As Max sat huddled on a chair at the police station with a blanket wrapped around his bloody clothes, he felt like the terrified teenager he’d once been, sitting on a doctor’s table waiting for the news that would change the rest of his life to sink in. All the mingled joy and fear he’d felt at learning he was pregnant had been dashed when his older lover had discovered the truth he’d tried to keep so carefully, both from Chris and his parents.

He’d been so desperate to believe the Alpha’s words then, promises of a life lived together in peace if he came away with Chris and cut himself off from the parents who would undoubtedly judge him and force him to make a choice he couldn’t live with. When Chris had turned around and committed the same betrayal he’d used to drive the wedge between Max and his parents, the omega had been sure his heart was as broken as it was ever going to be.

Then, he’d held his son in his arms and in those few fleeing moments, all the pain and fear and longing had been worth it. Those precious moments became the one light in the twelve years of darkness that had followed, as black as the night Chris had stolen their infant son from the bassinet beside Max’s hospital bed.

Twelve years and he still felt like the boy he’d been then as police questioned his story even though the evidence of it was written on his body in bloody scrapes and bruises. If it hadn’t been for Dean and John standing at his side, Max wasn’t sure what he would have done. If he would have collapsed under the scrutiny and the implications that he was lying. Once the tape came out, the investigators changed their tune, and John was all too happy to remind them that he’d already sent a copy of the files to himself and a few hundred of his closest friends online, just in case Chris’ habit of “losing evidence” was a department-wide issue.

After six hours of questioning, Max and his co-conspirators were finally released for the night with the warning that they needed to stay in town. Dean got them a couple of rooms, and while Max feared the moment the Alpha and beta would leave him for the night, John was the one to leave first on his own.

“I should let you get some rest,” he murmured, giving Max a tired smile. His lip was still swollen and bruised, but to Max’s relief, no one else had been badly hurt because of his desperate need to illicit a full confession from Chris. Looking back, it was the most foolish, reckless thing he’d ever done, and the fact that it had worked out in his favor did nothing to lessen his guilt.

Maybe Dean was right. Maybe he wasn’t mature or responsible enough to give Gavin the life he deserved. Maybe he’d been lying to himself when he’d said he would step out of his son’s life, if that was truly what was best for him.

“Take care of him, Dean,” John said, staring the Alpha down.

“I will,” Dean promised, walking him over to the door. Something had changed between the two of them in the time that had elapsed since the inception of their plan and its chaotic unfolding.

Once the door was shut, Max forced himself to meet the Alpha’s gaze. “I’m sorry,” he said softly.

Dean frowned, crossing the room to sit in a chair across from Max’s bed. “Sorry? What for?”

“I went against the plan,” he said guiltily. “I could have gotten you both killed.”

“Oh, that,” Dean sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It was a pretty reckless plan from the beginning and there’s plenty of blame to go around for that. What matters is that you’re safe. And that it worked. Even Chris’ buddies can’t get him out of this one.”

“You’re sure?” Max’s voice cracked.

“I’m going to make sure.” Dean stood to drape a blanket over Max’s shoulders. “Can I get you anything?”

“You’ve already done enough.” He hesitated, forcing himself to speak the words he’d never thought he would say. The words that he knew would make his heart break with every syllable. “But there is one more favor I need to ask of you.”

“Anything,” Dean said without hesitation.

“Tell Gavin I’m sorry.” Tears slipped down his cheeks as he tried to hold back the sob welling in his throat. “When you see him, tell him I love him more than he could ever know, but he needs to go with the Newports. That he needs to live a better life than the one I could ever give him, and tell him I’m sorry I can’t be there to tell him in person. I just know if I do, I’m not going to be strong enough to do what’s best for him if it means giving him to someone else.”

Dean listened in silence, but the Alpha said nothing long after Max was finished. When the omega finally got the courage to look up at him, he wasn’t expecting the look of guilt on the other man’s face.

Dean sank to his knees suddenly, taking Max’s face in his hand. His touch was surprisingly gentle as he swept the tears from the omega’s eyes. “You’re wrong, Max. So was I when I said giving up was the best thing you could do for Gavin,” he said softly. “If there’s one thing that’s become clear to me this past couple of days, it’s that there’s no one in this world who’s better for him than you are. And I’m going to make sure you get the chance to tell him how much you love him in person.”

“But I —“

“Shh. Just listen,” Dean pleaded, sweeping his thumb over Max’s lips. The touch sent a shiver down the omega’s spine, and he didn’t fully understand the trance the Alpha’s low, methodical voice was putting him under, but he found himself wanting to give in to it. “I was wrong, Max. I don’t care what you had to do to survive in the past, it doesn’t matter. And Chris was wrong, too. You are smart, and strong and kind. You’re everything anyone could ask for in a parent, a friend, a…” he trailed off, leaving Max to wonder what he was going to say. “The point I’m trying to make in the clumsiest possible way is that you’ve come this far because you were willing to fight for Gavin, and I won’t let you give up this close to the finish line. You need him, and he needs you. You belong together, as a family.”

“I can’t give him what they can,” Max said, taking a shallow breath. “I’m just one person. He deserves two parents who love him, who can give him the kind of life I had. The one I threw away for Chris.”

“Love isn’t about perfection, Max. It’s about how much of your heart you can give someone, not how how many things you have.”

“Even if that’s true, it doesn’t mean the court will believe that,” said Max. “It doesn’t mean they’ll give him to a single omega over a married couple with two kids of their own.”

Dean seemed to hesitate, his gaze softening as he searched Max’s face. “I have a plan on how to handle it, but I want you to meet Gavin face to face before I tell you what it is. I need you to trust me.”

Max bit his lip. “Does this plan involve any more wires?”

The Alpha smiled and Max’s heart started racing again, but this time, fear wasn’t the culprit. It was something far more unsettling than that, and he was too exhausted to sort it out. “No more wires,” he promised. “Get some sleep, alright? Your lawyer should be here in the morning, and from there, it won’t be long before we head back to Sage.

Max nodded reluctantly. He slipped underneath the covers and watched as Dean moved toward the door. “Wait,” he called sheepishly.

“What is it?”

“Would you…stay?” Max swallowed hard, but his pride formed a lump in his throat. “It’s just that I’m scared to be alone after…you know.”

“Of course,” said Dean, sitting down on the other bed. He turned out the lights and murmured, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” said Max, rolling over onto his side. Even in the darkness, he felt safe knowing Dean was near.