Leo: POV
Leo tossed and turned in his sleep, he was incredibly restless. Was this a nightmare? No...
A voice, already very fuzzy to him, spoke to him. It was the same dream he always had after using his abilities excessively. But this time he could even understand some of the words.
"M...son...you...remember when...real partner....protect...sealed...sorry...feelings...sealed...go to...," then the dream broke off. Leo jerked up. At first, he didn't realize what had happened or where he was. The only feeling he had was a massive headache and a pain in his neck.
It took him a few minutes to catch himself and some memories, some more and some less, came back in a blur.
In the end, all he could remember was that he had given himself a hard time at yesterday's meeting and had to throw up in the toilet after a short time while Benjamin held his hair. After that, he only remembered how he got home and from then on, he had a movie tear.
When he tried to get up, he fell back into bed, his legs aching and his thighs feeling damp. Irritated, he looked between his legs and saw a slightly white-looking liquid. A few more memories came flooding back and he jumped up frantically and ran to the bathroom mirror that adjoined his bedroom.
Shocked, he looked at himself in the mirror. There was a deep bite mark on the back of his neck and his eyes were red from crying so much. Leo's body suddenly began to shake again. He held his hands in front of his face. - Not again. - His knees gave way and he sank to the floor. He was now sitting naked on the tiled floor, the cold pulling him back to reality.
"Christopher Wollseif, I'm going to kill you one day," Leo hissed, his face contorted with pain. Two scattered tears ran down his cheeks. "I hate you!" No, he didn't. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't hate Christopher, not even the first time, when receiving Oliver.
Still, Leo was incredibly angry right now. He'd had to change his life or put it in danger often enough over the last few years because of Christopher's actions, but he had to admit that Oliver was the best gift he could have been given in return. Maybe that was why he couldn't hate Christopher?
He placed his hand on his abdomen. If what Jasper said back then was true, there was a very good chance that another fetus would form in there in the days and weeks to come. - Yes, it was my dream to have a big family... But not like this - Leo sighed, his expression still suffering.
He wouldn't bring himself to abort the child this time either, even if, according to Jasper's speculation, Christopher and his child couldn't be aborted anyway. "What am I going to do?" he said desperately, pulling himself up by the sink.
The bottom line was that he would probably have to flee again, and this time to somewhere where no one would ever find him. He didn't really want to tear Oliver away from his surroundings again, especially as he liked it here so much and could finally meet his father. Leo bit his lower lip. He had to talk to Oliver alone and transparently about this, otherwise it would all backfire.
Leo put together a plan. First he would wait and see if he was actually pregnant. If he was, he would let Oliver enjoy his time with Christopher for as long as he could, until the pregnancy began to show, and then he would flee with Oliver, as far away from Christopher, the government and the Fahras as possible. Even if it was unfair to Christopher, it was best not to let on until then and pretend nothing had happened.
Leo looked at himself in the mirror again. "Can you do this?" He gave himself a slap. "I can do this. I have to manage. For Oliver's safety." Leo went to take a shower, his thoughts drifting again and again to his wish for a perfect family with Christopher and Oliver. But unfortunately, that was simply not possible, not in this world. He hardly gave his dream a second thought, he could understand more than usual, but still too little to be able to do anything with it.
Over the years, the heaviness in his chest after dreaming about his mother had subsided. He had already gotten used to the fact that he would never see his mother again, and yet apparently this inner longing remained, because otherwise these dreams wouldn't come up, would they?
Leo finished his shower, washed off the last of the day and then got dressed. He texted Jasper that he would come over later with Oliver. He took another deep breath, trying to suppress the shaking in his body, and walked down the stairs. Oliver and Christopher were sitting at the dinner table eating breakfast. Leo's coffee was already ready at the coffee machine, so all he had to do was take it.
Christopher almost jumped up from his chair when he saw Leo, but Leo held his index finger in front of his lips. "Psht, not now." Leo smiled, but his smile didn't look friendly at the moment. Christopher gritted his teeth audibly, but sat back down in his chair.
After Leo had finished his coffee, he sent Oliver to his room with a kiss on the forehead, he wanted to talk to Christopher alone. Subconsciously, he kept a certain distance from Christopher, who was clearly in a bad mental state. His eyes were also reddened, as Leo had already noticed with Oliver. They had clearly been worried about him.
The smile on Leo's face softened. "I'm sorry I worried you," his voice was very clear for the fact that his body was still shaking, Christopher could see that too. "No! I'm sorry, for fuck's sake. I crossed your line yesterday because I was jealous. I'm an asshole." Christopher nibbled tensely on his bottom lip.
"You are," Leo replied calmly. "I'm glad you realized that." Leo sat down on the chair opposite Christopher. He crossed his legs to control his trembling. "A-are you feeling better?" Christopher enquired cautiously, his voice different to usual. He seemed to be really worried. Christopher stood up and came closer to Leo, Leo's body automatically flinched when Christopher tried to put his hand on his cheek, but withdrew his hand when he saw Leo's reaction.
Leo took Christopher's hand. - Pull yourself together, Leo. You have to suppress your fear, for Oliver and for your future. - He put Christopher's hand on his cheek and smiled wryly. "You are not to blame for my reaction..," Leo said softly, his voice obeying him again. "What do you mean?" Christopher's hand shook, Leo held it tightly and swallowed once. "I've had bad experiences with... something like yesterday, that's the only reason I reacted like that," Leo lied.
It was half a lie, anyway. It was true that he had had such experiences, but it was a lie that that was the only reason for his reaction. In fact, it was only a small part of it. The fear that his life, as it was now, would be destroyed again was the bigger part.
"What was done to you?!" Christopher growled, pissed off. Leo sighed: "Rape without contraception. That's all I'm going to say." Christopher pulled his hand away and clenched it into a fist. "Who...," he growled loudly, but quickly quietened down again,"...and I...I did something like that and reminded you of something like that..." Christopher sank to his knees in front of Leo. A single tear ran down his face. Leo's facial expression contorted and he wiped the tear from his face. "I'm sorry," Christopher whimpered.
"Get up, it's not you. Don't worry about it," Leo tousled Christopher's hair like he always did with Oliver to comfort him. His forced smile became softer and softer. - It was going to be really difficult to keep my distance from him when he was acting like this... I don't think I can do this anymore - Christopher looked Leo in the eye. "Can I kiss you?" Christopher became more and more cautious, which Leo didn't like.
He slapped Christopher lightly on the back of the head. "Don't cry about it, it's okay, you didn't know, it just happens." Leo shrugged his shoulders, then got up from his chair, took a deep breath, knelt down and hugged Christopher while stroking his back.
Of course, all was not forgiven and forgotten. Leo's body still resisted any physical contact, but he was mentally stronger and kept his emotions under control. Yesterday's outburst had been enough. As long as he wasn't drunk or on drugs, he could actually control himself well. The feeling would soon pass.
Oliver entered the room and walked slowly towards the two of them. His expression looked sad or maybe even angry, was he still emotionally upset from yesterday? Oliver joined in the hug and pressed himself between Christopher and Leo. A sob could be heard.
"Oh my baby, what's wrong? Daddy's better now, everything's fine," he stroked Oliver's hair. Oliver didn't say anything, he just cried. "We'll go and see Jasper later, okay, sweetheart?" Oliver nodded. "He was there yesterday, wasn't he?" Leo now asked Christopher. "Yeah, he gave me good scolding..." Leo had to laugh. "Typical Jasper, that little dog. He's a total Casanova himself, but when it comes to those close to him, he turns into an evil dragon."
Christopher growled: "How did you two actually meet?" "That's not a story for now, we have to get ready. Work and kindergarten aren't waiting for us." Leo's body was no longer shaking, but he still felt unwell and his headache was fortunately not as devastating as usual.
The three of them got ready and dressed and made their way to the kindergarten first. Oliver's mood didn't seem to improve, he looked gloomy the whole time, Leo asked what was going on, but Oliver didn't really want to answer him and skillfully avoided all the questions. Leo felt really bad dropping him off at kindergarten in such a mood, but he had no choice.
When they arrived at the parking garage, Christopher and Leo sat in the car for a few more minutes. "I guess going in separately won't do us any good after yesterday, will it?" joked Leo. "Sorry," grumbled Christopher, staring out of the window into the parking garage. "It's too late for that now, so we might as well go in together. It won't make any difference anyway. When we get off work, I'll drop you off at home, then I'll take Oliver to Jasper's." Christopher just grumbled.
He still didn't seem to trust Jasper and, more importantly, he seemed to have realized by now that Leo was keeping secrets from him.
The two men got out of the car and rode the elevator up to the office together. When they got out of the elevator, almost everyone's eyes were on them. Some were disapproving, others curious. A young lady - if Leo remembered correctly, this was the lady who had 'talked' to Christopher the evening before - approached the two of them. She had a smarmy smile on her face. "Hey, Christopher," she ignored Leo completely.
Christopher raised an eyebrow. "And you are?" Leo almost laughed at Christopher's response, but held back. She swallowed visibly. "Jennifer. We had such a great conversation yesterday. You must have been drunk," she laughed falsely. "No, I wasn't drunk," Christopher replied coldly. She laughed: "Haha, Christopher, you're so funny." "I wasn't joking."
"Haha, sure. I actually wanted to ask you something..." her eyes wandered to Leo. - Now she does give me a look. But the look seems somehow patronizing - "we'd all be very interested to know what you have to do with this... man (she pronounced the word very disgustedly)?" Christopher's expression darkened and he ground his jaw. There were now two options for Leo. Either he let Christopher go for Jennifer's throat with his bad temper, or he would step in now, revealing that Christopher and he definitely had some kind of relationship together.
Christopher was already taking a step closer to Jennifer, his arm raised, but Leo held his arm firmly and shook his head. "Let it go, Christopher, she's not worth the effort." Leo's gaze turned to Jennifer, "Just so you know, we're old colleagues from the military and yes, Christopher is staying with me at the moment due to personal issues. The rest is none of your business." Christopher put his arm down, took a deep breath and clicked his tongue.
"I'll see you later," Leo stroked Christopher's back roughly and then disappeared into a door at the end of the room that led to the hall. Benjamin greeted Leo at the entrance today too. "So, did you survive the last night? The amount you drank must have given you a massive headache." As always, Benjamin got a little too close to Leo. "It's okay. Thanks for helping me yesterday." Leo didn't remember the conversation Christopher and Benjamin had. "No problem. It's the least I can do for you, boss." Leo sighed. "But you don't smell like your pheromones today either. Have you been able to sort out what was on your mind?"
"What makes you think something was on my mind?" Leo raised an eyebrow. "Leo, I lived with an Omega for a long time. Apparently you don't know it yourself, but the pheromones of Omegas are also much denser and emitted in greater quantities when there are strong emotions." "Oh?" "That's the reason I asked you that question." "Ah...yes, things have cleared up." He still felt empty and tense, trying to clear his head of what had happened yesterday, but strangely he didn't feel quite as bad as before. It was as if being close to Christopher had taken away some of his worries.
Benjamin wasn't entirely wrong, but the reason Benjamin couldn't smell him anymore was probably because Christopher had marked him yesterday, so other people wouldn't be able to smell Leo's pheromones anyway. That had its advantages.
"...Then it's all right." Benjamin seemed a little disappointed by Leo's answer, but Leo didn't want to probe any further and went about his normal working day after the conversation.
As agreed, he met Christopher at the car afterwards, but he went into the parking garage with Benjamin, whose car was parked near the elevator. Just as Benjamin was about to say goodbye and get in, a voice spoke to them that Leo didn't recognize, but judging by Benjamin's expression, he knew the person quite well.
Leo looked at the stranger, a petite man with dark hair and dark eyes, Leo could tell at first glance that he was an Omega, he was the very definition of small, sweet and cute, which he could never be. Inferring from Benjamin's annoyed reaction, this was his ex-husband he had been told about.
"Hey, Benjamin," he feigned. "I saw you yesterday, in the restaurant." He came closer to Benjamin and only gave Leo a disgusted look. Benjamin pushed him away from him. "What do you want?" Benjamin growled tensely. Leo didn't know Benjamin like this.
"I saw that Christopher Wollseif is working for you now~" Benjamin rolled his eyes. "Oh, that's why." Benjamin went to close the car door, but his ex held his leg between them. "Nananana, why didn't you tell me about this?!" He had a disgusting smile on his face that gave Leo uncomfortable goose bumps. "Sorry to butt in, but what do you want with Christopher?"
The young man turned briskly to Leo, stomped towards him and stood right in front of Leo. The guy was about a head shorter than Leo. He stood on tiptoe to stare right into Leo's eyes. "And who are you to interfere here? How do you feel about Christopher Wollseif, addressing him so personally?" Leo couldn't answer this question in the heat of the moment. But that seemed to be answer enough for the stranger. Leo took a step back, but the young man followed him. "Are you his lover? No, never. Never ever. Not someone like you. Why don't you take a look at yourself?"
Leo raised an eyebrow and pushed the shorter man away from him. "Keep your distance," Leo growled. "I'll do what I want. You can't tell me anything." Leo slowly understood what Benjamin was saying about his ex-husband. "So tell me, what do you have to do with Christopher Wollseif?" Leo sighed. "I don't see how it's any of your business."
"Oh, it's my business, you know? Because I want to be Christopher's wife and bear his children." Leo shook once uncomfortably, while the other seemed to be living in his own world. His face was already flushed with excitement.
Leo laughed out loud. "Definitely not. What do you think is so great about him?" "He's just damn hot and rich and powerful to boot." The guy was almost drooling. "Hah, and he's got a really bad personality." The shorter guy stopped moving and his excited expression turned grim.
"How would you know that, hah, hah!" The shorter one came closer and closer to him again, their faces right in front of each other. "Christopher is perfect. What would a scarecrow like you want to know about him?"
"Hah, I know a lot more about him than you do, I even know what he looks like naked and how big his penis is," Leo growled back at him.
"Lie!" The shorter man's expression turned aggressive. "Saint Christopher would never touch someone as ugly as you!" "Saint?!" Leo began to laugh hysterically. "Ah well, watch out you little fighting chihuahua," Leo pressed his nose against the stranger's. "YOU have no idea, what do you know about him anyway? What if he's completely different from what you think he is?"
"Tsk," he clicked his tongue, "I don't care, as long as he's good-looking and rich." "Hah, so you're just human scum." The shorter one reached out with his right hand and was about to give Leo a punch. Leo just grinned, because he had noticed that someone was standing behind him by now and he could tell who it was from the smell. He would probably recognize that smell anywhere.
Christopher caught the hand that was supposed to hit Leo, pushed the stranger back and pulled Leo into a hug from behind. "What are you doing here?" Little Omega started screaming wildly. "Christopher Wollseif! He touched me! He's standing in front of me, the real Christopher Wollseif!" Leo raised his eyebrows, Christopher had a disgusted expression.
"Oh Christopher Wollseif, I'm your biggest fan." The shorter man came closer and took Christopher's hand. "Nice to meet you." His gaze was greedy. Christopher, however, slapped his hand away in disgust, but he didn't flinch. "I was born to be your wife and bear your children." Again, Leo shuddered, but apparently not only him. Christopher seemed to feel the same way.
"Don't touch me," Christopher growled in disgust and took a step back with Leo in his arms. Meanwhile, Benjamin stood next to his car and watched the spectacle with one hand in front of his head. "That's enough now, Milan," he said calmly. "Don't interfere," Milan hissed back. "Well Christopher, I've had practice too. I'm really good at sex, others would even pay for it. You don't need that, of course."
"No, thanks," Christopher's look was still extremely disgusted. "I already have someone I love." His gaze fell on Leo. Leo's heart skipped a beat. - Leo, don't fall for this masquerade - "What do you want with that scarecrow! That's not even an Omega. Leo had to grin. Not even another omega recognized that Leo was one himself. - Probably thanks to the bite on his neck - but maybe the smaller one was just too selfish to pay attention to others.
"Milan, that's enough! Or should I call the police again? I think if I don't, you'll get a beating or Christopher will call the police himself." Milan clicked his tongue when he saw that Christopher was clenching his hands into fists and was ready to strike at any time.
"Fine, I'll leave you alone for today! But Christopher ~ we'll see each other again soon and you'll realize my worth ~" Milan purred and stomped off angrily.
"That was your ex-husband, wasn't it?" Leo asked empathetically, breaking away from Christopher. Benjamin sighed and nodded. "Yes, but he wasn't always like that. He changed abruptly after Jonathan was born. Thought he was destined for better things than being my husband and a father/mother. I don't know what exactly got into him either." Benjamin sank into the driver's seat.
"I don't like you. I really don't. But you have my sympathy," Christopher now spoke openly to Benjamin. "Thanks...," he glanced at the clock in the car interior. "But I have to pick up my son now." His gaze went to Leo. "And you should pick yours up too, we're already late." Leo nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Benjamin closed the door and drove off, Christopher and Leo also went to the car and got in. "Poor Benjamin. I've never had to get to know such a disgusting person." "Unfortunately I have, as the dominant alpha of a prestigious family, I've often had to deal with people like that." Leo shuddered. "Disgusting."
Leo drove off to the kindergarten. He got out of the car and walked into the building. Oliver was already waiting impatiently for Leo at the entrance and jumped into his arms almost immediately. "Dad!" "Hey, sweetheart, are you all right?" Oliver nodded quickly.
"Mr. Neumann." Nadine welcomed him too. "Hello Nadine," Leo put Oliver down again and took his hand. "I'd like to talk to you in private. Is that possible?" Leo raised an eyebrow. "Of course. I'll take Oliver to the car quickly, then I'll come back." He quickly took Oliver to Christopher in the car. Had something happened? He had a bad feeling about this.
"Come with me, we'll go into the meeting room, then no one will listen to us." Leo followed Nadine into the room and they closed the door. "Oliver has been worrying me today. He was very quiet and when you spoke to him, he answered irritably or started crying. Has something happened?" Leo was irritated. That didn't fit in with Oliver, who was usually so caring and calm. Well, he was only a child after all and the situation from last night was probably still bothering him.
"I'll talk to him later...we had a situation yesterday that could be the source of his behavior. I'll sort it out, don't worry." Nadine nodded. "All right. He wasn't misbehaving either, I was just worried." "Thanks for letting me know."
Leo walked back to the car. He would talk to Oliver in peace at Jasper's, at least he could explain the whole thing there, which he was planning to do anyway.
When he got into the car, there was a surprising silence. Normally, Christopher and Oliver were talking animatedly the moment he got into the car, but that wasn't the case today. Oliver just looked out of the window, depressed. Leo looked at Christopher, but he just shrugged his shoulders.
"Right, I'll drive you home now, Christopher, and then we'll go to Jasper's, Oliver, yeah?" Oliver nodded. Christopher grumbled. Both the drive home and the drive to Jasper's were completely silent, no one was talking. Leo tried to speak to Oliver now and again, but he barely answered.
Sighing after dropping Christopher off, Leo got out of the car after the drive to Jasper's and took Oliver in his arms, locked the doors and went into the office. Oliver was quiet and overly affectionate. They waited at reception for Jasper to call it a day.
It actually took a while before the waiting room was completely empty and Leo and Oliver were able to go into Jasper's office together.
"Why do we only ever see each other at my work, or when something is wrong?" Jasper greeted them both. Leo sat down on the chair, Oliver on his lap. "I wish there were better occasions, too." Jasper sat down in the chair opposite the desk.
"So, are you feeling better?" He put his hands on his lap and crossed his legs. "Well, how am I supposed to feel after yesterday? And Oliver seemed to have taken it badly too. I'm sorry about yesterday." Leo stroked Oliver's hair continuously, Oliver continued to cling to Leo.
"What's wrong, monster, huh? You were better yesterday than you are now, weren't you?" Oliver still didn't say anything. Leo sighed.
"I should probably explain what happened yesterday, shouldn't I?" "I can guess." Jasper shrugged. "Hah, I had too much to drink, I wasn't feeling well mentally and ended up with... Well, and unprotected. Which means Christopher and I, well, probably granted you your wish for a sibling."
Oliver's sombre face softened and his sad eyes began to glisten. Leo sighed again. "But we don't know that yet." His gaze went to Jasper. "Not for another two weeks. Let's assume, like last time, that you were directly impregnated, which, when it comes to you and Christopher, is very likely. The only thing I can think of that you could try would be the morning-after pill, although I doubt that would work."
Leo swallowed hard. "I can see that goes against your own moral beliefs," Jasper sighed. "And it's not even a fetus...," he grumbled. "You know better than anyone what you're doing to yourself." Leo nibbled nervously on his lower lip.
"Yes, I know that. But you also know very well that I've always wanted a big family... I know, not under those circumstances, but..." Leo looked at the floor.
"It would all be so much easier if you didn't have that damn sigil." Leo's expression was contorted a little in pain. "Please, I already told Christopher, the same goes for you, don't swear in front of a child," Leo grumbled. "But it's like this. You could have killed the Fahras long ago if they hadn't given you that forbidden slave seal when you were a child."
"I suppose that's true," Leo agreed. It would all have been easier, but the head of the Fahras had probably been convinced from the start that Leo would not give himself to them unconditionally. Oliver's mood had brightened a little, but when he heard the name, he grumbled again.
"What kind of seal?" Oliver muttered. He seemed less surprised by the word 'kill' than by the sigil, apparently he already knew that his father had killed people or he just didn't care.
Leo was finding it incredibly difficult to find the right words now that he had to find them. He had come here with Oliver to explain everything to him gently. Fortunately, Jasper intervened.
"I'm sure there's a reason you brought Oliver with you today and are openly trying to involve him here. I'm assuming you want me to play the mediator." Leo breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "Yes, I'm asking you to. You know me well."
"Watch out, little monster. Your father grew up with very evil and powerful people. Surely you know that your grandparents are both no longer in this world, right?" Jasper looked directly at Oliver. Oliver nodded, his face showing signs of aggression. Leo played with strands of Oliver's hair to calm himself and Oliver down. Leo's heart was pounding with unease.
"Your dad was adopted by your grandfather's best friend, who is also the head of the yellow dragons, so he has a lot of power and influence. Your dad was still very young when they took him in and back then. They gave him a seal on his ankle, the slave seal, which has been forbidden for over 1000 years. They couldn't manipulate him with it, but they could force him not to physically resist them. Your father managed to loosen this seal, but he still can't attack them. Understood that far?"
Oliver nodded, but looked very gloomy, as if he was fighting with himself inside.
"So, your father fled back then without a place to go. And that's how we met. I picked up your father in an alley, he was a completely neglected teenager and I took pity on him, as if I was nursing him back to health and he didn't tell me anything at first. He seemed completely distraught, so I didn't hold it against him that he didn't trust me. It wasn't until I saw the wanted ad on TV that he opened up to me a little. So we started looking for a solution to protect him from the yellow dragon's family in the long term and, because of your father's abilities, we asked the government for protection in exchange for him carrying out missions for them and so he joined the military."
"I hate them!" Oliver jumped up from Leo's lap. "I hate them, I hate them." Leo was shocked by Oliver's reaction. He didn't know him like this. Oliver bit his lower lip angrily. "They did bad things to my dad, abused him! I hate them." - Ah, so the reason for Oliver's mood wasn't yesterday's situation at all, but he had been listening to the conversation with Christopher this morning - Leo pulled Oliver back onto his lap.
"It's not a good idea to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, Oliver. I do thank you for getting upset for me, but you don't need to. Your dad is an adult." Oliver calmed down a little, but his mood was still in down.
"Ah, so that's how you explained your reaction from yesterday to Christopher, that is...Better that way, if he doesn't know everything." Jasper looked at Oliver again. "Can I go on?" Oliver nodded. "So the government protects your father from the yellow dragons as long as he's useful to them. It went on like that for a few years until your father met Christopher, your other father, and got pregnant with you. Don't get me wrong, you were a surprise, but never unwanted. The problem with the whole thing was more the pregnancy, because Omegas lose their abilities when they are pregnant and so does your father. As a result, he was no longer useful to the government and had to flee in order to go into hiding and not be found by the yellow dragons. After all, he was no longer under the protection of the government. Everything clear so far?" Jasper regularly checked that Oliver had understood everything. Now he nodded again.
"But the government had found your father again, the reason why you moved. So now he's back under the government's protection. Your father is very valuable to them because he is very strong and different from normal people. The problem behind the whole thing is: on the one hand, he mustn't attract attention, especially to the dragon families, so that the yellow dragon's family won't notice him, they live near this town by the way, so even more caution is needed, even in front of Christopher and his family." Jasper took a deep breath.
"On the other hand, if your dad just gets pregnant again, and I think that's what your dad wants to talk to you about, you'll both lose government protection again. That means that if your father is pregnant, which we can assume he is, you'll have to leave here again and probably much further away this time, perhaps to the other side of the world. Unfortunately, the influence of dragon families is still immense and transcends the world."
"Thank you Jasper. Even if, in my opinion, that was a little too detailed." By now Leo was smiling again. "Why don't you do it yourself next time?" Jasper stuck out his tongue and Leo gave him his middle finger. The two of them had known each other for a long time and occasionally acted like kids when they were together.
Oliver seemed to have to process the whole thing a little, but suddenly tears started streaming down his face. "Little one, everything's fine, was that too much for you?" "Little monster, are you all right? Was it too much?" the men said worriedly at the same time. Oliver shook his head.
"Dad, is it my fault that we have to move because I wanted a sibling?" Leo was a little surprised and stroked Oliver's hair gently. "No, my darling. This has absolutely nothing to do with you. Christopher and I weren't feeling well yesterday and we were a bit careless," Leo played down the truth a little.
"It's just the way it is. And when you have a baby brother or sister, we'll just be happy, okay? I'll sort out the rest myself." Oliver slid off Leo's lap, put his ear on Leo's stomach and poked Leo's abdomen with his index finger. "Promise me one thing, don't tease our dad, will you?" Leo couldn't hold back his laughter. Oliver had lightened the situation and Leo now felt much better. If there was a child inside, he was looking forward to it and he would manage it this time too. After all, when he looked at Oliver like that, he knew he had done everything right.
"So what's your plan now?" Jasper asked calmly, a smile on his face. "Wait and see. See if I'm really pregnant. If I am, I'm going to enjoy the situation for as long as we can, with Christopher and the rest of our entourage. Until the belly shows, then we'll probably set off to find a new home far away from here."
"I can't help you with the birth then, you know that?" "Yes, I know. But if I get far enough away from here, no one will know us and then I can do it at the hospital, I just have to pay attention of the eye color of this future child." Jasper sighed. "I don't want to interfere, but by the way, don't you think it's a bit harsh on Christopher to pretend he's in a perfect world and then just leave?" "Yes, I do." Leo stood up from the chair. "Especially now that he's unwittingly tied himself to me." He pulled his hair aside and showed Jasper the deep bite mark on the back of his neck. Jasper stood up as well and looked at the back of Leo's neck.
"What an idiot," Jasper shook his head. "Well, he didn't know any better." Leo let his hair down again. "Still, you don't just bite someone in the neck like that." Leo shrugged his shoulders. "Could have been worse." "Admit it, you like him too...otherwise you wouldn't be so casual about it." "I'm definitely not averse to him." "And then you want to do something like that to him?" "Well, what choice do I have?" Leo knelt down. "Oliver and I probably both wanted him to remember us well, didn't we?" Oliver nodded.
"Alright, that's your decision." Jasper shrugged his shoulders. "Do your thing." There was a brief silence. "Oh, I told you about my weird dreams about my mother, didn't I?" Leo lifted Oliver onto his arm and stroked his cheeks. He looked in a better mood than before. Some things seemed to have cleared up for him too.
"Yes, you mentioned them from time to time. But you could never do anything with them. Has anything changed?" "I don't know. I had another one of those dreams today, but this time I could understand a few words." Leo gave Oliver a kiss on the forehead. "And what kind of words?" "Mhm..." Leo thought for a moment. "Something about: I'm supposed to remember, real partner, who's supposed to protect me or I'm supposed to protect him..., Something's supposed to be sealed, I think, feelings or power? And that I'm supposed to go somewhere, but I don't know where."
"Hm. Interesting. To be honest, it doesn't sound like a dream to me, but a message that's been left behind." "Yes, I find it strange too. But there's nothing I can do but wait and hope that the dreams become clearer." "That's probably true. Keep me up to date. That sounds exciting. Maybe we can go treasure hunting in the long run, from the sound of it." Leo laughed. "That's right. All right, let's go now. Thanks again for your support and help."
"No problem, always happy to help, little monster and daddy monster. After all, you are my most valuable research project." "Yes, yes." "Yes yes means 'kiss my ass'." "Fuck you too," Leo joked and opened the door to the outside.
"Wait a minute, Leo," Jasper said, gesturing for Oliver to go first. Leo let Oliver back down on the floor and put the car keys in his hand. "Please go ahead." Oliver nodded, took the key and followed his father's instructions.
"What else is going on?" Leo asked, slightly irritated. "Leo. Please be honest. Oliver's not here. You really do feel like shit, don't you?" Leo raised an eyebrow. "Haha, that's not entirely wrong. I'm alright though, sort of." "Don't lie to me. You know exactly what's going to happen while you're pregnant and Oliver's still living here. And don't tell me you're doing it all for Oliver's sake."
"I don't know what you're referring to," Leo lied. "Then tell me: what happens when they send you on a mission?" Leo swallowed, a fake smile gracing his face. A scattered tear ran silently down his right cheek as he just managed to look straight at Jasper, his head turned to the side.
"I'm more than likely going to die," Leo said quietly. "That's exactly what I thought. And now don't tell me you're doing this for Oliver. What does he stand to gain if you die?" Leo's voice was cool, as cool as Jasper knew it only too well from the past: "I would do anything for Oliver, even die. But you're right, I wouldn't do this thing for Oliver, or for you or Christopher." "Then why?!" Jasper looked emotionally upset. Not surprising, since his best friend had just told him he was ready to die.
"Jasper." Jasper recoiled. Leo implied that he was about to cross a line. "Stay out of this. Please just let me live in my illusion of a perfect family for the next few weeks, do you understand? Just this once...just this last time." Leo didn't wait for Jasper's answer and slammed the door behind him. He could still hear Jasper banging on the desk, but he didn't care.
He had been in situations like this many times before, when he was desperate, but he had had enough. So he decided to take a different approach this time.
Even without a mission that could cost him his life, many things were now coming together that could destroy his life or take his life.
If the situation was already so critical, he would savor every last, desperate drop of it.