Easton

Donovan's awake...

Donovan's awake.

Donovan's awake!

Three long months have gone by without his smiles, his laughter, his essence. Iris had never missed that boy so much.

Already? Gabrielle's heart dropped. Secretly, she hoped he would stay comatose for as long as possible. At least, until she forgot about that night.

Which will never happen.

Iris jumped up, Kyle gave a gurgle of surprise. "Are you sure?" Iris asked urgently, eyes urgently begging this wasn't a lie.

"Yes," The nurse leaned against the door for support. "The first people he wanted to see were his mommies."

Gabrielle had a strange look on her face. Donovan was hit pretty hard on the head... could he possibly have...?

Best not to get her hopes up. Remember he's a monster.

So Kyle's checkup was pushed back. It's not everyday your comatose child wakes up. Iris's baby checkup can wait. Besides it's always going to be the same answer. Medical mystery.

-----

Donovan opened his eyes.

Ouch! The bright light blinded him, immediately he whimpered. Confused and scared.

When did he fall asleep? Why did he wake up to light bright enough to hurt his eyes.

"Doctor! He's awake!" An unfamiliar voice reached his ears, increasing the beeping noise next to him.

What was going on?

Finally Donovan's eyes adjusted to the harsh light. He looked around, frightened. This isn't his room. This isn't his home.

He was on a bed a little too big for him. The sheets were a disgustingly bright white. Somehow Donovan felt nausea looking at the sheets. The walls were painted a faded baby blue. Around him were machines of all sorts making sounds Donovan never knew existed. There was a curtain surrounding his bed.

He couldn't recognize where he was. In the midst of his confusion, Donovan hadn't noticed he was connected to an IV drip and the many bandages on his body.

Soon a doctor entered the room. He had kind eyes, surrounded by wrinkles from smiling too much. Donovan instinctively felt calmer. A friendly face. Unknown, yet friendly.

"Hello Donovan." The doctor said gently. "I'm Dr. Seymour."

The boy tried to answer but he couldn't. His throat was dry. His mouth parched. Dr. Seymour handed him a small paper cup of water. He seemed to have foreseen that Donovan would need it.

"Thank you Dr. Seymour." Donovan said politely, handing back his paper cup. He had gulped the water down, not minding his manners. The boy looked around, searching for his family.

"Where are my mommies?" Donovan asked worriedly.

"Your mommies are on their way." Dr. Seymour reassured. His voice was calm as to not alarm the child.

Donovan bit his lip. Although the doctor was friendly, Gabrielle told him not to trust strangers.

Alpha mommy! Somehow his heart felt a pang. Donovan winced and clutched his chest.

"Where's hurting?" Dr. Seymour asked gently, he started jotting down notes on his clipboard full of tiny words and boxes.

"My heart..." Donovan said.

"From a scale of one to ten, how bad does it hurt? Ten being the worst." The doctor made eye contact with the omega. He can't imagine how a child could be injured to this extent. A bullet wound to the hip! A major blow to the head.

Could he be from one of those homes? He needed to investigate.

"I don't know." Donovan felt scared. Was there a right answer he was supposed to know? He bit his lip uncertainly.

"There's no wrong answer." Dr. Seymour said as though he heard Donovan's thoughts.

"Three, I guess."

"Uh-huh." The doctor jotted more notes down before making eye contact. "Do you remember anything?"

"Like what?"

"Do you know how you got hurt?"

"Hurt?" Donovan gave the doctor a confused question. "I'm not-"

Ironically, it was now the injuries decided to make themselves known.

"Oh." The boy looked down and saw bandages. He noticed that both his legs were in casts and were in a hanging sling. He moved them slightly, wincing. Better not do that again.

"Sweet pea!" Iris had flung open the curtain. Her face was a deep shade of red from the exertion. There was a baby strapped on her chest...

Baby! Donovan suddenly had a splitting headache. Images came to his mind. It was too fast for him to make out. It made him dizzy and nauseous.

"Why's he acting like that?" Iris voice was borderline shrill with panic. She frantically rushed to her son's side, sitting on the bed next to him.

"Ma'am." A nurse said. She had a cold look. "Please give the patient space."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Iris snapped. She's a scientist and there is a fancy certificate to prove that. Obviously she's more qualified than a nurse.

"Mrs. Oaks," Dr. Seymour spoke up. "It's best if you let us do our job."

Iris couldn't say anything to refute that.

"My wife didn't mean any harm." Gabrielle's cold voice entered the circle. Unlike Iris who just took off, she walked slowly, biding her time. The alpha didn't like the way they were treating her mate. There was something off about the look in everyone's eyes. And she didn't like it. Not one bit.

"Mommy..." Donovan's headache subsided. What little energy he had left was gone. The omega reached his arms out for Iris, struggling to do so.

"Oh sweet pea!" Iris was crying. Gabrielle took baby Kyle from her hands so she could embrace this boy.

Sweet pea... Donovan's eyes lit up at the nickname, his dry lips cracked when he smiled, but he paid no attention to it.

Mommy was still calling him sweet pea, even though he didn't find his baby brother...

"I'm sorry mommy." Donovan's smile quickly turned into a sob. "I don't deserve to be your sweet pea."

Immediately Gabrielle tensed. Dr. Seymour noticed. Something fishy is definitely going on.

"What? What're you sorry for my darling?" Iris cooed. She broke the hug to gingerly wipe the tears from his face.

"I didn't find baby brother." Donovan looked away, worried she would be disappointed. Even when he looked away, he still subconsciously leaned towards his omega mommy. More guilt entered Iris's heart.

Donovan just woke up from a coma and instead of questioning his situation, he apologizes instead.

"Oh, that's alright." Iris could only reassure Donovan. "Tell you what, I'll still let you name him alright?"

Donovan immediately perked up. Gabrielle was about to voice her displeasure until Donovan noticed her.

"Alpha mommy!" Donovan had to lift his head to look at his role model. He ignored the pain in his chest when he looked at Gabrielle.

Gabrielle only stood there, stony. Does the monster really not remember?

"Darling what are you just standing there for? I know you're shocked but you could at least say something!" Iris shamelessly scolded Gabrielle.

Gabrielle jolted. Hopefully he doesn't remember.

"Donovan, sweet pea." Gabrielle smiled awkwardly. Now the words seemed foreign on her tongue. After what she witnessed, when he turned into... that. She no longer associated the boy with the endearment.

"Is alpha mommy mad at me?" Donovan's innocent eyes was now brimming with tears, his bloody lips quivering. He hadn't overlooked his alpha mommy's strange reaction. Gabrielle looked anywhere but there. His lips were bloody that night too, no doubt from ripping throats.

"No she's not." Iris immediately consoled the trembling mandarin as she turned to glare at her mate.

"Of course I'm not mad at you..." Gabrielle couldn't bring herself to repeat the words. "Donovan."

Donovan stopped crying. His worries assured, he struggled to raise his arms-reaching for Gabrielle-but stopped when she flinched. Immediately his arms went down, hands folded in his lap.

Iris noticed that it had gone awkwardly silent. She hadn't noticed that the doctor and surrounding nurses left to give them privacy in their reunion. Quickly the albino changed the subject.

"Well, do you want to meet your baby brother?" Iris asked Donovan. The boy immediately perked up. Gabrielle's hold on her son. Her precious child tightened. If it only weren't for that dratted Gilbert. Donovan would be the one dead and her family would be here. Safe.

Donovan immediately perked up. "I do mommy!"

Quickly Iris got up and gently grabbed her baby. When she turned around, Donovan's eyes widened.

She's never looked at me like that before. There was so much love for the squirming bundle in her eyes. So much more than when Iris looked at Donovan. His heart quenched in pain, a different kind of pain whenever he looked at alpha mommy.

The little omega boy was so excited with the arrival of his baby brother that he never thought about how his life would change. The thought had never crossed his mind.

"So here is your baby brother." Iris gently introduced the brothers. Orange eyes meet green.

A strikingly familiar shade.

"So have you thought of a name?" Gabrielle from the back spoke up. She wanted to leave, the sooner the better. Her baby Kyle safe from the monster. Her mate safe from the monster.

Even if no one believes her.

Donovan mulled it over. There was only one name ringing in his head over and over again. Strange, wasn't he going to name his brother Tweety?

"Easton." Donovan's mouth said, as though it had a mind of its own.

"Easton." Iris repeated the name. "Easton Kyle Oaks... I like that."

She tenderly adjusted the blanket wrapped around Easton. The name did have a nice ring to it. Even Gabrielle begrudgingly agreed.

Hearing the name aloud made Donovan all the more certain that that's the perfect name for his baby brother. Donovan licked his bloody lips and smiled.

Gabrielle shuddered. Hawk eyes never leaving the boy for a single second. Waiting for the moment he turns into... that.

"Easton." Donovan repeated with more confidence.

Welcome to the family, Easton.