unless their compatibility was very high.  By compatibility meaning a good chance of pregnancy following relations. A bit different from fated partners who had an instinctual attraction that had nothing to do with the heat. 

And what was rarer still would be a forced mating, something that could be akin to rape. That Alpha knew what he was doing when he marked the omega who was in heat, without that omega's previously given consent. However, this was very hard to prove.

Jun had never considered his being marked as forced, however, which is why he never rose the issue with the law. After all, in this society, divorce and separation were legal and if omega's wished to be considered equal, he or she would have to live with the possibility of being abandoned by their mate. It just made omega's that much more cautious or made them seek a partner of their own gender and stay away from Alpha's as much as possible. Jun had been one of the unlucky few, wrong place, wrong time and happened to be in the vicinity of the one Alpha who was highly compatible with him.

But, if Jun was honest with himself, he knew that he could easily fall for Kazuhiko, his Alpha. Kazuhiko could be charming; he was conscientious, treating Jun as a prospective partner, not just the omega he happened to have marked. He could be cute; his nervousness was apparent when they were together, he wanted to leave a good impression on Jun, but was worried he would fail. And he was a loving father; as well as taking Keiichi out by himself for a few hours, to which Kei had returned from full of beans and recited for almost two more hours everything that he had done with his father, the four of them had also gone swimming.

Kazuhiko had taken the first steps towards teaching his older son how to swim and in the face of his father, the boy had become fearless. Ducking his head beneath the water, before bursting to the surface, kicking his legs and splashing everyone in his wake as he used the float to 'swim' the few inches to his daddy, jumping off of the side into his daddy's arms. And while Kei had stolen all of the attention of his daddy, Jun had held and had played with little Kou, while watching from the shallows.

And honestly, he hadn't minded. Perhaps in others, there would be a little resentment, forced to hold their child's father's other son, while their own practically abandoned them for said father. But as Jun had watched the chubby infant in his rubber baby ring splashing and giggling brightly, his heart had felt as if it was being filled. He had not been able to play like this with Kei and although Kou was not a replacement for the baby Kei had been, he appreciated gaining this memory. And besides, his son was so happy, what sort of parent would wish to ruin that due to his own bitterness? Kou was such a sweet baby as well, Jun couldn't find it in his heart to hate him any more than he could hate his father.

Yawning, Jun wondered if he shouldn't take that nap after all, but he suddenly heard the familiar thud of steps racing up the stairs as fast as small legs could take him, so Jun rolled off the bed to go and greet his beloved son.