We walked out of the doctor's office, both of us looking at the picture that Cecil had cradled in his palm and not really paying attention to our surroundings. A voice came from out of the blue as we approached my car.

"Cecil Townsend?"

Cecil looked up with confusion at the pudgy bald man who stood in front of us with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth and enough B.O. to make my eyes water from across the parking lot. "Yes? Who wants to know?"

"You've been served." He slapped the papers into Cecil's unwitting hand and rushed off before I could stop him.

Cecil looked up at me with a gaping mouth, but I just took the envelope from him and guided him toward my car. "This is when having a lawyer comes in handy, toots. Let's get in the car and we’ll see what's going on." Cecil nodded and got in the door that I held open for him.

Once we were both in the car, I opened the envelope and pulled out a notice from the family court. I scanned the document. Joshua's alpha sire was asserting paternity and overturning the guardianship. Fuck.

Cecil was leaning over my arm, reading along as he looked it over. "So he can't just take him, even though he's the father? Is this good for us?"

My eyes lit on two pertinent pieces of information. First, the claimant was one Luther Devereaux, Junior. Second, an addendum was added seeking full custody and the right to control any shares the child may have a right to from the estate of one Luther Devereaux, Senior. Interesting.

I sighed and tucked the papers back in the envelope, passing it to Cecil. "It's a delaying tactic for us, but that's about it if a paternity test backs up his claim. Bruce didn't name the father or put him on the birth certificate, so he'll need to take a paternity test. That's the first step here. They're asking for a cheek swab from Joshua."

"But I thought the cops were looking for him in conjunction with Bruce's attack and death? Does this mean he's no longer a suspect? Or just that enough time has gone by that they aren't looking for him? Why would he want Joshua now? Hmmph. It's been four months and he's never tried to so much as see the boy! It makes no sense, I don't understa—"

I stopped his nervous rambling with a finger to his lips. "Breathe, toots. One thing at a time. I don't know if this is so much a matter of the cops not looking as it is of an alphadouche getting cocky. And I don't want to worry you, but I want to have my guy dig a little into what would appear to be his grandfather's estate. There's an addendum there seeking control of any shares Josh might have to it."

Cecil gaped at me in dismay. "This could just be about money? What the hell, Ian? We can't let him have our boy! We've finally figured out how to take care of him without supervision! He's even sleeping through the night now! We can't take away his security, he's our family!"

I clenched my jaw and nodded tersely as I pulled out my phone. I shot of a quick text to Grazer before putting my phone down and reaching for Cecil's hand. I brought it to my lips before cradling it against my cheek.

"I promise, toots. I will leave no stones unturned on this one. Whatever it takes to protect that child, it will be done. Luckily for you both, I don't suck at my job."

Cecil nodded and looked out his window, lost in thought. I lowered his hand to my lap and backed out of the space. I had a lot to get done now, but first, we needed to get back to Cecil's and cuddle that baby.

* * *

The next month was frustrating. The only bright part was watching Cecil's belly bump expand and seeing Josh sit up for the first time. At just five months old, that was a feat to watch. Judging by how strong he was for a baby, I had strong suspicions that he would turn out to be an alpha when he reached puberty. Cecil had glared at me when I said that and informed me haughtily that omegas were just as strong as alphas.

The downside of the month was being forced to do the paternity test. Grazer had turned up a police report showing evidence that The Junior Dev, as I was calling him, had been Bruce's assailant, but his attorneys were working to get it dismissed on a technicality.

Grazer had also dug up the fact that The Dev himself had been worth millions, and his will had held an interesting clause. Any and all found descendants were to be given an equal share of the estate. The estate was still in probate, a fact that didn't surprise me given the amount of assets the man had likely owned.

The Junior Dev must be spitting nails at the thought of having to split his inheritance with a child that Bruce's neighbors had made affidavits stating he hadn't wanted. The fact that he wanted him now was suspicious, and likely motivated by the estate. Equally interesting was an addendum that made it clear that any heirs found guilty of any crimes involving assault of any nature were to be cut off and their share would return to the estate.

Small wonder the guy was fighting the assault charge. Too bad he hadn't thought of it before laying hands on poor Bruce, the lousy fuck. I had zero respect for anyone who laid hands on someone else. But to harm a pregnant omega was just beyond repulsive. It was criminal.

The problem was that there was no proof that he'd done the actual assault, and all of the witnesses had only heard the attack and seen the aftermath. They hadn't actually seen it go down. And his fingerprints and DNA all over were easily explained by the fact that he lived there. I still didn't know how I was going to go about bringing the fucker down, but I had every faith that justice would prevail eventually. It was just a matter of getting there.

I was half living at Cecil's now. My own one bedroom apartment was no place for a growing family. Hell, I didn't think even Cecil could live there comfortably. I carried the trash out through his gate, wondering if I should broach the topic of me moving in completely and letting my apartment go.

"Well, well, well... lookie what the cat dragged in. Mr. Fancy Pants himself."

I looked over my shoulder with a grin. "Hey, Harold. How's it going, bud?"

"Hmmph. I ain't your bud, fancy pants. Now tell me why my sweet Cecil is sportin' a big gut but ain't got no hardware on his finger. I told you I'd be keepin' an eye on you." He glared at me from under those caterpillar brows, his long beaky nose only accentuating the hawkish look he was giving me.

I closed the trash and brushed off my hands. As much as I wanted to tell the old fart to fuck off, I couldn't be disrespectful to someone his age. Especially when he seemed to have my omega's best interests at heart. My omega. Those two words still made me smile.

"As a matter of fact, Harold? I have asked Cecil to marry me. I just haven't gotten the ring yet. He wants to wait until his fingers aren't swollen."

"Hmmph. A fancy pants like you should be able to afford two of 'em. One now, one later." He jerked out a nod. "That works. Get on that, fancy pants. And while you're at it, tell Cecil to read the letter Bruce left him. It's important."

I furrowed my brow, thinking for a second as a vague recollection popped into my head of Letty Browne handing Cecil an envelope that he shoved down in the side pocket of the diaper bag.

I nodded thoughtfully, and looked up to thank the old codger, but as usually he'd left without a goodbye.

I walked back to find Cecil slipping out of Josh's room. It was Luke's night off, and he'd gone out to see a movie. I held out my arms and Cecil walked right into them.

He turned a cheek into my chest, his glasses catching on my shirt button. I grinned and leaned back to free him before pulling him close again. I inhaled that sweet rose and chamomile scent of his, feeling peace wash over me.

I backed up then and pulled him toward the living room. "Hey, I was talking to this old dude outside. He says that you need to read the letter that Bruce left for you. I have no idea how he'd know about that, but seniors seem to have the hotline for gossip in my experience. He said it was important though."

Cecil blinked up at me in confusion. "Letter? What letter?" He gasped suddenly as it hit him. "Shit! I forgot all about that. Do you think it could possibly still be in the diaper bag? That was five months ago!"

"Only one way to know, toots."

Cecil nodded and rushed off to get the bag. I went into the kitchen and grabbed us both a glass of peach sweet tea. Cecil had been craving it, and it had to have peach in it or it didn't count. I'd given up drinking around him out of solidarity, so syrupy sweet peach flavored tea was what I was drinking too.

By the time I came back with the two glasses, Cecil was digging through the diaper bag's outer pockets. He had piles forming in front of him of toys, trash, and what appeared to be miscellaneous detritus that came from lugging the bag around everywhere we went. His eyes lit up when he reached the bottom of the last pocket. He pulled out a crumpled envelope and held it up victoriously.

In meticulous Cecil fashion, he set it to the side while he finished cleaning out the diaper bag. I watched in amused fascination as he finished the chore and reloaded the bag with about half of what he'd removed. He stood and carried a few toys over to the small toybox he'd placed beneath the bay window where he'd formerly had a freeform sculpture standing. The trash went into the wastebasket, and the other crap was quickly sorted and dealt with accordingly.

"Hey, whatever happened to that weird sculpture thing you had in the window there when we first met?"

Cecil shot me a scathing look as he clucked his tongue. "Hmmph. That was an expensive artist rendition of a man stretching in the early morning sun. That's why it was in the window. He suggested sunlight would show it best."

"Hmm. Well that explains the weird spike it had halfway down. Morning wood can be a problem."

Cecil laughed before he could check himself. "Hush. It's art, it's not supposed to make sense. But yeah, I... umm... didn't want to see Joshua try and pull himself up by that... er... spike when he starts trying to stand in a few months. It seemed prudent to remove it now."

I quirked a brow. "And where is it now? The dump?"

"Certainly not!" He grinned. "It's tagged for consignment down at the shop. I figured with a baby in the house and another one on the way, it was probably time to reevaluate the decor."

I looked around the room, suddenly aware that a lot had changed in here. "I am suddenly realizing that I'm just not observant as I've always thought that I was. When did you make all these changes?"

Cecil grinned and walked over to where I sat. He put one knee down on the couch next to me and swung the other over to straddle my lap. His hands came up to frame my face as he leaned in for a kiss. He leaned back after a moment and smiled into my eyes.

"I like that you're not that observant about my home. Knowing how nothing usually misses your notice, that means that your eyes are on me when you're here."

I grinned and wrapped my hands around his hips, my fingers kneading his tight, round ass. "That's actually the truth, isn't it? But can we talk about making a pronoun change in that former sentence?"

"Meaning?" He tilted his head and regarded me seriously.

"Change the my to our? I feel like I'm living a half life these days. I'm half here and half in a lonely bachelor apartment across town. I'd like to go all in. Not to push or anything, but you've still never given me your official yes either. I pretty much lied to my geezer stalker outside and insinuated that we were already engaged. I told him we were waiting for a ring due to swollen fingers."

Cecil glared at me. "I hope you were talking about yourself, because my fingers are far from swollen." He held out his fingers and waved them in front of my face.

I grinned and caught his hand, entwining our fingers. "Does that mean you'll let me put a ring on it? Because that's what I got out of that."

"Hmmph. I don't know. I mean, you literally just implied that my fingers were too fat to wear your ring."

"Toots? Don't argue with a litigator. You'll never win. I'll just keep coming back with answers. So, ring?"

He leaned in and pecked a kiss on the tip of my nose and darted back. "I mean, if you can find one to fit my sausage fingers? I suppose I would accept it."

I grinned, ready to jump up and shout Hallelujah. Instead, I reached down and stroked his crotch. "Did someone mention sausage? Because I'm suddenly developing a craving."

"Hmmph. Maybe you should do something about it then. Cravings don't go away until they're satisfied. Trust the preggo on that one."

I lowered the front of his pajama pants and eased his length out into my hand, stroking it while I leaned in for a kiss. Cecil eagerly kissed me back as he thrust into my fist. Moments later, I felt him opening my pants and pulling my own hard cock out. His fist stroked it with a good rhythm, rubbing the leaky slit with the pad of thumb with each downstroke.

With a groan, I pushed his hand away and pushed our dicks together. I needed to feel his silky flesh sliding against mine. Cecil groaned into my mouth, his hands pushing my shirt up to get at my nipples.

Both of us were leaking precum that got spread over our combined lengths as I stroked, my palm growing damp and sticky from it as I jerked my fist faster.

Cecil did a little pinch twist of my nipples that had me seeing stars. My head went back with a gasp. My tight balls exploded and spurts of cum squirted through my open fist, and over our dicks and laps. Cecil grunted and dropped his forehead to my chest as he shot his own load.

We sat there panting for a few minutes until Cecil sat up and reached over for a kleenex from the box on the side table. "Hmmph. You made a mess, 90210. But you were quiet, so points for that."

I grinned wearily, ready to sleep now. "Does this mean I can ditch my apartment and buy you a ring?"

Cecil shook his head. "Typical alpha. Thinks making an omega come gives him bargaining rights on forever."

I reached a sticky hand out to stroke his swollen belly. "Sorry, toots. I'm pretty sure you've got my bargaining chip right here. Don't you?"

"Hmmph. Good point. Plus, I'm going to need all hands on deck in a few months here. Besides," he tilted his head and gazed at me with an appraising look. "I don't hate the look of your pretty face in the morning. Okay. Let's do it. Let's go pick out rings."

I grinned and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him close. "I'll google jewelers that can handle sausage rings."

Cecil smacked my chest. "Do it and you'll wake up to find it wedged on your cock."

"Well, I did say sausage ring..."

"Then you can order that shit online. I know the other business owners in Hollydale. That's a big nope for me."

I chuckled and hugged him close. I hadn't planned on settling down or dealing with the routine of having a family, but I knew already that life with my man Cecil would never be boring.

"Oh! Ian!"

"What babe?"

"We forgot the letter again."

"Oh, fuck. Okay, let's check it out. That grumpy old fucker says it's his job to watch over you and until you get an alpha to do it, he'll be on duty."

Cecil sat up and looked at me with a strange look. "That's so weird! I wonder if he was a friend of Grampa Harold's? My grampa used to always say that. He was pretty intense about it too."

"Grampa Harold? That's so weird. This dude's name is Harold too. Although I'd be surprised if this one had any friends. He's not the friendliest guy. And wait until you meet him! He has these huge black eyebrows that look like a couple of—"

"Caterpillars?" he finished for me with bugged out eyes.

I remembered shit that had gone down in Rafe's place all of a sudden, as a chill ran down my spine. "Umm, toots? You wouldn't happen to have a picture of your Grampa Harold, would you?"

Cecil nodded and reached for his phone. "Hmmph. Of course I do."

I stared at him then, already knowing what I would see when he opened his gallery. I'd never noticed before how Cecil and Harold made that same odd Hmmph noise as they snorted heavily when irritated or amused. Holy fucking shit.