Unedited
~~~
The first time Kloh saw his mother again was the day after his grandparents died. That night when the police showed up, he was having a sleepover with Ares and Seph. His grandparents didn’t want him to be alone while they were away. And Steph was the older friend who could double as a babysitter, though they didnt say that to his face.
Because he was still underage, the police waited around until an adult was able to look after him. Plus they needed someone to identify the bodies and they couldn’t possibly ask a distraught teenager to do it.
Aida had showed up at 6am the next morning. She was a mess. A flip flop on one foot, a flat on the other. She had on these bright purple sweatpants and a brown button down. Her hair was forced back into a truly messy ponytail. Remnants of makeup covered her face as though she was in the middle of removing it when she rushed over. Tears marks enunciated by the dark eyeliner she had on, covered her cheeks. She looked pale, almost sickly. It was the most chaotic version of her Kloh had ever seen. And his first thought was,
“Ah, well at least she loved her parents. That’s nice to know.”
The next couple of days had gone by in a blur. Call it shock, but Kloh was in a state of detachment where he couldn’t even process the fact that she was back in his life. From the funeral to the packing of his bags to move in with her, he had been moving on autopilot. It wasn’t until he had returned home to an empty house after being taken out by his friends that it all hit him.
They were gone. And he was stuck with her.
He had finally broken down. He spent hours crying and screaming and cursing the world and everything in it. When she had come by to pick him up, he refused to go. He barricaded himself in the house for several days before regaining his senses. It took some convincing himself that they, his grandparents, would hate to see him like this for him to finally leave the house.
He moved in with Aida and the cold war began. Each person ignoring the other. Only making conversation when necessary. Oh how he hated her. He hated her house. Her clothes. Her nonchalance. Her lack of distress. Her lack of guilt when she saw him. And everyday that grew until one day he just stopped. He stopped caring about her. It was like a tv being unplugged or a candle being blown out. One moment it was there and then suddenly it wasn’t. He didn’t understand. He couldn’t describe it. But he felt a weight get lifted off his shoulders. And he never looked back.
As he stood outside the hospital room, Kloh tried to muster up some kind of emotion. But he couldn’t. There was no dull ache and pang of worry. There was nothing. And he didn’t quite know how to process that.
“Kloh, you okay?” Dex placed a comforting hand on his back, patting him lightly.
“Yeah. I’m good.” He came back to himself and offered his love a smile.
There it was. Emotion. Specifically love, affection and adoration. He was capable of it. He wasn’t in shock. He could still feel. Just not for her. It was a bit unnerving. Dex gave him an encouraging smile and pushed him forward.
“I’ll be with the kids. Text me if you need anything.” Dex kissed his cheek, patting him once more before heading back to the waiting room where the twins were with his dad.
He watched Dex walk away before turning back to the door. Taking a deep breath, he settled himself and walked in. He was greeted with the beeping and pulsing of machines. Kayle was half asleep in the chair right next to the bed. Her head rested on the bed. Her hand was holding onto Aida’s. Aida was wide awake. A soft smile graced her face, making her look much younger. She held Kayle’s hand and with the other she moved the wayward strands of hair that covered her wife’s face. Kloh paused in the doorway, not wanting to intrude. But Aida caught the movement in the corner of her eye.
“Kloh.” A flash of surprise then confusion. “You’re here?”
“Kloh? Oh hun you made it.” Kayle got up and turned to him.
A relieved smile filled her face. Then immediately afterwards, tears filled her eyes and she took three large steps towards him. He was unprepared for the hug. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. The wetness of tears soaked his shirt.
“Thank you for coming. And for calling Lane. And for dealing with my attitude yesterday. And for getting kids.” She sniffled and silently cried.
“It was no biggie. Honestly, there’s no need to cry.” Kloh muttered as he carefully hugged her back.
He glanced at Aida who just watched her wife affectionately. Unconsciously he released a soothing pheromone to ease her distress. It was a biological phenomenon that was rooted in the original dynamic between alphas and omegas. An alpha’s innate desire to ease an omega in distress, physically manifested. Several moments later, she had calmed down, no longer crying. She took a step back and wiped her face before offering him a smile.
“Sorry about that. I usually have better control over my emotions.” She said with a laugh.
“It’s fine. Really.” Kloh offered a smile in return.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Yeah Kayle. Lane and Dex are taking the kids to the playground across the street. I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.” Kloh added with a smile.
Kayle looked between the two before nodding and getting up. They whispered to each other for a moment before Aida kissed her hand and ushered her towards the door. She moved towards the door even as she casted worried looks at Aida. Aida smiled encouragingly, a touch of adoration on her face. A thought crossed Kloh’s mind, ‘That’s how he sometimes caught himself looking at Dex.’.
“Take care of her. I’ll be right back.” Kayle squeezed his forearm as she passed him.
Kloh nodded and walked her out. He watched until she went out of his line of sight before slipping back into the room. As the door clicked shut behind him, the room fell into an awkward silence. Kloh finally took a good look at his mother. Other than the thick bandage wrapped around her head, she looked well. There was an innate fatigue that she gave off. But she looked more like the mom he once had all those years ago.
“Take a seat. Don’t just stand there.” She said, breaking the silence.
Kloh paused for a minute before clearing his throat. He slowly made his way over to the chair by the bed. It was way too close to the bed for comfort. He uncomfortably pulled it away from the bed a bit before sitting down.
“How’s Dex?” She asked before another silence could descend.
“He’s good. His thesis is almost done. A lot of companies have already sent him offers. They love him.” Kloh relaxed as he talked about his boyfriend.
“That’s wonderful to hear. I hope all goes well with the thesis and offers. I’m sure he deserves nothing but the best.” Aida cheerfully said.
“Yeah, he does. I’ll be sure to tell him you said that.” Kloh gave her a small smile.
They went back and forth like that. Aida asking about a person, Kloh giving her an update. She’d comment and he’d thank her. Unfortunately Aida only knew so many people in Kloh’s life. Soon they ran out of people to chat about.
“So uhm, Kayle tells me you had a panic attack. Ehem, I heard those are usually triggered rather than a random occurrence. Could I ask what happened?”
“She told you about that?”
Kloh cleared his throat, “She kind of went off last night when she called. She was a bit off the rails.”
Aida chuckled. “Yeah, sounds about right.”
Aida gave him a look before sighing.
“Might as well tell you. You’ll find out anyway.” She muttered before speaking up, “Your sperm donor, aka your father, is trying to contact you.”
“Excuse me?” Kloh sat up, nearly choking on his own spit.
Aids kept a straight face as she continued speaking, “Your father, the person who got me pregnant. He suddenly has developed an interest in you. Well suddenly isn’t the right word. He, well, he is a huge chauvinistic, sexist asshole. And he called me last night yelling and screaming and said a bunch of crap that triggered the panic attack. And I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings and I slipped and hit my head. Kayle came into the room and here we are.”
“Okay.” Kloh didn’t know how to react to that. But he didn’t get time to fully process before Aida continued.
“I’m sure by now you’ve realized who your father is. He isn’t dead but I think you knew that already. He’s your friend Ares’s father, Kristoff. You’re half brothers. Crazy right?” She mumbled to herself then turned to the ceiling scoffed,
“Imagine my surprise when I found out he was married and already had another kid. And when I was pregnant with you his wife was pregnant as well. How stupid was I? Clearly something was off about him. But I was young and in love. That fuzzy love filter had me ignoring all the little red flags. Dad wanted to beat him with a bat once he found out. Mom, who should’ve been the voice of reason, wanted to use brass knuckles. They’re more personal perfect for a beatdown she said.” She laughed.
Kloh clenched the armrest at the mention of his grandparents. He could practically see the exact reactions from both of them. It definitely was something they’d say. Although he wanted fo smile, his heart throbbed painfully for a bit.
“I ended our relationship afterwards. He didn’t really care though. The sweet guy was gone and all that was left was the asshole. That drove me mental. I cursed him, threatened to tell his family. The whole nine yards. I was certifiable. Then I had you.” She turned to face him.
Their eyes locked and Aida tried for a smile but couldn’t really manage it. Kloh was the first to look away. He didn’t really understand why she was telling him all of this. But he couldn’t bring himself to stop her. She sighed again
“I had you and all of sudden I could move past all the bullshit he put me through. But he didn’t trust that I wouldn’t tell and sent me hush money. And I, a single mother who’d never worked a day in her life, took it. You were the only good thing that came from that mess. You were my sunshine in a rough time.” This time a true genuine smile came out.
Kloh squirmed uncomfortably in the chair. Rather than anger, he felt flustered. He in no way was mentally prepared for this conversation. His chest felt stuffy and he blurted out, “Why did you abandon me then?”
Aida froze. Silence descended. Kloh held his breath, waiting in what felt like anticipation. This question had been burning in his heart for years. He always wanted a reason. Even if it was absolute bullshit. He wanted a reason. He demanded a reason.
“After I had you, I had postpartum depression and anxiety. Kristoff was also harassing me to get you tested when he found out that Ares had a high likelihood of being an omega. He wanted an alpha. Seph didn’t count in his chauvinistic eyes. He wanted a boy alpha and you were the next best thing. He would show up at the house randomly, demanding to see you. One time he tried to snatch you away when I had taken you to the playground. He was everywhere. Swearing up and down that he would take custody of you if I was hiding that you’d be an alpha. I hadn’t even gotten you tested and I didn’t plan to. But he kept at me and eventually I broke down.” She cleared her throat.
“I was extremely paranoid at this point. A friend of mine was a doctor and we made it so that you presented as an omega on the test. When he saw the test he lost his shit. He never laid a hand on me but sometimes I wish he did. The mental abuse was much worse. As time went on my mental health was on a sharp decline. I was seeing and hearing him everywhere. So I made what I thought was the best decision for you. I left you with my parents, transferred custody to them so that he’d have no way to take you from me. I voluntarily checked myself into a rehab clinic. And time kind of just….. got away from me.”
“Time got away from you? What the fuck does that mean?” Kloh squeezed the armrest tighter, he could hear the wood cracking under his tight grip.
“I was medicated for the first couple of weeks. Then I’d fallen into these episodes where I lost track of time. Since it was a voluntary check in, I was offered discharge whenever the doctors thought I was better. But I couldn’t find it in myself to leave. I stayed there for a while. At first as a patient, then as a volunteer. Mom and Dad would send me updates on how you were doing.”
“I wanted to go back to you Kloh. You were my baby. Everyday away from you felt like hell. But I couldn’t risk him coming around again. Plus I no longer felt competent enough to be a mother. You had a better life with your grandparents than you would’ve had with your mentally unstable mother.” Tears had started to roll down her face as she watched him.
“And so what? You let almost a decade pass before appearing. Would you have showed up if grandma and grandpa hadn’t died? Or would you have just started a brand new life without me?” Kloh spat out.
“No! No, Kloh. I tried. I really did. But every time I came to the house I would see you and ….. and …….all I could see was his face. And the last thing I wanted you to see in my face was hate for the man you reminded me of.” She let out a shaky breath and wiped her face.
Kloh took a deep breath and relaxed his grip. “Why are you telling me this? Why now?”
“Call it old age. Or maybe it’s that I don’t want you to hate me anymore. You were too young before to understand. Plus it’s not like I couldn’t see that you hated me. Anything I told you then would’ve gone in one ear and out the other. More recently Kayle kept telling me to talk to you. But I didn’t think we’d ever get to a point where you’d sit in the same place with me long enough to have this conversation. Looks like it only took me being hospitalized for that to happen.” She tried for a laugh but stopped when Kloh didn’t react.
“I stopped hating you years ago. Now I don’t feel anything for you. It’s fair to say I would’ve ignored you if you had told me this when I first moved back with you. But I’ve been out of that phase for years now. Maybe if you treated me more like a son rather than an unwanted tenant, I would’ve wanted to sit in the same room as you. And this whole gender crisis thing you had me going through wouldn’t have happened.” Kloh barked a laugh. “I wasn’t going to ask you about it until I was forced to. But since you’ve volunteered the information, where did you get those drugs from? They’re completely illegal and put me in and several people in a dangerous situation. I could’ve assaulted some innocent person because of those pills.”
Aida looked shocked. Kloh resisted the urge to scoff. Clearly it didn’t occur to her that illegal, possibly untested, drugs would have such severe consequences.
“Oh my! Kloh, I didn’t know they would do that.”
Clearly.
“Once you presented as an omega, I thought it was natural. I didn’t know it was because of the drugs. So I completely forgot about it afterwards. The prescription was running out soon anyway. You wouldn’t have needed them any longer.”
“My fucking god.” Kloh pinched his nose and let out a deep breath. “I need to leave. I can’t stay here anymore.”
“Kloh.” Aida reached out and grabbed his arm as he went to stand.
“Just please. I let you talk and now I just need time to process. Can I have that?” He calmly asked.
Aida slowly let go and nodded. Thankfully Kayle made her return at that moment. Kloh mumbled a goodbye to her before basically flying out the hospital. He went to the playground where Lane had already put the sleeping kids back into the car. Kloh watched as Dex hugged his Dad. Lane squeezed him tight and kissed his cheek. Dex smiled down at him as they said their goodbyes. Lane grinned and said something that made Dex blush and swat at him. Lane laughed and pinched his cheek before waving him away. He got in the car and drove away.
Kloh walked over silently. Dex turned to him in surprise.
“Hey,…… hey why are you crying?” Dex’s easy smile slipped into a worried one.
“Am I?” Kloh touched his face and sure enough his fingers were wet when he pulled them away.
“Kloh, what happened? Are you okay? Is your mom okay?”
“She’s fine.”
“And what about you?”
“I….. I don’t know.” Kloh looked up at him and let out a laugh. “I don’t know.”
“Oh sweetheart.” Dex mumbled and pulled the dazed alpha into his arms.
“Whatever it is, I’m here for you.”
Kloh wrapped his arms around Dex. Tears silently fell. Dex’s words repeated again.
“I’m here for you.”
***
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I’ve wanted to write this chapter for a long time but I never could figure out the build up. But I guess the writing gods knew what they were doing.
Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy.
I’ll stop promising to update more often and just try to do it instead 🥺😂🤧
Thank you for your patience.
Thanks for the chapter.
That was a ride, sooo emotional and on point for the story. Thanks! Waiting for more 🙁
:))))))
Thank you!
So mother dear had her story too. It’s a shitty situation all around, and daddy dearest is the shittiest.
Thank you for the chapter!
Both sides were really well represented here! Kloh’s indifference is like self- preservation burnout, and his mother is basically describing the severe brain fog from depression and anxiety. I have experienced both and the portrayal is extremely well done.
😢….now we wait for the daddy dearest beat down chapter. I hope all 3 kids get a good shot 🔪🔪🔪
Even when you feel big or small. A loved one helps you move the mountains. If a moment can pass, this will pass as well! Not sure who needs this more
Why did you drop the story?
It’s so good.
Oh no, I’m still checking the status just in case it gets back…
It’s a realistic touch that she’s “explaining” but not apologizing for committing medical fraud, abandonment, and emotional abuse. Everything is someone else’s fault, or she qas only doing the best thing she could think of. Always some excuse. They think their past trauma makes mistreating their children, whom they claim to love so much, a minor inconvenience.