Never Grow Up

by StarrySummers04

Summary:

Carlos bumps into Jannik on the first day the alpha is back from his suspension and things are a little rocky between them. It doesn't take them long to clear the air, or for their entire relationship to change in ways neither of them could ever imagine. And soon enough, their entire lives are turned upside down by two lines on a stick.

Chapter 1: Jannik's Back

Notes:

This is my 400th fic on this platform! So I knew it had to be something special. I want to dedicate this fic to everyone on tumblr who let me know they were interested in this fic being posted a lot sooner than I was planning. I don't currently know how many chapters there will be but it's looking like at least 30. I am planning to upload a new chapter every Sunday and will be continuing to post a new fic/chapter to Who Are We (To Fight The Alchemy) on the other 6 days of the week.

It had been a long three months since he’d last seen Jannik but Carlos was very glad that he’d be returning. They were friendly, civil to each other but Carlos would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t attracted to the alpha. A lot of the alphas that he worked with would be best described as knotheads, they didn’t think an omega should be a professional athlete, they all thought that he should quit while he was ahead and go and get mated and knocked up. Jannik Sinner was one of about three players that treated him kindly; he saw Carlos as an equal, not as an omega. It was difficult not to like him. Always so calm and level headed, Carlos was very interested in him but he very much doubted that an alpha like Jannik would be interested in an omega like him. He was considered broken.

 

This was part of the reason that Carlos hadn’t contacted the alpha during his suspension. He didn’t know where they stood and he didn’t want to overstep. He had been very unsure of himself. It was unusual for Carlos, he had to carry himself with a lot of confidence as he would be ripped apart and dragged mercilessly by the media and the other players if he didn’t but a lot of it was an act, it was self preservation. He still shuddered to think about how people had reacted when he’d cried after losing the Olympic final or the outburst he’d had in Cincinnati.

 

Still, Carlos hadn’t been expecting to run into the Italian alpha on the day of his return. He’d hoped he’d have a bit more time to work out what to say. “Hola.” Carlos greeted with one of his trademark smiles.

“Ciao.” Jannik said, abruptly. Carlos felt his smile fade instantly.

“Ho- How are you?” Carlos stammered. He could smell that Jannik wasn’t happy and it was messing with Carlos.

“Fine.” Jannik stated, keeping his back to the omega. Carlos felt like crying. He was used to being treated like this by all the other alphas on tour but this had never been Jannik. Carlos guessed a lot could change in three months.

“Do you know what? Fine. I know where I’m not wanted.” Carlos snapped. He grabbed his bags and prepared to storm out. He’d nearly made it to the door when Jannik spoke.

“You could’ve reached out, you know?” Jannik told him. Carlos sighed, dropping his bags on the floor before turning back to face Jannik.

“I know. But I was scared to.” Carlos admitted, quietly.

“Scared to be associated with me.” Jannik scoffed.

“That’s not fair. When have I ever said anything negative about the case or your suspension? I believe you. I was scared to reach out because you’re one of about three alphas on tour who doesn’t treat me like shit. Forgive me for not wanting to lose that.” Carlos ranted.

“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.” Jannik apologised.

“It was but I should also be apologising to you for not contacting you either. I just didn’t know what to say. I’m not as confident as I like to pretend I am, you know?”

“I can’t even being to imagine how difficult it is for you, being surrounded by alphas all the time.” Jannik reasoned.

“Knothead alphas who can’t deal with an omega being better than them. Beating them on court and having more slam titles.” Carlos continued.

“Are things really that bad?” Jannik checked.

“Things aren’t great for me, Jannik. Professional sports are an alphas game. Things are looking up now you’re back, though.” Carlos smiled, reassuringly.

“Would you maybe want to hang out with me later? We’ve got a lot of catching up to do and we should probably clear the air.” Jannik suggested. “If you’re comfortable with that.”

“You don’t make me uncomfortable. I’m quite happy. But, uh, would it be okay if you came to my hotel room? I get overwhelmed by the smell of an alpha if I’m not that used to their scent.”

“Of course I can. Just let me know when it would be best for me to swing by and I’ll be there.” Jannik smiled hopefully. Carlos returned the smile as he picked up his bags and headed out of the door.

 

“You seem happy.” Juanki commented as he joined Carlos.

“I am happy. I’ve had a good clay season so far and I have no reasons to think of why my good results won’t continue here.” Carlos replied.

“You and I both know that’s bullshit.” Juanki stated.

“Juanki!” Carlos exclaimed. 

“I know you. I know it has something to do with a certain red headed alpha.” Juanki frowned.

“I’m allowed to like some of the people I work with, you know?” Carlos said.

“Most of the knotheads you work with don’t respect the fact that you’re good at this profession while also being an omega.” Juanki pointed out.

“I know.” Carlos sighed. “Is it so bad that I want to be friends with one of the few that doesn’t?”

“It’s not bad. I just worry about you. I know how you feel about him and I worry that you’re going to get your heart broken.”

“I’m not going to get my heart broken. I know Jannik isn’t interested in me like that, Juanki. Sure, do I secretly hope that I’m wrong and he does? Sure but it’s not. I’m a broken omega. No one wants me.” Carlos said. Juanki wrapped an arm around him.

“That’s not true. Any alpha would be lucky to have you and the right one will not care about the career you have chosen. You’re only twenty two. You’ve got plenty of time.” Juanki assured.

“Jannik is coming over to my room tonight. We kinda snapped at each other in the locker room so we’re going to clear the air.” Carlos informed his coach.

“Alone? You’ve invited an alpha over and it’s just going to be the two of you?” Juanki checked to make sure he was hearing things properly.

“Would you stop worrying? Nothing is going to happen.”

Chapter 2: Clearing The Air

Notes:

I was not planning to update this story so soon but I've currently got the first 15 chapters completed so you might see more frequent and random updates while I have so much of it ready to post. Thank you for all the love on chapter 1, I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

Carlos was really nervous when he messaged Jannik with a time that would work for him. He’d known the alpha for a while but was worried about spending so much time with him one on one. Sure, they’d spent a lot of time together over the years but never like this. Carlos knew what his feelings for Jannik were and was worried about what this would mean tonight. How obvious would his scent be? Would Jannik be able to tell that Carlos was interested in him as more than a friend? How would he respond? Would the alpha leave tonight and never talk to him again? Carlos was still fretting about how tonight was going to go when Jannik arrived. The Italian alpha knocked on the door gently and Carlos rushed to open it. “Are you okay?” Jannik checked, crinkling his nose.

“Honestly, I'm a little nervous.” Carlos replied.

“Yeah, I kinda guessed that. It smells like stressed omega in here. Not a lot but I had to ask.” Jannik said.

“I don’t know why I’m nervous.” Carlos frowned.

“It’s been over three months since we last talked properly. Things were very different then.” Jannik pointed out.

“Yeah, they were.” Carlos agreed.

“What’s the plan for tonight?”

“I didn’t really have a plan.” Carlos responded. “I don’t know how long you’re planning to stay but I’m happy to order room service and we could watch something or play a game?” 

“I think we need to talk first. Then maybe we can order some food?” Jannik suggested.

“You’re probably right.”

“I just want to apologise again for snapping at you earlier. That wasn’t fair. I know we haven’t spoken during my time away but I was just as capable of reaching out to you and I didn’t. Communication works both ways and it was unfair of me to put it all on you.” Jannik apologised.

“No, you’re right. I should have reached out. I know communication works both ways but you would have been so worried about whether I even wanted to know you anymore. The amount of other players who have spoken out against you during your time off shocked me.” Carlos admitted.

“Yeah, some of the players that did it were people I considered to be my friends. It came as quite the surprise when suddenly they hated me and they thought my sentence was too lenient. My suspension has been quite lonely. Jack has been one of the only people who’s been there for me. I guess I was upset when I never heard from you because I thought we were friends. It made me think that we weren’t and that you wanted to distance yourself from me and the situation. That’s my fault though, I shouldn’t have assumed anything.” Jannik explained.

“I get why you did, though. I would probably have done the same thing in your shoes.” Carlos accepted.

“Still, I should have thought about how difficult it would be for you to be the one to instigate the conversation given your designation. I’ll be honest, though, I often forget that you’re an omega. You’re such an incredible tennis player that it doesn’t register in my mind that you could be anything other than an alpha.” Jannik confessed.

“I’m a broken omega. Everyone thinks there’s something wrong with me.” Carlos scoffed.

“There’s nothing broken about you.” Jannik stated.

“Well, could you tell everyone else? The amount of comments that I get from other players, from journalists and online tells a different story.” Carlos frowned. He didn’t know how he and Jannik had got onto such a depressing subject, or why he was even telling Jannik all of this. He normally saved his innermost thoughts for his team and his family.

“But they don’t see the real Carlos. They see the player on the court. None of this behind the scenes stuff.” Jannik pointed out.

“That’s kind of you but no one wants me.” Carlos laughed self-depricatingly.

“Why would you say that?” Jannik asked, alarmed.

“How many alphas do you see ‘knocking down the door’ to be with me?” Carlos said, sadly.

“You want an alpha?”

“I mean, one day. I want to be mated and have children but I’ve never even kissed anyone.” Carlos frowned. “I’m sorry, you probably don’t want to hear about this.”

“You sound like you need to get it off your chest.” Jannik said, softly. He placed a hand over the top of one of Carlos’s. The omega felt his skin burn where they were touching.

“Yeah, I think I did. Thank you for listening.” Carlos smiled, shyly. “There’s just something about you that puts me at ease.”

“There is?” Jannik said, hopefully.

“Yeah, you make me feel comfortable. I have missed you while you’ve been away.”

“I missed you, too. I think that’s part of what upset me so much when you didn’t contact me. I thought we were close. I’m so glad we’ve had the chance to talk it through.” Jannik smiled.

“Me, too. Do you want to order some food and watch a movie or something?” Carlos offered.

“Sounds good.” Jannik agreed.

 

They ordered room service and lapsed into a comfortable silence as they flicked through a few TV channels before deciding on what to watch. When room service arrived, Carlos was the one who went to the door to get it, considering it was his room. He didn’t need anyone knowing that he, an unmated omega, had an alpha in his room. Especially when that alpha was his on court rival, Jannik Sinner. They ate mostly in silence and Carlos then put the used plates outside of the door to be collected. It was getting late and Jannik would probably have to go soon but Carlos wasn’t ready for him to leave. He sat back down on the sofa next to Jannik, a little closer than he had been before, not intentionally but he didn’t mind being this close to Jannik. He liked the way the redheaded alpha smelled. Carlos thought he probably could have managed to spend the evening in Jannik’s room, surrounded by his scent but he hadn’t been that sure before now. Carlos lost interest in what they were watching and instead spent the rest of the movie watching Jannik. He’d tried to be a little discreet about it but Jannik had noticed. “Is there something on my face?” Jannik asked.

“No.” Carlos replied.

“But you’re staring at me.”

“Sorry.” Carlos said, blushing. He turned away from Jannik so he was staring straight ahead. The next moment, Jannik had moved, placing a hand on Carlos’s cheek and gently joining their lips in a kiss.

“I’m not reading this wrong, am I?” Jannik whispered.

“No.” Carlos replied. Jannik kissed him again, deeper this time, allowing his tongue to seek entrance to Carlos’s mouth. The omega moaned as he moved to straddle the Italian alpha. They continued to kiss for a few minutes but it was Jannik who was the one to break the kiss.

“I should go before this goes too far.” Jannik stated.

“I don’t want you to.” Carlos admitted.

“I don’t want to either, but you deserve to be courted properly. I’ve been interested in you for a while. I don’t want you to think that I’ve decided this today after what you told me. I want to do this right.” Jannik explained.

“Okay.” Carlos accepted with a smile. “But can we do it our way?”

“I like the sound of that.” Jannik kissed him again and before getting his shoes on and heading back to his own room. Once the alpha had gone, Carlos couldn’t help but jump around the room in his excitement. Jannik Sinner wanted to court him. Jannik Sinner wanted him. He could’ve had literally anyone but he wanted Carlos.

Chapter 3: Rome Final

Notes:

Once a week updates have clearly gone out of the window as I've finished writing up to chapter 16. This fic is currently looking like it's going to be at least 40 chapters now, instead of 25-30. Hope you're ready for a long ride 😂

Carlos had to admit he was feeling a little nervous about playing his first match against Jannik since their relationship had changed. They still hadn’t spoken about exactly what to call it but it was clear they were no longer just friends. Jannik wanted to take it slow and court Carlos properly but the omega had absolutely no idea what that meant. He had no idea about anything, never having been with an alpha before. Jannik was so sweet though. Even though they’d not seen each other since the night they’d kissed, they’d been texting each other non stop and Carlos was getting a lot more attached to his phone that he’d already been. More than once Juanki had threatened to confiscate it because he was obsessed with checking the messages to make sure he hadn’t missed anything from Jannik. It hadn’t been that long since he and Jannik had last played against each other, it had only been in Beijing but a lot had happened since then.

 

It was the night before the final and Carlos’s team had said goodnight an hour ago when there was a knock at the door. Carlos was very surprised to open it and find Jannik standing on the other side. “What are you doing here?” Carlos whispered as he opened the door wide enough for the alpha to slip through.

“I needed to see you.” Jannik replied. He stood in front of Carlos and held his arms out. Carlos couldn’t help but practically fall into the alpha’s outstretched arms. Jannik held him tightly.

“Thank you for being here.” Carlos said. He pulled away from the hug to press a chaste kiss to the alpha’s lips. Jannik smiled into the kiss and held Carlos tighter against him.

“I’m worrying about tomorrow and I thought if I was then you must be, too.” Jannik explained. “Everything is just so new. We’re going to have to figure out how to make our relationship and our careers work.”

“I’m scared.” Carlos admitted.

“You don’t need to be. I’ve been interested in you for a long time. Besides, you’re leading our head to head and if that was going to be a problem then I wouldn’t have kissed you. I want this. With whatever ups and downs come with it.” Jannik assured the omega.

“How long have we got?”

“What did you have in mind?” Jannik checked.

“I want to fall asleep with you holding me.” Carlos said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, please.”

 

Carlos led Jannik over to the bed. He could sense that the alpha was really reluctant to invade the omega’s space. Carlos got on the bed first and had to pull the Italian on top of him. Jannik took the hint and moved off Carlos so that he was laying on the bed next to the omega. They were both wearing t-shirts and sweatpants already so neither of them needed to change into anything. Once Jannik was settled on the bed, laying on his back, Carlos let himself move so that he was curled up against the alpha. The omega moved one of his legs so that it was across one of Jannik’s and the alpha moved his arm so that it was wrapped around Carlos while the omega rested his head on the alpha’s chest. It didn’t take long for either of them to fall asleep, Carlos with the alpha’s rhythmic heartbeat in his ear and Jannik because of the happy scent pouring off the omega in waves.

 

The next morning, Jannik and Carlos were both woken up by the Italian’s alarm. Neither of them wanted to say goodbye yet but they couldn’t wait for any member of Carlos’s team to catch them together. Not when this was all still so new. It was too much of a risk. “I wish you didn’t have to go so early.” Carlos frowned.

“I know, I don’t want to go either but I’ll see you after the match, okay?” Jannik checked.

“No matter what?” Carlos asked.

“Win or lose, I’ll come over again tonight and we can talk things through properly.

“Yeah, I supposed we probably should.” Carlos sighed. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to Jannik about where the alpha thought this relationship was going, Carlos really wanted to make sure that they were on the same page. Sure, Jannik had said that he wanted to court Carlos on the night that they’d kissed for the first time but they really needed to figure out how things were going to work.

 

That afternoon, Jannik and Carlos took to the court and put on a show for everyone. The matches that they played against each other were some of the best of their careers, both of them always pushing the other to do more, to be better and it worked. Jannik had slipped up at the Six Kings Slam when he’d said that he would wake up in the morning thinking of ways to beat Carlos but it hadn’t been a lie. He often thought about the omega, in a morning, throughout his day, at night. Carlos had been living rent free in his mind for quite a while and Jannik was in awe of the fact that no one else had snatched Carlos up already. It was their loss, anyway. The match had been great fun. Jannik had managed to coast through the tournament until facing Carlos. The omega had never made it easy for him in the past and he was glad to see that their slight change in relationship hadn’t made any difference to the way Carlos played tennis against him. Not that Jannik had expected the omega to let him win, but some omegas would have done that.

 

At the trophy ceremony, Carlos had watched on fondly as Jannik made his speech in Italian. The Spaniard didn’t yet speak the language but enough words were eerily similar in both Spanish and Italian for him to be about ninety percent sure about what Jannik had said about him and the match. Carlos then stepped up to talk but if you were to ask him, he could not tell you what had been said. Not when Jannik was looking at him like that and making his brain short circuit. Jannik then left, although Carlos wished the alpha had stayed for a little bit longer before leaving as he’d wanted to pop the champagne bottles with him. But he knew he would see Jannik again, once he made it back to the hotel. He couldn’t wait.

Chapter 4: Aftermath

It was a while before Carlos made it back to the hotel. He had to complete various interviews and debrief with his team who were all thrilled. Jannik had been playing so incredibly all week, the amount of good players that had been handed a bagel or a breadstick by Jannik was just beyond belief. Carlos had been worrying about how he might manage to get a set off the Italian but he’d managed to win the match. He felt a bit bad about it, it wasn’t Jannik’s fault that he didn’t have as many matches under his belt as Carlos did this year. Although, it was widely known that clay is Jannik’s least favourite surface and it was one of the omega’s favourites. Still, Carlos was excited to see Jannik.

 

It took Carlos a while to convince his family to leave. They all wanted to celebrate with him and he wanted to celebrate with Jannik. But he couldn’t tell them that. It was far too early in their relationship to tell their families. Besides, Carlos knew that if he mentioned anything about an alpha to his family then they would insist on it all being traditional. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be courted by Jannik, he did but Carlos was dying to know what it was like to be with an alpha. Especially the alpha who’d plagued his thoughts for so long.

 

Once his family had gone, Carlos immediately messaged Jannik to tell him that he was alone. The alpha arrived less than ten minutes later. He’d found it easy to convince his team and family to leave him alone. They thought he wanted to mourn the loss by himself and he was happy to let them think that. Instead of the fact that he was sneaking off to see an omega. His mama and papa would kill him for that. They were traditional and had waited until they were going to mate. Not that Jannik wouldn’t wait if that was what Carlos wanted to do but if his kisses were anything to go by, Carlos didn’t want to wait.

 

“You’re here.” Carlos sighed, wrapping his arms around Jannik’s neck.

“I told you I would be. Win or lose. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve wanted you for too long.” Jannik assured.

“I want you, too.” Carlos admitted.

“I know we only talked briefly about courting but I wanted to ask you how fast or slow you want to take things. I come from a pretty traditional family who would insist on waiting but I’m open to anything.” Jannik said.

“You’re sweet. I have absolutely no idea how any of this works, to be honest. I want to go on dates with you but I also don’t want to wait until we’re mated. I know I don’t want children for a while but there are steps we can take to prevent a pregnancy, aren’t there?” Carlos checked.

“Yes, there are.” Jannik assured. “Part of courting involves buying gifts for an omega to show them you’re serious about them.”

“I don’t want you to buy me anything. That sounds a little outdated.  I have money, anything I want I can just go out and buy it for myself.”

“Yeah, I think that part comes from proving that you can provide for your omega but we will do this however you want to. I will let you take the lead as you’ve never been with an alpha before.” Jannik smiled.

“I’ve never been with anyone before.” Carlos corrected.

“We’ll take things at your pace. What do you want to happen now?” Jannik asked. Carlos took the alpha’s hand and led him over to the bed again. Sure, last time they’d just slept but Carlos had other things in mind tonight. He wasn’t quite ready to go all the way, it was a bit too soon for that but he had other things in mind.

“Right now, I want to kiss you.” Carlos said. Jannik took the hint and sat on the bed, back against the headboard. Carlos, feeling bold, climbed into Jannik’s lap and sat there straddling the Alpha as Jannik reached for Carlos's face and pulled him into a gentle kiss. Carlos wrapped his arms around Jannik's neck as the Alpha deepened the kiss. Carlos couldn't help the gasp as Jannik's tongue ran across his bottom lip. Jannik took advantage of the gasp and slipped his tongue into Carlos's mouth.

 

It was incredible. Just kissing the alpha had Carlos's head spinning. How had he gone so long without this? How had he never kissed anyone before when it felt this good? He was glad it was Jannik though, that he'd waited for this alpha in particular. Carlos could feel Jannik's hands moving lower and lower on his back without touching his ass. “You can touch my ass, if you want to.” Carlos smiled, breaking the kiss to give the Italian permission. Jannik smiled and moved his hands to Carlos's ass, gently palming it. Carlos buried his face in Jannik’s shoulder and moaned. Jannik was only touching him over his clothes but it felt incredible. Carlos could feel how slick he was and he was certain that Jannik could smell what effect he was having on the omega. “You smell amazing.” Jannik whispered, pressing kisses to Carlos’s face and neck when the Spaniard moved to look at him again.

“I want you to touch me. I want so many things.” Carlos confessed.

“How do you want me to touch you?” Jannik asked.

“Want your fingers inside me.” Carlos clarified.

“You’re sure?” Jannik checked.

“I appreciate that you want to make sure, it’s very sweet of you but it’s getting a bit annoying.” Carlos said, laughing.

“Okay.” Jannik chuckled. He drew Carlos into another kiss as he allowed one of his hands to wander down the back of Carlos’s shorts and his underwear.

“I can get undressed.” Carlos offered. He climbed off Jannik and removed his t-shirt, shorts and underwear. He was completely naked and Jannik took a moment to just appreciate how gorgeous the omega was. Sure, he wasn’t blind but this was different. Jannik was allowed to look at him with lust hazing his mind.

“You are perfect.” Jannik smiled. Carlos couldn’t help the blush that covered his cheeks. “Come here.” 

 

Carlos gladly climbed back into Jannik’s lap. They kissed again as Jannik started to palm at Carlos’s ass again. It was different this time, his fingers inching closer and closer to where Carlos wanted them. “I know I’ve never done this before but I go through heats and use toys, you know?” Carlos remarked, getting impatient. Jannik couldn’t help but laugh. This omega was going to be the death of him.

“You're just gagging for it, aren't you?” 

“I might even let you fuck me next time.” Carlos added. He was definitely going to be the death of Jannik. As Jannik's hands moved closer to Carlos's hole, he could feel just how slick the omega was and knew he wasn’t going to be met with any resistance. Jannik slipped the tip of his index finger inside the omega and that promptly shut him up. Carlos buried his face in Jannik’s neck again and tried to stifle his moans as Jannik worked his finger in deeper at a torturously slow pace. The last thing either of them wanted was to be caught by anyone from Carlos’s team. Once Jannik was knuckle deep, he pulled his finger out and pressed two inside this time. Carlos was finding it more and more difficult to keep quiet. He began to mouth at Jannik’s throat and shoulder as the alpha started to scissor his fingers. 

 

Carlos was overwhelmed by how different but how good it felt to have someone else's fingers inside him. “You’re trying not to make a sound, aren’t you?” Jannik smirked.

“Don’t want anyone to hear.” Carlos sighed. Jannik pulled him into a kiss as he added a third finger. The kiss became Carlos panting into Jannik’s mouth as he got closer to the edge. Jannik could feel Carlos clenching around him before Carlos moaned and tightened completely, slick drenching his hand. Carlos slumped against Jannik and the alpha cradled him tightly against him. Jannik waited a few minutes before gently shifting Carlos onto his side and getting off the bed so he could clean them both up. Carlos was still pretty out of it when Jannik returned but he made quick work of cleaning the omega.

“As much as I hate this, I’m going to have to go soon.” Jannik whispered, pressing a kiss to Carlos’s forehead.

“Thank you for tonight.” Carlos whispered, his eyes closing as he nodded off. Jannik moved the cover so they were covering Carlos before kissing him again. The alpha turned off the lights as he left the room.

“I’ll see you in Paris.”

Chapter 5: Courting

It wasn’t going to be easy, sneaking around while at a grand slam but both Jannik and Carlos were determined to make it work. The first couple of days, they were far too busy to spend any time with each other. Besides, Carlos’s team was a little suspicious. Carlos had overslept the day after his win in Rome and Juanki had been the one to enter his room. The omega was completely naked and the room smelled like sex. Carlos had embarrassingly told his coach that he needed to get himself off after the match but Carlos didn’t think Juanki had quite believed him.

 

“I’m so glad we finally managed to get some time together.” Carlos smiled as he lay curled up against Jannik’s chest. It was less than a week until Roland Garros started and Carlos was looking forward to trying to defend his title.

“I know. I’ve missed spending time with you.” Jannik agreed. They’d decided it was time for Carlos to join Jannik in his room for a change. The Italian wasn’t as close to his team as Carlos was and though he cared for and appreciated them, they were far less likely to ask questions than Juanki, Samuel and Albert. Also, Carlos’s family were here and he knew it would be harder to hide their blossoming relationship if they could all smell an alpha.

“I’m sorry, Juanki was so suspicious after the night we spent together in Rome.” Carlos frowned.

“It’s not your fault. I understand wanting to keep us under wraps for now but if it’s easier for you to say something and you want to tell them then I have no issues with it.” Jannik suggested.

“Is it bad that I’m enjoying sneaking around?” Carlos asked. Jannik couldn’t help but chuckle.

“No, I like that it’s just us but I know we’re going to have to tell people eventually. I don’t plan on letting you go any time soon.” Jannik said. Carlos moved his head from where it was resting against Jannik’s chest so that he could kiss the alpha. Jannik was the one to deepen the kiss, manoeuvring them so that Carlos was laying underneath him, the omega was quite happy to wrap his legs around Jannik’s waist. It was tough to fight the urge but Carlos moved first to start grinding against Jannik so the redhead took this as a sign that Carlos was okay with it, especially with the way Carlos gasped as Jannik’s clothed dick rubbed over his ass.

 

They continued to grind against each other, panting into each other’s mouths until they both came. Carlos with a muffled gasp and Jannik with a groan. Jannik kissed Carlos again“I will never tire of kissing you.” Carlos admitted, pulling away to catch his breath.

“I can’t believe that I’m lucky enough to court you.”

“I’m the lucky one. I never thought I’d find an alpha like you. Someone who understood why I fell in love with tennis and why I don’t want to give it up.”

“You shouldn’t have to change who you are just to please an alpha.” Jannik reasoned.

“I know it’s really soon but can I call you my alpha? It just feels right.” Carlos requested, shyly.

“Of course you can. I’d be honoured to be your alpha.” Jannik beamed. Carlos made him so happy. When he’d been suspended, it had been upsetting to not hear anything from Carlos and Jannik had been so grateful for the opportunity to clear the air in Rome. Crazy to think that it had been two weeks since then. A lot had changed and neither Jannik nor Carlos could wait to see where things would go from here.

 

Once the tournament started, their time together became even more limited. It would probably have been easier for them to spend time together if their teams knew about the relationship but it had been less than a month since their relationship had changed and they were still finding their footing. As they were in opposite halves of the draw, the alpha and omega played on opposite days so one would be training and the other would be preparing for the match they had that day. It was infuriating to both Jannik and Carlos who just wanted to spend some time together but it wasn’t working in their favour. Carlos would be going into heat in a few weeks and he could feel it starting to linger. Normally, he was a little more keyed up in the few weeks that preceded his heat but it was way worse this time. He wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that he actually had an alpha and his body recognised that. He just wanted to be with Jannik right now, scenting the alpha and allowing the alpha to do the same thing to him. This had never happened before so Carlos figured the only reasonable explanation was the change in his relationship with Jannik.

 

After both successfully making it to the second week, Carlos was fed up with the fact that he hadn’t seen Jannik properly in over a week. He hated the distance and he couldn’t take it any longer. Jannik had played his match today and beaten Andrey Rublev comfortably, the Italian was yet to concede a set. It was the night before Carlos’s fourth round match against Ben Shelton, Carlos knew that Juanki would kill him if he ever found out but once it was late enough, Carlos left his room and headed to Jannik’s. He knocked on the door and was quickly greeted by his alpha. “What are you doing here?” Jannik asked, opening the door wide enough for Carlos to slip through.

“I missed you.” Carlos said, simply. Jannik pulled the omega into his arms. “I hate that we have opposite schedules during the day. I just want you to hold me.” 

“I miss you, too. I wish we could just spend all our time together but that’s not the career we chose and we wouldn’t have it any other way, really.” Jannik pointed out.

“I know, I’m allowed to be grateful and pissed at the same time, though.” Carlos laughed. He then stood on his tiptoes so that he could reach up and kiss Jannik. He loved kissing Jannik.

“Are you staying tonight?” Jannik checked. Carlos nodded and kicked off his shoes at the end of the bed. Jannik climbed under the covers first, getting himself settled before Carlos joined him in bed.

“I’ll set an alarm to wake me up early enough to sneak back to my room before Juanki notices I’m gone. He’ll tear down the whole hotel looking if I don’t.”

“And he’d probably kill me for good measure.” Jannik laughed. Carlos pressed a chaste kiss to the alpha’s lips before snuggling up against him and closing his eyes. It didn’t take either of them long to fall asleep.

Chapter 6: Roland Garros Final

Notes:

Once again, this fic is getting wildly out of control and is looking more like 55 chapters now 😂

Jannik and Carlos both continued to make good progress through the tournament. It was now semifinal day and if they both won today, they would face each other in the final of a grand slam for the very first time. Carlos was excited. He’d played multiple finals against Djokovic but he really hoped that he and his alpha would be the ones to win their matches and play on Sunday. He loved playing against Jannik, no one challenged him quite like the Italian did. 

 

As Sinner vs Djokovic was considered the better match, Carlos’s semifinal match against one of Jannik’s compatriots, Lorenzo Musetti, had been scheduled for the day session. Carlos was quite happy with this as it meant that he would have plenty of time after playing his match and completing the post match requirements before his alpha’s match was due to start. There was no way that Carlos was going to miss watching the match and he knew that if he progressed to the final then Juanki wouldn’t be able to argue with him watching the match, either. His coach would consider it as Carlos watching the competition to see how he wanted to approach the final.

 

Carlos made it through his match, not completely unscathed as he dropped the first set and won the second on a tiebreak but he won the third set with a bagel. He was one set away from a second consecutive final. When he was up a break in the fourth, Musetti had to retire due to injury. Carlos felt bad for him, the poor guy had played so well for the first two sets but he’d faded completely by the third. The omega found it difficult to celebrate as it wasn’t really a win. He was happy to be in the final again, he had a good record with grand slam finals as he’d never lost one before. Although he knew whoever he played against Jannik or Djokovic, it wasn’t going to be easy to overcome either of them.

 

“I take it you want to watch the other semifinal?” Juanki asked when they were on their way back to the hotel.

“What do you mean?” Carlos said, feigning all knowledge.

“I know you’re a fan of tennis and I know it’s good to watch this match to analyse the performance of whoever your opponent is going to be in the final but I know the real reason you want to watch is because you like Sinner.” Juanki stated.

“Yes, I do like Jannik, he’s a friend.” Carlos agreed.

“You and I both know that’s not what I meant.” 

“Am I not allowed to be friends with an alpha?” Carlos asked.

“You are, but you don’t want to be just friends with him and I just worry about you getting hurt.” Juanki replied.

 

When they got back to the hotel, Carlos stayed with Juanki and they ordered room service before settling in to watch the match together. At the start of the match, Carlos couldn’t help but think it would take something incredible from Djokovic to be able to overcome Jannik. He’d just been playing inspired tennis since returning from his ban and Carlos was the only one to have beaten him so far this year. Still, he hadn’t quite expected Jannik to win the match in straight sets, Djokovic was normally a tougher opponent than that which just went to show how good Jannik was at the moment. “You must be happy.” Juanki commented.

“I am. I’m happy for Jannik. He doesn’t deserve what he’s had to face so far this year so I am happy for him to have come back to the tour and be getting the results he deserves.” Carlos replied.

“Again, that’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“I love playing against Jannik, he really challenges me and I know it’s going to be a tough final. I beat him in Rome and I know I can do it again but tennis is so unpredictable.” Carlos shrugged. He knew Juanki thought he had a crush on Jannik and at the moment, it was important that he kept his coach thinking it was only a crush.

 

As tempted as he was to sneak out and see Jannik before the final, Carlos decided that it wasn’t a good idea. Rome was different, sure it was still an important tournament but it wasn’t a grand slam. There was too much riding on this final, neither he nor Jannik had ever lost a grand slam final before and unfortunately, they both knew there would only be one winner on Sunday.

 

Carlos was feeling even more nervous today than he had when playing against Jannik in the final in Rome. This was a completely different scenario. This was a grand slam final. He and Jannik had both won every single grand slam final they had competed in up to this point and one of them would be holding a runners up trophy for the first time. It wasn’t going to be easy for whoever lost but Carlos was hopeful that he and Jannik would be able to move past the loss. Otherwise this would be an incredibly short lived relationship. Carlos was hopeful, their friendship had withstood plenty of matches over the last few years but never slam finals.

 

It was the most incredible match, Carlos had felt that when he had been playing it. For the first two sets, the alpha had been unplayable, Carlos was just along for the ride and he really had to sit down at the end of the second set and think about how the fuck he was meant to turn this around. Jannik wasn’t going to make this easy for him but Carlos was the defending champion and he was not going down without a fight, no way.

 

He managed to win the third set, just a single break of serve but that was all he needed. He was feeling fired up and he wanted nothing more than to smile at Jannik, to appreciate the amazing game they were playing but he couldn’t do that. They needed to act as though nothing had changed. There was still going to be at least one more set to this match, two if Carlos was to have his way.

 

Carlos felt his determination ramp up a notch when Jannik had his three championship points. If you were to ask Carlos after the match, he had no idea how he had managed to save all of them and recover to win the set on a tiebreak. Two sets all, it was like starting from the beginning again. The clock kept ticking on and he and Jannik stayed locked in the battle for the trophy. When finally, after five and a half hours, the umpire declared “Game, set, match, Alcaraz,” the Spaniard fell to the clay, unsure of how to feel about what had just transpired.

Notes:

I hope you're ready for the next chapter, things are heating up...

Chapter 7

Carlos felt awful, sitting through the trophy ceremony. Jannik had played amazingly and all he got for it was a runner up plate. It just didn’t seem fair. Listening to Jannik’s speech made his heart ache. It also made him wonder if the alpha would even want to see him tonight. Jannik might want time to himself to lick his wounds. Carlos was a little unsure of how he would be feeling if he was the one in Jannik’s shoes.

 

It had been a brutal match and Carlos was slightly nervous to head back to the hotel after fulfilling the usual requirements. He and Jannik had only been together for a short while at this point and had never played against each other in a grand slam final before. Considering Jannik had been so close to victory and Carlos had literally snatched the victory from his hands and took the win for himself, it wouldn’t be an easy loss for Jannik to stomach. So he didn’t know what he was going to be walking into. Jannik may ask him to leave and not want to see him.

 

Of course, Carlos had been worried about nothing because that’s not the kind of person that his alpha was. Not that anyone knew he even had an alpha. He and Jannik had only been seeing each other since they’d cleared the air in Rome so things could change quickly in their new relationship. A lot of other alphas would not be as accepting and understanding of losing to an omega. Carlos had experienced this at Roland Garros last year where despite his incredible victory, the media had slandered Zverev for losing who in turn had said some pretty nasty things about Carlos. Alphas didn’t like being upstaged by omegas.

 

Carlos knocked on the door to Jannik's room gingerly, not sure if his presence was welcome. Jannik opened the door with a smile and pulled Carlos into his arms. The omega melted into the embrace and buried his face in Jannik’s neck as he let out a sigh of relief. “I’ve been dying to hug you properly since I saw you before the match.” Jannik said.

“Me, too.” Carlos agreed. “Although I wasn't sure if you'd want to see me right now or not.”

“I always want to see you. Besides, what happens on the court can stay there. On court we're Alcaraz and Sinner. Off court, we're Jannik and Carlos.” Jannik assured.

 

Jannik led Carlos over to the bed without letting go of him. When they reached the bed, Carlos crawled into Jannik's lap so he was straddling the alpha and joined their lips in a fierce kiss. He'd dismissed his team early, telling them that he was tired and they could celebrate together tomorrow. This was the only place he wanted to be right now and there was only one thing on his mind. Carlos wanted to have sex with his alpha. Carlos pulled away from the kiss to ask. “Can we have sex?”

“You want to have sex?” Jannik checked.

“That’s what I just said.” Carlos replied. “And don’t ask if I’m sure. I’m game if you are. This is how I want to celebrate the amazing match we just played, and hey, if I tire you out enough then you’ll be able to sleep.”

“Are you not already tired? We played a five and a half hour tennis match.” Jannik pointed out.

“I’m not too tired for this. It’s all I’ve been able to think about since Rome.” Carlos assured.

“Okay.” Jannik accepted. He cradled Carlos’s face in his hands and brought him back into a passionate kiss. Carlos couldn’t help but moan, especially when Jannik’s hands moved from his face to cup his ass. His alpha loved playing with his ass.

 

Jannik broke the kiss so that they could both remove their shirts. It was the first time Carlos had seen Jannik without his shirt in these circumstances, of course, since they shared a locker room, he’d seen Jannik shirtless more than once but this time, he was actually allowed to look. Carlos couldn't resist reaching out and touching the Italian’s surprisingly toned chest and abs. You would never guess he was hiding this under his shirts but during his ban, Jannik had a lot of extra time to go to the gym. He used his considerable strength to flip them over so Carlos was laying on his back without the alpha looming over the top of him. “That was really hot.” Carlos admitted, a little breathless. Jannik kissed his way from Carlos's mouth, down the side of his neck. He spent a bit of time teasing the omega’s scent glands, while making sure not to leave any marks, before continuing his way south. He stopped at Carlos’s nipples and the omega couldn't help the way he cried out. Three weeks out from his heat meant they were very sensitive. He'd felt his shirt brushing against them for the entire match but had managed to override that train of thought as he'd had more important things to think about.

 

When he’d teased Carlos’s nipples enough, Jannik continued to move down the omega’s body and removed his shorts and underwear in one go. “I don’t want to be the only one who’s naked this time.” Carlos joked. Jannik had no issue with this and quickly removed the rest of his clothes so that he was naked, too. 

“Better?” Jannik checked.

“Much.” Carlos smiled. “Although I have absolutely no idea how you’re supposed to fit inside me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll fit.” Jannik smirked. Carlos kissed him again as Jannik’s fingers found their way to his entrance. Carlos was dripping slick like crazy and Jannik was obsessed. To begin with, he teased his fingers over Carlos, pressing lightly against his rim but not pressing inside. When he could tell that Carlos was getting more and more frustrated by the second, he took pity on the omega and pressed a finger inside.

“Alpha…” Carlos groaned. Jannik couldn’t help the arousal that flooded him at being called alpha. His already hard dick was straining. He couldn’t wait to sink inside his omega’s tight heat. Jannik continued to make quick work of fingering Carlos open, one finger turned into two, which then turned into three.

 

When he was certain that Carlos was adequately prepared, he removed his fingers. Jannik reached over to where he’d put the condom packet and ripped it open with his teeth before rolling it down his length. The alpha then used the slick from his fingers to slick up his dick before beginning to press it inside Carlos. “Oh, mierda.” Carlos cried as he was stretched. He could feel every inch of Jannik as he slowly worked his way inside. Every time Carlos thought there couldn’t possibly be any more, Jannik slid further home. When he was fit to burst, Jannik stopped, having finally bottomed out. 

“Are you okay?” Jannik checked.

“Si, just take it slow por favor.” Carlos requested. Jannik slowly slipped out of Carlos so only his tip was inside before he gently thrust back in. All Carlos could do was lie there and take it. It felt so good in the best way possible. As he got more and more used to the sensation, Jannik started to pick up the pace of his thrusts. Carlos was trying not to cry out too much, not wanting to get a noise complaint but it wasn’t easy. It felt so good. He’d thought a knotting dildo was good when in the throes of his heat but it was nothing compared to the real thing. 

 

Jannik leaned down to kiss Carlos as his thrusts got faster. Carlos was moaning and panting into his mouth as Jannik changed the angle of his thrusts to hit the right spot every time. Carlos could feel himself getting closer and closer to his orgasm and knew he wasn’t going to last much longer, although it seemed like Jannik was dealing with the exact same thing. When Jannik pulled out, Carlos could feel the alpha’s knot catching on his rim and he knew it wouldn’t be long before he couldn’t pull out anymore. “Alpha, alpha, alpha.” Carlos chanted as he tipped over the edge, crying out loudly when he came, spasming and clenching tightly around Jannik. It was enough to drive any alpha crazy and the sensations sent Jannik over the edge too, his knot locking them firmly in place, Carlos with his legs wrapped around Jannik’s waist as the alpha loomed over him. Carlos couldn’t help but moan again when he felt Jannik flood the condom.

 

“That was…” Jannik trailed off as he tried to catch his breath.

“Si.” Carlos agreed.

“Wow.” Jannik breathed. He leaned down to kiss Carlos again. He loved kissing his omega.

“Can I stay?” Carlos checked.

“I’m not going to kick you out after we’ve just had sex. It's a bit difficult when you’re still attached to my knot, anyway.” Jannik smiled.

“How long does it take to go down?” Carlos checked.

“Anywhere between five to twenty minutes.” Jannik replied. “It varies.”

“Probably closer to twenty since I’m not that far off from my heat then.” Carlos reasoned.

“When’s your heat due?”

“The week between Queen’s ending and Wimbledon starting.” Carlos replied.

“You have a heat that week every year and you’ve won Wimbledon twice? How the hell have you managed that?” Jannik asked, incredulously.

“I have a good team around me.” Carlos shrugged. He had no idea, although it helped that no one knew he’d just been through his heat every year.

“You really do. You’re just incredible. I am in awe of you.” Jannik smiled.

“I think you’re pretty incredible, too.”

Chapter 8

Notes:

Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, I've been at comic con all day and only just got back to the hotel! Hope you continue to enjoy the story 😊

Saying goodbye the following morning was one of the hardest things the omega had ever had to do. The omega in him just wanted to stay by Jannik’s side but the alpha was heading to Italy to spend a few days with his family before heading to Halle and Carlos would be joining his friends in Ibiza before he went to London for Queen’s. They wouldn’t actually see each other again until Wimbledon started as Carlos’s heat was due and Jannik couldn’t join him for it at such short notice. After the events of last night, Carlos knew the memories would be playing in his mind when in the deepest throes of the heat. 

 

Carlos had set an early alarm, knowing that he needed to get back to his room early enough for no one to notice his absence. “I don’t want to go.” Carlos frowned as Jannik held him tightly at the door.

“I know. I don’t want you to go either but you have to. Your team will come looking for you soon enough and you don’t want to smell like me when they do.” Jannik pointed out.

“I know but I don’t want to wash your scent away. I know I have to because if I don’t, I’ll be facing too many questions. I hate this.” Carlos sighed. Jannik pulled away from the hug slightly to press a chaste kiss to Carlos’s lips.

“I’ll see you at Wimbledon.” Jannik said, letting go of Carlos so the omega could make his exit.

 

Carlos felt incredibly down as he walked away from Jannik’s room and headed back to his own. He desperately needed a shower or everyone would know what he’d been doing last night, whether or not they’d be able to identify Jannik’s scent was another matter. The omega made it back to his room without anyone catching him so he considered that a win. As soon as he got back, Carlos stripped off all his clothes and got straight into the shower. He knew he needed to perk himself up before he saw his team and family, they would expect Carlos to be well rested and happy. He’d won the longest ever Roland Garros final after coming back from being two sets to love down. There was no reason, that they were aware of, for Carlos to be upset.

 

Once he was all clean and had washed away all reminders from the previous night, the omega started packing his bags to distract himself. Carlos usually left everything until the last minute so everyone would be surprised by this turn of events. It was nine am by the time Alvaro knocked on his door. “Everyone else is at breakfast, are you ready to join us?” Alvaro checked.

“I’ve been up since seven.” Carlos replied.

“What were you doing up that early? You should’ve had a lie in for a change.” Alvaro chuckled.

“I had an early night, didn’t I? I woke up at seven and couldn’t go back to sleep. On the plus side, most of my packing is done.” Carlos explained.

“Are you feeling okay?” You never do your packing without having to be prompted.”

“I’m fine. Stop being silly.” Carlos laughed.

“Ready for Ibiza tomorrow?” Alvaro continued as they walked down the corridor together, heading to join the rest of the team and his family in the hotel restaurant.

“Yeah, it’ll be good to see my family and friends again. I’ve missed them.” Carlos smiled, a genuine smile this time.

“You deserve a good celebration after yesterday’s match. I still don’t know how you managed to turn that around, we were all convinced that Sinner had the match in the bag!” Alvaro chuckled. Carlos couldn’t help but laugh at that, too. He didn’t know how he managed to pull off the win either but somehow he had. Carlos wouldn’t have minded if he’d lost though, he could take a loss to Jannik and just be happy for the alpha. It helped that he was naturally a happy person.

 

“There he is! Our champion!” Juanki called when Carlos and Alvaro arrived.

“I’ve been up for the last two hours." Carlos laughed. “You could’ve come and got me a lot sooner.”

“I thought you’d still be asleep! The match yesterday was exhausting to watch so I don’t know how you managed playing it.” Virginia smiled, pulling Carlos into a hug.

“We’re so proud of you. That was not easy.” Carlos Sr added, hugging their son once his wife had let go.

“It was fun. I enjoy playing against Jannik. It’s just a shame that we couldn’t have two winners.” Carlos shrugged.

“I thought the same thing, you both deserved to win. I do feel a little bad for him, though. Especially when he said it was going to be hard to sleep. I really hope he managed to fall asleep eventually.” Virginia frowned.

“I was so tired last night, it wasn’t hard to fall asleep so I’m sure the exhaustion won out in the end.” Carlos shrugged. He dreaded to think what everyone would say if they knew he’d skipped out on the celebration last night to join his opponent in bed. He seriously doubted it would go well.

“I bet you’re looking forward to celebrating with your friends in Ibiza!” Sergio exclaimed. All Carlos could think about was how much he wished he was still in bed with his alpha.

“Yeah, it’ll be good to get away from tennis for a few days and just relax. I can head to Queen’s feeling more refreshed.” Carlos smiled.

“And then on to Wimbledon, you’ve got a title to defend, after all.” Samuel smiled.

“I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings. This year’s clay court season had just been amazing. Definitely one of the highs of my career. I’m proud of myself and everything we’ve achieved as a team.” Carlos rambled. His team got up and took turns giving him a hug. Sure, Carlos had been the one out on court for five and a half hours but it took a village to get there.

“Can we eat now?” Jaime checked. Everyone else burst out laughing.

Chapter 9

The last 24 hours had been a whirlwind. After having a celebratory  breakfast with his team, Carlos had then headed back to Roland Garros to complete his requirements. At least all of his packing was done ready for the following morning, one of the good things about the early wake up call before leaving Jannik. Although the omega was still upset about having to say goodbye before he was ready to. Not that he thought he would ever be ready. Jannik had texted him late on Monday night to say he'd made it back to his parents place with no issues. Although they were very suspicious about why he was in such a good mood.

 

Carlos was so ready for a break. He couldn't wait to see Pedro and Fran again as well as the rest of the group. He and Pedro had always been the closest though, as the only two omegas in a group of betas. Carlos knew he would be able to confide in Pedro, he was also an unmated omega but unlike Carlos, he'd been in relationships with both alphas and betas before. Carlos had prioritised tennis. 

 

When Carlos arrived at the hotel they would be staying in for the duration of his time in Ibiza, there was a cacophony of shouts. “Hey!” Fran called.

“There he is!” Diego added.

“Carlitos!” Pedro shouted. He was pulled in about six different directions as everyone wanted to give him a hug and congratulate him on his fifth grand slam title. After that, Pedro showed him to the room they were sharing so he could drop his things off and have a breather. 

“How are you doing? You seem a little overwhelmed.” Pedro inquired when it was just the two of them.

“I'm okay. The last few days have just been a lot so I'm looking forward to having some time to unwind.” Carlos replied with his trademark smile.

“And the non PR answer? I'm not saying this to be horrible but there's something off about you.” Pedro continued.

“I thought if anyone would notice, it would be you.” Carlos sighed.

“I’m here if you want to talk about it.” Pedro smiled reassuringly.

“I, uh, I kinda have an alpha now.” Carlos admitted, shyly.

“YOU HAVE A WHAT?!” Pedro exclaimed.

“Keep your voice down! I don’t think the other side of the hotel heard you.” Carlos laughed. Trust Pedro to make him laugh when all he could think about was how much he was missing Jannik.

“Since when?” Pedro asked, excitedly.

“Since the start of May.” Carlos smiled.

“What the fuck? How did that happen? You’ve been so busy for the last few months. How did you have time to meet an alpha?” 

“He's also a tennis player.” Carlos confessed.

“But I thought the alphas on tour were horrible to you? We all remember the aftermath of last year's Roland Garros.” Pedro questioned.

“Not all of the alphas. Just most of them.” Carlos corrected.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” Carlos smiled.

“You're stupid happy about it, aren't you?” Pedro could see how infatuated Carlos clearly was with this alpha and Pedro was so worried about it.

“He makes me so happy.” Carlos agreed.

“But how does that work? Don't you have to play against him?” Pedro queried. He just had so many questions and he worried that Carlos hadn't thought it all through.

“Yes, we've played against each other quite a few times. Twice since we started courting but he's the nicest alpha I've ever met.” Carlos replied.

“Twice since… What the actual fuck, Carlitos? You're courting Sinner?”

“He's courting me.” Carlos corrected.

“And everything's okay with the two of you? Even after that match on Sunday?” 

“Yes. I, uh, I skipped out on the celebrations with my team and family to spend the night with him.” Carlos admitted.

“Spend the night? Are you saying what I think you're saying?” Pedro checked. Carlos nodded. “Carlos! This is huge for you! Was he good to you?” 

“Oh, Pedro, it was amazing. He's so good. He constantly checked on me before he did anything. It got really annoying but he's the sweetest.” Carlos chuckled.

“An alpha that doesn’t just take? Sounds like you're the luckiest omega ever. It’s good for him to constantly check that you’re okay with each new step, most alpha’s don’t get enough consent.” Pedro smiled. He was happy for Carlos. His friend had to put up with a lot of shit from alphas for the job he chose to do. Pedro knew that Carlos had been worried he would never find an alpha because he was considered defective or broken. To know that there was an alpha that worked with him and held him in such high esteem was such a relief.

“I really am. I’m so gone for him already and we haven’t even been together for that long.” Carlos blushed.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve had a crush on him for a while so it’s not like having feelings for him is completely new to you.” Pedro laughed.

“No, but actually getting to kiss him and be with him is new. I didn’t know it would feel that good. But now I really miss him.”

“It’s normal to want to spend a lot of time with an alpha the first time you have sex with them. Even though you’re not mated, your bodies form a relationship, a bond that can lead to mating. I remember my first time with an alpha and when we broke up, it took a good six months for me to feel ready to move on.” Pedro explained.

“I just miss him so much. It hurts being apart.” Carlos frowned.

“It won’t help that you haven’t seen him since the morning after.” Pedro pointed out.

“If I could be with him right now then I would but he’s in Italy and I’m here with you guys. I’m not going to see him until Wimbledon starts due to my heat being close.” Carlos added.

“That’s not fun. It’s not going to be an easy few weeks for you. Also, I hope you’re ready for how bad your heat is going to be. All you’ll be able to think about is your alpha. Your body won’t be happy with you for being alone.”

“They’re bad enough as it is!” Carlos groaned.

“You’ll never want to spend a heat alone ever again.” Pedro laughed.

“Great.”

Chapter 10

Carlos had to admit, the break in Ibiza had been everything he’d hoped it would be. Confessing to Pedro about Jannik now being his alpha had made the omega feel a lot better. Sure, he definitely still missed his alpha and couldn’t wait until they could see each other in person again but it certainly felt a bit easier to breathe at the moment. The omega couldn’t stop the smile that crossed his face as the plane landed in London. He enjoyed playing at Queen’s Club and he couldn’t wait to be back on the grass at Wimbledon. The world’s most prestigious grand slam had quickly become one of his favourites and Carlos counted down the days after Roland Garros ended.

 

“Enjoyed your time off?” Juanki smirked when Carlos joined him, Alvaro and Carlos Sr at the house they had rented. They rented the same house every year.

“It was just what I needed.” Carlos replied with a smile.

“Good, you deserved to celebrate such a historic win. We were a little worried about you when you chose to go to bed instead of celebrating.” Carlos Sr admitted.

“You try playing a five and a half hour grand slam final and see how tired you are afterwards!” Carlos defended.

“We’re just saying it was a little out of character for you, that’s all. There’s no need to get defensive!” Alvaro exclaimed.

“Sorry.” Carlos sighed. He picked up his bags from where he’d dropped them in the doorway and took them up to the room he usually slept in. The omega knew that if he kept this up then his family were going to get suspicious. Carlos hadn’t been acting like himself and everyone around him for so long that they were bound to start asking soon.

 

All Carlos wanted was to see Jannik but they were in different countries. Why did they have to play different grass warm up tournaments? The omega hoped that no one would come into his room any time soon. There was no way he would be able to disguise the smell of distressed omega. Carlos didn’t know what was wrong with his emotions at the moment. He’d always been a pretty happy guy but he’d been feeling very emotional lately. His older brother had been right to point out how oddly he’d been acting.

 

The omega hoped that all this inner turmoil would be over once his heat had passed. It was just over a week until it was due and it usually messed with his head. Just not normally to this extent. Carlos grabbed his phone from his pocket to let Jannik know that he’d made it to London safely. His omega loved how thoughtful his alpha was. It sounded like such a small thing but getting a message to say ‘hope you have a safe flight,’ had made his day. It was the little things. Carlos got to work unpacking his belongings, they were hopefully going to be at this house for a few weeks and the Spaniard hated to rifle though his bags daily. He liked to have everything he needed for the day to hand, it made life so much easier.

 

Once his bags were unpacked and he’d managed to calm down, Carlos headed back downstairs to rejoin his family and Juanki. Samuel and Albert would be joining them tomorrow. “Are you feeling better?” Alvaro checked as Carlos crept into the room.

“Yes, thank you. I’m sorry for snapping at you.” Carlos frowned. Alvaro was the first one to pull the omega into a hug, quickly followed by Carlos Sr and Juanki.

“How come you did? It’s not like you at all.” Juanki inquired.

“I don’t know. I think it’s probably because my heat is so close. You know it messes with me.” Carlos replied.

“I don’t recall you acting like this in previous years but I’m not an omega, so what do I know?” Carlos Sr laughed. They were able to put the previous events of the day to the side and enjoyed a lovely evening. As the tournament hadn’t started yet, Carlos was allowed to indulge a little bit and he thoroughly enjoyed it. Tomorrow he would resume his training again and it would be back to his usual diet.

 

Training went well and the tournament was starting before they knew it. Carlos enjoyed being back out on court as it gave him something else to think about. Sure, he was always thinking of Jannik when he wasn’t on court but his matches hadn’t exactly been short or easy this week. His first round match opponent had changed an hour before he was due to play it, Carlos had made it through in straight sets but they hadn’t been easy sets. In his second round match, Carlos had match point in the second set but somehow his compatriot, Munar had managed to fight back and force a third. 

 

Carlos was tired but he knew Jannik was playing his own second round match in Halle so as soon as he got back to the house, he put the match on and was very surprised by what he was seeing. This was a different Jannik than he was used to. His heart ached for his alpha, who was throwing everything he had at Bublik and was getting brushed aside regardless. It was quite a shock when Jannik ended up losing the match. Sure, Carlos was well aware that Jannik was capable of losing matches but after Paris, this must have been a little harsh on the alpha. Carlos’s mind was racing although part of him realised this meant Jannik would be arriving in London sooner. He wondered if they would have time to meet up although Carlos was still playing in his tournament and that had his days pretty tied up. 

 

Carlos continued to make his way through the matches, making it all the way to the final. He was absolutely exhausted this week, he could tell his heat was due but that wasn’t going to stop him from doing everything he could to win on Sunday. After beating Lehecka, Carlos ran over to Samuel, his papi and Alvaro for a hug. He’d needed this win but more than anything, he was looking forward to sleeping until he woke up tomorrow.

Chapter 11

Notes:

Buckle up for the next few chapters!

“Is everything okay? You've been a bit off lately.” Juanki asked. Carlos had come to join the rest of the team for breakfast but was refusing to eat anything.

“I’m just not hungry.” Carlos shrugged. “It's no big deal.”

“You weren’t quite yourself last week either.” Albert pointed out.

“My heat is due this week, it's probably to do with that.” Carlos dismissed.

“I always forget about that.” Alvaro stated.

“It’s not as though he’s gone through it twice a year for the last eight years or anything.” Carlos Sr pointed out, sarcastically. It was unusual, even when his heat was approaching for Carlos to be off his food. He usually spent the three or four days preceding the event by eating as much as possible to give him some more energy but if Carlos said it was fine then no one was going to press him further.

 

As his heat approached, the rest of his team and family booked themselves a hotel for a few days. They usually shared the same house, close to Wimbledon for the few weeks that they were in London. The last thing Carlos would want when he was at his most vulnerable would be to have no other choice but to spend his heat in a hotel. Thankfully, he only went through this twice a year. Once during the off season and the other the week before Wimbledon. It was a little embarrassing that everyone knew what he would be doing but Carlos knew he would be quite out of it anyway. He probably wouldn’t even think about it on the other side of his heat.

 

Carlos knew this was probably going to be his worst experience of a heat. The last time he’d suffered through one at home, he and Jannik hadn’t even been together. How was he supposed to satisfy the craving with toys when he now knew what the real thing felt like? It was going to be difficult to trick his body into thinking it had Jannik inside when he would be nowhere near. The Spaniard also found it difficult because he had no one to confide in. It hadn’t even been a couple of months since they’d started seeing each other and they wanted to keep it quiet for now. No use worrying everyone in case they broke up. Carlos couldn’t see that happening but  he wanted to be sure before he dropped that bombshell. He was already sure about himself but despite having known each other professionally for a few years, he and Jannik were still in the getting to know you part of their relationship. The future was certainly not something they had spoken about yet.

 

“Is there anything you want us to get in for you while we’re gone?” Juanki checked. Everyone would be leaving tomorrow morning and Carlos had promised to be in touch if he needed anything. Not that they’d be able to deliver Jannik Sinner on request. That would probably be really awkward and Carlos mentally reminded himself to make sure that his phone was nowhere near him when he was in the depths of his heat. He didn’t want to accidentally call Jannik when overcome with lust.

“I think the usual bottles of water and protein bars should be fine. I won’t be in the right mind for much else.” Carlos shrugged.

“Please remember to keep hydrated. I know it’s difficult going through this alone.” Juanki reminded him.

“This isn’t my first heat, Juanki. I’ve coped before, I’ll manage this time, too.” Carlos replied. He knew that his team worried about him, more than they probably should but he was currently the only omega in the ATP Top 50 and even with his team, Carlos was constantly surrounded by alphas. When they were this worried about him going through a heat by himself, despite him going through two a year since turning fourteen, he dreaded the thought of telling them he was dating someone. Poor Jannik would have a lot of alphas to answer to.

“I know you will, we just love and care about you.” Juanki assured.

“And worry about you.” Albert added.

“You’re all far too overprotective.” Carlos chuckled.

“Just wait until you get an alpha, it’s going to be way worse then.” Alvaro laughed.

“As if that’s going to happen any time soon.” Carlos said, joining in with the laughter so it didn’t look suspicious. The way everyone responded to Alvaro’s statement only confirmed the young omega’s decision to keep his relationship with Jannik quiet for now. Carlos knew that none of them would take the fact that he was in a relationship well but add in the fact that he was dating Jannik Sinner and you had a recipe for disaster. Maybe he could tell them later on this year. The omega hoped that Jannik might be able to spend his heat with him in December. They could tell everyone either before or after those few days.

“How would you even balance tennis and a relationship at the same time?” Alvaro asked.

“It’s possible but it’s not easy.” Juanki said, knowingly.

“I don’t talk to any alphas that aren’t tennis players or members of my family and the ones I’m not related to are all knotheads.” Carlos grumbled. He wished things were different and he knew how lucky he was to be with someone like Jannik but considering the way almost everyone else on the ATP tour treated him, there was never going to be anyone else for him.

“What do you think your type would be like?” Albert asked, conversationally.

“Someone calm, someone kind. He’d have to understand that tennis is my first love and that I’m not willing to give up on my career to get mated and knocked up. I do want pups at some point, just not any time soon.” Carlos listed, thinking about his alpha. He was tempted to say redheaded and Italian, too, but that would be way too obvious.

“Good luck with that! A lot of alphas of your generation would not be that understanding.” Juanki frowned. They all hated the thought of Carlos ending up with someone that didn’t treat him with the love, care and respect he deserved.

“I’ll just have to stay single forever.” Carlos joked. Jannik was a perfect gentleman with none of the typical alpha entitlement. It was going to be tough not talking to him for the duration of his heat, but Carlos would definitely be thinking about him!

Chapter 12

Carlos was completely alone in the house. Everyone had left yesterday but something wasn’t right. Carlos had been beginning to worry last night. Normally, he would’ve been beginning to feel his heat creep up on him but there wasn’t that tell tale feeling when he’d gone to bed last night. He’d expected it to hit him full force this morning but he didn’t actually feel any different. He was a bit worried about it, his heats were usually predictable down to the day.

 

Part of him wondered if it was because he’d been with an alpha now but the other thought surely having sex once wouldn’t make that much difference. Carlos couldn’t think of anything else that had changed except his relationship with a certain redheaded Italian. He wasn’t going to worry yet though. Yes, his usually on schedule heat was a day late but that could happen to anyone.

 

The following day, Carlos was beginning to panic for two reasons. Firstly, his heat was now two days late with no signs of beginning and it was less than a week until Wimbledon was going to start and as the two-time defending champion, he would be opening play on Centre Court on Monday and it would be a bit difficult to do this if he was in the middle of his heat. Secondly, there was a niggling part of his brain that reminded him of why omegas usually missed their heats. But he didn’t really want to think of that as a viable option. 

 

On the third day, when  his heat still hadn’t started, Carlos had a sinking feeling in his stomach whenever he thought about the night he and Jannik had spent together in Paris. But he didn’t know how that could have happened because he and Jannik had used protection. Surely there was no way he was… Carlos was beginning to panic so he did the only thing that made sense to him, Carlos messaged his older brother.

 

Carlos: Is there any way you could swing by the house but don’t tell anyone that you’re coming to see me?

Alvaro: Aren’t you in heat?

Carlos: I’ll explain when you get here but I promise it’s safe.

Alvaro: Okay.

 

It felt like a long wait for Alvaro to arrive, but he actually arrived in less than half an hour. “What’s the problem?” Alvaro asked, reluctantly entering the house with his t-shirt covering his nose.

“You can stop covering your nose.” Carlos sighed. “My heat hasn’t started.”

“What?!” Alvaro exclaimed.

“I know, it’s three days late now.” Carlos frowned.

“Your heat is always predictable down to the day. What do you mean it’s late?”

“I don’t know how else to say it.”

“Why is it late?” Alvaro queried, removing his shirt from his nose.

“Do I look like I know?” Carlos asked.

“Surely you must have some sort of idea. You know your body better than anyone else.” Alvaro pointed out. Carlos sighed heavily. “That sounded like a loaded sigh. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I wasn’t going to share this information yet but I’ve been seeing someone. An alpha.” Carlos admitted.

“Since when?”

“It’s still really new, only since the start of May but it’s been building for a while.” Carlos continued.

“How long?”

“I’ve kind of had a crush on him for over a year but never thought it would happen.” Carlos said, a sappy smile crossing his face. Part of Alvaro wanted to roll his eyes at the look on his little brother’s face, but another part of him was genuinely happy for Carlos. He had always put tennis first so to find out that he was seeing someone was huge.

“Wait, are you saying you might be pregnant?!” Alvaro exclaimed, finally clicking on to where this story could be going.

“Yes.” Carlos whispered.

“What the fuck?” Alvaro questioned. Carlos looked at the floor, unable to make eye contact with his brother.

“I’m sorry.” Carlos sniffled, tears rushing to his eyes and quickly down his cheeks.

“No, I’m not upset with you. I’m a little pissed with this alpha. Did you guys not use protection?”

“Of course we did. It must not have worked. I don’t know, it was my first time.” Carlos defended.

“Carlitos.” Alvaro sighed.

“Well there’s no point fretting about it until I’ve taken a test.” Carlos reasoned.

“I’m going to go and get you one now. Maybe three, just to be sure.” Alvaro stated, getting up from the chair he’d perched on and headed to the door.

“Alvaro?”

“Yes?”

“Please don’t tell anyone. Not even papi.” Carlos said, quietly. Alvaro could feel his heart break a little, Carlos looked so small, so young in this moment.

“Of course I won’t.” Alvaro assured, walking back over to Carlos and pulling him into a tight hug.

~

Alvaro returned about half an hour after he’d left. Carlos was grateful for his brother’s return as he’d been spiralling a little while left to his own devices. He hated being alone, Carlos was an extrovert who loved being around other people. The whole late heat and being alone for no reason was making him feel quite down. “I didn’t know which one was best so I got a few different brands.” Alvaro said, handing the bag to Carlos.

“Gracias.” Carlos replied, taking the offered bag and heading into the bathroom. He opened the bag and unpackaged all five tests before taking them. He washed his hands and left all of the tests on the sink before returning to Alvaro.

“How long do we have to wait?” Alvaro checked.

“About five minutes.”

“What are you going to do if it comes back positive?”

“Have a baby.” Carlos snarked.

“Carlos, I’m being serious.” Alvaro said, sternly.

“So am I. I know it’s really early in our relationship but I’m sure about him. We’ve never really talked about the future so that will be a shock conversation. I’ll also have to talk to Juanki, Albert and Samuel but I want to keep playing. I want a chance at defending my Wimbledon title.” Carlos explained.

“You’ve given it some thought.” Alvaro smiled.

“You were gone for quite a while. I had nothing else to think about.” Carlos shrugged.

“So, are you going to tell me about this mystery alpha?” Alvaro asked.

“Not yet. If it’s positive then I’m going to see if he can come here tomorrow so I can tell him before you, papi and the rest of the team return.” Carlos replied.

“Okay. Do you want to check or should I?” Alvaro offered.

“You can.” Carlos said. Alvaro wandered back into the bathroom and came back out carrying all five tests.

“Looks like congratulations are in order.” Alvaro said, dropping all five positive tests into Carlos’s lap.

Chapter 13

Notes:

Jannik's reaction is here! Hope you all enjoy this chapter 😊

Carlos was honestly a little terrified. His team and family were all due back at the house tomorrow and he wanted to tell Jannik first. Jannik had seemed a little confused when Carlos had contacted him. They hadn’t spoken in nearly a week because the Spaniard was supposed to be in heat and the alpha knew that they needed to keep their distance from one another so there were no slip ups. It was clearly a bit late for that now.

 

“Ciao.” Jannik greeted as Carlos opened the door and ushered his boyfriend inside.

“Hola.” Carlos replied.

“Is everything okay? Because it doesn’t smell like heat in here. Has it not started yet?” Jannik inquired.

“That’s actually what I need to talk to you about.” Carlos sighed, heading into the living room and flopping down in a chair. Jannik followed him and took a seat opposite him.

“Sounds serious.” Jannik remarked.

“It is.” Carlos stated. He didn’t know how to tell Jannik so he took one of the five pregnancy tests out of the pocket of his hoodie and handed it over.

“Charly, you’re…” Jannik trailed off.

“Pregnant.” Carlos confirmed.

“Can I hug you?” Jannik checked.

“Please.” Carlos whispered. Jannik managed to wrap himself around Carlos who had made himself as small as possible. It upset Jannik to see his boyfriend like this but he could completely understand why Carlos was so quiet right now.

“I’m so sorry, Charly. We haven’t ever spoken about having children as this is so early but I’m not going to lie, I am so happy with this news.” Jannik admitted.

“You are?” Carlos asked, hopeful.

“Yeah, I am. I’ve always wanted children but it can be so difficult to meet people while doing this job because we travel a lot.” Jannik explained.

“I have to admit, this is a huge relief. I had no idea how you were going to react.”

“I’m sorry for ever giving you reason to doubt me.” Jannik said.

“I didn’t, not really. I knew that you would support me and the baby, no matter what. It’s just the kind of person you are. If you were any other alpha then I would probably have expected you to leave me to deal with everything by myself, but you’re Jannik. You’re not that kind of alpha. I guess I just wasn’t sure if you’d be staying for me or the baby.” Carlos explained, looking at the floor. Jannik put two fingers under Carlos’s chin and moved his face so he could look the omega in the eyes.

“I love you.” Jannik announced.

“I love you, too.” Carlos sniffled, eyes filling with tears.

“I know everything about our relationship has been on fast forward but I really wouldn’t change anything. I love you and our baby, too.”

“Can we move to the sofa? I’m kind of uncomfortable here.” Carlos laughed, wetly. Jannik untangled himself from Carlos and stood up, offering a hand for Carlos to take. The omega eagerly took the outstretched hand and got to his feet. Carlos let go of Jannik’s hand to stretch as his body was protesting at the awkward position he’d been in. Jannik sat down on the sofa, holding his arms out for Carlos to join him. Carlos smiled and seated himself in Jannik’s lap.

“How did this even happen? Where do we go from here?” Jannik asked.

“I have no idea. My first thought is that I want to play Wimbledon. I can’t be that far along yet so I want a shot at defending my title.” Carlos replied.

“I’d expect nothing less. As long as you feel up to it then you’ll hear no protest from me. You know your limits. I trust you.” Jannik assured.

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“Not being a knothead.” Carlos replied, cheekily.

“That’s why you love me, isn’t it?” Jannik sassed. Carlos moved so that he could kiss Jannik for the first time today. He’d been so nervous and preoccupied that he hadn’t even kissed his alpha! That in itself must have clued Jannik into the fact that something was amiss because Carlos loved kissing him. The omega found it intoxicating and could never get enough. It was always the first thing he did.

“There’s going to be so much to do.” Carlos sighed, heavily as he pulled away. Having a baby was no small thing. He and Jannik had been together for less than two months and now they were going to have to plan their future together.

“I don’t want you to worry about any of that now. Wimbledon starts on Monday so you need to prepare for that. We can pick this conversation back up after it’s over. We must’ve conceived after the Roland Garros final, it's the only time we've had sex and the condom must have broken somehow, so you can’t be that far along yet. We’ve got time.” Jannik smiled.

“I still can’t believe it. I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a baby.” Carlos mused.

“How do you feel about it? I’m sorry, I just realised I never asked.” Jannik checked.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. That should have been the first thing I asked. Please forgive me.”

“There’s nothing to forgive.” Carlos assured. “But to answer your question, once I got past the awkwardness of having to ask my older brother to go and get me a pregnancy test and it came back positive, it took some time to wrap my head around it. Despite this being far from planned, I am so happy. I’m so in love with our baby already.” Carlos explained.

“Alvaro knows about us?”

“No, Alvaro knows I’m seeing someone but I didn’t tell him who.” Carlos replied.

“He’s gonna hate me. Your whole family will, so will your team. I've messed everything up for you.” Jannik spiralled

“Alvaro’s not going to hate you, neither are my family or team. I love you and we’re having a baby together. There’s no point in hating you because you’re going to be sticking around. I can't promise how they'll take it though so please consider this your warning.” Carlos reasoned.

“Still, we’ve been together for such a short amount of time and you’re already pregnant. I’m not going to be very popular. I’m going to get an earful from my family when I tell them, that’s for sure.” Jannik laughed.

“You think they’ll take it badly?” Carlos checked.

“I think they’ll be happy that they’re getting a grandchild but will be annoyed with me over the circumstances.” Jannik expanded.

“Oh.”

“But they’ll just have to get used to it. I love you.” Jannik smiled, pressing another gentle kiss to his omega’s lips.

“I love you, too.”

Notes:

Next up: Carlos tells his team about the pregnancy.

Chapter 14

“You look a lot better than you usually do after your heat.” Albert remarked when everyone returned to the house on Saturday morning.

“I'm feeling good.” Carlos replied with a bright smile. Alvaro raised an eyebrow at him but Carlos subtly shook his head. He wasn't going to update Alvaro on how the conversation with Jannik had gone until they were alone.

“Do you feel good enough to head to the practice courts? We've only got two days until your first round match and I want to see where your fitness levels are. They're normally shot to hell after your heat.” Juanki asked.

“Yeah, just let me go and grab my stuff.” Carlos accepted, taking the stairs two at a time. Alvaro followed closely behind. 

“So, how did it go?” Alvaro checked as soon as the door was shut.

“Really well. We're both incredibly happy about it.” Carlos beamed.

“He's going to stand by you then?” 

“Yes. There was never any doubt of that.” Carlos dismissed.

“Really? You weren't worried that the alpha you've been with for less than two months was going to reject you both?” Alvaro queried.

“He's not that type of alpha.” Carlos stated.

“Are you still not going to tell me who he is?” 

“Not yet. We still have a lot to talk about and to arrange. I'll tell you when I'm ready to.” Carlos stated.

“You're going to run out of time. What about your team? They need to know.” Alvaro continued.

“I know they do. I'm going to tell them today. I just don’t want to tell papi yet. I'll tell everyone else after Wimbledon is over.” Carlos explained.

“Okay.” Alvaro accepted.

 

After packing his things, Carlos headed down the stairs and happily walked out of the door with his team. They were all a little shocked because Carlos had never been this upbeat after one of his heats before. He was normally a wreck for a couple of days. They got to the court and Carlos was running around like he had the week before at Queen’s Club. “What the hell?” Samuel asked Juanki.

“I have no idea. Something isn't adding up. He's behaving as though he hasn't even had a heat!” Juanki reasoned.

“Is that possible?” Albert checked.

“There's only one reason I can think of as to why his body would've skipped a heat.” Juanki said.

“Yeah, he'd have to be pregnant.” Samuel mused.

“I suppose he could be.” Albert theorised.

“I thought I was imagining things, but he’s smelled like an alpha a few times over the last couple of months. The night after Roland Garros, he’d clearly showered and tried to wash the scent away but his clothes smelled like an alpha.” Juanki explained.

“But who? He's hardly the type to go out and have a one night stand.” Albert pointed out.

“I have a theory.” Juanki sighed. “I'd hoped I was wrong but it's seemingly more and more likely as the days pass.”

“Who?”

“The alpha that he played against in the final.” Juanki revealed.

“You think it's Sinner?!” Samuel exclaimed.

“He does make the most sense. Carlitos often talks about how he doesn't treat him the same as the other alpha’s do.” Albert shrugged.

 

They watched Carlos continue to run drills, a bit closer than they had been before this illuminating conversation. Samuel was still the newest member of their team, he'd been with them nearly eighteen months now but the rest had watched Carlos grow up. They knew him better than he knew himself at times. When Carlos was feeling exhausted and breathless, he lay down at the edge of the court and closed his eyes. This was more like what they'd expected from him. “Are you okay?” Juanki checked. 

“Si, just give me a minute.” Carlos assured.

“You look like you're done for the day.” Samuel commented. 

“I might be.” Carlos agreed.

“Talk to us, kiddo. We know there’s something you’re not telling us.” Juanki stated.

“Is  it that obvious?” Carlos asked. Juanki, Samuel, Albert and the rest of his team all nodded. Carlos sighed heavily. He was planning on telling his team today but the fact that they already knew after less than a day that something was wrong made him worry a little. He wanted to play Wimbledon before making any more decisions about the situation that he and Jannik had found themselves in. Carlos had been hoping to keep it from his family until he’d had a chance to go to a doctor. He didn’t even know how far along he was - although Carlos had a pretty good idea. “I’m okay today because I didn’t have a heat.”

“It’s late?” Albert checked.

“No.” Carlos said, looking at the floor.

“You’re pregnant.” Juanki stated. Carlos nodded, not taking his eyes off the floor.

“I’m sorry.” Carlos whispered.

“You have nothing to apologise for. It’s your body, it’s your life.” Samuel offered.

“You’ve all uprooted your lives to follow me around on the tour and now I’m going to have to take some time off. We’ve all worked so hard for everything and-”

“Carlitos, you can return to tennis after you have the baby if that’s what you want to do. We’ll all still be waiting for you if that’s what you want to do.” Albert assured him.

“How did you guys know?” Carlos asked, looking up at his team for the first time since revealing the news.

“Your scent has changed. A lot of people probably won’t be able to tell but we know you. We’ve known you for a long time so we can notice the miniscule changes.” Juanki replied.

“I didn’t want to tell my family just yet, I was hoping to wait until after Wimbledon.” Carlos said.

“You might not have that option.” Albert pointed out.

“Alvaro already knows. He’s the one that went to get me the tests on Thursday.” Carlos told them.

“If you knew on Thursday then why didn’t you invite us back to the house on Friday?” Samuel checked.

“I wanted to tell my alpha about our baby.” Carlos smiled.

“I take it things went well with him then?” Juanki queried.

“He’s also very happy despite how suddenly everything is happening.” Carlos told them.

“We didn’t even know you had an alpha, so how long has this been going on for?” Albert questioned.

“Since the start of May.” Carlos admitted.

“Since a certain redheaded Italian alpha returned from his suspension.” Juanki corrected.

“How did you know it’s him?!” Carlos exclaimed.

“I may have been born at night, but it wasn’t last night.” Juanki deadpanned.

Chapter 15

Carlos was playing first up on Centre Court on the first day of Wimbledon. It was just what happened when you were the defending champion. All he wanted to do was sneak off and find Jannik but they would be playing on opposite days so that meant they had opposite schedules. Carlos hated it. It felt like the universe was conspiring to keep them apart and that just wouldn’t do. He needed his alpha now more than ever.

 

The omega had been looking at pregnancy websites and he was estimated to be about five weeks pregnant. They both knew when the baby had been conceived considering they’d only had sex once. Their baby was the size of an orange seed and Carlos absolutely adored them. Since finding out, only a few days ago, he couldn’t stop imagining and fantasising about their future with a baby. He hoped their baby had Jannik's red curls.

 

But he had a few other things to be dealing with right now and that was another Italian. His first round opponent was Fabio Fognini who had said he would be retiring at the end of the year. Carlos had gone into the match expecting that it wouldn’t be too difficult. Sure, Fognini had nothing to lose and would probably play like that but Carlos had never imagined the match going like this. He was exhausted afterwards, the match had lasted over four hours but he’d managed to scrape a win. Carlos had no idea how he made it through the on court interview but he was only too grateful when he was back in the locker room. “How are you?” Juanki asked. He sounded very concerned, as one of the few people that knew about the pregnancy, he was bound to be worried.

“I’m so tired.” Carlos sighed.

“That was another exhausting match, without everything else you have going on, too.” Juanki agreed. “You’re eating dinner and going straight to bed tonight.”

“I want to see my alpha.” Carlos frowned.

“I’m sure you do. I’ll see what I can do but-” Juanki cut himself off as the door to the locker room opened and Jannik walked in.

“Jan.” Carlos whined. Jannik rushed across the room and fell to his knees as he pulled Carlos into his arms.

“I’m here, Charly.” Jannik assured, pressing a kiss to the side of Carlos’s head.

“I’ll stand guard outside the door.” Juanki said. This was his first time seeing Jannik since finding out the alpha was courting and had knocked up his player and as mad as he wanted to be about it, Juanki could see how much Carlos needed his alpha right now and he wasn’t going to be the one to stand in the way. It was clear how much Jannik cared for Carlos - the fact that he was here right now was a testament to that.

“You did so good today. I know that wasn’t an easy match.” Jannik said, his hand stroking his omega’s hair.

“I’m so tired.” Carlos whispered.

“I bet you are.”

“It’s one of the symptoms. I’m five weeks pregnant now and it says fatigue and exhaustion are common at this point.” Carlos stated.

“As if this job isn’t tiring enough and you’re doing it at the same time as growing a human. I will never stop being in awe of you and what you can do.” Jannik said. Carlos lifted his head from Jannik’s shoulder to kiss him. The omega knew that part of the reason he was feeling so tired was that he wasn’t spending enough time with his alpha but it was difficult. Right now, it was only his team that knew about both the baby and who his alpha was.

“I just want to stay here, like this forever.” Carlos frowned, tears welling in his eyes.

“Oh, my omega, I hate to see you like this. What can I do to make it better?” Jannik asked.

“We need to figure something out so that we can spend time together during the tournament. On the website I was looking at, it says how important it is to be supported by your alpha. I know you support me, but it means spending time together so you can bond with both me and the baby. Although most of the sites are aimed at mated pairs, there are ones for unmated pairs and it drills into you how important it is to spend time together and to limit how much time we spend apart. And we’ve spent most of our time since the baby was conceived apart. It’s not good for me or the baby.” Carlos explained.

“What about if I tell Darren, Simone and Alex? That way you could come over to the house I’m staying in. It’ll only really smell of me because the three of them are betas.” Jannik suggested. He moved slightly from where he was half crouched on the floor so that he was sitting properly with Carlos in his lap.

“You would do that?”

“I’d do anything for you.” Jannik stated. Carlos brought his hands up to Jannik’s face so that he could kiss him again. Just being here, wrapped in Jannik’s arms was making him feel better, feel a little more revitalised.

“Guys, we’d better get a move on.” Juanki warned, returning to the locker room. “Sorry to interrupt.”

“It’s okay, Juanki. I’m feeling better.” Carlos said with a small smile.

“I’m glad. We’ve been so worried about you, you know?” Juanki replied.

“Do you think it was a mistake? To play Wimbledon?” Carlos asked.

“Only you can answer that. You wanted a chance to defend your title. If at any point you feel like you can’t keep going then you withdraw.” Juanki offered.

“You know your limits, Charly. We all trust you to tell us when it’s too much for you.” Jannik pointed out.

“He’s right, you know?” Juanki agreed.

“As much as I hate to leave, I’m going to have to go. I’m sure Darren and Simone are getting concerned about where I raced off to. I’ll tell them and we’ll see what we can do about the rest of our time here. Besides, you need to go and eat something before getting some sleep.” Jannik frowned. Carlos couldn’t help the ache in his chest at Jannik’s words. There was nothing he wanted more than to go with his alpha and fall asleep in his arms but that wasn’t an option right now. Carlos stood up first, with a hand from Juanki and Jannik followed. His alpha pulled him into a tight hug and scented him before heading to the door. “I love you both.”

“We love you, too.” Carlos replied with a sad smile as he placed his hand on his still flat stomach. Once Jannik had gone, Juanki wrapped an arm around Carlos as they walked to the door.

“I have to say, I wasn’t impressed with him when I found out about the baby but you two seem really good for each other.” Juanki admitted.

“I think so, too.”

Chapter 16

Jannik headed back to the house he was sharing with Darren, Simone and Alex. It had hurt to see Carlos so down and tired. The alpha didn’t know that much about pregnancy but he was determined to learn. After dinner, Jannik was planning to go down a rabbit hole on the internet and learn what he could. “Where did you go?” Simone asked. Jannik had raced off after Carlos’s match had ended, not that any of his team were aware he’d watched it.

“I just needed to go and see someone.” Jannik replied, vaguely. He was unsure of how to bring it up to his team. Clearly, he didn’t need to.

“Your omega by any chance?” Darren inquired.

“How did you know about that?” Jannik queried.

“The smell of your room the morning after the Roland Garros final.” Simone chuckled.

“We also know that your omega is Carlos Alcaraz.” Darren added.

“Okay, so I have no secrets?” Jannik checked.

“Not really.” Alex laughed.

“If you don’t mind us asking, but when did that happen?” Darren questioned.

“In Rome. I bumped into him after my first practice back. I may have snapped at him, though.” Jannik admitted.

“Why would you snap at him? Carlos is a ray of sunshine.” Darren said.

“I’m not proud of it but if it makes you feel any better, he chewed me out for it.” Jannik informed them.

“Good.” Alex chuckled.

“You deserve that.” Simone agreed.

“At the least.” Darren added.

“I know, I felt awful but we cleared the air.” Jannik continued.

“It smelt like you did a bit more than that.” Simone pointed out with a laugh.

“Yeah… he’s pregnant.” Jannik revealed.

“He’s what?” Darren checked.

“Looks like I still had one secret.” Jannik chuckled.

“You’ve been together for two minutes!” Simone exclaimed.

“It’s not like we planned it!” Jannik defended.

“We know.” Alex assured him.

“You’re not that kind of alpha.” Simone smiled.

“But how did this happen? If you don’t mind me asking.” Darren asked.

“I don’t know, I mean, we used protection.” Jannik said.

“A condom?” Simone checked. Jannik nodded. “A condom alone isn’t 100% effective. There are plenty of things that can cause it to fail, such as not putting it on correctly or ripping the packet open with your teeth.”

“Oh..” Jannik grimaced.

“You used your teeth.” Alex guessed.

“Yeah.” Jannik said.

“At least you know for future reference.” Darren laughed.

“I’ll certainly remember that.” Jannik smiled.

“How’s he doing? That match today looked brutal.” Simone checked.

“Not great. It took a lot out of him. He needed me after the match which is why I raced off.” Jannik frowned.

“It must be really difficult for him, being a pregnant omega but having to spend so much time away from his alpha.” Darren reasoned. Darren, Simone and Alex were all betas so they only understood so much.

“Carlos wanted a shot at defending his Wimbledon title before having to take the time off.” Jannik explained.

“Who knows? About the two of you and the baby?” Alex questioned.

“You three, Carlos’s team and his older brother. Although Alvaro doesn’t know I’m his alpha. He just knows Carlos is pregnant. Ideally, we wanted to wait a bit longer to tell the rest of our families. Carlos hasn’t even been to see a doctor yet.”

“So you don’t know how far along he is then.” Simone theorised.

“We’ve had sex once so he’s five weeks pregnant.” Jannik corrected.

“Poor Carlos.” Alex said. “Getting knocked up the first time he ever has sex.”

“It was an accident.” Jannik repeated.

“How do you feel about it? The courtship is so new and now you’re adding a baby to the mix.” Simone checked.

“It was never going to be a straight forward courting anyway. He’s my biggest rival but I’m also in love with him. The rule book went out of the window the first time I kissed him.” Jannik chuckled.

“What’s the plan going forward?” Alex asked.

“That’s a conversation that we still need to have.” Jannik admitted. “We haven’t really had a chance to see each other and talk through what’s going to happen yet as Carlos and I have both been busy with Wimbledon starting. It was a little inconvenient with the timing of when we found out. It doesn’t help that everything about our courtship has been on fast forward either.” 

“Was the plan to discuss everything after Wimbledon’s over?” Darren queried.

“Yes, that seemed the most logical. Carlos found out on the Thursday as his heat was late, he told me on Friday and his team on Saturday. Alvaro knows because he was the one who went to buy Carlos the tests on Thursday. And of course, Wimbledon started today. It’s all happening in one go.” Jannik explained.

“Yeah, you both picked a hell of a time.” Simone smiled, fondly. Darren and Simone were both very fond of Jannik, he’d grown as both a person and a player over the few years that they’d been working with him and were so proud of him. He took everything in his stride and didn’t let much get to him. They both knew how disappointed he had been during his suspension when certain people hadn’t reached out to him when Jannik had thought they would. They’d assumed he was interested in Carlos but hadn’t known for definite until the morning after the Roland Garros final. Jannik was normally quite a calm person but he’d been happy the following morning and they had both expected him to be disappointed. Sure, he didn’t let things keep him down for long but they had expected a bit more upset and moping about. And then there was the smell of his room - there had been no denying exactly why Jannik must be in such a good mood.

“How do you feel about it?” Simone asked.

“I feel good. Do I wish it hadn’t happened this way? Yes, but I get to have a baby with the omega I love. Carlos is happy about it, too and we’re determined to do the best that we can, for each other and for the baby. There are so many things we need to discuss and sort. But we’ll do it. Everything will work out.” Jannik shrugged.

“I would say you’re being very calm and level headed about this but I don’t know why I expected a different reaction.” Darren laughed.

“You do know Carlos is welcome here any time, right? The best thing for him at the moment is to be with you so if you want to invite him over, invite him.” Simone added. Jannik didn’t think this talk could have gone any better. Darren, Simone and Alex all crowded around him to pull the alpha into a hug.

“Thanks, guys.” Jannik smiled.

Chapter 17

Jannik made it through his opening round match, a lot more unscathed than Carlos. He was playing Nardi, a fellow Italian. He was a beta and his power was no match for the alphas. Juanki had allowed Carlos to watch the match once his training and practice for his second round match was done. He would be playing Oliver Tarvet, a British beta. In all his years playing at Wimbledon, this was the first time he would be playing against a British player and Carlos had to admit he was a little worried about it. He knew how the British crowd could be. Jannik had messaged him last night to let the omega know how telling his team had gone and Carlos was very relieved that they were on board with the relationship. Not that they had much of a choice considering he was pregnant but their approval still made Carlos feel good.

 

“What do you feel like having for dinner tonight?” Carlos Sr asked. The omega was currently curled up in an armchair, messaging his alpha.

“I’m not sure.” Carlos said.

“How about paella? You love that.” Alvaro suggested. Carlos couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose in disgust.

“No.” Carlos stated.

“No? You love paella. Are you okay? Are you coming down with something?” Carlos Sr checked.

“What? No, I’m fine.” Carlos corrected.

“You’ve never refused paella before. What else am I supposed to think?” Carlos Sr reasoned. Carlos and Alvaro shared a look. Carlos Sr was currently the only person in the house unaware of the pregnancy and the omega wanted to keep it that way.

“I’m just not in the mood today.” Carlos shrugged.

“You don’t feel warm.” Carlos Sr said, walking over to his son and placing a hand on his forehead.

“I told you, I’m fine.” Carlos repeated.

“Okay, if you’re sure.” Carlos Sr said, sceptically. Carlos had been doing some research online about pregnancy and it had said that at around five weeks he would start experiencing aversions to food that he normally liked. It was disappointing but it was also part of being pregnant. “What do you feel like having instead?”

“I don't know. I'm not really hungry right now. I might grab something later.” Carlos shrugged. He knew that these words were only going to make his papi more concerned, the omega loved his food.

“How about you and I go out and grab something? See if we can find anything you want to eat while were out for a walk?” Alvaro suggested.

“Sounds good.” Carlos said, standing up and walking to the door. Carlos knew his papi would be talking to his team about how off it Carlos had been acting lately but right now the omega couldn’t find it in him to care.

 

“So, you’re being really obvious.” Alvaro stated as they walked down the street.

“And that’s my fault? I’m five weeks now and food aversions are one of the symptoms. Along with nausea and tiredness.” Carlos explained.

“I get that and I know your team do as well but you not wanting to tell papi about the baby and then making that disgusted face when he suggests your favourite food isn’t helping you to keep it a secret.” Alvaro pointed out.

“Surely it’s better that I make that face instead of eating paella and then throwing it back up.” Carlos said.

“Honestly, I just don’t think you can win at the moment. Whatever you do, it’s just going to make him suspicious. He’s already asked me if there’s something you’re not telling him and you know it’s just going to be ten times worse when mami gets here. Thankfully, Sergio and Jaime aren’t around as often as me and papi so you acting odd will probably go straight over their heads.” Alvaro rambled.

“I wish my life was a little more simple.” Carlos sighed.

“You’re the one that wanted to try and defend your title.” Alvaro reminded him.

“I know and I don’t regret it. I just know that I have to be mindful of the baby.” 

“You’ve been doing a lot of research, by the sounds of it.” Alvaro said.

“I want to be as prepared as possible about what’s happening. My alpha and I still have a lot to talk about but he also agreed it could wait until after Wimbledon for us to make any definite plans. Besides, the baby is only the size of an orange seed right now.” Carlos reasoned.

“You have a lot to sort. You’ll have to move in together, make an appointment with your omega doctor to check up on the baby. That should probably be one of the first things you do.” Alvaro suggested.

“I’ve already made an appointment for the Tuesday after Wimbledon ends. I have to go twice a year, after my heats anyway. Although Doctor Garica isn’t available on that date so they’ve had to book me in with someone else.” Carlos replied.

“You’re being very proactive about this.” Alvaro smiled.

“I need to be. We’ve not got that long until the baby comes.” Carlos said.

“Still, I’m proud of you. You’ve taken everything in your stride and you’re sorting things out already. I know it’s not been easy for you since finding out.” Alvaro praised.

“It helps that my alpha is being really supportive.” Carlos shrugged.

“Are you ever going to tell me who he is?” Alvaro sighed.

“Of course, just not yet. You don’t have to ask me every time it’s just me and you.” Carlos laughed.

“Do your team know?” Alvaro checked.

“Yes, but I didn’t tell them who he is. They just guessed correctly.” Carlos said.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I could make a guess.” Alvaro chuckled.

“No. I’m not ready to tell you.” Carlos denied.

“I heard you the first time, Carlitos. I’m glad he’s being good to you and supportive about the baby. A lot of alphas would walk away if the omega they’d just started courting was pregnant so I’m glad you’ve picked a good one who wouldn’t do that.” Alvaro said.

“Why? Why would they walk away?”

“Some alphas aren't ready for that level of commitment straight away.” Alvaro replied.

“It takes two to make a baby. I didn’t get myself pregnant.” Carlos stated, matter of factly.

“No, that would be pretty impossible.” Alvaro smirked.

 

The brothers continued their walk and managed to find something that Carlos was in the mood to eat so they headed inside a quiet Italian restaurant. If Alvaro considered this to be a little suspicious, he managed to bite his tongue and keep his thoughts to himself, much to Carlos’s happiness. The omega didn’t need Alvaro to point out that it was unusual for him to choose Italian cuisine over Spanish. It did ring alarm bells in the older Spaniard’s mind though. Who did he think he was kidding?

Chapter 18

As Carlos was playing his matches on opposite days to his alpha, it often meant that the omega’s training and practice was done by the time the Italian alpha took to the court. Carlos was pretty sure that Juanki, Samuel and Albert were doing it on purpose, but he was grateful for their consideration. They’d also been taking things easy. The omega knew what his limits were and no one wanted to cross them. It was quite late when Jannik walked out onto Centre Court to play against Grigor. Carlos liked the Bulgarian, he was also an alpha and was one of the three on tour that didn’t treat him like shit. He was charming and funny and Carlos liked that about him. As it was quite late by the time the match began, Carlos had eaten dinner and headed to bed for the night. There was no reason for anyone else to come into his room tonight.

 

The match started badly. Carlos was grateful to be watching by himself when Jannik fell. The omega knew that everyone would be able to tell how he truly felt about Jannik, just from his reaction. He was panicking. Even though Jannik had got up quickly and held his thumbs up to signal to everyone that he was okay. Carlos could tell that his alpha was not okay. Jannik wasn’t playing like he usually did. From the moment he had fallen and hit the court, something had changed. The Italian, who was normally so good at finding his rhythm, was unable to make an impact against the Bulgarian. The first set very quickly started to slip away. 

 

Carlos watched in horror as the trainer came onto the court as Jannik was trailing 2-5. Jannik pointed to his elbow and the commentators were talking about how he must have jarred it when he fell, and then the BBC proceeded to replay the fall. Carlos could smell the distress coming off himself and knew that if he didn’t manage to reign it in, he’d have the rest of the house coming to check on him and Carlos had no idea how he’d explain away his reaction. Especially to his papi or older brother.

 

After the medical time out, Jannik did make an improvement to his playing but Grigor was still able to take the first set 6-3. Carlos really hoped that Jannik’s elbow wasn’t bothering him that badly and he would be able to reset at the end of the first set. The grand slams were best of five and Carlos would pick his alpha over Grigor any day when it came to having the stamina to outlast his opponent should they go to a fifth set.

 

As they began the second set, it became clear to Carlos that whatever Jannik had done to his elbow was quite serious. His playing was greatly affected and the omega could feel the tears begin to fall. His heart broke for poor Jannik. He’d been through so much already this year and the last thing he needed was to have to spend any more time away from the game due to injury. The Italian alpha did a better job of managing to stay in the second set, but Grigor played better in the moments that mattered the most and won the set 7-5.

 

There was a break between the end of the second set and the start of  the third as it had been decided that they were going to close the roof. Carlos hoped that this break would give Jannik a little extra time to regroup, but right now, the omega honestly  couldn’t see how Jannik was going to fight back to win this match. Carlos was hoping for a five set comeback. Jannik had done it before, most notably when he’d won his first grand slam in Australia. He knew his alpha could do it. The real question was would he be able to do it with the elbow bothering him?

 

There was a quiet knock on his door and Juanki poked his head through. “Hey, I just wanted to check on you. I’ve seen the score, not the match.”

“Come and join me.” Carlos said, beckoning his coach to come and sit with him. Juanki sat down on the edge of the bed and wrapped an arm around the omega’s shoulders. Carlos quickly slumped into Juanki’s side. Carlos had always been a very physical, tactile person and right now he needed someone to be with him. He was struggling with the separation from Jannik but as his papi and Alvaro didn’t yet know about Jannik, it wasn’t easy for the omega to sneak off and see his alpha. It also didn’t help that his mami would be arriving tomorrow with Sergio and Jaime.

“What’s happening?” Juanki asked.

“He fell in the first game and hurt his elbow. It’s been all downhill since then. I hope he can somehow turn this around but I have no idea how that is supposed to happen.” Carlos explained.

 

The third set started well for both Jannik and Grigor, them both holding on to their first two service games. Somehow, the match went even more downhill. One moment, Grigor was hitting a volley - the next, he was sitting on the floor, clutching his pec. “Oh no.” Carlos sighed.

“I know you wanted Jannik to win, it’s looking like you’re going to get your wish.” Juanki observed.

“Not like this.” Carlos sniffled, tears rushing to his eyes. Grigor looked like he was in agony. Carlos and Juanki watched in disbelief as poor Grigor, who’d been forced to retire from the last four grand slams due to injury, had to retire from Wimbledon, too. “I feel awful for Grigor but I’m so worried about Jannik.”

“I’d advise you to sleep with the window open tonight. It stinks in here and I don’t want you to have to answer any questions you’re not prepared for.” Juanki suggested.

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.” Carlos smiled, sadly.

“Are you going to manage to get to sleep?”

“I’ll message Jannik first and see how he’s doing before I try but I’ll do my best. I know I have a match tomorrow but I’ll try and see him after the match tomorrow if possible.” Carlos explained.

“Give him my best.” Juanki said, pulling Carlos into a tight hug before getting off the bed and leaving the room.

“I will.”

Chapter 19

It was getting harder and harder to hide his secret. Carlos and his family had always been really close so keeping something so important from them just felt wrong. It helped that Alvaro knew half of the secret but Carlos still hadn’t told his older brother who his alpha was. It was probably about time that he told his family the news, his mami and papi weren’t daft, they would already be aware that there was something he wasn’t telling them but so far they’d been kind and considerate enough not to bring it up. Carlos knew their patience wouldn’t last forever but he hoped that it would at least last until Wimbledon had ended.

 

“Is everything okay?” Virginia asked. She’d cornered Carlos while he was alone in his room after playing his quarterfinal match and he was well aware that he would be emitting the scent of a distressed omega because he was worried about Jannik. The alpha had gone to the hospital this morning to have his elbow checked.

“Si, why wouldn’t it be?” Carlos replied, lying.

“Carlitos, please, you and I both know there’s something you’re keeping to yourself.” Virginia stated. “Your papi and I weren’t going to say anything, we were planning to wait until after Wimbledon but your scent is off and we’re concerned about you.”

“You don’t need to worry about me.” Carlos told her. He knew it was a little pointless, she was his mami and a fellow omega - she would always worry about him.

“That doesn’t make me feel any better, Carlitos. Why can’t you just tell me what your secret is?”

“I’m in the middle of a grand slam, mami. Please can I just focus on my tennis and I’ll tell you after the tournament is over?” Carlos requested. He knew Virginia was only going to panic more now that he’d admitted there was a secret but he wanted to try and focus on his semifinal match.

“Okay.” Virginia sighed. “I trust you, it’s just difficult. Your designation and your choice of career means I worry about you the most. I know that’s silly and you’re perfectly capable of taking care of yourself.”

“You wouldn’t be my mami if you didn’t worry about me.” Carlos pointed out with a smile.

“I love you.” Virginia said, pulling him into a tight hug. Carlos was aware of her sniffing and scenting him but he allowed it. It wasn’t very often that he allowed her to scent him anymore, especially not since his relationship with Jannik had changed. Thankfully, his family didn’t know Jannik’s scent well enough to be able to identify his scent intertwined with Carlos’s.

“I love you, too, mami.”

 

Carlos snuck out of the house that night. It was very late but as he’d played his quarterfinal the day before Jannik, he had two days off and he wanted to know how his check up for his elbow had gone. He’d heard nothing all day. “Hey Charly, I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.” Jannik smiled when he opened the door of the house he was staying in wide enough for the omega to slip through.

“I had to see you, I’ve been worried about you all day.” Carlos replied, standing on his tiptoes to press a kiss to the alpha’s lips.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to distract you from your match. Although now I realise you would’ve been distracted anyway.” Jannik said, wrapping an arm around his omega’s waist and holding Carlos firmly against him.

“Of course I’ve been worried. I’ve been worried since you fell and it hasn’t gone away. How did it go?” Carlos smiled.

“It’s not as bad as we thought it might be. The doctors said that as long as I feel good and up to playing then they can see no reason why I shouldn’t continue to play in the tournament. As long as I know my limits and know to call it quits if I start feeling pain when I use it.” Jannik explained.

“That’s as good as it could have gone then.” Carlos smiled, his first real smile of the day.

“Yeah, we were all so relieved. I had a small practice while you were playing your match and there were a couple of twinges so we stopped but I’m probably going to have it taped up and use a sleeve, just to protect my elbow as much as possible.” Jannik continued.

“I’m so happy for you. I was panicking thinking you might have to withdraw.” Carlos said.

“I’d be lying if I said the same thought hadn’t crossed my mind. When I was trying to make an impact against Grigor and I was just in pain, I couldn’t see a way back into the match.” Jannik admitted.

“Poor Grigor. I didn’t know who I was the most upset for.” 

“You were upset?” Jannik asked, holding Carlos tighter.

“It’s my stupid hormones. They’re all over the place. I had to sleep with my window open last night because my room just smelled of distressed omega and I didn’t want anyone to ask questions I wasn’t ready to answer.” Carlos confessed.

“Oh, Charly.” Jannik sighed.

“I’m okay.” Carlos assured.

“Let’s go up to my room.” Jannik suggested. Carlos sighed contentedly so Jannik took him by the hand.

“Jannik, who’s at the door?” Darren called from where he was sitting in the living room. Jannik begrudgingly made a detour into the living room.

“It’s Carlos.” Jannik replied, not letting go of his omega’s hand.

“Sorry, I wanted to see how Jannik was.” Carlos apologised.

“You don’t have to apologise. You’re welcome here any time.” Simone told the omega.

“Thank you.” Carlos smiled.

“We’re going to my room.” Jannik stated, leaving no room for any arguments. Thankfully, whatever remarks his team might have had, they kept their thoughts to themselves. Although Jannik was pretty sure they’d be laughing and joking about him taking his omega to his room once he and Carlos had made it into the room.

 

“Are you staying tonight or do you need to get back?” Jannik checked as he sat on the bed with his back against the headboard.

“I can stay?”

“You heard Simone, you’re welcome here any time. I’d quite like it if you could but I understand if you need to get back to your house.” Jannik said.

“Well, I don’t see why I can’t stay. I now have two days off until the semifinals. I’ll message Juanki to let him know.” Carlos smiled, he sat on the bed next to Jannik and quickly curled himself into his alpha’s side.

“He’ll come looking for you otherwise?”

“It’s not him I have to worry about. It’s my mami. She arrived yesterday and has been suspicious ever since. She cornered me in my room to ask what was going on before I snuck out.” Carlos explained.

“You don’t think she’ll notice you’re not at the house?”

“She was asleep when I left. That’s why I’m so late. I am sorry because you’ve got your quarterfinal tomorrow.” Carlos continued.

“You know you can tell your family about us and the baby, right? You don’t have to keep it all bottled up.” Jannik said.

“I want to tell them, of course I do but I want to get Wimbledon out of the way first. I just want to focus on my tennis.” Carlos sighed. “I’d better set an early alarm though, so I can sneak back in without my parents noticing I’ve been out.”

“That’s fine. I can always go back to sleep after you’ve left depending on what time it is.” Jannik smiled. Carlos pulled him into a kiss.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. Both of you.” Jannik assured, resting a hand on his omega’s stomach.