2 2. Shortest End

I am a married man.

I, me.

Married.

And my husband (I can't believe I am actually saying that) is an Earl. It's not that same-sex marriage was an alien matter to me, I mean I lived in London and same-sex marriage was legal, enforced quite well even but I have never seen myself as a married person even in the near future. I was only twenty-six. The peak of my life, untethered and free. Plus I still had my mom to be convinced but here's the thing. I am not Max Foster anymore and I don't know how to live my life anymore. It's not I had lost my will to live. No, nothing like that.

Nothing seems plausible now, now I am thinking over it all again, doubting it all. How does life work again? Didn't it go like laterally, events following events without any funny sort of overlapping? Things happened but the past and present were clearly divided. I mean, I'm no scientist so I would really, really love to talk to one, like right fucking now.

It seems I have traveled through time and not as a whole. Look, I am really confused right now and it would really help if I take all this slowly, one point by point. So I was back from having a dinner date with Liam, my partner, then I remember getting a mind-blowing head (as usual Liam was exquisite) and I clearly remember that, clearly, I was climaxing.

I was coming but I wasn't coming.

So now I am in the body of a man married to some Count somewhere in the Victorian Era where same-sex marriage was recognized AND miraculously legal. I am sorry, I must have already mentioned that I am now married before.

But get this.

I am married and I missed my own wedding.

Some sort of twisted prank? Yes, for sure.

The Globe Lady was now gone, and I am left in the room to undress for 'bath'. I imagine a luxury bathtub with vintage taps set in the middle of a marbled room, ah and the bubble is overflowing. Maybe I should add 'my husband' to that for quality time. I can't help but laugh to myself as I got up from the bed. I look down at Adian's legs, they were…thin to say the least, and very pale. And oh my, grossly hairless.

I pull the white pants open and stared at Adian's crotch. Okay, this feels strangely illegal but it's my body now? Right?

Oh god, he's almost hairless down there too.

Oh, wait, no.

Is Adian…a kid? Am I married to a pedophile?

I walk up to the long full-body mirror and stare in front, at my reflection. Adian's body was built like a stick insect, he had thin limbs, almost frail, and porcelain skin that made me think that the body would break if I happen to exert any extra power onto myself. But Adian's body wasn't small, he was tall but his thin frame made him appear smaller than he actually was. It certainly wasn't the body of a kid. I reach for the white shirt on this body and slowly I unlatched the small mechanism that held the collar together at the front and it opens like a dress shirt, the shirt I am wearing is most probably loungewear. It was baggy and sagged in a relaxed form, I stared at my neck.

Good lord, Adian definitely was not a kid.

I examine the red spots that blemish the neck and collar of this frail body. Mister Husband needs to step back the aggressive game a little bit because my neck looks ghastly like it has a skin disease, blots of red splotching across the white translucent flesh, I slightly tap my fingers over the love bites. It looks recent, like the one I boldly left on Liam's neck. What happened to Liam? And Max Foster? What happened to my gorgeous muscular body? I rub a hand on Adian's smooth chin, he had wide brown doe eyes and soft plump lips. He was the epitome of Gorgeous, but he wasn't feminine. I sigh as I fix Adian's fluffy silver hair and it comes out sounding long and thoughtful.

How did I wake up here, in this delicate body out of nowhere?

I raise the shirt and more spots appeared on my chest, even a few speckles down to my waist and winding back to my back. This. This body is a canvas and like an artwork, it was filled with bite spots all over. I guess this is what a healthy married life is about. You become proof of love, you become an art.

I slip my pants off and run into the warm cushion of bubbles.

---

I latch on the collar of the freshly pressed shirt, quite similar but much more sophisticated than the previous one and I softly smooth the front down, which is tucked in my high-waisted formal black pants. Quite tight, it felt slightly suffocating as it hugged too close to Adian's long thin legs.

Knock Knock

'Come in.' I call out and the door handle moves open.

'Sir.' The Globe Lady clasps her hands at her front,

'The Family Physician is here to take a look at. Shall I send him in?'

'Yes.' I pause and thought of Victorian words to say, 'Please do so.'

I walk around and sit myself down on the sofa near the door. The room is large and extensively decorated with exorbitant designs. The bed is king-sized and around it, a translucent white canopy falls on all its sides and you could peek into the white blanket and sheets that had been rearranged properly while I was in the bath. On its left, huge windows let open to an ornated balcony and the room dissolves into the sparkle of the sunlight falling from it. This place exceeds all my standards of luxurious and of course, I guess this was the standard then.

I hear the door open and turn my head towards it, a young man dressed in typical Victorian attire came in. I look on as he walks near me and instead of sitting at the sofa facing mine, with a table in between, he sits down right beside me.

'Okay.' He takes off his brown coat and rolls up the sleeves of his white dress shirt, 'Look here.'

His brown vest pulls taut across his chest as he leans in, and deftly, his thumb is under my eye, pulling down the lower lid, 'Look up.' He mutters and examines my eyes.

'Okay.' He whispers to himself and pulls out a small weathered notepad from the inside pocket of his vest. He furiously scribbles on it and continues speaking,

'Miss Maria said that you had a serious fall. And you can't quite remember anything?'

I look into his blue eyes and put on my best worried expression, scrunching my eyebrows up slightly and pursing my lower lip out ever so subtly. I may have looked mighty ridiculous doing this sort of thing as Max Foster but I have now seen Adian and he was a charmer. And I will put it to best use.

'Lord Physician,' I sigh long and tediously,

'It's Sir Dominic.'

'It's not that I can't quite remember anything. I really cannot recollect anything, my brain…'

'Brain?'

I stare at him a minute, the poor fellow looked terribly confused, ah shoot.

'My mind.' I place a confiding hand on his shoulder in an attempt to reconnect with him, 'My mind is completely empty. It's not merely that I cannot just recollect, it is that I have naught to even recollect at this point. Sir, you have to help me.'

Sir Dominic nods thoughtfully and bends his head down, furiously scribbling on the notebook placed on his right knee. He looks more like a student than a doctor.

'Have you felt any sort of sickness, maybe a spell of dizziness after you regained consciousness?'

'No, none at all.'

'Hmm.' He rubs his chin thoughtfully and checks my eyes again, 'Truly a perplexing case. It may have been caused by your recent pheromone imbalance coinciding with your fall as you are an expecting father. The pregnancy period is, in comparison, considerably vulnerable for Omega Males. I will immediately write to the apothecary for some replenishing formula and make sure the pregnancy is not affected by the fall.'

What…what is he saying?

Did he say pregnant? Do I have a wife? A Pregnant wife?

But Adian also has a husband…

'Pardon my rudeness.' I close my eyes and raise a finger in an attempt to make sense of the nonsense I just heard, 'Pregnant? Sir Dominic…'

I laugh, it was too absurd and far-fetched. First, I time-travel, and then I suddenly have a husband, and what's more? A baby is on the way!

A baby, my ass. Is this a prank? Is this all cosplay?

'Adian. Calm down.' Sir Dominic places his hand on my shoulder and shakes my body slightly, I realize I was starting to hyperventilate. And yes, it made perfect sense to be bewildered.

I was a normal man just yesterday ago, enjoying life and love.

Now I am this thin frail guy in this fucked up situation and nothing around me is even remotely familiar anymore.

'Adian.' Sir Dominic peers down at my eyes, and I feel disconnected.

Disconnected that as he slips in a warm cup of tea in my palms, my hands look foreign.

'Drink up.'

I drink it slowly and when I move the cup away from my mouth, Sir Dominic takes it away and places it on the table.

'Adian, do you know where you are right now? What day is it today?'

I shake my head, 'No.'

'Do you know what an Omega is? An Alpha?'

'Uh,...Greek letters?'

Sir Dominic smiles, and he immediately looks down to hide it,

'Yes and no. Every person has a secondary gender. Their primary gender is either Male or Female. But there are three secondary genders, Alpha, Beta, and Omega. And to say it so, all Omegas can procreate with an Alpha, regardless of whether you are a male or a female.'

'..I see.' I won't lie, this sounds unnecessarily complicated but I don't think I really am in a place to be throwing around opinions after opinions.

I don't see a door back to my normal life and I've to survive until I find a way…somehow. Not the most impressive set of plans, but hey, a plan's a plan.

Sir Dominic continues, 'And there are certain phenomenons such as heat, marking, a bond.'

'Heat? Like in…like in…' I am unable to finish the sentence but Sir Dominic nods along, his hands are clasped together and I feel the atmosphere shift to a serious note.

I clear my throat and look at Sir Dominic properly, 'So what is a heat?'

'Heat are periods of fertility for Omegas. There is an extensive release of pheromones and it is one of the most vulnerable states for an Omega, but the pregnancy period is also an equally delicate time. So–'

'I'm sorry, what are pheromones?'

'Ah.' Sir Dominic looks extremely patient, but he looks at me a little too hard. I find myself feeling out of sorts. He continues with weight in his voice,

'Pheromones are, you see, Sir Adian, scents.'

'Scents.'

'Yes. Alphas and Omegas release signature scents and it is made to entice a mate. Omegas release a considerably great efflux of pheromones during their heat as it is a period of fertility.'

Oh, kinda looking very much like these Omegas got the shortest end of the multi-ended stick. Is that a word? Anyways, from what I hear, it sounds like the odds are very much against the Omegas.

Quite the unfortunate ones.

'Why?'

Sir Dominic looks at me with a face of disbelief, then I see him register the question. He opens his mouth to answer but then it closes without a word. This happens twice or thrice before he slowly drawls out,

'I don't know. We have not really pondered upon the reasons as to why this happens. It just…happens.' He smiles apologetically, an incompleteness on his expression, an inadequacy felt in the fact that he couldn't answer my question. I smile back to reassure him and suddenly I didn't know what to do with my hands as they distinctly came into the frame of my awareness.

'So,' I clear my throat, hoping that a smidgen of awkwardness has been dispersed by that,

'I need to know this so that I don't attack any omega in case the situation gets…' I laugh lightly, 'out of control?'

For the first time, Sir Dominic's face appears unkind and his features twisted in a slightly condemning way. Okay, not condemning, he looks like he is re-evaluating his judgment of Adian what's-his-name Drane. I feel this sudden strong urge to apologize to Adian for botching his reputation to this very kind-looking kid doctor.

I know for sure that I am one of the worst candidates to be put in this society, I mean, I could barely catch up with my own back then.

'No. Sir Adian.' He sighs apprehensively, 'You must keep this in mind for the reason that you are an omega. And you are currently expecting.'

Oh. I swallow with a loud gulp.

So I didn't have a pregnant wife.

Rather...

I am a pregnant wife. A pregnant husband, in my case.

I stare ahead at the guy in front of me, the 'kid doctor'. He continues talking but for some strange reason, it sounds so distant like I am hearing it from behind a glass wall. I try to tune in to his words,

'I believe you should know at least the basics. I would, of course, encourage you that you seek your Alpha in times of crucial requirements. I'm aware that Lord Elian is more than welcoming you for that matter. But in any case, this is a delicate matter and it is, in addition, your time so I must stress that you call for me if any strange occurrences were to happen to your body. And, Sir Adian, I must advise that you stay inside your estate premises at all times and restrict yourself to a sanctioned beta population around you…'

I stop listening and continue zoning out blanky at him. I could see Sir Dominic's mouth continuously moving but I am unable to register anything.

I…

I don't think I know how to live my life anymore.