Part 5

"Yes, this will be perfect," JJ said looking around the house.

The house was an indeterminate style with rooms to spare and was in excellent condition. They'd want to paint or wallpaper most of the rooms, even though they looked like they been done sometime in the last few years and also buy furniture, but it was in good condition and very few repairs needed to be done, other than cosmetic. JJ was sure that Dave would want to buy all new equipment for the kitchen and he might want to buy a new dishwasher, oven and maybe fridge, but since the ones present worked fine she wasn't sure about that.

"Yes, I think so too," Dave said, as he looked around. "There's plenty of rooms for us to have the large family that we're hoping for. It's in good repair, so very little will have to be done there, other then cosmetic."

"Yes, I was just thinking that," JJ said. "Paint or wallpaper in most of the rooms and we'll need to buy new furniture a little at a time. It's going to take quite awhile to furnish the whole house, but it's not like we don't have the time."

"We also need to have a security system installed," Dave said, as he and JJ continued to explore the rooms with the realtor trailing after them. "The world is a much more dangerous place now than when I was born and I certainly won't take any risks with my family."

"Good idea," JJ said. His condo of course had a topnotch security.

"We'll take it," Dave said turning back to the realtor who had remained silent as the couple talked.

"Wonderful," The realtor said. "So how will you pay for it?"

"I think it's better just to pay for the whole thing all at once," Dave decided. "I don't want to have to worry about paying a bill every month as I have enough of those as it is. My wife and I will be very happy here for many years and I'm sure our children will be to."

"Wonderful," the realtor said again, knowing that the Rossis were apparently fairly wealthy. The realtor silently wondered if the husband was related to the Rossi of New York, as that was very possible.

"I have all the paperwork at my office and as soon as it's signed and your credit card goes through it's yours," the realtor said. "Or you can pay by check, as some people do."

"Let's get it over with then," Dave said. "My wife and I have a lot of furniture shopping to do sometime in the next couple of months, because after that she needs to take it easy considering that she's pregnant. There's also things like painting or wallpapering the rooms, so there's still some work to be done before this place feels like a home."

Yes, Mrs. Rossi was indeed hugely pregnant, the realtor thought. She looked like she was going to pop any minute but he had been told that she still had three months to go in that she was carrying triplets, so it was no wonder she was humongous. Still, she wore her pregnancy well and was obviously enjoying the experience, though the realtor couldn't understand how that could be, though she was bound to be in a lot of pain, as her lower back at least was bound to be hurting.

He wouldn't be surprised to find that her ankles were swollen either. Still, it wasn't any of his business.

Dave escorted his wife back downstairs making sure that she didn't lose her balance. The realtor followed thinking that Mr. Rossi was such a gentleman.

"I thought we would never find a place that both of us agreed on," JJ sighed, as soon as she sat on her side of the car

"Yeah, they are not very many places with more than three or four bedrooms," Dave admitted. "At least not in this area that are already occupied mostly by our species and their families. I thought we might have to have something built, which would have taken months, maybe even longer depending if the construction company we hired didn't have other jobs that came first. I would've done so if we hadn't found this house, but luckily that's not necessary since you'll give birth in three months."

"Yeah, we found a place that has bedrooms to spare," JJ said. "The rooms are large enough that our children can share, so long as they're all the same sex."

"There is no need for that as there is over a dozen bedrooms," Dave said shaking his hand. "We've decided on a dozen children and if we get over that, we'll work something out. There's enough spare rooms in the house for me to have an office, where I can pay bills and take care of some other things."

"Alright then, there is 20 bedrooms," JJ said.

"I'm sure we can build on if necessary," Dave added.

"Something to worry about in the future if we start running out of space, not but I think that will happen, as I think a dozen children is plenty, plus Henry and Michael," JJ said. "I could easily have a dozen children in just three or five or six pregnancies if I have twins and triplets every time, which means we can afford to space them farther apart, like three or four years at least."

"Sounds about right," Dave said. "You realize of course, that there's no guarantees that we'll have them so far apart, not even with you on the pill."

"I know," JJ sighed. "Our kind usually get pregnant about every year as a rule, unless some kind of medical problems prevents it. Birth control doesn't really work on them very well, which has to do at least partially with their extremely high body heat. If we can manage two years apart I'll be happy."

"That Henry and Michael are so far apart is rather unusual for our kind, which tells me that you and Will likely didn't have sex much," Dave said, in a smugly satisfied tone, positive he was right.

"No, I admit that Michael was something of a surprise and not something that either Will or I were expecting."

"And your ex-mate left soon after Michael was born," Dave said.

"Yeah, things had already began to fall apart by then and even if Will hadn't met his lifemate he still would have left I'm sure. It hurt when he left, but that quickly faded because I knew it was coming to an end, had prepared myself for it," JJ sighed. "I'm actually glad I wasn't attached when I met you, because I doubt Will would have given me up easily, as he could be stubborn."

"Oh, I would have convinced him," Dave promised his expression and tone feral. "Normally I'm not one to go after someone who's married or mated, but in this case, I would have fought to my last breath. Will knows the score and would have known that lifemates no matter how rare they are, trumps just being mated to someone so you can have a few children or because you love them. The love of a lifemate is much, much deeper than that of just a mate."

"I would've helped you, because I felt that instant connection that comes when an Alpha and Omega are truly suited to each other," JJ said. "Mating to you was a great joy, much greater than it was when I mated with Will."

"That's because both the Alpha and Omega in us knew that we are truly suited to each other and meant to be, so that instant connection would have been much stronger than the one I had with Carolyn or the one you had with Will," Dave said.

"We'll just have to take what comes," JJ said. "I would no more want you to stop Locking me, then I would want to stop breathing as that first time was spectacular and it's only gotten better since. The connection we have is so much stronger."

"Which will happen every time I do Lock you like that, which I plan to do often," Dave said smiling hugely, as he remembered that night, which really wasn't all that long ago and also the several times since. "You're less likely to get pregnant if I don't Lock you, but it's still very possible."

"I've already said I wouldn't want you to stop doing that," JJ said

"I bet you that Will never Locked you, which is probably why you only had one at a time and why they are so far apart," Dave said his expressions smug. "If that's the case it's no wonder your relationship started to break up, because a male Alpha using his Knot that's part of their cock is an important part of their relationship with their mate and prevents the males seed from leaking back out. I'll bet you were never fully satisfied whenever you and Will had sex. Tell me I'm wrong," Dave challenged.

JJ knew that it was just part of an Alpha's personality to want to know that they were a better lay then the previous Alpha their mate had been with, if they had been with another Alpha. In this case, JJ didn't even have to lie, which was a good thing because Dave was especially good at detecting lies and she wouldn't want her mate mad at her.

"You're not wrong," JJ said being completely honest. "Will never Locked me, not once, not even when we first mated and I was always vaguely unsatisfied. I never told him so though, because it would have hurt him and perhaps, gotten me seriously punished. He never once comforted me when we played like we've done a few times. Oh, he was just like the other Alphas in that he liked to prove he was in charge, but he never bothered to ask me if I was alright or if I understood why he had done what he did, like you do. He would simply leave me to deal with my stinging behind myself and never once rubbed cream on it. The Omega in me was supremely dissatisfied with his attitude, his lack of concern for my well being, his lack of care and I truly believe that I would have asked that he release me probably in another year or so."

"I knew it," Dave crowed in triumph.

JJ said nothing, because she knew this was just a natural part of an Alpha's personality both male and female, especially the more aggressive ones and Dave had a very strong Alpha personality much stronger than Will's had been.

"I suspected from the beginning that Will had never Locked you, because you would've had at least twins if he had. Since Will never Knotted you that tells me that he never had strong feelings for you and just mated with you out of a sense of duty because he got you pregnant. I'm sure he felt affection for you, but a male's Knot is controlled by our emotions. My emotions were strong for you from the beginning because we're truly lifemates, so I had trouble controlling my Knot from growing long enough for me to get my penis inside you. If it had grown too much I never would have been able to get it inside your narrow passage. That's happened every time that I've Knotted you since, even if I've gotten better about controlling it so that it doesn't get too big before I'm fully encased inside you."

"You know you're right and I never put the clues together," JJ said feeling rather stupid, for not thinking of the reason why she'd only had singletons both times she'd gotten pregnant. "Our species nearly always have multiples and yet I didn't."

"Don't beat yourself up," Dave said without looking away from the road. "Maybe it should have occurred to you, but it didn't and it's not like you didn't get two adorable sons out of it. It's not like it's the end of the world just because you didn't think of the reason that you didn't have multiples both times Will got you pregnant."

"You're right," JJ said relaxing. "It's hardly my fault that Will only had affection for me, but affection's not love. It's not my fault either that Will never used a condom and even if I had reminded him I doubt he would have obeyed since Alphas tend to be arrogant and not always in the right way. I'm actually surprised that more babies aren't born out of wedlock considering."

"Most Alphas are responsible and use a condom, since it's the only prevention that works," said Dave. "I was always responsible and carried several condoms on me just in case before I met Carolyn and then I started doing it again after we separated."

"I'd prefer you never use a condom as I don't want anything between you and me and if I get more than those dozen children we discussed then so be it," JJ told Dave who grinned clearly pleased.

"I'm glad we agree," Dave said smugly thinking he had definitely lucked out when he had met Jennifer, as the two of them agreed on so many things. "I never intend to use a condom when I'm making love to my beautiful mate. When we have both decided we've had enough children I'll have an operation and then we can have sex as much as we want without having to worry about getting you pregnant. Now that ought to happen sometime in the next 10 years and it probably will be sooner than that, sometime in the next 5 or 6 I estimate."

"Well, if I have children every year, year and a half or so five or six years seems about right," JJ said. "I can get pregnant at least four more times in that length of time."

"Which will likely give us over a dozen children unless you have twins, instead of triplets every time," Dave said.

"Well, we'll see how it goes," JJ said. "But since I'm carrying triplets now that makes me more susceptible to carrying them again, but if I have twins every time I have to get pregnant at least five or six times more, but I won't be surprised at all if next time I get pregnant it's triplets."

"No, I won't be surprised either," Dave agreed grinning at the thought.

The two of them fell silent as Dave pulled up at the real estate office and JJ waited in her seat after removing her belt so that Dave could help her out of the car as that's just the way he was, a gentleman.

"Thank you," JJ said, as Dave came around the car and opened her door for her helping her out after he had shut off the engine.

"You're quite welcome, bella," Dave smiled, kissing her cheek affectionately. "Shall we go sign those papers?"

"Absolutely, I'm looking forward to getting started on the decorating our new home," JJ agreed smiling.

Dave escorted his mate into the realtor's office where Mr. Dwyer was waiting for them.

~~~Healed Hearts~~~

Part 2

One year and six months later

Dave rushed into the hospital in a panic. He had begun to get worried when Jennifer hadn't come home. Then outright panicked when she didn't answer her cell phone and in fact got one of those no longer in service messages.

He had started to call the hospitals then figuring that Jennifer had been in an accident and finally he had found her at Wythe County Community. He had been there within minutes since the hospital wasn't too far away from where they lived. Dave figured that she had stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things and had been attacked when she was either entering or leaving or possibly had been running another type of errand and been attacked. If Dave ever got his hands on the person that put Jennifer in the hospital they would be dead as he had every right to do so and even the humans understood this. He wouldn't feel the least bit guilty putting whoever it was in their graves and if they happened have a family then he would make sure they had enough to live on.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for my wife Jennifer Rossi," Dave told the nurse trying to keep calm. If he lost Jennifer he didn't know what he would do and their children definitely needed their mother. The children were still so young that they wouldn't even remember their mother if Jennifer happened to die, as they were only a year and three months old and neither would Michael as he wasn't much older. As for Henry he would only have vague memories at best.

"Yes, they've just put her in a private room. Unfortunately, she hasn't regained consciousness yet and her phone was smashed so we haven't been able to locate any family. Our next step would have been to take fingerprints and run them through the system, but now that you're here that's no longer necessary," the nurse at the desk informed him.

"Thank you," Dave said looking worried. "I was worried when she didn't come home and then I tried her cell phone and all I got was the usual message, so calling the hospitals seemed like the logical thing to do."

"She's on the third floor in room 312," the nurse said definitely sympathizing with the husband who looked very worried.

"I would've been here sooner, but I had to get a babysitter for our children," Dave said.

Dave headed for the elevator and step in, pushing the button for the third floor, desperate to see Jennifer. He was already praying that she was going to be okay, because she and his children were the center of his life and she knew it. He knew he would have to call Sandy since he had asked her to babysit and now she was worried to, which Dave regretted but he couldn't just leave five small children on their own as that would have been very irresponsible.

Dave stepped into Jennifer's room only a few minutes later and went over to her still form. She looked dead, Dave thought, as his mate was never this still, unless she was sleeping. Dave looked at all the tubes and wires and the machines and feared that Jennifer was going to leave him.

The Alpha inside him raged at the injustice of it all and he felt like smashing something, but he controlled that part of him with difficulty as now was not the time. He and Jennifer had just found each other not long ago and they had been so happy. How could this possibly happen when both of them had been so content with each other after leaving their previous bad relationships behind?

The door opened then and Dave turned around to see a doctor enter.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Rossi despite the circumstances," the doctor said politely. "I'm Dr. Madison."

"Will my wife be okay?" Dave asked returning the handshake.

"She has various contusions, a broken arm, several broken fingers, on her left hand, a broken leg and took quite a knock to the back of the head. You can feel the lump with your fingers if you know what you are looking for. It's the head that worries me the most as such injuries can be tricky. However, if she wakes up sometime in the next 48 hours she'll likely be okay. Her memory of who attacked her might be spotty as that's common with head injuries or she could remember it clear as a bell," Dr. Madison said.

"You don't think she'll have amnesia then," Dave asked.

"It's possible," Dr. Madison admitted. "I really don't think so in this case, but I could be wrong, because a lot of times the brain does things on its own in order to protect itself from traumatic memories."

"Do you have any idea what happened?" asked Dave.

"Not really," Dr. Madison admitted. "The lady who called it in simply said that she had been attacked and that it didn't look just a mugging, because there were two of them. She said that the men who were attacking her ran off as soon as she exited the grocery store and called out."

"I'm going to have to thank this lady that was brave enough to call it in and make those thugs run off," Dave said his tone fierce.

"She's in the waiting room, and she's as worried as you are considering she saw at least part of the attack," Dr, Madison said. "She could probably help your wife identify the men."

"If she's willing to do that I'd be grateful," Dave said. "So what's the lady name?"

"Penelope Garcia," Dr, Madison said.

"I'll go see her in a little while," Dave said. "Right now, I just can't bear to leave Jennifer."

"You must love her very much," Dr. Madison suggested gently.

"I do. We've only been together for about a year and nine months, but it's been the best year and nine months of my life," Dave said his thoughts seeming faraway. "We mated immediately, after we met."

The doctor was startled at the word mated, but then he already knew that Jennifer at least was not human, because while Alphas and Omegas looked basically human there were several differences. For one thing the heart was on the other side of the chest from where a humans was and their circulatory and nervous systems were also very different. Also they had a very high body heat which prevented them from getting ill, even as small children. Most human medicines didn't work on them or at least not very well, mostly because of that high body heat and the other differences in their bodies. Alphas and Omegas had different types of antibodies, red and white blood cells, which also helped them not get ill and which also produced the high body heat.

Luckily, there were some things that did work and other medicines that had been designed specifically for their race.

"Any children?" Dr, Madison asked.

"Five actually," Dave said smiling a little. "Henry and Michael that she had with another Alpha before we met. Then triplets, all girls just over a year ago now. And I don't know why I'm telling you all this."

"Because you need to talk to someone and I'm a sympathetic ear," the doctor said. "Believe me, I hear all kinds of stories in my work."

"If she isn't okay I don't know what I'll do," Dave said looking looking devastated for just a few seconds as he dropped his Alpha personality. Not many things could make an Alpha breakdown as they were strong when others weren't, but when it came to their mates or their children...it was one thing that could make an Alpha feel lost, bereft.

"I'm confident that Jennifer will be okay," Dr. Madison told Dave. "And so will the children."

"Jennifer is pregnant?" Dave asked blinking at the doctors last sentence.

"You didn't know?" Dr, Madison asked and Dave shook his head. "Well, I'm not really surprised. I'm sure you weren't expecting to have anymore children after your girls were born just over a year ago."

"Actually we half were," Dave said. "Our kinds females tend to get pregnant easily, usually every year, year and a half or so. There's nothing to prevent it really except to use a condom or have an operation, as I'm sure you know that birth control pills don't work very well on our kind."

"Yes, I am aware," the doctor agreed. "Even if your wife took them they wouldn't work very well, because your species system is just too different.

"And nothing's ever been found that will work very long at least not when it comes to a female of our kind falling pregnant, except for by the two methods I mentioned, so no more children are produced," Dave said.

The doctor said nothing, as he checked JJ's chart and all the machines that surrounded the bed. Next the doctor examined JJ and Dave watched, as he carefully checked her pulse and looked under her eyelids.

"Well, everything seems fine for the moment, so I'll be back sometime, but I have rounds to make."

"Thank you doctor," Dave said sincerely.

"You're quite welcome," Dr, Madison said kindly. "If you want to speak to Miss Garcia she's in the waiting room just down the hall to the right."

"Thank you, I'll do that," Dave promised. "Such actions as hers deserve to be rewarded as not many people would have interfered even a little."

The doctor left closing the door quietly behind him, while Dave pulled up the only chair as close to the bed he could get and sat down.

Jennifer just had to be okay, Dave thought, as he simply sat by his wife's bed praying harder than he ever had.

~~~Healed Hearts~~~

"Ms. Garcia I want to thank you for what you did for my Jennifer," Dave said after introducing himself. "It was really brave of you and I'm very thankful that you did something instead of just walking away or calling 911 who might not have arrived in time."

Dave could tell that Garcia was an Omega just like Jennifer, but she also wasn't mated because not only was her mating gland on her neck unbroken, she didn't smell like another Alpha.

"I didn't do much," Penelope said flushing a little at the praise.

"That doesn't matter," Dave told her. "You were brave enough to scare them away just by speaking up, though you realize they could have come after you since you were a witness," Dave said.

"I didn't think about that at the time," Penelope admitted. "I just saw these two big men beating up this lone woman. It was instinct I guess."

"Well, you deserve to be rewarded for your bravery," Dave said.

"I don't need anything," Penelope denied. "I have a good life and a good job."

"Well then, I owe you a favor, anything you want it's yours," Dave said. "Jennifer is my life, along with our children and I'm very grateful that she wasn't taken from me completely, even if I know she'll be weeks in healing."

"So she's going to be okay?" Penelope asked tentatively.

"Doctor Madison believes so," Dave said still looking worried. "She hasn't woken up yet, but he believes she will sometime in the next 48 hours. If she does then the doctor believe that she'll be fine, though her memory might be spotty due to being kicked in the back of the head. She has several broken bones and multiple contusions."

"Nasty," Penelope said and Dave nodded grimly in agreement. "I sincerely hope she's going to be okay and you have my sincere sympathy that this happened."

"Life really kicks you in the teeth when you're least expecting it," Dave said cynically. "Both of us were so happy and we haven't even been mated all that long, less then two years and this happens."

"That is so sad," Penelope said. "I don't know what's wrong with people that they could beat up a woman who probably hadn't done anything to them. I'm sure she would've given them all her money without them having to injure her so badly."

"She would have," Dave agreed. "We discussed what she was to do if this happened, since neither one of us is naïve. She would have offered all her money and her credit and whatever else they wanted and most muggers would've taken that and run off. I really don't think this was a mugging though as most of them work alone and you said there was two of them."

"You think it was a deliberate attack?" Penelope gasped.

"I have a suspicion it was but I might be wrong," Dave admitted. "It just seems really strange that two muggers attack Jennifer right outside the grocery store that she goes to on a normal basis, as it's close to our home. Now it's possible it's pure coincidence, but we live in a very good area of the city and the streets are more heavily patrolled then they are in poorer areas," Dave said. "I'm not claiming there isn't any crime in the area we live in just that it's a lot lower then in other sections of the city, so the chances of being attacked in broad daylight are extremely slim at best."

"Yes, it does seem rather suspicious," Penelope admitted. "It could be just bad luck... but you don't believe so."

"I really don't. I have a suspicion of who might have orchestrated it, but I'm not going to say anything until I'm sure."

"I would love to know how it ends," Penelope said her tone wistful. "If someone really was behind the attack or it was just bad luck, but it's not my business..."

"Well, as part of your reward if it turns out who I suspect it is then either Jennifer or I will tell you about it. I'm sure that Jennifer will want to thank you for your part in scaring those thugs off and who knows you might even become friends," Dave said smiling.

"That would be great as I don't have many of those," Penelope said. "If I get a good friend out of this I'll consider that reward enough."

Dave really liked this Penelope Garcia as she was similar in many ways to his Jennifer. If he and Jennifer weren't already happily mated he would try dating her to see if they clicked like he had thought he and Carolyn did. If Carolyn happened to be behind the attack, like he suspected she was, because it'd happened in the past, then she wouldn't be alive very long, he swore it. He hadn't killed Carolyn for her betrayal and he'd had every right to, but sometimes one of their kind who had done the same as Carolyn wanted to get back at their former mate, even if the Alpha had done nothing except what was well within their laws, their traditions, their customs.

It had been nearly 7 years since he had unmated with Carolyn and spit into the mark on her neck, as a sign of his disgust. In those seven years none of their kind would have wanted anything to do with her, not an Alpha and not even another Omega and to be shunned by every one of their race she ran across would leave it's own mark on the psyche. Sometimes that led to suicide and other times it led to wanting to get vengeance as it could go either way and Dave believed that Carolyn had swung in the direction of vengeance.

Of course, it could be the Alpha he had threatened to kill if he ever saw him again, but most Alphas wouldn't wait nearly 7 years to get revenge. They might wait a year or two sometimes three, so that the other Alpha had likely let their guard down, but rarely more than that as the need to get vengeance would be strong.

This was the main reason it was legal to kill the Alpha that had betrayed you in such a way and also the Omega, because in the past either the Alpha or the Omega had come back and kill the other Alphas entire family, including any children. Omega's could be aggressive if they felt like they had been wronged, even if they were usually not. Now what he had done to Carolyn was exactly the right thing, that didn't mean that Carolyn didn't feel as if she had been betrayed and wronged.

Actually, if he had done the right thing he would've killed Carolyn instead of leaving her alive, but he didn't really like killing women. However, he would make an exception if Carolyn happened to be behind his wife's injuries and that's only if the police didn't catch her first and send her to prison, which would be worse. Their kind didn't like being caged or the animal in them didn't anyway and he wouldn't be surprised if Carolyn took her life within a year if she was sent to prison. That would almost be revenge enough if Carolyn turned out to be behind the attack, Dave decided as he gave Penelope his phone number and also Jennifer's.

"I'll have Jennifer call you as soon as she's feeling better," Dave said.

"I'd like to stay at least until she wakes up," Penelope protested.

"She might not wake up for days," Dave told Penelope. Or ever, Dave added in his thoughts. "You need to go home, eat, get some sleep. When she wakes up I'll contact you and you can come to visit her at the hospital as she'll likely be here for at least a week."

"That would be appreciated," Penelope said. "You've been very kind and I'm really grateful to you."

"No need to be, I owe you for what you did," Dave said.

"You don't owe me anything," Penelope denied for the second time that night.

Dave said nothing but it was clear he disagreed. He would find some way to pay her back he swore to himself, as her actions deserved no less, even if she believed she had hardly done anything.

He watched as Penelope left and his thoughts immediately returned to his wife.

~~~Healed Hearts~~~