"Are you sure you're up to this, toots? It's going to go smoothly. You don't need to be there, I can represent you as your counsel. The plan we have in place is solid. As soon as we have him in the courtroom the bailiffs are going to lock the doors and the cops are going to arrest him." I looked at my fiancé with concern. At eight and half months pregnant, he was too large and uncomfortable to do much of anything these days.

"Are you seriously kidding me? And miss seeing the look on his face when he's presented with the evidence, the judge has to deny custody, and he realizes that he's fucked? Oh, hell no! Besides, Tom's bringing popcorn. And Liam's recording it. We have a plan, yo."

I grinned. "Sorry, toots. But no food or drinks in the courtroom, even if you're a pregnant omega."

"Whatever. We'll still record the look on his face."

I shook my head. "No recording either. It's kinda the law, toots."

"Hmmph. The law is no fun." He rubbed his back with a pained expression, cementing my feeling that he needed to not be going to the courthouse for the custody case today.

It had been a long process of establishing a case, and pushing through on the custody case so that he didn't flee again. My office had been working closely with the detectives in charge of the case. They'd found one other child that matched his paternity from the omegas pictured. Finding all the victims had been a tedious but rewarding process that Grazer had been heavily involved in.

Luke walked into our room with a sketchy look on his face. "Umm, I'm sorry to just walk in, but there's a weird alpha here. He says he's here for Joshua."

I practically ran past the guy as I rushed out to the living room. I vaguely noted that the front door stood open, but was too focused on the matter at hand to care. I was alarmed to see The Junior Dev leaning over Josh's playpen, reaching out to pick him up.

"Hey! Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my home?" I demanded as I strode over and inserted myself between the fucker and the innocent child. I stood chest to chest with the cretin, forcing him to take a step back.

"This may be your home but that's my kid. I'm on my way to claim custody right now. I figured I'd stop and pick up the little moneymaker on my way to the courthouse since he'll be leaving with me after I'm granted my rightful custody anyway." He sneered at me and moved to step around me.

"The fuck you are," I heard from the doorway and almost groaned when I saw Cecil standing there holding his belly with both hands and a wince but not backing down. He looked like a weary but determined omega warrior. Luke came in and I noticed Cecil reach for his arm to steady himself, gripping hard as a gush of water spilled down between his legs. His tan khakis were soaked down the inner leg as if he pissed himself several times.

While I was focused on my fiancé, The Junior Dev shoved me sideways and went for Josh. Before I could catch my balance or he could move a step, a high-kicking foot knocked against the side of his head and sent him sprawling. I jumped back before he landed on me, and looked over at an avenging Tom, who was busy kicking the shit out of the unconscious alpha.

I saw Colin, and a group of our friends had spilled into the room through our open door. Colin was making his way to Tom while I jumped over The Junior Dev's prone form and made my way to Cecil.

Luke was barely holding him up as he stood on trembling legs, crying out in pain. Rafe stopped me with a hand to my chest and made a brilliant suggestion.

"Stop. Trade places with Colin. Your man needs a doctor, not his boyfriend. We need to keep Tom from killing that fucker."

I glanced back to see Tom jumping up and down on the bastard's ass while little Joshua watched and giggled at the sight. I looked over to see Liam holding up a phone and solemnly panning the room while he ostensibly recorded everything. Thank God for Rafe. He took over and called out to Colin.

"Colin! We've got Tom, you go help Cecil. His water broke, it looks like he's in labor."

Colin spun mid-step and went right over to Cecil while Rafe and I grabbed Tom. It took both of us to pull him off. In the matter of seconds it had been since I'd looked over, he was now straddling the bastard and raining punches over his back and side.

I lifted him by the biceps while Rafe grabbed his kicking feet. "Alright, champ. You've got him where you want him. Calm down and reel it in. The baby is watching," I said firmly in Tom's ear as I held his arms back.

He immediately stopped struggling. "Put me down please, I'm fine now," he spoke calmly. We stood him up and let him go, but before he turned away, Tom spat a loogie into the fucker’s hair. Then he turned and strode calmly over to Milo. The two omegas hugged while Christian pushed everyone aside to let in the cops that one of them had called at some point during this fiasco.

The cops were still taking my statement while a cuffed, unconscious Luther Devereaux, Jr. was loaded onto a gurney and carried out by EMTs. I looked around suddenly, ignoring the cop I was talking to, and got Tom's attention. "Did they already take Cecil to the hospital? I need to be there!"

The thin, warbling cry coming from down the hall answered that question. Tom grinned impishly at me. "Colin took him back to check him out while the ambulance was coming. I guess there wasn't time for the hospital. Congrats, Daddy."

I started to move, then turned back to the cop as I remembered what I'd been doing. He just waved me off. "Go see to your family, Ian. I think that I've got all I needed from you. If I have any more questions, I know where to find you."

I nodded absently and tore off down the hall. Colin was pulling something alien and nasty from between Cecil's legs as I walked in. Cecil cuddled a slime-coated infant to his chest, for once completely unmindful as to where he was getting dirty. He looked up at me, his glasses askew as he beamed a weary smile at me.

"I'm sorry you missed it, but is Joshua alright? Did Tom kill that fucker? I saw him going to town on him, but Colin brought me back here. Apparently our son was in a hurry to join the party."

I glanced over at Colin as I made my way to Cecil's side. "Thank you so much, Colin. That was perfect timing for you guys to show up here. I thought we were meeting at the courthouse though?"

Colin shook his head, talking while he finished doing whatever afterbirth shit he was doing. "We were carpooling with Rafe and Milo on our way there and had stopped to buy some fucking popcorn that Tom was insistent on. This grouchy old geezer came over and told us that we were needed here. He said Joshua was in danger and that Cecil needed medical attention. Naturally, we rushed right over. Liam and Christian saw us turn on your street at the stop sign, and they just followed us. The old geezer was already here somehow and standing on your front lawn with a strange omega. When we rushed up the driveway, they told us to get in here. You saw what happened from there."

"What did the omega look like?" Cecil asked quietly.

"The one out front? Normal enough, I'd say. He had dark curly hair like yours, and except for the fact that you wear glasses, I'd almost swear you were brothers."

Cecil smiled softly and nodded at a photo he had on the dresser. "Is that the guy?"

Colin glanced over and nodded. "Yeah! That's him alright. So he is related to you then?"

Cecil chuckled dryly. "He was like a brother to me. That was Bruce, Joshua's father."

Colin took it in stride and nodded. "Guess he wanted to make sure his son was safe. Makes perfect sense to me."

I sat down next to Cecil, smiling in awe at the tiny miracle he clutched in his arms. I stroked his tiny clenched fist lightly while I spoke. "And the fact that he's, um, deceased doesn't freak you out?"

Colin snorted. "Please. Remember Tom's buddy, Tofer? Strange shit happens in this town, Ian. Ask Liam and Christian. Hell, I've heard your friends Rafe and Milo have their own story to tell from the little Tom has shared."

I grinned. Yeah, that old manor was definitely haunted. Tom had always been spooked by Milo and Rafe's place since he'd learned that Nana Aggie liked to visit. I'd always found his terror hilarious. Of all people, I would have thought that Tom would have been more accepting of a friendly haunting. But nope. Tom didn't do ghosts. Although apparently he didn't have a problem with elves from what I'd heard.

Colin was just finishing when there was a knock at the door. I looked over to see a pair of EMTs walking in politely. "We were told that Dr. Samuels had a newborn and an omega to transport?"

Colin looked up and nodded. "Yeah, he'll be ready to transport in a sec." He looked back at apologetically. "Sorry, we need to get the baby weighed, measured, and all that good stuff so we can get the birth certificate processed easier. Cecil's going to need a couple stitches anyway. I doubt you'll need to stay there more than a night though, less if you insist on leaving."

I shook my head. "No, Cecil needs to get checked out. And the baby is three weeks early, so I doubt they'll want to let us leave immediately."

Colin nodded. "Yeah. He's a good size for a preemie, but they'll want to make sure he's okay. Do you guys have a name?"

Cecil looked at me questioningly and I nodded. The name we'd discussed most recently was perfect in light of today's events. Cecil smiled down at our son and spoke softly. "This is Bruce Andrew."