The Smile You Can't Forget (12)
twelve
Jensen dreamt of pale yellow walls and soft cotton blankets.
He could hear the faint tinkle of a mobile spinning overhead, barely audible underneath the sound of his omega laughing, bright and happy. There was a small swaddle of blankets cradled in his mate's arms, a tiny hand outstretched towards the dancing outlines of moons and stars spinning above it, and Jensen stepped forwards to slip his finger between five much smaller ones, feeling them curl around it and hold on tight. Pride curled happily in his chest, and he tipped his head downwards for the first time, eyes eager for the sight of his baby-
Jensen groaned under his breath at the sound of a phone ringing, cutting through the silence of their bedroom. He forced his eyes open reluctantly, gently shifting Jared's weight off his chest to reach for his phone, surprised to discover that it was still and silent on the nightstand. Next to him, Jared murmured sleepily, rolling further across the bed to grab his own cell phone from the nightstand on the other side of the wide bed, fumbling blearily in his attempt to answer it. Swearing under his breath, he finally brought it up to his ear, muttering a fuzzy hello even as he rose to his feet and pattered out of the room in a vain attempt to let Jensen go back to sleep.
The alpha yawned widely, eyes shifting away from his omega to settle on the bright LED numbers on his alarm clock, proudly announcing that it was a little after half five in the morning. He let his eyes slip shut for a long moment, mourning the loss of another lazy Saturday morning before he drug himself from bed and headed for the shower. The hot water woke him up a little and he could hear the sounds of his omega pottering around the flat, speaking quietly to whoever was on the other end of the line - he could only imagine how tired Jared must have been.
Fourteen weeks in, and Jared was really starting to feel it. Whilst he hadn't experienced any of the dreaded mood swings that Dr. Marini had warned him about, his morning sickness had yet to ease up and he was getting tired a lot more easily. Jensen had tried to insist that he cut back on his hours at work, but the young omega had insisted that he should keep working for as long as possible in an effort to save some money up for the baby - quite honestly, Jensen was at a loss of what else to do.
He resolved to finish his shower as quickly as possible, and make the younger man breakfast. They'd discovered fairly early into their relationship that Jared tended to rise earlier than Jensen, and the omega had wordlessly assigned himself the task of making breakfast for the two of them every morning, but Jensen was determined that even though their plans of laying in bed had been ruined, Jared would still have as relaxing a day as Jensen could give him. No household chores or planning for the baby, just lazing around the TV in his sweatpants like a regular teenager.
He dried himself as quickly and efficiently as possible, pausing to slip into an old pair of sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt before he made his way to the kitchen, absently mindedly humming Metallica under his breath.
Predictably, he headed straight for the coffee-maker, grabbing his favourite mug and the one that Jared had claimed as his own from the cupboard and setting them on the side. The doctor had informed them that it should be okay for the younger man to have one cup of coffee a day, but the nineteen-year-old had made the elective decision to cut it out completely, turning to lemon and ginger tea instead. He'd told Jensen that it was supposed to help with morning sickness, and whilst Jensen definitely hadn't seen any evidence to back that theory up, the kid seemed to enjoy it.
It wasn't until he turned to grab a teabag from the box on the kitchen counter that he realised that Jared was already in the room.
The young omega was slumped over in a kitchen chair, head resting in his hands and his cell phone still flashing on the 'disengaged' screen on the table in front of him. His eyes were red-rimmed and there were drying tear tracks on his face.
"Jared?" Jensen called quietly, stomach lurching sickeningly at the sight. "Jared, hey, what's going on? Is everything okay?"
When he got no response he crossed the room slowly, sinking to his knees in front of his boyfriend's chair and untangling Jared's fingers from his hair, tugging them into his lap instead. With his other hand he tipped the kid's head back, forcing him to make eye contact.
"Come on, baby," He coaxed softly, stroking the pad of his thumb across the omega's cheekbone. "Tell me what's wrong. Who was on the phone?"
Jared sucked in a deep breath, and Jensen could see tears dancing in his fox-slanted eyes.
"It was my mom," He confessed softly, chest hitching on a sob. "My dad had a heart attack this morning."
"Oh, Christ." Jensen swore, tugging the kid forwards into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, baby. What did she say? Is he okay?"
Jared shrugged against him, trembling and sobbing silently.
"I don't know," He forced out against Jensen's shoulder, burrowing his head further into Jensen's neck. "All she said was that he's in the ICU."
"Okay," Jensen nodded reassuringly, feeling more than a little out of his depth, but determined to do the right thing for his younger mate. "Okay. That's okay - listen, do you know what hospital he's in? Yeah? Good. We'll pack a bag in case we need to stay there for a couple of days, and then we'll get in the car and head straight there, okay? Everything's gonna be fine, you'll see."
Jared shook his head, his voice hitching again. "I can't."
"What do you mean?"
"My mom," Jared whispered softly. "She said..."
"She said what?"
Jared turned away as if he was ashamed, and even as Jensen watched, tears started falling from his eyes all over again. "They don't want me there."
Jensen blinked, momentarily thrown. He'd known that Jared's parents weren't the most supportive of people, particularly in light of their mating and Jared being pregnant, but this seemed entirely left field. "What do you mean, baby?"
"She said that only family were allowed to visit," The omega sobbed broken-heartedly, burying his head once more in his hands to hide his face. "And that since I walked away, I wasn't part of the family anymore."
"What?" Jensen asked, completely dumfounded. He tugged Jared's hands away from his face again, more firmly this time, strugggling to ignore the dark curl of anger that had settled into the pit of his stomach. "That's bullshit. Look, she's probably just upset, okay? Why don't we pack a bag and head over there, and we can see what's really going on when we get there."
After a small hesitation, Jared nodded his head.
***
Jared spent most of the drive curled up in a small ball in the passenger seat, temple resting against the window and his arms wrapped protectively around the swell off his stomach. He was still wearing the shirt that he'd slept in, although he'd at least had the foresight to trade out his sweatpants for jeans, and he'd allowed Jensen to bundle him up in his leather jacket in an attempt to stave off the shivers that had been running through the young man's frame since Jensen had first found him.
The jacket hung loose from his shoulders, accentuating the slim build of his frame and making him look young and small. Jensen wished that there was some way for him to call his own mom without Jared knowing and ask for her advice; he'd never lost a family member, or even had one seriously ill, and he felt more out of his depth than he ever had. It was all he could do to try and be there for his mate, making up the steps as they went along.
Jared didn't say a single word between the moment that he slid into his seat in the Impala and the moment that they pulled into the hospital parking lot, and the silence was disconcerting. Jared was usually full of lively chatter, rambling happily about his day or singing along to Jensen's tapes at the top of his lungs, laughing loudly and trying to encourage the alpha to join in; Jensen didn't blame him for not having much to say, but he wished that he could think of something comforting to break the silence with.
"Come on, baby." He said after a long moment's pause, eyeing the hospital through the window. "Let's go and find out what's going on, hey?"
For a moment, he didn't think that Jared was going to answer, and then the younger man slowly nodded his head and let out a deep breath.
"What if they don't let me in?" He asked quietly, keeping his face turned towards the window.
Jensen reached out to squeeze his hand. "Then we speak to the doctor. It's your dad, Jay - they're not going to keep information about him from you just because of a family spat."
Jared nodded his head resolutely. "I guess you're right."
"I'm always right," Jensen teased lightly, swinging his door open and stepping out into the cold morning air. He shivered a little, regretting his decision to wear nothing but a thin t-shirt and more than a little glad that he'd given his jacket to Jared. He doubted the younger man had even realised how cold it really was, and made an effort to tuck his jacket closer around the young omega as he wrapped an arm around his shoulders and led him towards the hospital entrance.
Jared stopped in his tracks as soon as he caught sight of them, and for a second, Jensen thought that he was going to turn tail and leave. Instead, Jared closed his eyes, sucked in a deep breath and then started moving forwards again. Jensen couldn't help but feel more than a little proud of his omega's bravery; quite honestly, he wasn't sure that he would have had the courage to do the same thing if he was in his mate's situation.
Jeff caught sight of them first, and he offered his brother a small half-smile that was clearly forced, before turning his attention beack to his sister and his mother. The two of them were sitting slumped over in a couple of the waiting room chairs; Megan looked like she was dozing, propped up against the wall, Jeff's jacket tucked around her. There were drying tear-tracks on her face, and Jensen assumed that the young girl must have cried herself to sleep. Mrs Padalecki had her head in her hands, staring blankly at the floor, her whole position screaming despair. Jensen felt his mate's breath hitch at the sight of her, and couldn't even bring himself to imagine seeing his own mother in a similar position; children were raised to believe that their parents were invincible, and Jensen knew how scared he would have been to see his own mother in the same position.
"Momma," Jared called softly, stepping forwards to lightly rest his hand on her shoulder. The woman jumped as if she'd been burnt, jerking away from her son's touch even as she turned to meet his eyes from the first time, and Jensen felt the way that Jared flinched away from her. "Is he okay? What are the doctor's saying?"
Sherri scowled darkly, pushing to her feet in a move that screamed hostile, and Jared took half a step backwards.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Jared faltered for the first time, eyes shooting to his brother for help. Jeff refused to meet his eyes, turning his head towards the floor, and the young omega's breath hitched on a quiet sob.
"He's my dad... of course I was going to come." He offered quietly, shifting to press more firmly against Jensen's side. The alpha tucked his arm tighter around the younger man's waist, keeping still and silent and offering all of the support that he could without stepping into the middle of things. The last thing Jared needed now was Jensen interfering where he wasn't needed.
"He's not your father." Sherri informed him coldly. "You gave up that right when you threw a temper tantrum like a toddler, and walked away from this family. Hell, we probably wouldn't even be in this goddamn hospital if it wasn't for you! You've always been a dissapointment, Jared, but you have no idea how much stress your latest stunt has caused your father. Do you know how hard it is for him to be respected at all when his omega son goes off and gets himself knocked up by the first knot he drunkenly stumbles across? This is all your fault."
"Hey!" Jensen interjected sharply, even as Jared's breath hitched in a wounded-sounding sob. "This was not his fault. I understand that you're upset, but blaming him won't help. You're family - you should be supporting each other!"
"He's not family!"
Jared turned his face into Jensen, fighting to hold back the sobs that Jensen could feel wracking his form, and he had his mouth open to defend his mate when Jeff stepped forwards. Jensen fought to remind himself that this was the same guy that had pulled Jared into a bear hug the last time that they had seen each other, because now his eyes were cold and his mouth was drawn into a tight line.
When he spoke, his voice was hard and his tone was final. "This isn't the time or place to argue about this. It's probably best that you go home, Jared. I can call you when the doctor lets us know what's happening."
Jared faltered for a long moment, but Jensen could see the resolve in his mate's eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere. I don't care what you say, he's still my dad, and I'm not going anywhere until I know that he's going to be okay. If you guys hate me that much, then Jensen and I will wait on the other side of the waiting room."
Jared kept his eyes trained on his brother, and Jensen knew that the young omega was waiting for his brother to reassure him; to tell him that nobody hated him, that they were all just tired and stressed. Instead, Jeff just nodded his head, turning his back on them completely as he ushered his mother back to her chair.
Jared was watching him with wide eyes, and Jensen's heart hurt at the sight of his mate looking so devestated. Doing his best to control the urge to knock some sense into the omega's family, Jensen settled for ushering the young man across the waiting room. Jared looked grateful for the chair that Jensen lightly pushed him into, and it wasn't until Jensen sat down next to him that the young man let himself tip forwards, resting his head in his hands as he finally allowed himself to cry.
"Jay," Jensen soothed softly, tugging the younger man into his arms. "I'm so proud of you, baby. She's just upset."
Jared shook his head against Jensen's neck, his entire body shaking with the force of his sobs. "She hates me."
"She'll come around," Jensen denied, tugging the young man impossibly closer. "She just needs someone to blame right now... and even if she doesn't, then it's her loss, okay? Not yours."
His hand slipped down to the omega's belly, pressing lightly against the small bump there, and driving his point home. If Jared's family chose to walk away from him now, they'd not only be walking away from one of the most incredible people that Jensen had ever met, but also his son or daughter. Jensen couldn't imagine anybody making a decision as foolish as that, but he swore to himself that he would support his mate just the same.
For now, all he could do was hold the omega close, waiting patiently whilst the omega pulled himself together, clutching at Jensen's sleeve as if he were a lifeline.
"I've got you." He promised, and he'd never meant anything more. "I'm not going anywhere."
A/N: I'm sorry for the wait. Unfortunately, my grandad got a bit worse and spent the last few months in and out of the hospital, but he's doing better now so I'll try to get back to posting as regularly as I can. I promise that I'm as committed to this fic as is possible, so please try and stick with me and understand that I might dissapear sometimes! We'll get there in the end! Big love to everyone that reads this - you guys are what keeps me coming back <3