Part 15

"Good morning, sweetheart," Dave said cheerfully.

"Good morning to you too," Alex yawned still trying to wake up completely.

Dave thought this was absolutely adorable and couldn't help kissing the top of Alex's head.

"Thank you for agreeing to mate with me. I never imagined I could be so happy again, even if it took me many years," Dave said sincerely.

"Of course I did. I love you," Alex said, sitting up with her back against the pillows. "I had given up on finding a mate of my own, as so many I dated made unreasonable demands. In that way alphas are just like humans or at least a lot of them are."

"Let me guess, some of them wanted you to quit your job and play housewife," Dave suggested with contempt in his voice. "Or they didn't respect your skills or your knowledge, which were earned."

"That's a very accurate assessment," Alex smiled. "I couldn't talk to them about my work or my students, because they would either just shut me up or it was clear that they weren't really paying attention. You however, are an excellent listener, ask intelligent questions and understand what I'm talking about, even if you don't share that interest. You showed me that you genuinely cared about me, just by taking the time to listen to my little anecdotes about some of my students."

"I might be the dominant partner but that doesn't mean that you don't matter," Dave said simply. "I adored Caroline and I treated her like a queen, but now, there's you and I have no intention of treating you like an object or slave. I swore to you that I would treat you as an equal and I have every intention of fulfilling my words."

"I don't doubt it, because I'm pretty good at reading people's intentions," Alex said smiling softly.

"I noticed that," Dave grinned. "It's pretty amazing that I fell for Penny's friend. I only wish we'd met about five or six years ago at least."

"I do too, but at least we met," Alex said.

"Besides, one of the reasons I fell in love with you in the first place is it's clear that you care about your students. Not every teacher can say the same," Dave said.

"Some teachers don't get into it because they love to teach," Alex agreed. "They don't get into it for the money either. Many quit after a few years when they realize how poorly paid they are."

"Which says something about the poor state of public education," Dave said.

"Still, I get decent pay at the university, certainly much better then I would, at a public school and unlike so many teachers I enjoy educating young minds, though I don't often encounter many that are truly gifted in linguistics," Alex said. "Occasionally though, I will get one that has a real gift."

"I'm sorry about the bruises by the way," Dave said contritely. "I was a little rougher than I intended."

"Don't be sorry, I don't mind them," Alex told Dave sincerely, kissing him tenderly, which he accepted eagerly. "You know very well that I look on the bruises as a sign of your love for me. So long as they're under my clothes where they are invisible you and I will be the only ones that know they are there and nobody can claim you are abusive. I'll heal up in a few weeks and when I do I hope you leave more bruises on me."

"Well good," Dave said the alpha in him very pleased at his new mate's response. "I've dated a few Omega's that complained about the bruises."

"Well then, they are not listening to the Omega part of them," Alex said simply, "or perhaps, I'm being unfair and it might have to do with the fact that you didn't really love them and they didn't really love you."

"Yes, you're right," Dave said thoughtfully. "Most omegas don't like bruises unless it's from the alpha they love, something I hadn't considered. Leaving bruises on your mate when you get a little to rough during sex is just part of our species. I didn't lose control very often with the other Omegas I dated, because you're right I didn't love any of them. I certainly lusted after them at the time, but it never developed past that. We just weren't suitable for one reason or another. There were a few that wanted to live in the lap of luxury without doing anything with their lives. One wanted me to get rid of my children, send them off to boarding school or ship them off to an orphanage or to some relatives. That type of omega the triplets and Spencer detest and I don't blame them. A couple of the others wanted me to get rid of my children, send them off to boarding school or ship them off to an orphanage or to some relatives. Those types the triplets and Spencer detested and I can't blame them. The ones that just wanted to live in the lap of luxury, well, I wouldn't have been able to live with them for very long. They were beautiful enough, just lazy. Luckily, that only happened a few times."

"Well, those omegas that wanted you get rid of your children, must've been dumb as a bag of stones or at least weren't taught correctly," Alex said shaking her head. "No, Alpha or Omega for that matter is going to throw their children out on the street or send them away to some boarding school or an orphanage, especially not if they're children from their mate, who has died for whatever reason. Even if they are from a one night stand most of our species finds ideas like that to be so repulsive that the Omega or alpha who suggested it will be lucky if they're just thrown out and don't end up with a few broken bones at least. I now understand that this is what your children were referring to, when we had dinner that first time."

Alex didn't mention her conversation with Spencer just as she had promised she wouldn't.

"Yes, that's exactly what they were referring to," Dave said. "It was a rather close call that time and if Dina hadn't made the mistake of suggesting I send my kids to boarding school I might very well have mated with her, but instead, I told her that we were through. She apparently wasn't taught by her parents very well, if she really believed that I would just ship my children off to some boarding school. It's not even that I couldn't afford it, but then, I wouldn't see them hardly at all, except in the summer and that's not something I'll ever accept, unless it's what they wanted. To me anyway, my children's opinions matter and there was no reason to ship them off to some distant boarding school, just because the omega I was dating wanted me to. Alright, they went to college far away, all four of them, but they also visited frequently and they were all 18 by then. Dina and Erin the other Omega that tried to take advantage of me are damn lucky I'm such a gentleman and I didn't break a few of their bones when I tossed them out, though I did leave them with a few bruises," Dave growled. He was still upset, even after all this time that an omega or anybody would make such demands of him, especially over something that went against his grain and was something he would never even contemplate doing.

"Maybe Dina was under the impression you would agree, just because you were wining and dining her," Alex suggested. "I mean most the time you don't act like an alpha, as you're a really nice guy. She and this Erin probably forgot that you were, just because you acted nice and gentlemanly most of the time. Doing so though, didn't mean that you weren't an alpha, with an alpha's fierce personality. Some alphas act like alphas all the time, while others prefer only to do so when it is required, which is definitely you."

"That's a good point," Dave said thoughtfully. "I'd rather be a nice guy, but that doesn't mean that I'm not an alpha down to the bone. It's possible that Dina misunderstood me being nice as me being a pushover or at least amicable to demands and she really should've known better if that's the case. It's always the Alpha that controls the relationship, even if their mate is given plenty of freedom to do basically anything they want. And as for Erin...she tried her best to steal from me. I caught her looking for my bank account number, as so many people leave those laying around, but I'm not one of them. I know now that she was going to drain my account dry if she had managed to find my account number, but Erin found out that I wasn't a careless person, not like so many are."

"Those omegas you dated didn't think things through very well at the least, as there's no way that you wouldn't have gone after this Erin who stole from you if she managed to succeed and Dina is even luckier that all you did was give her a few bruises, instead of doing much worse," Alex said. "You could have easily broken multiple bones and put her in the hospital for a long time."

"You know I did date those two and a lot of others, but I never really courted them like I did you. Courting is much more serious then dating for our kind. We dated for a few weeks, but then, I realized I could rapidly fall in love with you we started the more serious courting, with my children's approval," Dave said. "When you're only dating someone most relationships for our race don't last more than two or three weeks, as that gives you time to get to know the person you're dating well enough to figure if you want to court them or not. I never had a bit of luck in finding another mate until you, but then, I didn't date seriously for a long time after Caroline died as my children needed me more and I was still grieving."

"I think that's perfectly sensible," Alex said. "Even if you weren't still grieving for Caroline, you still had three young children and later four to look after. You could've left the housekeeper in charge more than you did, but you loved them enough to spend plenty of time with them."

"Yeah, I did, as they were the only living reminders of Caroline," Dave said.

"You could've chosen to resent your children for killing your mate you know, because mostly our kind give birth easily, though of course, things like what occurred with Caroline can still happen," Alex said.

"No, I could never have done that to them for I knew very well even at 23 when they were born that bad things unexpectedly happen sometimes," Dave said. "I certainly wasn't as naïve as a lot of young men at that age. Alright, I'll admit that, some people would have, but mostly humans not our kind."

Alex had to acknowledge the point, because Dave was right. Most of their kind never would have considered giving up their children to an orphanage, not even the children from a one night stand, so Dina, the omega Dave had been telling her about, must've been truly stupid to suggest that he ship his children off to an orphanage or boarding school. Alex couldn't believe that anyone was so stupid that they actually believed that any of their kind would actually do something like that or that they had even thought about making such a demand in the first place. Doing something like that, would have nearly shattered thousands of years of their species customs and traditions, even making such a suggestion skirted awfully close to the edge of being considered a betrayal. Dina must've really felt she was high and mighty to make such demands without fearing consequences. She and Erin, were damn lucky, that Dave hadn't put either of them in the hospital for an extended stay.

Alright, Alex could see a human demanding that if whoever they were dating at the time had children from a previous marriage or relationship, but for one of their kind to do so or to even request it be done was nearly unheard of and also bone headed stupid.

"How about a breakfast fit for a queen?" Dave asked smiling pulling Alex from her thoughts.

"Sounds just fine," Alex said smiling, as she kissed his cheek. "I've certainly been eating more for breakfast ever since we got together then I used to. I used to only have a muffin or toast maybe some orange juice and definitely coffee."

"Well, now that we are together officially that's definitely going to change," Dave said mock sternly. "A good breakfast is essential to start the day and I don't know how you got by on just toast or a muffin."

"I just didn't have time to cook in the morning, except on weekends," Alex said.

"Well, you need to stay healthy now, because when you're pregnant you'll be eating a lot more than you normally do and you can't stint yourself," Dave ordered gruffly. "You'll be eating for at least one other after I get you pregnant and it's more likely to be two or even three others."

"Yes, I will and I'll make sure I take care of myself," Alex promised.

"I'll make sure you do," Dave smiled softly at her.

"We are in luck, as I'm sure you know by now, because I going into heat in about a week, so we mated just in time," Alex told him smiling at Dave for she was feeling incredibly happy and contented.

She truly didn't mind the bruises that Dave had left on her thighs and also on various other parts of her body when they had made love. She knew that Dave had really appreciated her response and her acceptance of the bruises. She was sure, it was going to shock some of the faculty and students when she started to visibly show her pregnancy, mostly because they wouldn't have been to a wedding ceremony to see her wed, but those that were her species would understand. Most of their species didn't bother to have a wedding ceremony unless they were marrying a human, as it was unnecessary and most Alphas and Omegas didn't believe in being married in the human fashion.

"I knew that when I proposed," Dave said simply. "I can smell it on you and how your smell is changing. I could have waited I know, but I was hoping to have children right away if that's okay with you."

"More than okay," Alex promised. "I'm not young anymore, at least when it comes to being fertile, so really it's best that I get pregnant right away. I think it's best, if I get pregnant twice like I promised, but I do so back to back and then after that if we decide not to have anymore well I can go through an operation so that my heats will stop, so long as that's okay with you."

"I suspect we'll get at least twins each time, maybe even triplets and if that's the case then that's just fine," Dave agreed.

"Yes, I agree that I should have at least twins, since singletons are so rare among our kind," Alex said. "I think having 4 to 6 children, especially so close together will be more than enough for us to handle."

"Well, let's go get a shower beautiful and then I'll fix you the best breakfast you've ever had," Dave grinned adorably at her.

"Sounds like a fine idea," Alex said smiling in return.

The two simply sat down and held each other for a few minutes before they rose and headed for the shower.

Alex well know that there were arrangements to make like moving all her things over here and selling her furniture or put it in storage in the attic, but still, she was so happy she really didn't mind at all.

~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~

"Welcome to our home," Aaron greeted his mate's three siblings.

"Thank you for inviting us, I'm Grant Garcia," Grant said shaking Aaron's hand.

"It's nice to meet you," Aaron said offering his hand to be shaken.

"I'm actually surprised that Penny did invite us, as she hasn't had much contact with her family except over email," Daphne said. "I'm Daphne and this is Morgan.

"And these are our children," Morgan added smiling at the half a dozen children, that were following along behind the adults.

"It's nice to meet all of you. I'm the one that suggested that you should come, as I wanted to meet you and I wanted you to try to at least repair your relationship," Aaron said not bothering to be subtle and Daphne looked as if he had hit her.

With Aaron's words Daphne knew that her sister had told her mate all about how their relationship wasn't exactly the best. She could admit now that it was mostly her fault, as she had tried to smother her omega sister in cotton wool, to protect from anything that could hurt her and Penny certainly hadn't appreciated it. Now, Daphne could see that she had gone about her relationship with her twin in the wrong way once their parents had died, but that was from the perspective of years and also with the help of her mate. Morgan had pointed about more than once that the way she had hovered over her sister, constantly checking up on her, as if she was some kind of criminal and not letting her live her own life was one of the reasons that Penelope had left California in the first place. Omegas were not helpless, Morgan had drummed into Daphne's head and it was that overprotectiveness that had driven her sister away. Daphne now understood that she should have controlled her protective instincts better. Yes, she was the alpha but that didn't mean that Penny was helpless. She had better control of her instincts now, but there was no way, that Penny would come back to California considering that she was mated now and was heavily pregnant, due in just a week.

Penelope had said nothing and she didn't look happy to have any of them here, except the children and Daphne at least couldn't blame her for that, as she had made a real mess of her relationship with her twin. She had been young back then and a very strong Alpha, but she hadn't realized that she was driving her sister away from her until she was already gone. When their childhood friend Emily had moved here to Baltimore Penelope had followed her and despite Daphne coming down here several times to try to get her sister to come home Penelope had been stubborn and refused, but now, she could see that was for the best. They had both needed their space Daphne now realized, as Penelope didn't want to be protected from every little thing. She wanted to live her life without someone contacting her everyday to make sure she was doing well, she wanted trust, trust that she would tell her sister or one of her brothers if there was any major problems that she couldn't handle. She simply wanted to live her life the way she wanted to, as she wasn't stupid after all and she wanted to be a productive member of society and be allowed to do what she wanted without somebody hovering over her. It's what everybody deserved, Daphne now knew. She had learned that once she had gotten mated to Morgan, but by then, it was too late as her relationship with her sister was too damaged. Daphne wasn't even sure if it could be repaired and if it couldn't be, then it was her fault. She was lucky that her sister hadn't at least punched her for her hovering. No, she had put up with it for a long time with an amazing amount of patience.

"Let me show you to the rooms that had been prepared for you," Aaron said.

"So this place is new?" Gabriel who had not spoken before now said he had simply stayed out of the tiff between his two sisters. He might not know his sisters as well as he might want to, because of the age difference, but he knew that Daphne could be a bit much when her protective instincts were high. He knew that Daphne had believed that Penny needed protection from the world, even though omegas got by just fine without being smothered. Gabriel's supposed it didn't help that Penny was the only Omega in the family, well, besides, their mother who had passed away.

"Yes," Aaron answered. "We had to have a place built as my apartment wouldn't have been anywhere near adequate if we wanted a family. There were no properties big enough that weren't already occupied, so both of us decided together that having a place built was really the best option."

"It's really nice," Grant said admiring the high ceilings, the moldings at both at the top and bottom of the walls.

"Thank you, we really like it," Aaron said smiling. "It took over a year to be built, but now, even though we haven't been here long it's home."

"I would say, so since we picked every molding, chose every color of paint and every piece of wallpaper," Penelope said speaking for the first time not looking at any of my siblings.

Daphne looked upset at being snubbed, but she knew she deserved to be ignored considering how she had treated her own sister in years past. Hopefully, she would be able to fix their relationship before she and Morgan went back home, which was the main reason she had come.

Aaron gave Penelope a look and she fell silent.

Aaron knew perfectly well that his mate wasn't happy to have any of her siblings here, but particularly her sister and he was just hoping that they could repair their relationship while they were all together in the same house. He knew though that Penny could be stubborn and in this case he couldn't really blame her for that stubbornness. Really, it was up to Daphne to make the first move, because she was the one that had driven her sister away and while Aaron was grateful that Penny had moved to Baltimore, so they met, family was important. He felt strongly that his mate had to at least try to repair her relationship with her sister and forge a closer one with her brothers, but he knew very well that it might not work.

"Here are your rooms, and said as he led them up to the fourth floor. We just finished getting these bedrooms furnished about a week ago," Aaron said, as he opened the door into a nice room with its own bathroom.

"This is really nice," Daphne said.

"Well then, it's yours, for the duration of your stay," Aaron said and watched, as Daphne carted her luggage inside, Morgan following.

Aaron then showed Grant and Gabriel their rooms, then the half of dozen children, who were young enough to not complain about sharing a room, so long as they were the same sex.

"If you're not too tired we can show you the rest of the house," Aaron said.

"The children probably need a nap, but I'm not tired," Daphne said and Morgan nodded.

"Ah mom!" The oldest children protested.

"It was a long tiring journey and it won't help to sleep for a few minutes at least," Daphne told them in a no-nonsense tone.

None of the children protested against that tone of voice Aaron noticed in amusement and simply went into the three rooms that had been set up for them.

Penelope watched this and couldn't help smiling a little, because apparently Daphne had refined her technique over the years. Her tone of voice had told her nieces and nephews that they weren't going to get their way and had better obey.

Everybody else went downstairs once the children were all tucked in for their nap.

"If anyone is hungry there is plenty of food for a snack," Penelope said. "I'm always hungry these days and I can't wait for these babies to be born."

"Oh, yes, I remember those days very well," Daphne said. "I've only been pregnant twice, but still, I remember how hungry I was by the last month."

Daphne was a beautiful woman and and she was tall and statuesque and took after her mother while Penny took after her father when it came to the shape of her body. Daphne had long blonde hair and brown eyes just like Penelope did, also the same facial structure, but other than that they looked hardly anything alike.

"That's definitely me," Penelope said. "I can't seem to stop myself from getting something to eat what seems like every five minutes."

"That will go away once your babies are born in about a week," Daphne said.

"Yeah, we should thank you for inviting us up here so we could meet out nieces and nephews once they are here," Gabriel said.

"It was Aaron's suggestion," Penelope said. "He thought you might like to see how happy I am, so you wouldn't worry I was in a bad relationship with someone."

When Penelope said that she looked directly at Daphne who winced, because that accusation was partly true she knew. If she had succeeded with her plan her sister never would've met anybody at all or if she did Daphne was sure that she would've felt that that Alpha wasn't good enough for her sister. She was mated now though, so Daphne now had no influence over her sister's life, not that she'd had any before. No, she had ruined her chance to be able to give Penelope advice, because of the overprotectiveness and she doubted her sister would come too her anyway if she needed any. She had Emily for that and several other female friends that Penny was more likely to go to if she needed any advice from a female's perspective.

"So how did you meet?" Grant asked curiously. "Penny hasn't exactly given us many details."

"We met through Emily who was a friend to both of us," Penelope explained. "We were immediately attracted, but I wasn't exactly looking for a relationship."

"That's the truth," Aaron snorted, "but I won her over."

Both Aaron and Penny told the story, although they left out certain details that nobody else needed to know about.

"You actually turned him down?" Gabriel asked in astonishment. "That doesn't happen too often, especially not when both are more than attracted."

"I'd been hurt before," Penelope said shrugging, "and despite what Emily said I just knew that Aaron was the same. I knew I could fall for him if I allowed myself to and I wasn't prepared for rejection. I now know, that I was wrong, but my experience was with Alphas who certainly didn't care about me, other than perhaps, a little lust and dumped me within a few weeks. I'm glad Aaron convinced me otherwise."

"It took a lot of convincing," Aaron said, "but I couldn't stop thinking about her, which drove me to distraction."

"And I couldn't stop thinking about him either, as much as I tried not to," Penelope said.

"Well, if you were that attracted to each other it's a good thing you gave in then," Daphne offered.

"I definitely agree with that. I know I can be stubborn, but I'm not stupid," Penelope said smiling. "I'm glad I gave in, because I'm certainly happier with Aaron in my life then I would be without him."

~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~