Wes’s phone vibrated. He pinched his face at the screen and held up a finger. “I need to take this… Calder, what’s up?” he asked quietly.
Assa spun toward him.
Wes mumbled into the phone, listening and nodding before hanging up. “I’m sorry,” he said to Valentin, “but Assa and I have to cut this short. Our son is in the emergency room.”
Assa gasped softly. “What happened?”
“Calder said it wasn’t serious. Ryde tripped and fell at the movie theater. They think he sprained his wrist, but they’re taking x-rays to rule out a break.”
“Oh,” Assa breathed out. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“But we need to get over there,” Wes said. “They took Calder’s word for it that he had the right to authorize the scans, but there’s still paperwork to sign.”
“I bet Zinn feels terrible.”
“That’s what Calder said. But we’ll set him at ease once we get there. One of the first things you learn as a parent is that accidents happen.”
Valentin organized the bits of conversation in his mind. He knew Ryde was the couple’s son, but the other names were unfamiliar. Babysitters?
“Since we’re all in my car, I can drive you to the hospital,” he said.
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” Valentin took out his wallet and placed cash on the table. “It’s fine to leave your car at my place and pick it up tomorrow.”
Wes clasped Valentin’s biceps. “We want you to meet Ryde eventually. But for tonight, it would be better if you just dropped us off. We’ll find our own way home.”
Valentin had expected as much. “I look forward to meeting him whenever you decide the time is right. For now, I’ll get you to the ER as quickly as I can.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Calder
Calder paced the emergency department’s spacious waiting area. He’d poured himself a cup of free coffee from the reception desk but hadn’t been able to drink it.
He was grateful that their local hospital was updated. Several of the older ones still had separate gender wings, but Bellwether General was modern, so they didn’t need to worry whether Ryde would receive the best possible care.
The boy had tripped on the steps at the theater after the movie ended and landed hard on his hands. Worst-case scenario, it was a fractured wrist, so nothing too terrible, but Zinn was distraught that it happened at all. Calder assured him that Assa and Wes would not blame him for an accident, but Zinn still felt like he’d let them down.
From his sixteen years as a parent, Calder understood that the occasional trip to the ER was part of life. Zinn would get comfortable with that soon enough.
Calder was disappointed, however, that they hadn’t been able to take Ryde to the pizzeria to meet his boys. Calder and Zinn had had a great conversation with Jordie and Ked that morning. Without going into too much detail, they’d talked about Zinn’s background and explained about Ryde. Deciding to get everything out in the open, they also let his sons know that they would have a new brother in eight months. As Calder expected, the teens were excited about the baby and thrilled that their father would have a partner, especially someone they already liked.
They asked whether Calder and Zinn would get married. Zinn replied that he was committed to Calder and planned to move into their home, but that he wasn’t sure about getting married. Calder had realized over the past month that the omega didn’t view marriage the way he did. When he married Denni, he’d thought of it as a way to affirm their commitment, but Zinn associated the institution with control and subjugation. He didn’t see the need for it when he could simply choose to be with Calder and call him his partner, his alpha. And Calder was fine with that.
Assa and Wes rushed through the entrance of the ER. Their eyes found his immediately.
“Have they told you anything yet?” Assa asked.
“No. The triage nurse said it looked like a mild sprain, but they wanted an X-ray just to be sure. Zinn is with him now.”
“How long have they been back there?”
“About half an hour, so they should be done soon.”
Wes put a hand on Assa’s shoulder. He glanced at Calder, asking, “And how’s your omega? I’m guessing he’s taking this hard?”
Calder chuffed. “Zinn feels awful. As much as I’ve tried to get him to see that this is minor, he’s acting like Ryde broke a femur or something.”