"They're so adorable," cooed Kiza, Diana's mother, at her newest grandchildren.
Brett and Kiza had contacted him and their daughter to let them know they were coming for a visit and Dave had told them that they would always be welcome. Diana's parent's had arrived a few days ago to great joy from their grandchildren. The couple were staying in one of the guestrooms, instead of a hotel, since they had the space.
"I think so," Dave grinned.
Brett watched his mate coo over their newest grandchildren smiling. It was clear that Diana loved Dave much more than she ever had her former mate and that Dave adored her and her children from her previous relationship, which was all one could expect. Frankly, that was the way it should be.
This was the way it should always be, Brett thought contently, as he observed the peaceful scene. It was good to see his oldest daughter so happy with Dave and for that reason alone he would've approved of the relationship. Diana had had such a hard time finding true love and she had believed that William Reid was the one for her. That had turned out so badly that Brett had, at the time wanted to dig up William Reid's grave, just to kill him again, for what he had done, but Dave had taken care of the situation and William Reid was dead, so at least he would no longer threaten his daughter or his grandchildren.
Brett had no doubt at all that William Reid's body was, even now, moldering in a grave somewhere out in the desert, as Dave was the type of Alpha that knew the laws backwards and forwards and would do exactly what needed to be done, no matter his personal feelings, though in this case Dave probably hated the very air William Reid had breathed considering what had happened. Brett could see Dave being enraged when he had heard about the attack on his new mate, when he wasn't there to protect her. One who also happened to be pregnant, as he certainly would've had the same reaction if the same thing had happened to Kiza.
The fact that Dave and Diana had just mated had only made an already bad situation worse.
"So planning to have anymore?" Brett asked.
"Diana and I haven't had a chance to discuss it. I would like some more, but it's also Diana's decision. I know we have eight, between my twins, Diana's three and our newest triplets, but still..."
"But if you can afford to have more and have the room, then most of our kind want as many as possible, with exceptions of course," Kiza said.
"I thought it could wait a few months at least to mention it. Give Diana a chance to recover from the birth and give us time to bond with our newborns," Dave said.
Dave was so thoughtful, Kiza thought, while smiling down at her grandson. He was certainly miles above William Reid Esquire and his boys were just adorable, which was a bonus.
"So when will Diana be home?" asked Brett.
"She should be home anytime," Dave said, looking at his watch. "Her classes end soon and she'll be home directly after. She knows you're here after all. I'm sure she is anxious to spend as much time with you as possible while you're here."
"We just wanted to give you a little time to get settled into married life," Kiva said. "After all, technically, you're still newlyweds."
"Well, I suppose, technically," Dave smiled. "We really needed the time considering what happened with her former mate. The fact that Diana was pregnant at the time didn't help, as a woman's emotions tend to be magnified when they are, even if she wasn't very far along."
"I never believed that William Reid would be so stupid," Kiza said, shaking her head. "For such an intelligent man you would have thought that he would have had more control over his emotions. Becoming a lawyer after all isn't easy as you have to have the brains and good study habits too. Heck, it would take a good memory just remember all those legal terms."
"I think the difference is really is that Reid really wanted to become a lawyer, but he didn't want to put in the work required to be a good mate. If there's one thing I learned with Carolyn, my former mate is, a marriage is work. I wasn't the only one at fault there, because Carolyn didn't tell me her desires and I couldn't read her private thoughts. Still, I got two sons out of the deal so it wasn't all bad."
"Your sons are adorable," Brett said and Dave grinned.
"Yes, they are and they know how to use it too, mostly to get Ariel, to give them extra cookies whenever she bakes them," Dave said. "Ariel's the one that mostly does the baking, though I do know how to cook and I help with that sometimes depending on how many Ariel is trying to feed, as she's not getting any younger."
"That's the way it should be, cooperating with each other," Kiza said approvingly.
"Ariel has been a godsend. I hired her even before Carolyn and I parted ways to help look after the children and to clean house. The fact that he loves children is just an added bonus," Dave added. "I never could have afforded to be gone for so long if it wasn't for her."
"I would never hire someone that didn't even like children for such an important position," Brett said with a snort at the very thought. "Unlike the humans we tend to pay more attention to our children to make sure they're doing well, and ask if they have any problems whether in school or elsewhere. We pay attention to them and a lot of human parents can't say the same, though to be fair some are very good parents to their children."
"Neither would I," Dave agreed. "Still, I need to see about hiring a nanny, something I've been meaning to do, as Ariel has enough to do without the added burden of looking after three more children, especially ones as young as Diana's and mine are. The other five kids are grown up enough to behave themselves while Ariel is busy."
"Well, you better get busy, because you don't want Diana or Ariel for that matter to exhaust themselves," Kiza said. "Brett and I can't be around all the time to help out since we live in Las Vegas. We can visit certainly and plan on doing just that, but we won't be around more then a few times a year."
"Whatever you can do we'll appreciate," Dave said just as everybody heard the front door open. "I know your grandchildren will appreciate seeing you as often as you can manage."
"They can come visit us some in the summer," Brett suggested.
"That's certainly possible, though I'll have to discuss it with Diana first," Dave said. "I'm sure she won't mind though."
"Won't mind what?" Diana asked, as she came into the den, kissing Dave's bearded cheek after giving her parents hugs and kisses. The fact that Diana practically glowed with happiness and contentment pleased both parents, as this just proved that Dave was a good man. Diana had never looked this happy in her relationship with William Reid. In fact, she had often looked tired and stressed and not just because of her job at Las Vegas University, but because her relationship with her former mate was not going well.
"You won't mind if Spencer and his sisters visit us for a few weeks in the summer," Kiza told her daughter. "I wouldn't mind seeing the newest additions to, but I know they're really too young to travel and will be for sometime."
"I think something can be arranged for the oldest three at least," Diana agreed. "They are certainly old enough and mature enough to make the journey themselves, though I'm sure one of us will accompany them until you take charge of them."
"I would never let children so young travel alone. There're just too many dangers," Dave said. "Parents that do that are either unaware of the dangers or just don't care. While I agree with Diana about the three of them being very mature for their ages and also very intelligent, there are predators that would snap them up in a heartbeat. Just threatening to harm one of his sisters would keep Spencer silent and the reverse is also true. There're people that would take advantage of three kids no matter how intelligent they happened to be, no matter how worldly wise they were. No, it's foolhardy for the three 11-year-olds to not be accompanied by an adult."
"And I would never allow it," Diana said. "While I have no doubt they would get on the correct train and get off at the correct stop Dave is right, there are just too many dangers out there that three 11-year-olds would have no defense against. Even having the conductor or one of the other employees on the train keep an eye on them might not be enough."
"I have to agree," Brett said respecting the fact that Dave loved his grandchildren enough to not let them take such a journey alone, not that Diana would let them, but still it showed good sense and genuine caring on Dave's part, which was another point in his favor. Maybe when they were older at 15 or 16 it would be possible, but not at just 11. "There are so many dangers out in the world now not like when we were young."
"There were dangers back then to, they just weren't as blatant," Dave said.
Brett had to acknowledge that, because it was very true.
~~~Dave and Diana~~~
A few weeks later
"What would you think about me trying to matchmake?" Diana asked Dave one night when they were alone.
"It would depend on who you mean to do that to," Dave said.
"I met this very nice lady whose head of the media department at the university I teach at. Her name is Jennifer Jareau," Diana begin to explain and Dave listened closely. "She's very intelligent and I think she would be a good match for your friend Aaron. All I really planned was for us to have a dinner party or possibly a cookout and invite both of them, along with some of my colleagues from the University and whoever you wanted to invite."
"It sounds good so far," Dave said. "We can certainly sit this Jennifer and Aaron beside each other, though Aaron at least won't appreciate our attempt at matchmaking."
"Probably not, but you were telling me how frustrated he is. He's been trying to find another mate and has yet to succeed. You know exactly how he feels, so if he balks, you can give him a lecture about dating her just to see at least. It might not work out, but as I said JJ is very nice and also an Omega. She is also free and doesn't even have a boyfriend. It might be better just to let them meet naturally, even if that's at an event that we arrange."
"That might be better," Dave mused. "That way we can't be accused of trying to matchmake. What do you intend to do with this doesn't work out?"
"There are several other female professors I can introduce him to, subtly of course, ones that are very nice," Diana said. "I think JJ is the best bet, but on the other hand, you never know who you're going to get along with, well enough that you want to actually mate. I know a linguist who is also free, by the name of Alex Blake. She speaks several different languages and is a very good teacher."
"Why did you think about doing this?" Dave wanted to know.
"Mostly because I've met Aaron and like him. Also because he's a friend of yours and becoming mine as well. I'm sure he sees how happy we are together, which is bound to be hard when he has no one to go home to," Diana explained and Dave was nodding in understanding at his mate's words. "While he doesn't air his troubles to me I know he's lonely. I know something about loneliness and so do you. I hate to think of such a good Alpha being lonely, to think that his mate betrayed him the same way mine did. It wasn't quite the same situation I know, but it's certainly similar enough. Betrayal is never easy to accept, but he's been alone for long enough now that I really want him to find someone. I'm just trying to help that along. He reminds me of you in many ways in personality at least. I'm assuming his ethics and morals are similar and that he'll treat a mate as an equal and not as stupid, something Will often did, not noticing how it upset me. I already know he treats his children with love, since we've had all of them over for dinner several times. He certainly treats his children better then Will ever treated his."
Dave agreed with everything his mate were saying. Diana just wanted to ease a good man's loneliness and while Diana and him could continue to invite Aaron and his children over for dinner Aaron needed a mate of his own, one that would never betray him.
Since he understood her reasons very well he would help her with her scheme that hopefully, wouldn't backfire on them. So long as Aaron never found out that they'd tried to set him up then all would be well.
"Alright then," Dave agreed. "I agree with your reasons a hundred percent. Not only does Aaron need a mate, his kids could use a new mother. Aaron's very good with them, I'm not denying it, but they need a strong female figure in their lives. His daughter in particular can't go to Aaron with their female problems, as she's bound to be too embarrassed, as he is their father after all and they'll soon be that age."
"Well, they could, but I doubt they would," Diana said. "I'll bet you Aaron would be too embarrassed to deal with female problems, even if he knew what to do, which is unlikely unless he learned from his former mate. Aaron could bring them to me and I'd be glad to help, but he might not think of that solution at first."
"Alphas aren't used to depending on others, except their mate," Dave suggested and Diana nodded.
"They are used to handling their own problems," Diana added.
"If you're very strong Alphas like me and Aaron definitely. Of course, for his daughter, Aaron would walk through the fires of hell. If she was in distress and it was something he couldn't deal with, then he'd have to ask for help."
"Asking for help would wound an Alpha's pride, but they'd do so for their children." Diana knew how Alphas thought. Alphas, at least the good ones, would do anything for their children.
"I certainly would if one of your daughters was in distress and asked me for help. Of course, I might not be able to help her depending on what the situation was. I would certainly swallow my pride and ask a female I knew to help out if you weren't around whatever the reason for that may be. I've never had to deal with a daughter with a female problem only, because I only had two sons before recently."
This was true, Diana thought.
"We'll try to arrange something in the next few weeks," Dave promised. "I would like to see Aaron settle down with a mate of his own, one that won't try to change him like Haley often did."
The two talked for awhile longer then made love before going to sleep.
David Rossi was more content with his life then he had been in a very long time.
~~~Dave and Diana~~~