Kiss Me if You Can

“Daddy!”

The child who ran in as soon as he saw her face clung to her tightly and wouldn’t let go.

Ah, my angel.

Josh felt all his fatigue and stress fly away at once and hugged her tightly. Pete rubbed his lips here and there on Josh’s face and licked his spit, but he didn’t care. Josh turned his head and kissed her cheeks, lips, and forehead, and then carried her in one arm and went inside the house.

“Josh, come in.”

His mother greeted Josh happily and kissed him on both cheeks.

“Emma said she’d be late today. She must have a date.”

His mother said as she busily walked around the kitchen.@@novelbin@@

“Can I help you?”

His mother lightly scolded him as he sniffed the sweet smell of pie.

“Don’t tell me not to, but you look like you’re starving. If you’re hungry, I’ll make you something. “Why don’t you take off your sunglasses?”

Josh couldn’t hide it anymore, so he followed her instructions and took off his sunglasses and looked up. His mother’s eyes widened at the sight of his still bruised face.

“Oh my god, what happened? What are you doing right now that you got hurt like that? Are you back in the military?”

Josh smiled awkwardly at his mother’s urgent words.

“No, it’s just a celebrity security… … It’s not that big of a deal, it’s just a lot of fun to look at.”

“Daddy, does it hurt?”

Pete asked, looking at her bright-colored eyes. His heart raced as he saw her innocently blinking green eyes, just like Josh’s.

“No, not at all.”

Josh couldn’t hold back his loveliness and gave her a kiss. The child soon laughed and squirmed. Chase’s face naturally overlapped his smiling face. He realized anew that they looked alike.

Josh's mother was a beta, and since his grandmother was an omega, his mother once told Josh that the trait was probably inherited. His weak pheromones might be due to atavism. Josh was the only omega in the family at the moment, and everyone else was a beta. Even so, it was only his mother and sister, but thanks to that, people naturally thought of him as a beta.

Josh quietly looked into Pete's face. The child, who was still innocent, could either manifest as an extreme alpha like Chase Miller, or an omega like Josh, or he could just live his whole life as a beta. Either way, if he manifests, he'll know before he's twenty. Mutations after that are really rare.

Not knowing what the child will grow into made him more fearful than excited. The thought of this adorable child growing up like Chase made him shiver.

Please, just look like him.

The child who had crawled up Josh's tall body and was naturally riding a horse grabbed his hair and played with it. Josh, who was holding Pete’s leg to keep him from getting hurt, said to his mother, craning her neck as much as she could.

“Be careful not to hit Pete’s head, if you ride a horse with your height… … .”

“Yes, I know.”

Josh said coolly and kissed Pete’s plump calf.

“So, how many days is your vacation?”

Josh answered two days to his mother’s question.

“You can go back tomorrow night.”

“You’re only going to sleep one night?”

The mother showed a disappointed look, but her gaze was immediately turned to Pete. Seeing the child clinging to her tightly and not wanting to leave, she could easily imagine what tomorrow night would be like. She was at that age, so there was nothing she could do. The mother shook her head and then opened her eyes as if she had remembered something late.

“Hey, by the way, I have to get some medicine… … Would you mind going? You can buy these for me on the way. “It’s still an hour before the pie is ready, so come with Pete.”

Josh nodded as he accepted the shopping list his mother had handed him. When Pete lifted him up from his neck to prevent him from hitting his head, the boy struggled to climb up again.

Josh, who had been holding his struggling body in his arms, finally let the boy do what he wanted after they got out. Pete quickly grabbed Josh’s shoulders and climbed up onto the horse again.

“Kyahahaha.”

Pete, feeling good, wiggled his butt and let out a child-like laugh. In Boston, he would walk around the streets with his child on the horse. Josh intentionally parked his car in a parking lot about a block away from the drugstore and began walking with his child on the horse for the first time since leaving Boston.

As he walked, he often received stares from people riding in cars or walking with dogs. Pete was so excited that he didn’t know what to do when people passed by under his gaze.

“Daddy, head.”

Pete patted Josh’s head with his small hand and rubbed his cheek, acting spoiled. Josh felt guilty for making him feel lonely because the child was acting more unusually than usual. Pete patted Josh’s head here and there, but he just left him alone. They arrived at the pharmacy soon after.

“Pete, come down for a minute.”

Before the child could even startle, he quickly carried him into his arms and went inside. After getting his mother’s medicine, Pete sat on his arm the whole time while he picked out a few items on the list.

It didn’t take long for them to find all the items on the shopping list and put them in the basket. They scanned the barcodes of the items they bought into the machine to check out, but one of them didn’t work. An employee who had been watching Josh repeat this several times quickly came over and helped him.

“He’s so cute.”

The smile on his face and the look in his eyes as he looked up at him were full of affection. Josh couldn’t help but kiss Pete’s head on his arm.

“Right?”

“Yes, I think he’ll be cool when he grows up, just like his dad.”

“Thank you.”

Josh put the bill in the slot and took the change.

“Goodbye, Hannah.”

The employee’s face lit up as she greeted him by calling out the name on the name tag. Josh turned around and stopped because he saw a familiar face.

“Emma.”

He smiled and approached his sister.

“I heard you were running late, why are you here?”

“My appointment got canceled. I stopped by because my mom asked me to buy something… … Josh already bought it.”

Emma glanced at the envelope he was holding and nudged him in the side with her elbow.

“Stop flirting with girls, you rascal. “Do you want to come here and do that with your face like that?”

“What did I do?”

Josh insisted on his innocence, but Emma wasn’t fooled.

“You don’t have to hide it, right? You have the mark, and if it’s Josh, an omega, Alphas wouldn’t dare look down on him and think of attacking him. If they knew he was an omega, there would be far fewer women who would talk to him. You don’t enjoy it, do you? You’re like the villain of the world.”

“Villain, villain.”

“You can’t say that.”

Josh, pretending to sternly reprimand Pete, winked at Emma.

“Watch what you say in front of the kid. You don’t have to show it, it’s just a distraction from working.”

Josh purposely set the kid on a horse so that he wouldn’t learn useless words. Pete started playing with Josh’s head again. As they walked side by side, Emma spoke.

“Is work worth it? The pay must be huge, but that kind of work is hard.”

She said that after seeing the scar on his face. Josh took it lightly.

“You get what you pay for. Ouch.”

“Pete, Daddy’s going to go bald.”

Emma stopped Pete and continued.

“But it’s fortunate, because it’s close. I wish I could see your face like this every day off.”

I don’t know when I’ll get another day off.

Emma said to Josh, who added inwardly.

“My mom asked me if Josh was dating anyone these days.”

“So?”

“I said I didn’t know. That’s the truth.”

“Yeah, he kept walking. Emma glanced up at Josh and asked.

“It’s hard to raise a child alone, right? You know, like an introduction, or is there anyone good among your colleagues? “Everyone is an alpha except for one married man.”

“You don’t date at work.”

Emma clicked her tongue when he said it sternly.

“Romance usually starts at work. Well, I’ve never been in a proper relationship, so what would I know? Josh doesn’t stop anyone who comes or catches anyone who leaves, right? He really managed to have a child.”

Emma, ​​who had said it absentmindedly, looked at Pete’s expression and quickly lowered her gaze. Pete was playing with Josh’s hair, completely uninterested.

“That, Pete’s dad… … . You haven’t been in contact, right? You’re lying, right?”

“Why?”

“Why… … .”

Emma glared lightly.

“There’s no way Josh, who takes good care of himself, would sleep with just anyone and get pregnant. He must have known her, so it’s strange that he hasn’t contacted her even once.”

“… … He’s not that thorough.”

“Anyway, this isn’t like Josh. Josh has always gotten through heat cycles without incident.”

Of course he did. It was a one-time, sudden accident. The heat cycle coming that time wasn’t planned in the first place.

If it weren’t for that guy, the cycle wouldn’t have come by force.

Josh suddenly felt guilty as he thought about it. That was the best luck of his life. Thanks to that, he got Pete, his one and only treasure.

Josh drew the line coldly.

“I’m not meeting him because I don’t need to see him anymore. I have no intention of doing anything with that guy again. And I’m sorry, Emma, ​​but please don’t forget that I was the best quarterback in high school before I manifested.”

“Just one year?”

“Yeah, I had a lot of girlfriends in that one year. You know, even before I had Pete.”

Emma rolled her eyes as if she was annoyed. In fact, Josh had never been without a girlfriend before he met Chase Miller. Emma knew that too.

“Are you stupid? The girlfriend you kissed in the morning and the girlfriend you dated at night were different.”

“I broke up with my friend during lunch, and after class, someone else confessed to me.”

Emma didn’t seem to trust him that much, even though she corrected him. Huh, she turned her head and continued.

“Well, you suddenly cut off all ties, and then one day you showed up with Pete in your arms. I was wondering how long you were going to be so cautious. Why don’t you get another girlfriend? Everyone says Josh doesn’t care if he’s an omega, right?”

She couldn’t say that everyone in the world turned into an old Halloween pumpkin the moment they saw Chase Miller. And just when she thought she was finally getting over that guy, she was back to square one. Josh said, trying to be sarcastic.

“You should be cautious until Pete grows up a little.”

Emma blinked.

“Are you really thinking about dating a girl?”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

Josh snickered.

“There’s no need to worry about getting pregnant, and it’s the best for fun, right? If it’s not your job, then being an omega isn’t bad. Of course, if the other person thinks the same.”

“… … You don’t plan on dating another alpha or beta? You still haven’t forgotten Pete’s daddy… … .”

Josh paused for a moment to answer Emma’s cautious question.

“I don’t plan on having another child.”

That man was the first and last time he slept with an omega. Josh had no intention of sleeping with a man again. In fact, he was closer to being heterosexual. He had been and still is attracted to women more than men.

Except for Chase Miller.

When he thought of him, his eyebrows furrowed. The only man he had ever slept with was that bastard.

At that moment, Pete laughed and shook his body above his head. His expression immediately relaxed at the child’s loveliness. He quickly put the child down, held him in his arms, and smiled as he faced him. Josh, who was looking at Pete with a smile, stopped for a moment. He remembered the face of a man he really didn't like from the face of the child he loved so much.

For a moment, Josh's expression became filled with complicated emotions. Emma looked up at him in confusion. Josh pretended not to know and held Pete in his arms, staring straight ahead. If this were really over, he would never come back to California again. Josh vowed again.

Nevertheless, what came to mind again was the sight of him looking up at him with tears in his eyes. Even the sound of his fragile, pitiful breathing came back vividly to his ears.

No one knew what happened that night. Only Josh knew.

Another memory that was his own grew.

When he thought about it that far, Emma opened her mouth.

"Won't Pete be curious about Papa when he grows up?"

"I guess so."

Josh muttered absentmindedly. There are many families with only one parent. Pete would naturally accept that.

That man can live freely as he has lived so far.

Josh frowned without realizing it, but he didn’t realize it. He didn’t want to think deeply about why something he had taken for granted until now was making him feel so uncomfortable.

However, no matter how hard he tried to erase it, Chase’s terrified face and tearful eyes wouldn’t go away and kept lingering in his mind.

Even the kiss that had made his insides hot.