We walked into the hospital two hours later, with a fully loaded diaper bag and the carrier for the freshly installed car seat that was locked in place in Cecil's backseat. A quick, whirlwind trip to my place to get me a change of clothes had been followed with a fast trip to the superstore that had gotten him the basics which I'd promised to help him set up in his spare room once we got the child back.

I should have been amused to see the last omega on earth that anyone would expect to see with a child become an infant's guardian, but I couldn't after the things I'd seen on my job. Instead, I would be a supportive friend and help him get the boy settled in.

It was probably awkward for me to be the one helping him. Honestly! Last night was supposed to be a hit it and quit it type deal. But the longer I’d been in the awkward little guy's company, the more I’d wanted to be there. I'd never had anyone make me laugh this much in my life.

His intelligence was just... sexy. And the way he'd handled that early morning phone call from Leticia while stark ass naked? That was a thing of beauty right there.

I was pretty sure that if Milo and Tom weren't out of town with their husband's, and Liam wasn't busy with six children himself, I'd be the last person he would have asked for help with this little situation.

As it happened though, I was probably his best bet. Guardianship and family law was my bread and butter. I didn't think anyone else in our friend circle would be as appropriate a companion for this mission.

Now, I couldn't promise a lot of help on the actual childcare front, although I did have a few tricks up my sleeve from playing uncle to Rafe and Milo's little ones for the past few years.

I looked up with a lazy grin when I saw Leticia Browne standing there by the counter waiting for Cecil. As soon as she saw me, her face lit up with a broad grin.

"Ian Montgomery! Are you kidding me? What in the world are you doing here inserting yourself into a simple change of custody from hospital to guardian?"

I strode over and swept her up into a hug. "Gimme some sugar, Letty, you beautiful woman! Now tell me about your holidays and all those lucky foster kids I know you have waiting back at home."

She laughed, a booming, bawdy sound that made more than one nurse glance our way sharply. "Ian, you old flirt! Hush your mouth! I need to talk to Cecil, and he doesn't need an attorney for this one, baby. I promise, it's all in order."

"Hello, Ms. Browne. I'm Cecil. And Ian is here as my friend, not my legal counsel." Cecil stepped forward with a smile and an outstretched hand. Yesterday's tight suit and bow tie had been replaced by a sage green sweater vest over a plaid button up shirt and khakis. If this was his casual wear, I couldn't imagine what he considered proper date wear.

"Although should Mr. Townsend find himself in need of counsel, I am available to him night or day." I smiled down at Cecil with a wink while Leticia shook her head.

"Alright, Mr. Snakecharmer. Whatever you say." She laughed and turned her attention back to Cecil. "Okay, Mr. Townsend. Let's get the paperwork signed and you can be on your way with your little ward."

I watched closely as she went over the forms with Cecil. He stood there straight backed and somber as he flipped through the papers and signed to accept responsibility of the infant. Once he was done, he laid the pen aside and turned to Leticia.

"Would it be possible to see Mr. Milton? Or have they taken him, er, downstairs already?"

Leticia shook her head kindly. "He's already been taken to the morgue, dear. But you wouldn't have wanted to see him, trust me. Here, he left this for you." She handed him a thick envelope, and patted his hand.

"I don't know the details, but your friend's alpha has been accused of being the responsible party. He was beaten badly, as I told you earlier. His face was unrecognizable, and several bones were broken. It was a miracle that he survived at all. When he made it over a day after Joshua's birth, the staff thought that he was going to make it. But they believe that he had an aneurysm in the night, and that’s what took him."

Cecil shook his head sadly. "Bruce was a good man. I'm sorry to hear of his passing." He picked up the envelope and shoved it into one of the pockets on the outside of the diaper bag. "I suppose it's time for me to meet my namesake now?"

At our curious looks, Cecil explained wistfully. "Andrew was both Bruce's and my middle name. We used to jokingly call ourselves the Andrew Brothers in school. Bruce named the child Joshua Andrew, so technically, he's also named after me."

Leticia tucked the papers into a folder and nodded at the nurse, who was approaching with a sleeping infant. I smiled at the little santa hat beanie that one of them had tucked over the child’s head.

“There’s your young man now, Mr. Townsend. He’s all decked out and ready to go home.”

Cecil looked flustered as the nurse approached with the tiny creature, so I stepped over and took the car seat carrier from him. “Let me help you, Cecil. You might want to go over the paperwork to make sure you didn’t miss anything.”

Leticia got sidetracked by my comment and turned back to Cecil while I took charge of the child and got him hooked into the seat. I was keeping an ear out to their conversation, while also looking over the information the nurse was giving me.

When I heard Leticia mention home visits, I turned back to her. “Letty, why is Cecil being subjected to home visits if the parent gave him legal guardianship of the child?”

“He’s not, babydoll. I was telling Mr. Townsend that if Mr. Devereaux, the presumed alpha father, should surface, he may need to either surrender custody to him or allow home visitation. This is dependent on whether the alpha is found guilty of any crimes, of course. But that will be up to the judge, as you well know.”

I huffed out a sigh and nodded. “She’s right, Cecil. Even if the father is an abusive asshole, if he surfaces and isn’t found guilty, we’ll have to do battle at that time.”

Cecil shook his head. “I’ll read the letter that Brewski left me, and see what he said. If he wanted me to fight to protect this child, then I will do it.”

I nodded and held out a hand. “Give me a dollar, toots.”

“Hmmph. You want a dollar? Why?”

I rolled my eyes and wiggled my fingers. “Please?”

Leticia grinned knowingly, but Cecil just shot me an irritated glare as he dug a dollar out and handed it to me. I shoved it into my pocket and picked up the infant seat. “Congratulations, toots. You just hired yourself an attorney, and Leticia is now aware that you have an attorney if any of this shit comes back to haunt junior here.”

Cecil’s eyes lit with understanding. He smiled and reached for Leticia’s hand. “Thank you, Ms. Browne. Have a lovely day. I need to get my ward home and get him settled.”

Turning back to me, he raised a brow. “Shall we get junior home?”

“We shall, toots. Just lead the way, I’m right behind you.”

* * *

Once we got back to Cecil's, I set up the travel crib we'd purchased while Cecil went about unhooking him from the car seat. I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud when he began cursing about the locking mechanism after somehow managing to pinch himself.

When the baby was finally lifted out of the seat, Cecil held him up awkwardly by the armpits at arm’s length. He looked around desperately as if trying to figure out what to do now. The baby's head was lolling to the side as he screamed from being rudely awakened by Cecil's jostling.

I sprang into action and took the boy. I snuggled him into the crook of my arm, and gently rocked him as I walked back and forth. When he immediately calmed, the omega looked both relieved and mortified.

"Cecil, sit down. Let me show you a few tricks."

"There's no use. I never should have brought him home. What the fuck do I know about babies? Why would Brewski have entrusted me with this tiny bundle of neediness? Shit. I'm probably going to break him or something."

I sat down and shook my head. "Make a cradle of your arms like mine," I instructed. As soon as he did, I laid Joshua into his arms. "Now hold him against your chest, with his neck supported. The most important thing to remember at this age is to always support that neck."

Cecil looked down at his ward with an uncertain grimace. "What if I can't do this? Maybe I should hire someone? But how would that look? An omega who has to hire a nanny?"

"It would look like you're a business owner who needs an extra pair of hands since you are single and live alone. A nanny is a perfect plan; I should have thought of it myself." I pulled my phone out. "Let me call my assistant. She's a goddess when it comes to things like this, I bet she can have someone here by the end of the day."

Cecil's eyes bugged out. "Oh, dear. I hadn't thought that far. Of course he's going to be here at the end of the day. And tonight! What will I do at night?" He sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth, gnawing at it as he looked down at the child.

After a moment, Cecil looked back up at me with a start. "What do I feed him? It will be a few weeks before he eats solids, right?"

As soon as I heard that, I quickly dialed Alyssa's number and got her on the line. Once I explained the situation as politely as I could without embarrassing Cecil, she laughed softly in my ear and agreed to make it a priority. Once I was finished, I turned my attention back to Cecil.

"Let me lay him in the travel crib so that you can call Liam."

"What? Why? Do you think he can handle a seventh child this week?" His eyes looked hopefully unsure. "Wait. No, I can't do that. I've made a commitment, and I will stand by it. I just need to learn how to take care of him."

I nodded. "That's why you're calling Liam. Tell him about Josh, and explain that you have nothing to feed him or anything to feed him with. I'm sure he'll spring into action. In fact, I'm embarrassed that I didn't think about it when we were buying diapers, clothes, and baby gear this morning. But yeah, call your buddy. Alyssa's looking for a nanny, but in the meantime, you need a pro in here before that boy wakes up hungry."

I took the baby and let Cecil make his call. Once I had the baby settled in his travel crib, I walked into Cecil's spare room and looked around. We had dropped the crib off here earlier before we'd gone to the hospital. The box leaned up against the wall of a room filled with various boxes of miscellaneous crapola.

"I should probably call the guys who do deliveries and pickups for me and have them haul all this to the store. It's all stuff that I was storing here last winter when my storeroom had a leak. I just keep putting it on the back burner. I have staff though, and they can handle this. Hmm. I also have a furniture section with a dresser and changing table that will match the crib I bought."

I looked down to see Cecil standing there beside me, hands on hips as he surveyed the mass of boxes. He nodded to himself as he turned and began dialing the phone. He looked back over his shoulder.

"Hmmph. Liam will be here in a few minutes. He's uber excited, whatever the hell that means." He rolled his eyes and began talking to whoever answered the phone, barking out directions while he walked determinedly toward the living room.

I grinned and followed the bossy little omega. He was a head shorter than me, but where most shorter omegas were lithe and twinkish, Cecil was solid and had muscles under those uptight clothes he wore.

I had no idea if I was overstaying my welcome or not, but I was far from inclined to leave. This omega fascinated me with his alpha-ish mannerisms and awkward charm.

The only pressing thing I had going on at the office right now was the hunt for the lawyer that had helped steal the child that my friend Tom had given birth to as a teenager. The falsely adoptive parents were dead, as were Tom's. The attorney was the only lead, and I was still determined that someone needed to pay for the hell that Tom and his daughter had been put through in the near decade they were separated.

As much as I felt the urge to follow that through, I couldn't help but think about how happy Tom and Colin had been at their wedding with their perfect little family. That could've been mine, if I'd been willing to put Tom ahead of my career.

The lonely nights were getting worse, especially now that I was in my 30s. Having Cecil and his surprise ward dropped into my life this weekend had me wondering if maybe it was time to get my nose out of the law books and consider a personal life before yet another omega slipped away.