The Holly and the Tentacles (Tinsel and Tentacles 2.0)

Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

A eryn sat at his work desk, worrying. It had taken Legacy almost a month to get an appointment with his supervisor, and, well, frankly, he was starting to show. His belly. Not Legacy…

Being pregnant was tough for a male omega on a mining station anyway, but when that omega was a ginger with a bad limp, it could get brutal. He’d been lucky so far, but the chances would only get better for someone to bother him as it became more and more apparent.

“Hey, kiddo,” his boss said, coming to lean her hip against his desk. “I thought your guy was home. Why so glum?”

“He has a meeting with his super today.” Aeryn hoped it was going well. He really did. They were going to ask for bigger quarters and no off-site jobs.

“About you being preggers?” She’d been the second person he’d told. Not just because she was his boss, but because she was such a good friend to him.

“Yeah. What happens if he gets fired?” He scratched his arm, his worry making him itchy. Or maybe that was hormones.

“Ha.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “More likely they just send him on more jobs. That way they don’t have to give you guys family quarters.”

“Yeah.” He sighed morosely, turning in his chair to look up at Barb. “What can I do to help him? You know the system inside and out. I want to see what I can do to support him.”

“I do.” She tapped her long fingernails on his desk. “See what they offer first. See what you two want to do. Then I’ll give you some secrets.” She winked when he huffed a sigh. “I got your back, kiddo, but we can’t jump the gun. Give the bosses a chance to do right by you. Then leave when they don’t.” She chuckled, and he snorted.

“Where would I go without Legacy?” He couldn’t leave Legacy here to get old drilling into hard rock.

“You won’t have to, honey. I promise. Things have a way of working out. Now. I need to talk to you about the new drilling site on P4 down there. We need to allocate the funds today.”

“Okay, sure.” His fingers flew over the keyboard, and he got back to work. He would worry about Legacy when his shift was over or when his alpha called him about his meeting.

Whichever came first.

“I’m sorry, Vasquez, we just don’t have the space in family quarters.” His boss, Lange Manhaus, shook his head, staring across his big desk at Legacy. He’d been a mining engineer once.

Now he was too damn old to run a drill, so he ran people into the ground instead.

“Boss—”

“I can give you a bonus for staying in the place you’re in. But I can’t get you off schedule for the off-site stuff for six more months.”

“What?” He blinked. “You said my last one was the one I just came back from.”

“Yeah, well, the super on that job was so impressed that he scheduled you for a bunch more trips. I’m sorry, Vasquez, but you’re in demand. Also, I don’t have enough people on this rock to send out to those jobs. We’re the only ones close enough.”

“My omega is pregnant,” he gritted out, his back teeth clamping together.

“I know. Look, I’m sorry, but this is a mining company, Vasquez. And you’re a mining engineer. I need you where the work is.”

He sat there, a muscle in his jaw jumping. “How much?”

“What?”

“How much bonus?” He could work six more months, right? If he put most of the money away, then when the baby came or thereabouts, he could quit, and he and Aeryn could find jobs that allowed them family housing and better shifts. Time to be a family.

Lange raised an eyebrow. “A lot.”

“How much? And I don’t mean the job bonuses. I know what those are, and I want time and a half there. But how much is the housing bonus?”

Lange snorted. “You going to drive a hard bargain, Vasquez?”

Legacy crossed his arms over his chest. “You bet I am. You’re telling me that if I stay on, I’ll be sent away from my pregnant omega, who happens to have a minor disability, for weeks at a time for the next six months. And that you won’t give us a place in family quarters.”

“You have two bedrooms already.” Lange tried to stare him down.

“Neither of which is suitable for a baby, and you know it. And the noise, man. It’s a 24/7 party in that residential.”

“Six months. Then I’ll revisit this with you.” Lange wrote down a number to hand off to him. “That’ll be your housing bonus.”

“Put this in a contract and I’ll give you six months. No more than two weeks off station at a time.”

“You’ve been doing three.” Lange gave him a hard look.

“That was before I knew I was going to need to be there for my omega having a baby. No more than two weeks.”

Lange finally nodded. “Okay. Fair enough.”

“Put it in a contract. I’ll sign it tomorrow. I’m going to take the rest of today off.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Vasquez,” Lange said. “Dismissed.”

He nodded, rising so he could walk out the door, head held high.

“Oh, and Vasquez.”

“Yes, sir?”

“You drive a hell of a bargain.”