The Omega is a Novelist

Chapter Twenty Nine

They covered the old furniture with dust rags, planning to donate them to a charity store as they were still in good condition and got to work on the walls, priming them for the fresh paint.  Yori usually hired a decorator for this sort of thing.  But although his arms began to ache within an hour of them starting and he was inwardly complaining about how unfit he was, when he glanced over at Ryota putting a serious amount of effort into making sure everything was perfect, his heart skipped a beat and he was filled with a heady warmth.  A smile came unbidden to his lips as he surreptitiously watched Ryota begin to roller the first length of colour onto the wall. 

He stared contentedly for quite sometime, the paintbrush dangling from his fingertips as he did so, before Ryota came to realise that his lover was not putting much effort in.  "You know," Ryota drawled as he stretched to paint the top of the wall, "this would go faster with the two of us."

"Probably," Yori replied, but made no effort to move to the paint the walls. 

Ryota paused.  "Are you alright?" A note of worry in his voice.  He had made Yori return to this room, had it been too soon after all?

"I'm alright," Yori smiled and finally dipped the brush into the colour before carefully applying it along the top of the skirting board.  Ryota watched him for a moment, then resumed his own task.  "I love you."

The roller brush stopped midstroke, but remained firmly touching the wall.  "What?" Ryota's voice cracked slightly as he questioned what he had heard, unable to will himself into believing.

"I love you," Yori repeated as if it were a perfectly natural thing to say while in the middle of redecorating.  Ryota carefully placed the roller into the tray before wrapping his arms about Yori and leaning into his narrow back. 

"Say it again," the Alpha demanded.

"I love you."

"I love you too, I love you so much," Ryota said and reached around to show him with a kiss.

*****

They did not finish the decorating that day, other things occupied their minds and bodies.  It was the first time that they came together since the incident and another part of Yori's soul stilled and felt healed.  Ryota had once more poured his very essence into their lovemaking, bringing Yori to heights of bliss unknown and Ryota soared with him.

Ryota let his lover sleep in the next morning, knowing that he would most likely be sore and ache from their passionate night.  And while Yori rested peacefully, he completely covered two walls with paint. 

By the end of the day, the walls were completely refreshed and both men retired to Ryota's apartment and ordered pizza before washing up and staying there the night.  Yori did not return home the next day.. nor the day after that.  In fact another six weeks passed before he entered his house and that was to show his brother, Hideaki and wife Eiko around the place. 

Eiko was glowing beautifully even as her stomach was swelling.  She had just had her second scan, which revealed a healthy child nestling within her, but they chose not to find out its sex.  The couple had found themselves with a different dilemma, one of where to live.  Their two bedroom flat above the florist, while okay for raising a baby for a short while, was not big enough in the long run and they hoped to find somewhere new to live.  But rents within the city were high, a three bedroom house with a garden, which was what they hoped for, was just out of fingertips reach.  And so Yori felt as if he had the solution.

"You can live in my house," he had suggested.

"What do you mean?" Hideaki had asked, confused by his little brother's suggestion, did Yori wish them to move in with him.

"Well, I am hardly ever there now," Yori had explained.  "I've been staying with Ryota most of the time." His pale skin had turned a little flush while admitting to this. "So the whole place is just gathering dust.  You would help me out a lot!"

The house that had once been his home no longer felt like one, even with the change of decoration and placement of new furnishings.  Home to him now meant Ryota. He could have just put the house up on the market, see a return in his investment, yet seeing as this situation had arisen...  Hideaki fought with him a little in the beginning, but couldn't deny that the house would be pretty much perfect, even if it was a little far from the florist.  They had already hired new staff to ease Eiko's burden as she would not be able to look after both shop and baby, even with his help when he was not working.  So the two men worked out a rental payment (although Yori would quite happily just hand over the keys) and the matter was soon settled.

Ryota gave Yori his own key to his apartment that night.  Four weeks later, the two men officially bonded during a long week of lust and pleasure all heightened by love.

The book that Yori had written inspired by Aisha and Keko brought both joy and criticism, with some saying that the girls had a beautiful love, while others claiming it was selfish and indulgent.  So what that the girls had still had children through artificial insemination and though their children grew up experiencing prejudice and difficulties in the end they were grateful to their 'mothers'?  There were even those who claimed that Ryu Kanuga had this time pushed controversy too far.  Yori ignored all of what the public thought, good and bad, too immersed in writing his latest book.

Author's note; Yes it is what you think!  It is almost the end of this book!  I admit I could have written more, but it felt like I would be stretching this out unnecessarily.  So the next entry will be the last, the epilogue.  And I will probably add a last word as well.  Thank you for all of your support thus far.