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It was only 5pm but Coryo had already gone to bed.
Something about that made Sejanus extremely uneasy in a way he couldn’t quite explain. In all the time he’d known Coryo, he’d always been one to work long into the night (and often into the early hours of the morning). This unusual behaviour further reinforced Sejanus’s nagging feeling that something was very wrong.
‘Something’s going on with Coryo,’ Sejanus had told his Ma, not four days ago when they met for lunch.
‘What do you mean?’ Ma asked, instantly concerned.
Sejanus internally rolled his eyes. Great, now he’d done it. Ma was so besotted with Coryo and fretted over him with his big stressful job so much she was probably already imagining a brain tumour or worse.
‘Nothing serious,’ he said quickly. ‘He’s just been a bit distant. Distracted maybe. I keep finding him staring blankly into the distance, apparently lost in thought.’
‘Well, he has a very demanding job,’ Ma said. ‘And he’s so young. It must be hard to have that much responsibility.’
Sejanus took her point but it was hard to believe this was the only issue when Coryo had been the President for two years now and this was the first time his job seemed to be having this effect on him.
He also didn’t mention that Coryo had been irritable and often physically shaking off or shying away from any of Sejanus’s attempts at physical affection. That was disconcerting in itself because while Coryo never really initiated sex, in the past he had always seemed willing when Sejanus had suggested it. Now it was like he didn’t want to be touched at all.
Not able to sit with the anxiety that maybe Coryo was finally growing tired of him, he took what felt like his life in his hands by lightly knocking on their bedroom door before stepping inside the room.
He perched on the edge of the bed, causing Coryo to make a small noise in the back of his throat.
‘Hey,’ Sejanus said, not quite sure how to approach the topic. Don’t you love me anymore? seemed a little dramatic. Sejanus had asked that particular question so many times during their courtship that Coryo had eventually promised that he would tell Sejanus the moment he fell out of love so he would never need to ask it again. ‘I just wanted to check if you’re okay?’
He noted that Coryo looked a little pale and even though he had his eyes closed, he did not seem peaceful.
‘Just not feeling well,’ he muttered, snuggling further under the blankets.
Well, that was forward motion, at least: Coryo had admitted that something was wrong.
Sejanus pressed the back of his hand to Coryo’s forehead, just like Ma always did when Sejanus was little and feeling sick.
‘Hmm,’ he said. ‘You don’t seem to have a fever.’
For some reason that seemed to annoy Coryo. He shot him a distasteful look and made a displeased noise in the back of his throat.
‘That’s a good thing, darling,’ Sejanus reminded him. ‘It means it’s probably nothing too serious.’
Something passed over Coryo’s expression but before Sejanus could work out what it was, it was gone.
‘Can you tell me how you’re feeling?’
Coryo was silent for a moment before he said, very quietly: ‘It’s just a headache. I’ll be fine.’
‘I’m sure you will be,’ Sejanus said, leaning down to brush his lips against Coryo’s cheek. ‘Sit tight, I’ll go get some of the syrup Ma made that usually –’
He broke off when Coryo retched horribly. He met Sejanus’s gaze for a second before turning his face into the pillow.
‘Unless it’s not just a headache,’ Sejanus said, now feeling totally perplexed. ‘Are you feeling queasy too?’
‘No,’ Coryo replied as reproachfully as he could, given that he sounded that his mouth was full of saliva.
‘Mm hm,’ Sejanus replied sceptically. This was one of Coryo’s most frustrating personality traits: he was utterly unwilling to admit anything was ever wrong which was awful because all Sejanus ever wanted to do was look after him. ‘It doesn’t sound that way.’
‘My stomach hurts,’ Coryo admitted after a while. ‘But I don’t feel like I’m going to be sick. And I don’t want any medicine.’
Interesting. Sejanus was now starting to suspect that these were symptoms of an oncoming Heat.
‘Well,’ he said. ‘I may still be able to help with that. Would you let me touch you?’
Coryo shrugged. ‘I guess so. Why? What do you want to do?’
Sejanus quickly removed his shoes so that he could climb further onto the bed. Coryo made an uncomfortable noise when Sejanus shifted him as gently as he could but didn’t seem to have any complaints when he was able to lean back against Sejanus’s chest.
Gently and carefully, not wanting Coryo to get a shock of cold air, Sejanus rolled down the blankets and unbuttoned the last few buttons of Coryo’s shirt.
‘I was thinking I could rub your belly?’ Sejanus said tentatively, trying not to let it show just how much he wanted to.
Coryo’s lips froze in a perfect ‘O’ shape for a moment. Then he seemed to come back to himself.
‘Fine. If you want to,’ he said, shifting slightly to give Sejanus better access. ‘And be gentle. Please?’
‘As if I’d ever be anything else with you,’ Sejanus promised.
He blew on his hand so that it hopefully wouldn’t be too cold on Coryo’s skin before resting his hand lightly over his belly button. While Coryo seemed unusually wary, when this action elicited no negative reaction, he started rubbing his hand in slow circles from just under Coryo’s ribs to the waistband of his pants.
Coriolanus watched his face closely for a few minutes before finally settling back against his chest and seeming to relax into his touch. This allowed Sejanus to relax too and take in just how much he adored touching Coryo. His waist was so tiny that Sejanus could have wrapped both hands around it and had his fingers touch. His skin was so soft, like the white, luscious roses the Grandma’am favoured. He was so, so beautiful and Sejanus couldn’t believe that someone as exquisite as Coryo had chosen him.
He nuzzled his face into Coryo’s curls and was stunned when he both heard and felt him start to purr.
Now this was definitely unusual. Purring was an Omega trait but – never one for tradition – Sejanus had only ever heard Coryo purr when he was deeply, deeply satisfied during sex. It happened very occasionally, no more than twice a year, and typically only after he was at least two orgasms deep.
So this was very strange.
Sejanus so badly wanted to say wow, you really like this but he knew that would ruin absolutely everything. Sejanus would be saying it to connect, to try to explore feelings but Coryo would see it as some kind of judgement and he’d tear himself away and lock himself in his home office until he was completely sure the moment had passed.
So Sejanus merely continued rubbing soothing circles into Coryo’s impossibly smooth and warm skin, and said nothing.
*
Coriolanus actually couldn’t believe he was purring just from this.
He knew exactly what was going on. His stupid body and interpreted Sejanus touching his belly as proof that he was accepting of the pregnancy. Unfortunately, it hadn’t got the memo that Sejanus wasn’t accepting of anything because Coriolanus hadn’t told him about the baby yet.
He couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid. The situation he found himself in was completely his fault and you’d think after having certain things drilled into him about being an Omega by the Grandma’am he would have known better.
But apparently not.
It had been seven weeks since Sejanus’s parent’s thirtieth wedding anniversary. Feeling a little, well, something with his impending Heat, Coriolanus had indulged heavily in anything rich and sweet he could find, not to mention far too many glasses of a drink that tasted like crushed raspberries and turned out to have a rather high alcohol content.
From the minute they got home until daybreak, Sejanus had to sit beside Coriolanus in the bathroom as he vomited up what felt like everything he’d ever eaten in his entire life.
And then it was over and he was just so relieved that after a full day of sleep and a much-needed shower, he’d let Sejanus take him to bed – well, let was a strong word, Coriolanus had basically dragged him there but that was his story and he was sticking to it – and make love to him all night.
It had felt lovely and decadent and exactly what he needed as his Heat hit in earnest.
It hadn’t occurred to him until approximately a week ago when he woke up with a metallic taste coating his tongue and an uneasiness swirling in his belly that maybe that violent round of vomiting had interfered with his birth control pill.
He tried to brush it off, dismissing it as him being overworked and paranoid. But it kept happening. While he hadn’t actually been sick, there were plenty of mornings where he was grateful that he had a bathroom adjoining his office, just in case today was the day he lost his battle with his nausea.
He was terrified.
He and Sejanus had never properly discussed having children beyond the requisite ‘I’d like to start a family one day’ comments during their courtship. They certainly had never spoken about when they would like this to be and he had had absolutely no indication that Sejanus would like it to be any time soon.
They were only twenty-five after all. Coriolanus was halfway through his first term as President and Sejanus had only just been promoted as his father’s munitions company. He’d been so proud of that promotion too and there had been a whole party to celebrate.
It seemed impossible that it was just two months ago that Coriolanus had stood beside him as he’d cut his celebration cake, completely unaware that mere weeks later, he’d do something that could ruin everything for them forever.
Sometimes, lying in bed late at night, he would have sworn he could feel it. A little fluttering life deep inside him, growing bigger all the time, compressing his organs, making it hard to breathe –
And then he’d come back to himself, remembering that the baby would still be tiny. The size of a strawberry seed, according to what he’d read. But growing inside him nonetheless.
He shifted slightly on the bed, smiling a little at how Sejanus immediately adjusted the angle of his hand as he kept rubbing. Always so attentive to him.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t thought of…getting it taken care of. But every time he considered booking an appointment, he felt terribly guilty at the idea of doing it without even speaking to Sejanus.
But there was a way he could hedge his bets. Find out what Sejanus might think without confessing to anything just yet.
‘Sejanus,’ he said quietly. Abruptly, he stopped purring. Sejanus froze when he noticed it.
‘Mmm?’
‘There’s something I haven’t told you.’
Sejanus suddenly looked frightened and Coriolanus felt like a monster.
‘Don’t look at me like that. It’s not – it’s just that – I’m…very late for my Heat.’
Something seemed to light up in Sejanus’s eyes but it disappeared as quickly as it had come.
‘Oh,’ he said, his voice very calm and measured. ‘Okay.’
Coriolanus wet his lips and watched Sejanus closely.
Sejanus held his gaze. ‘Are you saying…Do you think you might be…?’
‘What would you think if I was?’
Sejanus’s face broke into the most devastatingly beautiful smile Coriolanus had ever seen.
‘Then that would be wonderful,’ he said, without hesitation. ‘Honestly, the best news ever. I mean…’ He pressed his hand against his chest. ‘For me, it would be. But I understand if maybe it would feel a little different for you. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be insensitive.’
Coriolanus shook his head. ‘You weren’t. I wouldn’t quit my job, obviously. But I wouldn’t expect you to either. I mean, we could always get an Avox. Or more than one.’
Sejanus’s hand stilled on his skin and Coriolanus immediately missed the comforting motion.
‘Coryo,’ he said. ‘Of course we wouldn’t get an Avox. Nothing would make me happier than to look after our baby.’
Coriolanus stared at him in surprise. ‘But your job! You just got a promotion.’
‘I don’t care about any of that,’ Sejanus said. ‘Pa only gave it to me to keep me in line, I’m sure of it. I’d much rather raise our child. If that’s okay with you, of course.’
Coriolanus frowned at him. ‘It’s not like you need my permission. But that sounds really nice to me. It will be good for the baby too, to always have you around.’
They’d be close, like Coriolanus was with his mother. The thought of her made him sad though so he wiggled his hips a little, hoping to remind Sejanus that he was meant to be rubbing his belly. He could never bring himself to ask for it but if he got the hint, that would work perfectly.
‘So…’ Sejanus said, trailing off and staring at Coriolanus’s belly with a fascinated expression. No rubbing resumed though which was disappointing.
‘Well,’ Coriolanus said with a sigh. ‘I’m almost three weeks late which is a record even for me, my mouth tastes disgusting, I’m exhausted, and horribly queasy, so you tell me what you think.’
Sejanus lay down on the bed and very, very gently, nuzzled his face against Coriolanus’s lower belly before peppering it with a few kisses.
‘I think it might be time to take a pregnancy test,’ he said.
Coriolanus rolled his eyes. ‘Do you seriously think I haven’t done that?’
Sejanus actually made a squeaky noise of excitement and his eyes shone with tears. ‘So, you are? For sure?’
Coriolanus nodded. He took Sejanus’s hand and pressed it against his belly. ‘We’re going to have a baby.’
Sejanus kissed his belly again and then shifted up the bed so that he could kiss his lips. ‘I can hardly wait.’