The ABO Serum

You Were Supposed to Have the Babies

"I'm sorry if you feel like this is out of the blue, but I didn't want to do it over the phone. This isn't going to work," Rudy said as he handed Alan back the two-carat solitaire he'd given his partner to show he was serious when he asked him to move to middle America with him. Alan wanted to get married before leaving California, but Rudy said he didn't have enough time to plan it right. He kept putting it off and now Alan realized why.

"I knew you were working on male pregnancy, but I thought you wanted to have the babies. I can't do this," Rudy continued. "I have a moving van parked outside. I've got my test results to get me past the national guard and I'm going back home before this gets any worse. I'm not an omega, and I'm not going to become one."

Alan couldn't speak. He looked at the warm piece of metal in his hand and tried to make sense of what was happening. When he walked in the meeting room he'd expected to smell something wonderful, but there was nothing. Empty air. It was disappointing but Rudy was still there in the flesh and he could actually hold him. Except, his body language was akin to a porcupine.

Rudy didn't wait for Alan to answer. He kissed his now ex-lover's cheek, said, "I'm sorry, you're a lovely man but I'm not the one for you," and walked out.

After two long minutes of silence, the counselor in the corner finally asked, "are you alright?" That brought Alan's attention back to the present with a start.

He did a quick self-assessment. Was he alright? His pride stung a bit, and there was a slight ache in his heart, but a heartache wasn't heartbreak. He would get over this, probably sooner than he expected. Half of his fiancé's appeal vanished when Alan walked in the room and discovered no smell. Alan realized he was counting on the magic other alphas were getting. He wanted a partner that wanted him too. He wanted to inspire a desperate longing, not just a like.

"I'll be alright," he finally answered. He took a few deep breaths and said it again, "I'll be alright."

The counselor chuckled quietly, "you don't have to convince me. I'm sure you will. But that was a brutal exit. It's okay to be upset about it."

Alan smiled wryly. "Yeah, that was brutal," he agreed. "But at least he didn't keep the ring." He tucked the expensive trinket in his pocket. "And he didn't wait until after we were married to figure it out and put us both through a messy divorce. I suppose I should be glad he didn't let me rush him."

"That's a good outlook," the counselor complimented. "It's good to reframe an unpleasant experience in a positive light. Just don't bury all your real feelings under reasons you shouldn't have them. Feel them and let them pass. It's okay."

"I...I'm not feeling that bad," Alan admitted. "He didn't smell like I expected him to. He's not the one for me. I know this whole finding your partner by scent thing is a new concept in dating, but I want it. I want to know the minute I smell someone that they're my other half. We all give up on the fairytale 'meant for each other' type of romance when we grow up, but now that it's back on the table..."

The counselor nodded and took notes. When he looked back up, he said, "That's an appealing idea, but it's not going to work for everyone. What if you never meet someone whose smell makes you certain? What if the one for you is a beta?"

Alan realized he'd never even considered the possibility. They'd only paired alpha rats with omega ones since the betas were reproductively unchanged. But male beta humans were developing wombs. It wasn't certain yet, but it looked possible the serum didn't exclude them from the pool of potential baby carriers.

"Speaking of," the counselor continued, "there's a beta waiting outside hoping to meet you. He showed up this morning wanting to thank you for helping him wake up. Dr. Placer is curious how your bodies will react to each other in person, so she wired him up and asked me to assess whether you were okay to meet him after meeting your fiancé. What do you think?"

What did he think? Alan sighed. He should have expected this. Everyone was so curious these days, about who would connect with whom especially. "Might as well. I'm not anxious to go back upstairs."

"Alright. I don't need to be here for this type of meeting. Would you like me to stay or go?" The counselor asked.

"For consistency in the experiment you should go," Alan said. This was really about the experiment, not about him falling in love. The counselor left and Alan took a seat in one of the three comfortable chairs grouped around a small table. He glanced up at the one-way glass to the observation room and wondered who was in there earlier watching his breakup.

The door creaked a little as someone timid opened it slowly. A face peeked around it first and then its body quickly followed it inside. Everything about his posture screamed this beta was shy. Alan smiled reassuringly and the beta inched closer. He held out his hand, even though he was still several feet away and approaching at a snail's pace. "H-hi, I-I'm N-Noah S-Simmons."

Standing up to meet him partway, Alan reached out and accepted the sweaty handshake. "I'm Alan Blitzer," he offered, leaving off the 'Dr.' to avoid intimidating the man anymore. As he drew close, his scent finally reached Alan. It wasn't earth shattering. It didn't make Alan instantly and immediately certain this was his mate. But it wrapped him in a warm sense of comfort that he could appreciate.

The other alphas often stunk to him. The omega towels were mostly pleasant. This beta smelled a little more than pleasant. Desirable, that was the word. He desired this smell. Wanted to spend more time with it. Like lemon merengue pie, he could live without it, but he didn't want to.

Ushering Noah to a seat, he gently touched the beta's lower back. He jolted a little like he'd been shocked. What a timid boy. Adorable really, not exactly Alan's type. Before he changed, he'd picked more confident partners who could sass back at him, like Rudy. The high maintenance type.

Noah was young too, a college boy in his early 20's to Alan's mid 30's. His face was bright red as he tried to think of how to say, 'thank you for letting me smell you to wake up.'

In the observation room Dr. Placer watched their monitors do interesting things. This wasn't a relief reaction. This was...well, this was interest, and sexual tension, and pretty much normal meeting a cute guy for the first-time reactions, the kind that were amplified to a painful degree in omegas when they needed an alpha. So, alphas and betas were still capable of normal relationship reactions. That was good to know. She felt a little sorry for the beta. There was no way the alpha would mate with him if he were holding out for the fairytale as he told the counselor.