The bell above the door tinkled, signalling the entrance of a customer. Seth looked up from the gift basket he was putting together and nodded a greeting to the new arrival, who returned it before making his way towards the display of blankets in the corner of the store. Either the guy knew exactly what he wanted or he didn't care as he looked at the display for only a moment, before making his way to the counter with his purchase.

Setting the basket to one side, Seth made room on the counter and smiled at the approaching man.

"Hi, did you get everything you were looking for?"

"Erm. Yes. Thanks. Just this please."

Seth didn't know what was more appealing, the man's accent or his smile. As he reached for the item to ring it up, another tinkle of the door chime followed by a loud huff told him Dean had finally made it back from his trip to the ice cream parlour next door, his arrival causing a slight draft which carried Dean's well known scent and that of the customer towards him.

The subtle musk that hit Seth was all alpha. That explained the speed with which he'd picked the ribbon trimmed blanket, he'd no doubt been sent on a mission by his omega. He probably had some crying little girl at home breaking her heart looking for her blankie, waiting for her daddy to come and make it all better.

As much as he would like to keep the guy a little longer, that image spurred Seth on, so he quickly rang up and bagged the purchase. He handed the bag over, popping a little something in as he did so.

The alpha fished the wrapped chocolate out of the bag and looked at him quizzically.

"A little something for your omega."

"Oh right. Thanks. This isn't for my omega. But thanks."

He flashed that killer smile at Seth one last time and left, pausing for a split second before opening the door and heading into the street.

An elbow to the ribs and the appearance of an ice cream cone in front of his face alerted him to the fact that Dean had made his way behind the counter.

"Seth, dude, he was totally sniffing you out."

"He was not Dean. And even if he was, it doesn't matter. Didn't you hear him? It's not for MY omega. Meaning he has one, just not the one he was in here shopping for."

"I am telling you, he's unmated. Trust me on this. That alpha is single."

Dean had met his mate a little over a year ago when he was out delivering one of their gift baskets that turned out to be for Roman's beta baby sister. Roman had answered the door, and the rest as they say, was history.

"I took one look at him Seth, one breath of his scent and I knew. Just knew. That was my alpha. Mine. Mine mine mine."

Evidently, it had been exactly the same for Roman. They'd had their first date that night, by the end of the week Dean had moved into Roman's apartment, bonded the week after and by the time the one month anniversary of their first meeting rolled round, Dean had gone off his birth control, they were actively trying to get pregnant and Roman was shopping around for a suitable family home for them. Now here they were, ready to move into their new home with three more months to get it ready for the little boy that Dean was carrying.

"You're pregnant, not psychic."

Shaking off the mental picture of the alpha with the gorgeous smile stopping the tears of a little girl with a gorgeous smile of her own, Seth took the ice cream that was now being waved in front of him.

"But I asked for strawberry, Dean!"

"It's mint chocolate chip, be thankful I offered to get ya one in the first place! Of course if you don't want it..."

"Didn't say that. Look I'm eating it. I'm convinced you've got hollow legs, because there's no other explanation for where you're putting it all..."

"Eating for two here Seth."

"You sure about that? Maybe there's another one hiding in there."

"Not funny. Not funny at all. He's just got his daddy's appetite."

"Even Roman stops eating at some point."

"Great. Now you've upset him. Hush kiddo. Uncle Seth didn't mean to call you greedy."

"I didn't call him greedy, I just wondered where the hell you're putting all of that food."

"It's all healthy sh...stuff. S'good for him."

Seth couldn't fault him there. Dean had gone full earth omega since discovering he was pregnant. Aside from the occasional treat, it was all wholesome organic home cooked meals, prenatal yoga and 'no swearing in front of the bump!'. Smiling, Seth apologised. First to Dean and then ducking down, to the bump.

Which was precisely the moment that the door chime tinkled again. Dean hissed his name and whacked him on the shoulder, just in case he'd missed it.

Straightening up, he found himself face to face with the alpha with the killer smile and gorgeous accent.

"Hi."

"Hi there. Everything ok? Is there a problem with the blanket?"

"Blanket? Oh, no everything's grand. Blanket's great, Bayley's going to love it."

So his lucky omega's name was Bayley, or maybe they were a lucky beta. Still lucky though.

"Is there anything else we can get for you then? If it's something we don't have in stock we can order it in."

"No, no, I don't need anything else."

The alpha stared at Seth, not in a challenging way, more like he was trying to work something out. Seth could feel the ice cream starting to melt and run down his hand, but he didn't really want to take a lick of it while under that gaze. Ever the good friend, Dean solved that problem by taking the cone out of his hand and getting stuck in since he'd already devoured his own. Without thinking, Seth brought his hand to his mouth and licked up the tiny bit of ice cream there.

The alpha leaned forward ever so slightly at that sight.

Extending his hand, he finally spoke.

"The name's Finn, and you are?"

"Seth."

"Pleasure to meet you Seth."

"Likewise."

As he shook Finn's hand, Seth couldn't help but wonder where this conversation was going. Didn't the alpha...didn't Finn need to get home to his omega? What about that little girl with Finn's smile waiting on her daddy?

"...so what do you say? Do you fancy it?"

"Sorry, what what that?"

"I said would you like to grab a coffee after you've finished work tonight?"

"Coffee? Errr, well…"

"Yes, he'd love to go out for a coffee with you, wouldn't you Seth? Yes, see he agrees. We close at six tonight, he'll be ready for six thirty. Blue door around the side of the building here, his apartment is upstairs."

"Dean! Sorry about him, hormones. Yes, six thirty will be great."

"The blue door?"

"Yes, ring the bell and I'll buzz you up."

"Great, I'll see you then...Seth."

With a final blast of that smile, Finn took his leave. Seth spun round to glare at Dean.

"Do you want to explain yourself?"

"What?"

Seth swore there was no one who could manage to look so perfectly innocent as Dean, while at the same time being so perfectly infuriating.

"You just agreed to a date on my behalf! With an alpha who's probably already mated!"

"He's single."

"Dean!"

"He's unmated, you're unmated. You could have said no, but you didn't."

"Dean! How could I after you accepted for me. That would have been so rude."

"You tell yourself whatever you need to Sethie boy."

Patting his bump, Dean smiled beatifically at his closest of close friends.

"Sides, Junior and I have a good feeling about this."