Kiel was nearly bouncing on his toes all morning, and his bright eyes clearly indicated that he knew today was the day. "Jimin asked me if there was someone available to keep an eye on you and the others this afternoon," he told Alex, grinning as he stopped Adelynn from taking a sharpie to the kitchen cabinets.
"I can watch them, you know," Alex replied as he took the sharpie from Kiel, capped it, and found a place out of a three-year-old's reach to store it. They would probably all forget it was there, but that was a later Alex problem.
"I know, but they're a lot. I want there to be at least one adult around who knows how to handle kids. It's just for my peace of mind." Kiel finally got Adelynn distracted with an offer to let her pick her own outfit for the day, warning her that she would not be staying home as she ran off to her room. Then he gave Alex another smile. "Rowan and Darius said they'd help out if I brought you all to them. They've got two kids, one near Adelynn's age and a toddler. Hopefully they don't all bond together and figure out a way to destroy the apartment."
Alex chuckled. "I'll make sure the destruction is kept to a minimum. And the parents of two little kids should be quite familiar with that sort of thing." He knelt and scooped up the couple handfuls of cereal that had somehow collected beneath the table during breakfast. "When are we leaving?"
"In an hour or so." Kiel stepped on the pedal for the trashcan as Alex emerged and held it open until Alex had dusted off his hands. "Zay is coming over to attempt to reteach me some makeup skills." Kiel snorted and shook his head. "God, it's hard for even me to believe that I used to be good at that."
Alex pushed up off the floor and picked some cereal shards out of the knees of his sweatpants, depositing the crumbs into the trash. "I can believe it," he reassured Kiel. "You have a very beautiful face. Of course you showed it off."
A smile curved Kiel's lips, perfect even without makeup. "Thanks." He lifted his hand and fingered the piercings in his left ear, some of which he had gotten cleaned and others repierced about two weeks ago. He had done it after his and Alex's initial proposal conversation, and he had gotten super shy when Jimin had complimented the choice profusely. "It's going to be weird to look in the mirror later today and see my high school self staring back at me." He pushed one of the silver studs back and forth through the cartilage a few times and then dropped his hand. "I hope nobody cries."
Alex grabbed Kiel from behind in a fierce hug. "It might be healing."
"To think of the day I got kidnapped?" Kiel's voice was a barely-there whisper.
"No," Alex replied firmly. "Don't think about that. Think about how you and Jimin met. How you fell in love. All good things."
Kiel sniffed, pressing the back of his hand against his eyes to stop the tears from falling. "Yeah," he said hoarsely. "All good things." He sniffed again and placed his hands on top of Alex's. "Thanks. You always seem to know what I need to hear."
Alex nodded into Kiel's back and held on for a moment longer before letting go. "Right back at you," he said as Kiel turned around. "For two severely traumatized omegas, we're remarkably emotionally intelligent."
Kiel laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess we are." He rolled his shoulders back. "Alright. I guess I should go see what disaster Adelynn had concocted now."
Alex laughed and stayed in the kitchen, cleaning up the remnants of breakfast and making sure to return the cereal boxes to the place Kiel had designated for them far back on one of the counters so no unauthorized snacking or accidental carbohydrate waterfalls happened. He had just finished wiping off the stove when he caught a glimpse of Liam out of the corner of his eye. "What's up, Liam?"
Liam climbed up onto one of the bar stools lined up on one side of the island. "Did you text him more?"
Alex felt heat rise from his chest, up through his neck, and out onto his face. "A little bit," he said, not telling the whole truth. He was not going to admit that he had texted Minjae so often that he felt something close to happiness when Minjae texted back. He was not going to say that he liked the way Minjae gently teased him and got him to tell the truth about how he was feeling. He shrugged, maybe a bit aggressively, and started clearing the crumbs off the island. "There's not much to tell."
Liam swung his legs, those piercing blue eyes never leaving Alex's face. "I think you're lying. I think there's a lot to tell. You just don't want to."
Dammit, why were all Kiel's kids so perceptive? Alex shrugged again. "Maybe."
"I'm not gonna tell Papa, if that's what you're worried about."
Alex frowned. "This isn't a secret."
"So I can go tell Papa right now and you won't be mad?"
"No," Alex replied hastily, "don't do that. It's not a secret, but I don't think there's anything worth telling him yet."
"You're texting a guy," Liam pointed out. "That's gotta be worth telling him. Don't you think he wants to know what you're doing so he can, you know, support you?"
Alex scraped the pile of crumbs off the counter into his cupped hand. "I don't want him to tell me I'm too young or too traumatized for a relationship."
Liam raised a light eyebrow. "You think he'll say those things?"
Alex lifted his shoulders up in yet another shrug. "Who knows? I know he's trying to make up for lost time and be the best dad he can, but I guess I think he's going to be overprotective."
"But he's our papa. It's his job to be protective, right?" Liam cocked his head like Alex's relationship with Kiel was a complex physics problem he was trying to solve. "He loves us a lot."
"I know." Alex dumped the crumbs in his palm into the trashcan. "I know he loves me, but I'm finally starting to get a feeling for what life is like when I'm free to make my own choices. I can't stand being suffocated again."
"You should tell Papa if you feel suffocated. He wants to know what he's doing wrong." Liam fiddled with one of the placemats stacked in front of him, his eyes finally drifting away from Alex's face. "Just tell him what's going on. He's not going to get mad. I think he'll be happy for you. He'll probably tell you to be really careful, but I don't think he'll confiscate your phone or anything."
Alex set his elbows on the counter. "I don't know. Maybe if it actually starts to go somewhere I'll tell him. Right now, we're just texting like friends. There's nothing to talk about."
Liam shrugged and let the conversation die in silence.
Even though he had made his decision, Alex kept thinking about the conversation through the rest of the morning, through getting ready to go, during the car ride, and all the way up to the strange apartment. He had never met Rowan or Darius, though he recognized them easily enough from the news and social media.
Rowan was a dark-haired omega, but he looked strong, like he had held up both middle fingers to the stereotype he was supposed to fit into. His strength seemed like the kind that would be useful in real life, not the muscles alphas got to impress their crushes, but he could never be mistaken for someone soft, even with his gentle eyes and kind smile. The little girl he held on his hip was almost a precise carbon copy of him, right down to the midnight black hair and wide brown eyes.
It was Darius that sent Alex's heart skittering to hide in the farthest corner of his body. The man was so obviously an alpha it was hard to believe that he had once fooled his family and the entire world into thinking he was a beta. He was tall and, well, the best word to describe him was huge. He easily dominated the apartment, even sprawled on one of the couches with his red hair mussed like he had just taken a hard nap. He glanced up from the toddler he had been entertaining with a windup toy car and took in each new person with a predatory analysis that had Alex wanting to hide behind Kiel. Then his gaze softened and he gave them a wave. "Hey. Sorry that it's such a mess in here. Two kids and all," he said with a shrug.
Kiel smiled. "It's no problem. Our apartment would be just as bad, if not worse, if not for Liam and Alex helping me." He set his hand lightly on Alex's shoulder and squeezed. You're okay, he was saying. Darius isn't going to hurt you.
Alex swallowed down his fear and pushed a smile out onto his face as Adelynn scurried forward to get a closer look at the various toy cars scattered around the red-haired toddler that had to be Aiden.
Aiden gave Adelynn a once-over so similar to his father that Alex nearly laughed. Then he held up the windup car to Darius in a clear plea to start playing again, clearly not bothered by Adelynn's presence.
Liam retreated to a corner of the coffee table with one of his complicated math books, noise-cancelling headphones firmly anchored in his ears.
Cassie joined Adelynn down on the floor near Aiden and laughed at the two little kids' expressions of wonder as the car shot across the hardwood floor.
Kiel gave Alex's shoulder another squeeze and then headed out.
Alex heard the door shut behind him, but he stood there in the doorway like an idiot, not sure where he fit in or if he fit in at all.
Rowan set his little girl down, and she hesitantly toddled over to the center of action, grabbing onto the couch Darius was on for balance at the last minute. Rowan stuffed his hands into the pockets of the athletic pants he wore and leaned back against the wall of the entryway. "You're Alex, right?"
Alex nodded, not sure what his voice would do if he tried to speak. His eyes might be on Rowan, but his attention was on Darius, waiting in cringing terror for the alpha to do something.
Rowan glanced over at Darius and then back at Alex. "Would you like to hang out in our guest room? Just be on your phone or whatever?" The offer was super considerate, and Rowan held it out with a gentle smile.
Alex cleared his throat as quietly as possible to keep his voice from cracking or trembling and replied, "Thanks, but I know things about Liam, Cassie, and Adelynn that might be needed, so I should probably stay out here."
Rowan's smile did not change. "I can just as easily come ask you if a problem comes up. I understand not feeling comfortable around an alpha, so I want to make sure you're in a safe place. If you really do feel comfortable staying out here, please stay. But don't stay just because you think it's required of you. It's not."
It was not just that Alex felt fear for himself. He knew he should trust Rowan and Darius, but he was scared for his little siblings as well. He needed to make sure they stayed safe, even if he physically could not do much against anyone.
"Maybe Liam could go with you," Rowan suggested. "He'd probably like the quiet. I'll be staying out here with Amber, so I'll keep an eye on Cassie and Adelynn." After a moment, he added, "Why don't you try it? If you don't like it, you can come back out and sit with me. There's no pressure either way."
Alex let out a sigh through his nose and slowly nodded. "Sure. I'll try it."
Rowan somehow caught Liam's eye and motioned him over. "Let me show you." He glanced over his shoulder at Amber as he led them to a door that was so close to the living room that Alex's fears started to fade slightly. He opened the door for them and motioned inside. "We can leave the door open or shut it or whatever you want."
Alex nodded again and carefully took a seat on the chair near the door while Liam flopped onto the bed on his stomach and picked up where he had left off on his problem.
Rowan gave them a parting smile and headed back out to the living room, taking a seat on the couch that faced the bedroom door.
After sitting in tightly-wound silence for a few minutes, Alex cautiously pulled out his phone and unlocked it to find a message from Minjae waiting. With a smile pulling at the corners of his lips, he opened it.
Hey, you've been quiet today. What's going on? Minjae being observant as usual, even over text.
Alex typed back: My dad's boyfriend is proposing today, so me and my siblings are over at someone else's apartment.
Can I say congratulations?
Yeah, of course.
Congratulations to your dad and his soon-to-be fiancé! But you don't seem super happy with where you are.
Alex groaned to himself. Why did Minjae have to be that observant? I'm not, he replied honestly. I don't really know these people, and I'm on edge.
Why are you on edge? Can you explain it to me?
Alex leaned forward to check on Cassie and Adelynn and then texted back: One of them is an alpha. He's married and has two kids, but that never stopped my birth father. Shit, why had he sent that before double-checking if he actually wanted to dump it on Minjae?
The gray dots on the other side of the screen showed up almost immediately. I'm sorry. There was a bit of a longer wait before Minjae's next message came through. Is it alright if I ask if you were one of the people he hurt?
With shaking hands, Alex carefully typed out: I was, but I don't really want to talk about that.
Fair enough, Minjae replied. Is there anything I can do to help you relax?
Texting helps.
Then I'll keep annoying you ;)
Alex rolled his eyes, but his hands were steadying and he felt a small smile on his lips. You're not annoying.
Aw, thanks! Btw, you're not annoying either.
Thanks :)