Spencer arrived home bringing dinner with him as a sort of apology. It wasn't his fault Maranda had popped back into his life, but still... Spencer had called her when he had been on the way home and warned her.

When Spencer finally entered the house he was met by Safina.

"Let's take dinner into the kitchen," was all Safina said trying to control herself.

Spencer smelled faintly of the female Alpha and the scent wasn't familiar, so it was just as well she had been warned.

"I'm really sorry about this, sweetie," Spencer said.

"It's hardly your fault that she showed up at your place of work," Safina said trying to remain calm. She reminded yourself that Spencer hadn't asked for it and he had simply gone into work like normal. It wasn't his fault that his former girlfriend had simply walked back into his life.

"So tell me what happened specifically," Safina said. "Don't worry about the children, Mandy is feeding them tonight."

Spencer nodded and began to recount exactly what had happened at work today.

Safina listened calming down considerably, once Spencer was done.

"You handled yourself well," Safina finally said. "You made it clear that you weren't interested in restarting your former relationship. Hopefully, she'll take your very firm no and not try to start anything."

"I don't think she will," Spencer said. "I'm pretty sure she was there for the reason she said and that was mostly to apologize for what happened over a decade ago."

Spencer was suddenly very glad that he had revealed the incident to Aaron and Safina before he and Safina had mated, because that made things easier now. He didn't have to explain who Maranda was for one thing.

"Good, let's hope your instincts are correct," Safina said. "Let's hope she doesn't just show up in our lives, as I don't need your former girlfriend hanging around. I understand that the two of you were once very close and that you were planning on mating, but the death of your babies prevented it. That relationship is in the past and that's where it should remain. I know you'll always think of her fondly, as she was your first love after all. You might even have mated, despite immense pressure from her parents for her to break up with you, if not for the tragic loss of your babies."

"Yeah, I know," Spencer admitted with a sigh. "I hope you know, I love you now. While Maranda and I were once close that is no longer the case."

"I know that," Safina promised calmly, kissing his cheek. "You did the right thing by warning me before you walked in the door, so I had a chance to control my probable original reaction. Let's eat and then you can shower."

"Okay," Spencer said having relaxed now that he had told Safina what happened and she had reacted better than he expected. It was that phone call before he got home he knew so he was glad he had thought about warning her. Doing such a thing if something similar happened again would be his first response from now on, as it would likely prevent a lot of fights in the future.

The two of them shared a pleasant dinner alone in the kitchen, simply talking about their day.

"So anything else happen besides, your former girlfriend showing up out of the blue?" Safina asked and Spencer shook his head.

"No, other than me having to give a more full version of my history to the team, then what I had already told them about me and Maranda, it was a very boring day of paperwork," Spencer said. "Nothing else happened today other than that."

"That's good," Safina decided.

The two of them then talked some about what she was working on at her place of employment, before finishing their dinner and heading not to spend some time with their children.

~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~

"They're growing so fast," Safina said looking down at the cribs where her children were sleeping. "They're not even six months old yet."

"I know," Spencer said, as he put an arm around Safina's shoulders. "Children grow fast at their age, as we both know, but it does seem like they're growing way too fast for both of us."

"It's probably because we both wanted children desperately and we don't want him to grow up on us," Safina said.

"That's part of it certainly," Spencer agreed. "Still, it'll be nearly 18 years before they're out on their own, so we might as well enjoy them while they're young."

"I want some more," Safina admitted. "I know it's much too soon, but I really want some more."

"I know you do," Spencer said. "So do I, but we have to be patient, sweetie. These three aren't even past the diaper stage yet. It would be foolhardy in the extreme to let yourself get pregnant again so soon."

"I know," Safina agreed. "I've had this urge before and it'll pass."

"You still have plenty of time to have some more, as you're not even 30 yet," Spencer said.

"We could even get pregnant another time after the second," Safina said.

"While that's doable we would have to build on if we did. If we decide that you're going to get pregnant a third time then we need to make sure that we have everything built and in place before you get pregnant again. We don't want to be caught unprepared."

"You're right," Safina said. "You're absolutely correct."

"Come on, honey, let's go to bed. We can always practice you know, for when we do want to get you pregnant again," Spencer suggested smiling.

"What an excellent idea," Safina beamed at him her melancholy mood vanishing.

Spencer nearly chuckled, but managed to contain himself. He could certainly understand why Safina had suddenly cheered up

~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~

"So you didn't lose your temper when he told you about the incident with his former girlfriend. I'm very proud of you for not doing so," Aaron told his sister, as they sat down to share lunch. It was a Saturday and Spencer was visiting his godchildren, while Aaron and Safina were spending some time together. Their children were being looked after by Mandy. She had proved herself quite capable of looking after three small infants.

"No," Safina said quite proud of herself. "For one thing Spencer called before he got home and warned me, which helped. Since I was warned I was able to contain my reaction at the unfamiliar sent of a female Alpha, that wasn't Emily as I would've recognized her scent immediately. Spencer recounted the whole incident and he believed that Maranda just wanted to apologize to him for what happened over a decade ago. He made sure she knew that he wasn't available to restart their old relationship."

"So she took his rejection with good grace," Aaron said. Aaron had already heard all this from Penelope, but he enjoyed listening to his sister recount the incident from her point of view.

"She seemed too according to Spencer," Safina said. "He's very good at reading people and so is the rest of the team, so that one meeting, will likely be the end of any contact. I think Spencer handled the incident very well and did the right thing warning me. Doing so likely avoided a fight. I'm not sure I would've waited for an explanation if he came home smelling like some other female, even if it was faintly, without some warning."

"Well, good, I'm glad things are going well between you," Aaron said.

"They're going fine and the sudden appearance of his former girlfriend isn't going to derail our relationship, especially because Spencer is in no way at fault," Safina said. "It's not like he contacted her himself. I'm sure he hadn't thought much about her in years, other than when he told us about what happened so long ago."

"Probably," Aaron agreed. "I'm glad things are going so well."

"So how are things going between you and Penny?" Safina asked.

"Things are going great, sis," Aaron smiled. "I've certainly been happier over the last couple of months then I was after Haley betrayed me. I'm so glad I got off my ass and asked her to mate with me. I'm also very happy that she accepted so easily."

"She loves you," Safina said. "To me, it is as plain as daylight. She's also loyal, so I don't see her betraying you like Haley did."

"No, I don't see that happening," Aaron said. "Of course, I never saw it with Haley either."

"You don't need to worry about Penny's loyalty," Safina told him her brother. "She's a totally different kind of person to Haley. I hate to say this, but I never did like Haley that much. I just never told you, as I didn't want to cause friction between us, as we didn't know each other as well at the time."

"Why didn't you like Haley?" Aaron asked in surprise.

"Because she was very jealous of our close relationship," Safina explained. "She made it pretty obvious that she didn't like me. It was as if she feared I was trying to steal you from her. I don't think the fact that we were siblings, even if that's only half, ever occurred to her. To her, I was competition for your affection."

"I hate to believe she was so petty," Aaron said not disbelieving his sister's words. He hadn't seen that himself, but he was also working a lot of the time. He was also sure that Haley had hidden her dislike of his sister whenever he was around.

"I know and for that I'm sorry," Safina apologized. "It helped that I was gone to college a great deal of the time. We didn't meet until after you'd been married for years. I think Haley believed that you should've tossed me and Cameron out on our rear ends, not given us the time of day, instead of taking us into your home. To her, I don't think it mattered that we were family, even if that was due to your mother cheating on your father, something I can't blame her for, if what I heard about your father is true."

"Yeah, we met just before you started college in the fall, along with your brother Cameron of course," Aaron remembered. "Your father had just died and you had known about me for some time. You were hoping that I would give you and your brother at least temporary shelter. You know the odds were that I would just throw you in Cameron out, since a lot of families don't like their mistakes to walk in the door."

"Luckily, for me and Cameron, you didn't agree with your parents on that one," Safina said.

"Considering the way they raised Sean and me, it shouldn't be a surprise that I wanted to do the exact opposite. I'm actually surprised that father believed my mother when she said that the babies were his. It's fortunate that he died before you were born, as even he would've picked up the fact that you and Cameron didn't look much like him."

"Yes, that's probably fortunate," Safina admitted. "I've never met our mother, but from you've told me..."

"She wasn't a nice woman," Aaron said, "But I believe that largely had to do with the iron control that my father had over her. I wish she could meet you actually, as I'm sure she would love you, now that father is dead. I wasn't entirely sure what mom was going to do once you were born. There's no way you and Cameron could've stayed in the same house, me and Sean grew up in. I really believe that dad would have had no trouble dropping you off at an orphanage or even killing you, supposedly, accidentally. He really could be that vicious. If he hadn't died he likely would've beat my mother to death when he realized that you and Cameron weren't his."

"Let's talk about something more pleasant," Safina suggested gently. She knew very well that it hurt Aaron to remember his father and from all she had learned of him she couldn't blame her brother for that. Aaron's father had been a vicious, cruel man from everything she had heard about him.

"I just don't understand how my father could've been fooled. Females can only get pregnant when they go into heat, so how could my father believe his wife's explanation?" Aaron asked. "It's not like he trusted her after all."

"Well, they probably had sex with a condom, while your mother was in heat," Safina suggested. "I'm sure your mother came up with some explanation as to how she got pregnant. Maybe she said there were tiny holes in the condom like what happened with Spencer and Maranda. Maybe she convinced him the condoms were old, as they do begin to degrade after awhile. I'm sure your mother could've thought of some explanation that your father would believe and I'm sure your father wouldn't believe that his wife could lie to him. If that's what happened it was a dangerous thing for your mother to do, because once they were born your father likely would've known that Cameron and I weren't his. You have to realize that your father might have been a cruel man, but he would have believed that your mother didn't have the gall to cheat on him and so likely would have believed her explanation up until a certain point. He likely believed he had broken her spirit with his constant beatings."

"That's a good point," Aaron admitted. "That's likely what father believed, as he beat her constantly. She's lucky that she didn't lose me and Sean, if he beat her while she was pregnant with us."

"See," Safina said. "There's probably a logical explanation for how your mother got away with claiming Cameron and I were his and would have until after we were born. It's even possible that we would've lived until we were 2 or 3, because infants really don't look like anybody for the most part. Or at least it's hard to define, who they look like. They could look like some distant relative instead of their parents for instance."

"That's possible," Aaron considered, never having thought in that direction. It would've been a very dangerous deception, as his father would've had no trouble beating his mother black and blue for her lies and also for having sex with somebody else. His mother would have been very thankful if his father hadn't killed her.

"It would've been a very dangerous deception I admit and I'm not sure what mother's plans were for giving birth to you and Cameron safely. I could've taken you in, but I was still in college at the time, so I was just starting out. I wasn't really in a position to take in two infants, but I would've done so if necessary."

"It doesn't matter anymore and your father is dead and your mother got exactly what she deserved for not protecting her children and that is a life of loneliness, with no true friends, only those that associate with her, because of her money not because of genuine friendship. You might as well eat food made out of sawdust, instead of the genuine deal.

"That's a good analogy," Aaron admitted with a little smile.

"Thank you," Safina said smiling too.

The two siblings enjoyed their lunch together and talked about many things, including their mates, how the househunting was going and their children.

~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~

Aaron made sure that there was enough supplies for when Penelope went into heat, which would be happening soon, probably tonight. He had been aware that it was upcoming as he could smell it on her. He had taken the next four days off, as it shouldn't last any longer than that. He had one of his people stock up on water, so their were a dozen cases of it off in one corner of the room. The great thing about water was it never went bad so long as it was sealed. He would make sure to keep an eye on the amount and tell one of his numerous people when to buy more. The dozen cases should be enough to last through probably the next year. There were also numerous snack foods with a lot of protein and electrolytes, things that didn't spoil easily and lasted a long time. In one corner of the room, there was an enormous bed.

It would be a very comfortable place for his mate too ride out her heat and he had been sure to make it so. He's already had this heat room installed because the nanny Selima was still going into heat and so was his sister when she lived here. Luckily, the two of them had never gone into heat at the same time. There had been a time or two where one had gone into heat just days after the other one, but never at the exact same time. This was another reason that Aaron made sure the heat room was well stocked.

It was his responsibility to look after members of his family, including those that were working directly for him. Unfortunately, Selima had to go through her heat alone unless she had a temporary partner, but she also knew that Aaron didn't like her to bring strangers up here, in what was essentially his home, especially not with his children close by. If she had a partner he hadn't met at least once that she wanted to use, then they could either use that partners heat room or the heat ward at the hospital. Every hospital in the country had a ward set up for those that were in heat that had nowhere else to go.

He would make sure there was a heat room installed in whatever house he and Penelope eventually bought. It was his duty as well as his pleasure to make sure that Penelope had everything she needed for when she went into heat.

"Everything ready?" Penelope asked her mate as she walked into the heat room.

"Yes, I was just making sure we had enough of everything, just in case we needed to buy something at the last minute," Aaron said, as Penelope walked into his arms.

This was something Haley had not done for sometime and that was be overly affectionate. Most of those who were mated to Alphas who treated them well were very affectionate with those mates. He should've known that something was wrong then, because at first they couldn't keep their hands off each other, though that had slowly changed over the years of their marriage. Perhaps, it had started with the first miscarriage, Aaron speculated silently. Haley had been an Omega so he was sure that the first miscarriage had devastated her, but if it had he had never seen it. He should have though and he knew it. Still, it wasn't just up to him to notice the signs of grief it was up to Haley to talk to him about it. They hadn't communicated Aaron admitted, which was as much Haley's fault, as it was his.

He swore he'd do better with Penelope, though he didn't think Penelope would stay silent if she needed something like Haley had. She would likely tell him if she was feeling sad or upset if he didn't notice it himself. The work she did was hard on her Aaron knew, but it also gave her a worthwhile purpose, something Haley hadn't had. She also thought of the team as a family, since her parents and the rest of them were out in California. They would need to take a trip sometime soon, to visit with her parents and siblings.

"Yes, everything is ready, though we'll have to keep an eye on the level of supplies and buy stuff when needed," Aaron said. "We can buy stuff well in advance, because most of it lasts for a long time."

"But right now that's not necessary," Penelope said looking around at all the supplies. Boxes of scentless wipes that were good to stop abrasions from forming. When someone was having too much sex in a short period of time, abrasions could form, because of a cock's overuse. Also there were plenty of protein and power bars, as well as cases of water with electrolytes.

"No, everything is prepared," Aaron said. "You'll be going to heat soon, probably tonight."

"Yes, I will," Penelope agreed. "I'm glad you can smell when I'm about to, because I've been known to lose track. It's only when I start nesting in my own bed that I realize I'm about to go into heat."

"Well, now you have me to help you with it, when you didn't have anyone before, well except temporary partners sometimes," Aaron said.

"Which is hardly the same as having a mate," Penelope agreed. "Those partners helped, but I'm sure you'll help much more, because I love you so much."

"I know I will," Aaron said confidently, even as he leaned down and kissed his mate on the top of her head. "It'd been well documented that having one of out kind to help their mate through their heat always helps much more than just temporary partners, who you probably didn't feel more than a little lust for. The fact, that we love each other has a lot to do with how easy you'll get through this heat. It might even end sooner then normal, which has been known to happen, simply because you are with an alpha now and we are bonded. I often helped Haley through hers and in fact, I was there for every single one of them, even when the relationship started to break up, something she didn't seem to appreciate. I'll be doing the same for you until you can get yourself fixed after we are done having children."

"I'll certainly be happy to have you help me with them, Alpha," Penelope said formally. "You won't be using a condom tonight either."

Penelope words were practically a command, but since Aaron had no intention of using a condom he didn't really mind. They had always intended to get pregnant with Penelope's first heat after they had mated, so the command didn't bother him.

"Nope," Aaron said a grin stretching his face. "If I have my way we'll be pregnant with at least triplets by the end of the night."

"I certainly won't object if I am," Penelope grinned.

"I know it," Aaron said confidently with an adorable grin to where the dimple in one corner of his mouth showed up that made Penelope just want to kiss him passionately, as he looked so cute and adorable when he grinned like that.

"You know I was thinking that we could take a trip out to California to see your family for a few days. They deserve to see how happy you are, so they won't worry about you," said Aaron after a few minutes of comfortable silence. "I know you told them about me, but they have yet to meet me in person. It's only right that you introduce your mate to your family."

"Technically, I should've introduced you before we mated," Penelope sighed. "I hate to leave the team shorthanded, but it's something that needs to be done."

"They can get another technical analyst for a few days," Aaron said and Penelope nodded not bothering to argue.

"Yes, they can," Penelope agreed instead. "They won't be happy about it, but they'll realize that I never did introduce you to my parents at least. It's no different then Spencer taking a couple of weeks to get to know a relative he never knew he had."

"Now, that right there ended well and I'm glad it did," Aaron said. "I can't believe his father never once mentioned he had a sister. It's logical that he would have a sibling, but it still wasn't proper that Spencer's father never at least mentioned them. The proper thing to do would be to at least introduce her to his family, even if there was not much contact after that."

"Well, we already know his father isn't a proper Alpha, even if he has the personality of one," Penelope suggested delicately.

"You're right," Aaron said not at all offended. "A proper Alpha, one who was honest, never would have tried to use his child as a leverage for extortion. I realize that when somebody gets an idea in their head about a person that it tends to stick and the fact, that William Reid hadn't seen Spencer, since he was eight years old didn't help the situation. Still, what he did was butt stupid and he should've known this before he even tried it."

"I just think he was too greedy to think about possible consequences," Penelope said.

"That was part of it certainly," Aaron agreed. "But I also think that he thought so little of his son that he figured everybody else would to, especially Alphas like himself. He didn't value Spencer for himself and didn't see that he had gone far, omega or not."

"He probably figured all alphas would share his opinion never thinking that his opinion was wrong," Penelope snorted. "I wanted to ruin his finances, something I could've done very easily, but Spencer wouldn't let me."

"That's not the way to do things," Aaron said disapprovingly. "I'm not saying that he wouldn't have deserved it, just that that is not the way. It probably would've gotten you in trouble with the authorities for one thing.

"They never would've known it was me," Penelope denied. "I know how to erase my tracks."

"Those you work with at least would have suspected though, especially Spencer," Aaron said. "While they might have agreed with what you did they would probably have reported you anyway, because you would have committed a crime. Really, they would've had no choice."

"I don't know that they would have reported me, especially since they would have likely agreed with my actions, but maybe they would've had to," Penelope admitted.

"Doesn't matter as William Reid will get what he deserves eventually. If he ever commits another crime again then the Council will be on him. I guarantee you the Council won't be very gentle with him. He'll end up in prison at the least and that's at a minimum. They certainly gave Haley what she deserved and also the alpha she cheated on me with got one chance to prove that he had changed, that he knew how not to go after somebody that was mated again. If it's discovered that he's been having sexual relations with somebody who is mated again it'll cost him his life. Alphas might be stubborn, but most of them aren't stupid. No amount of bribery is going to work with the Council."

Penelope knew this was true so nodded.

The two of them exited the heat room that they would need in a few hours and went to fix lunch for themselves.

~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~