Monday morning

Alex's office

"Congratulations on your mating Professor Blake," said the dean of the college from the doorway of Alex's office.

"Thank you sir," Alex said politely. "The news that I am no longer free sure has gone through the college grapevine quickly."

"That kind of information always does," the Dean said, as he stood in the doorway of her office.

"True. I've been getting congratulations all day, so I should've expected you to hear about it sooner rather than later," Alex said.

"I hope you're very happy with your mate," the dean said.

"Oh, I am," Alex assured the dean smiling. "Dave and I have been courting for sometime and he certainly treats me better than a lot of those prospective alphas that I dated before we met. We're talking about having children as soon as I go into heat."

"Children are such a blessing," the Dean's said.

"They are," Alex agreed. "I know I could've had some without being mated but my parents, particularly my father would have exploded if I had."

"I hope you told them about your mating," the Dean said.

"I never could have kept it from them and Dave and I were talking about going to visit on the weekend so that they could meet there new son-in-law in person," Alex said. "I know they'll come to love him like a son."

"Just make sure you put in the time for if you want to stay more than for a couple of days so we can get a substitute if necessary," the dean said.

"I think just a couple of days is fine for a first visit and we can do a longer one later. Maybe after I have some children."

"Congratulations again and I'll leave you to your grading," the dean said. "Let the appropriate parties know when you need to go on maternity leave.

"I will," Alex said. "That won't be for a few months anyway."

The dean left and Alex got back to grade papers.

~~~Dave and Alex~~~

"Welcome home, Alex and who is this handsome gentleman?"

"Thank you mom," Alex said, as she kissed her mother's cheek and gave her a hug. "Mom this is Dave Rossi that I've told you all about. We mated just recently. Dave this is my mother Madeline Blake."

"Congratulations to you both," Madeline told the pair, as she headed towards the living room.

"Thank you," Dave said as soon as he sat down on the couch with Alex beside him. "Mating with your daughter has been one of my greatest joys other than my sons."

"Oh so you have sons then," Madeline asked.

"They are adopted mom," Alex told Madeline already knowing what she was thinking.

"They are, but that doesn't make them any less my sons," Dave said.

"Well, that was really nice of you to take them in then," Madeline said.

"The mother was dead and as for the father well let's just say he wasn't raising them properly, particularly his omega son Spencer," Dave said. "The father left them on their own almost all the time and they were only five when their mother died."

"I mean anything could've happened to them. One of them could've gotten into the cleaning supplies for example and died because they drank something that killed them," Alex put in.

"Luckily, all three are super intelligent and so didn't do anything of the sort, but they were also trying to take on two full-time jobs," Dave explained

"Going to school and taking care of all the chores like grocery shopping and laundry," Alex explained.

"So I'm assuming there was no housekeeper to help look after the boys and do all the chores if they were trying to do everything, even that as young as they were," Madeline said feeling a surge of sympathy for those boys she had never met.

"The father didn't even do that much and it didn't have anything to do with finances. He was a lawyer and certainly made enough to afford somebody that could at least come in to look after the boys while the father worked. When I heard about their plight from a friend of mine I agreed to take them in, as I had money, a large home and no mate to object."

"His sons are nearly 18 now and have been in college since were 16," Alex added as proud of Dave's sons as if they were her own. "Dave and I met because Spencer is taking my linguistics class."

Both Dave and Alex told the story and Madeline was nodding as they spoke.

"Well, it was really nice of you to adopt them," Madeline told Dave.

"Their intelligence probably never would've been realized if I hadn't and that's even if all of them lived till they were 18," Dave said. "Even though the father is an alpha it doesn't mean he was a good role model for his sons."

"That's an understatement from all Dave has told me about one William Reid," Alex said wrinkling her petite nose in disgust, as if she had smelled something rotten. "He seemed resent his own sons, particularly Spencer who is the only omega in the trio."

"It happens that way sometimes," Madeline offered with a wince. "So any children in the near future as I'm not getting any younger."

"We've already talked about that," Dave said snorting in amusement, as Alex had warned him about her mother that the subject of children would likely come up at some point. Madeline Blake was apparently anxious for grandchildren from her daughter. "Alex asked to get pregnant with her next heat and I certainly don't mind, so as soon as that occurs in a few weeks you'll get your wish for those grandchildren."

"That's very good," Madeline said pleased. "Damon will be very pleased when I tell him if you're not here when he gets home. You can call me Maddie, Dave. It's what my family calls me and your family now."

"We should be here for dinner and then tomorrow before we head home so I can go to work on Monday," Alex offered knowing that now Dave had been properly accepted by her mother. Nobody called her Maddie but family or at least those that were considered family.

"You let me know as soon as you're pregnant right, Alex," Madeline told her daughter.

"Of course mom. You and dad will be the second and third to know after Dave of course. But I'll go into heat within the next three weeks so it won't be long."

"That's excellent!" Madeline said very pleased. "I'm looking forward to being a grandmother again."

"Scott's mated. Has triplets," Alex told Dave who nodded.

"Yes, Scott settled down years ago and it was about time you did to," Madeline told her daughter bluntly.

"It's not always easy to find a mate," Dave told Maddie gently. "I never had a bit of luck after Carolyn my first mate died along with my twin daughters. My sons have been wanting me to settle down as they won't stay at home much longer since there're nearly done with college."

"They must be genius to go at 16," Madeline said and Dave looked proud.

"They are particularly, Spencer. I insisted they go to a college in New York so they could live at home unless they wanted to wait until they were 18," said Dave.

"Luckily, we live in a city with several excellent colleges," Alex said. "Any college would have been happy to take them even at 14. By the way, just because I didn't tell you I was dating didn't mean I didn't frequently. None of them worked out for one reason or another. They just never got far enough along for me to mention them to you or dad. Don't think I don't know that dad ran a background check on Dave."

"He did," Madeline admitted blushing a little that her daughter had so easily guessed what her father had done. She had probably told Dave as soon as she had guessed.

"It's a dangerous world out there and it's better to be safe," Dave said unoffended. "Believe me, I understand that and so does your daughter."

"I already knew that Dave was a good man, even without that background check," Alex told her mother. "He took in three brothers because it was the right thing to do and not because he was getting a check from child services. He raised them on his own money and sent them to college without scholarships. I'm sure all three of them could have gotten scholarships, because they are geniuses, but he did it on his own dime."

"You can't blame your father for checking up on me," Dave said giving Alex's hand a squeeze of affection.

"I don't. I know he just doesn't want me to get in a bad relationship, because he loves me," Alex assured Dave.

The three of them continued chatting until Alex's father Damon got home.

~~~Dave and Alex~~~

"Meeting your parents went well," Dave mentioned once he and Alex got home again and got some sleep. They hadn't gotten home until late Sunday night.

"It did," Alex answered, even as she ate breakfast that Dave had prepared.

She was certainly eating more for breakfast then she was used to as Dave was an excellent cook.

"That mom told you to call her Maddie ought to tell you that she likes you, because as she told you only close friends and family get to call her that."

"I'm a likable guy," Dave teased her causing Alex to laugh.

"You are and intelligent too," Alex added, which was pure truth. "That doesn't necessarily mean that my family would like you though. It was the way we interacted that made them accept you as family and my mate. My mother is very observant and my father isn't exactly a slouch either. Now that you've been properly accepted we'll be welcome whenever we decide to grace their home with our presence."

"That's one way to put it," Dave said.

"Once we have children it'll be too expensive to travel unless we go by car," Alex said.

"It depends on how many children we're intending to have though," Dave offered.

"I suppose we never did talk about the number," Alex said, as she continued to eat her excellent breakfast.

"If you only want to get pregnant once I'm OK with that," Dave said. "If you want to get pregnant again after the first time I certainly won't put up any blocks."

"Well, I know that pregnancy for our kind is usually smooth sailing, so I'll agree to twice though it depends on how many we get each time. We might only get twins each time and if that's the case, I would be willing to get pregnant again after that second time."

"Sounds more than reasonable," Dave agreed giving Alex a kiss from where she was sitting beside him in the breakfast nook in the kitchen. "I suspect it will be either twins or triplets, but probably not quadruplets as your body just isn't that big. You're tall and slender and not as big boned as some of women I've known."

Alex didn't have a chance to respond, as there was a clomp of footsteps and the kitchen door swung open depositing the three boys into the kitchen.

"I see you've finally risen for the day," Dave said amused.

"I've been up for hours," Spencer said, even as he served himself some breakfast from the stove. "It's these two that slept in."

"That's true," Dave told Alex with a smile. "Spencer has always been a really early riser. He's much like me that way, even though we don't technically share blood. I'm sure he's already read several good books waiting for his brothers to wake up and get started on their day."

"It's Monday, so why in the world would we want to be up early?" Kade protested. "Julio and my classes don't start until 11 and we have a long time till then."

"There are plenty of things for you to do, even if your classes don't start until lunchtime," Spencer told his brothers rolling his eyes at their antics and laziness.

"Just because Dave, you and I are early risers doesn't mean everybody is," Alex told Spencer with a mischievous expression. "While I don't mind laying in bed on rare occasions I usually have too much to get done to indulge in being lazy. Classes to teach, papers to grade, lectures to give."

"Lecturing to a bunch of students who probably aren't paying attention and are just there to get the academic credit," Dave snorted in amusement.

"That is so true," Spencer said as he fixed himself a cup of coffee to go along with his breakfast that his dad had fixed. "I'm not the only one that pays attention when Alex lectures about linguistics but a lot of the students just pay attention to their phones or take naps. You might get academic credit, but you also don't learn anything."

"Well, at least you pay attention, brother," Julio said slapping his brother on the back as he ate his own breakfast.

"Of course I do. We're all at college to learn not just a party and goof off," Spencer told his brother his expression outraged. "Just because a lot of other students don't care about their future job prospects doesn't mean I don't."

"We don't," Kade corrected his brother who nodded at the correction.

"That's a good attitude to have," Alex approved,"which puts you above a lot of students who are several years older than you."

"I mean why do parents waste thousands of dollars on their children's education if they aren't going to learn anything?" Julio said.

"That's a very good point Julio," Dave spoke up. "Especially for someone like me who is paying out of pocket for all three of you. I told you not to accept the scholarships that came to the house, because I had plenty of money to send you without them. Some children don't look for scholarships or they don't get them, even if they can't afford to go without one.

Julio preened at his father praise and Alex just stopped herself from laughing at him as that would be rude.

From the way Dave's mouth quirked up a little Alex knew that he had stopped himself from laughing too.

"Of course, it also has to do with keeping your grades up while you're in high school and scoring high on your SAT test at the end of your senior year."

"All three of them scored very high on those SAT tests," Dave bragged to Alex causing all three triplets to blush. "All three of them got nearly perfect scores which is nearly impossible to do. Usually it's only one in about 5000 students that gets a nearly perfect score but all three of them beat those statics and shattered them."

"I'm surprised those colleges weren't banging down your door to offer you scholarships then," Alex offered.

"Oh, they were, but those scholarships could go to other students whose parents weren't as well off for the tuition and that's what I told the boys when they started arriving."

"Dad explained that some families have less than we do and might not be able to afford to go to college without a scholarship no matter how good their grades were," Kade said remembering that conversation several years ago.

"Your father is very right Kade," Alex told the young man. "There are many families that could not afford the tuition to send their children to a top flight school. It's better to save the scholarships for those families that really need one when their children reach college age. You three are lucky that Dave is very wealthy and so could afford to send you to a really good school, which there are a few right here in New York."

"They're also some families that don't see the point of their children getting further education beyond high school whether they have good grades or not and so getting a scholarship might be the only way that those children can go."

"But that's just silly," Spencer protested his expression outraged. "What family wouldn't want to send their child to college so they can get a job that pays well?"

"That kind of family expects their daughters just to get married and have the husband support them," Alex offered.

"And some families just don't believe in a higher education beyond high school which is mandatory in this country and just expect their sons or daughters to work in the family business whatever that business is," Dave added.

"Some parents just don't know when to untie the apron strings and want to keep their children young forever," Alex said.

"That's the way the world boys," Dave told his sons who nodded.

"Well, I have to get going as I have a class to teach in less than an hour," Alex told Dave.

"I'll see you when you get home," Dave said calmly kissing her cheek.

"I also have a class at the same time," Spencer said finishing his breakfast and coffee.

"What a coincidence," Alex said smiling at him.

"Yes it is, since it's yours," Spencer shot back smiling. "I don't want to be late. I'll meet you there."

Spencer had his own car, all three boys did, because they had classes at different times on a lot of days. It was just easier for each boy to have his own vehicle to get around once they had passed their driver's test.

"You all have a good day. I'll see you when you get home," Dave said, as he collected the dishes to put in the dishwasher.

Everybody left leaving Dave by himself.

Dave looked around and imagined the kitchen filled with laughter, as they all enjoyed breakfast together. Once he and Alex started to have children in just a few weeks when she went into heat that would become a reality a few years down the road. It wouldn't be long at all before it actually happened. Dave was really looking forward to getting Alex pregnant in the next few weeks.

The thought of a family living in this house with running feet and laughter had Dave smiling as he loaded the dishwasher and started it on its cycle.

~~~Dave and Alex~~~