“We’ve removed the respirator, Mr. Adams. Chris is breathing on his own, which is good news. Now we wait until he wakes up, at which point we’ll be able to assess him further.”

I looked at the doctor, my fists clenching with frustration. We’d been relegated to the waiting lounge for the morning, when any fool could see that I clearly belonged at my baby’s bedside.

Dean’s hand soothed its way up my back to rest on my shoulder, quietly calming me. Swallowing the curse words I wanted to say, instead, I smiled at the man.

“Assess him further? What more could happen after he’s been in a coma for nearly a week? I thought this was supposed to fix him, Dr. Asher.”

My words sounded lame, even to my own ears, but a week of sleeping on plastic hospital chairs and living on stale coffee while my child had lain in a vegetative state, reliant on the machines that kept him alive, hadn’t done wonders for my state of mind.

The doctor glanced at Dean, before turning his steady gaze back on me. “The point of the coma was to relieve the swelling around his brain. We’ve had no way to assess whether his cognitive ability was affected by the trauma, Mr. Adams. Once he’s alert, we’ll know more. The CT scans and MRI showed normal REM activity, which is a positive sign of normal brain function. But again, we haven’t been able to properly examine your son in an awakened state.”

“Thank you, Dr. Asher,” Dean said quietly when I fell silent. “Can you tell us how long you expect it to take for him to regain consciousness?”

Dr. Asher shook his head, the overhead light shining off his bald pate. “I can’t give you a definitive answer, no. If you’re asking if you have time for a lunch break, yes. If you’re asking whether he’ll be alert by evening, your guess is as good as mine. His youth works in his favor, but after a week spent in a coma, there’s simply no telling. I wish I had more answers, but I don’t. So much of the brain is still a mystery to us, you know?”

He gave us a few more platitudes before rushing off, presumably to see his next patient. After he’d gone, Dean pulled me in for a quick hug.

“Hang in there, Laurie. We’re on the home stretch now. I have every belief that Chris will wake up and be just fine. If anything, he’ll probably be pissed that he missed the new episode of Pokemon this week.”

Stepping back, I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand as I nodded distractedly. Dean grabbed my shoulders and spun me around, pushing me toward the door.

“Come on, man. You heard the doc. Our boy isn’t going to wake up before we get some food in you, so let’s go downstairs and see if they have any more of that tasteless Jello in the cafeteria.”

“Our boy?” I asked. I laughed lightly as he swung an arm over my shoulders and led me toward the elevator. For the first time in a week, I felt a small frisson of hope poking through the heaviness in my heart.

“Damn straight, our boy. You and your kids are family to me, dork. Don’t you know better than to ask me a damn fool question like that?”

I looked over at Dean, thankful beyond words to have his friendship and support. “Good point. That was a stupid question.”

We stepped aside as the doors opened and people filtered out before walking inside the now empty space and hitting the button for the first floor. I hazarded a glance at Dean out of the corner of my eye, but stared up at the lit-up buttons showing our descent as I spoke.

“Seriously, though. Thank you for your support this week, I can’t tell you how much it meant to me to have you here. I would’ve lost my mind if I’d had to do this alone. And your grandmothers! I can’t believe they’ve been so good about taking Matty and Kiki in so that I was free to be here.”

“Laurie,” Dean said quietly. “You know you’ve always been kin to us; my grandmothers were beyond thrilled to get their hands on those kids. As for you and me? You’ve been my best friend since before I can remember. Where else would I have been, except here with you?”

We shared a small smile, both of us were no doubt remembering the years of friendship that stretched between us. The past decade we’d been apart was a blip in the grand scheme of things. Dean and I just... fit. We always had. As far back as I could remember, he’d been there to punch bullies on the playground for me, and I’d been there when we were older to play wingman with the girls for him.

“You’re right,” I said. “Why would I expect you’d be anywhere else but here to give me moral support?” The doors opened with a ding, and we stepped off as I continued to talk. “Hey, do you need to go check on things at the farm?”

Dean shook his head. “No, Chuck is there to handle the chores. A couple neighbors have been stopping by to make sure that everything is under control and that he’s doing his job. Plus Tanya is on the scene, you know she’s got an eye on everything. Small town living, remember? We have each other’s backs around here.”

I led the way into the cafeteria, wrinkling my nose at the questionable smells that greeted me. “How could I have forgotten? Still. I should call and check on Gramps. He looked pretty shook up when Tanya brought him by yesterday.”

“He’s alright, Laurie. Of course, he was shook up. Who wouldn’t be at the sight of our little guy with all those tubes coming out of him? It’s called being part of a family. We care. Simple as that. You’ve been away so long in that city, you’ve forgotten what it’s like to have folks on your side. Don’t worry, we’ll get you used to it again.”

I grinned as I picked up a blue plastic tray and stepped into line. “I’m going to enjoy getting used to it, too. It feels good to be home. Now I just need to have Chris wake up and be his old self again, and life will be good. As long as he pulls through, nothing on Earth could bring me down again.”

* * *

Dr. Asher patted Chris’s hand with a fond smile. “I’ve got to tell you, Mr. Adams. I am thrilled with how well Chris has been doing the past few days since he woke up. We’re moving him today to a room in the regular pediatric wing. He’ll be taken there as soon it’s ready.”

“That’s wonderful news, Doctor,” I said happily. I signed as I spoke, automatically translating for Chris’s benefit. “Once he’s out of ICU, does that mean his brother and sister will finally be able to visit?”

“Definitely. I imagine they’ve been climbing the walls wanting to see our star patient here, huh? As long as nobody is sick, Chris will be able to have as many visitors as you want. Within visitation hours, of course.”

Dr. Asher made a notation on his clipboard before clicking his pen and returning it to his pocket. He looked at me with an expectant smile, obviously poised to rush off to his next patient.

“Did you have any other questions for me before I go?”

“Just one. How long do you expect Chris to stay here? Will he be able to go home soon?”

“Yes,” the doctor answered with hesitation. “I’m only keeping him here for another day or so for observation. He’ll be home in time for Sunday supper, I’d suspect.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Dean said, holding a hand out to shake Dr. Asher’s. “We appreciate all you’ve done for him. I can’t tell you what a relief it is to hear you say that this nightmare is almost over.”

Right as Dean said that, Sheriff Thompson stuck his head around the door. He had a regretful looking smile on his face as he stepped in and almost reluctantly asked if he could speak to me in the hall for a moment. Dr. Asher quirked a brow, but wisely remained silent as he gave a friendly farewell wave to Chris and rushed off to his next patient.

“Sure, Sheriff,” I said. “But... I thought we’d already covered all your questions yesterday about Chris’ accident? I don’t think he’s going to remember anything more than he did yesterday.”

“Um, yeah. It’s a different issue, son. I have all I need regarding the boy’s accident. But like I said, perhaps we could speak in the hall?”

Dean and I shared a look of confusion before I nodded. After I turned the TV to a cartoon for Chris and made sure the closed captioning was on, I signed that I’d be right outside his door for a minute. Chris nodded absently, his attention already caught by the TV that hung on the wall at the foot of his bed.

The moment I stepped into the hallway, I came to a screeching halt, causing Dean to bump into me from behind. Standing out there, with who I could only assume was one of their many attorneys, were my in-laws. Senator Adams glanced at me dismissively before nodding to the man beside him.

“That’s him, Stan. Let’s get those papers served, and get this over with, I want to get back to the hotel. Lord knows how many germs are crawling around this place,” he said in disgust. His wife stood there sneering at me as I took a breath and took a step in their direction.

“Are you here to see Chris? He’s about to be moved to a regular room now that his condition has been downgraded, but you’re welcome to step in and say hello now,” I spoke politely, wondering how the hell they’d even heard about Chris’ condition. I hadn’t called them because I hadn’t wanted to deal with them trying to steamroll me and take over.

“Hush, Laurence,” Helen said coldly. “ Of course, I could see the child if it were my desire. Now listen, boy. You were told to leave the children with us, and now that one in there,” she paused to pointed an elegantly manicured hand toward Chris’ room, “is even more damaged than he was when you slunk off and disappeared with our heir.”

Forcing myself to remain calm, I answered her accusation. “I didn’t slink off or disappear anywhere.”

Okay, maybe I did, but fuck her. I took a breath and continued calmly. “Helen, you’ve always had my grandfather’s address, so it’s not like I was in hiding. Was there something I can help you with, or did you stop by to visit Chris?”

The attorney stepped forward and passed me an envelope. “You’ve been served, Mr. Adams. We aren’t here for visitation, we are here to assert the rights of Christopher’s grandparents, now that you’ve been deemed an unfit parent.”

“E-Excuse me?” I stuttered, blindly taking the envelope and staring in disbelief at my former in-laws, outlaws... whatever. The senator stepped aside to take a phone call, apparently finished with me now that the papers had been served.

Helen smiled victoriously. “You are nothing more than low-class trash, Laurence. You are not fit to raise a dog, let alone my heir. You have no ability to provide for those children, and are completely dependent upon your grandfather who, from what I’ve heard, is incompetent and senile. My grandson was allowed to run loose around that farm where gates were left unlatched so that he was trampled by livestock. Adams’ don’t belong around livestock, and yet there he was, and all because you removed him from our care.”

“Now you wait one minute,” Dean began, only to be cut off by his brother as he came striding up. Zeke was dressed in a business suit, obviously having taken a break in his workday to come check in on us.

“Is there a problem here?” he asked politely, reaching a hand out to the other attorney who’d stood there uncomfortably while Helen had said her piece. “I’m Ezekiel MacIntosh, Laurie’s attorney. What’s going on?”

I passed Zeke the envelope. “They served me with custody papers. Th-They say I’m an unfit parent and want to take my children from me.”

Zeke opened the envelope and quickly scanned the papers, the concern in his eyes the only worrisome thing in his otherwise impartial face.

“Can they do this, Zeke?” Dean asked quietly, standing beside me with his hand automatically moving up my back to rest on my shoulder in solidarity.

Zeke grimaced sadly. “Maybe? My specialty is Omega’s Rights, not family law, but I will get these to my partner when I go back to the office.

Dean turned to the sheriff. “Lou, surely there’s something that can be done. This isn’t right. Especially with that little guy right in there and needing his daddy.”

The sheriff let out a heavy sigh. “Unfortunately, my hands are tied, son. Laurie here is an unmarried omega with no visible income and no home of his own to provide for those kids.”

“What if he were to get married? What then? Could he file an affidavit or something?” Dean pressed.

Zeke answered immediately. “You mean an injunction, but yes. That would make things different, because he’d have an alpha to protect and provide for him and the children.”

Helen scoffed. “That may be true, but who aside from my dearly departed son would be foolish enough to tie themselves to this pathetic, low-life loser? My own son couldn’t stand to stay home with him. If he’d been a decent omega, my son might still be alive and this wouldn’t be necessary.”

Dean held a hand up, as if warding her off and turned to Zeke. “Go file that injunction because Laurie has already agreed to marry me.”

I froze in shock, opening my mouth to argue, but unable to get a sound out before the other attorney spoke derisively.

“A fake engagement? Cute ploy. But it won’t hold water. In fact, I’d recommend my clients attend the ceremony, if only to make sure it’s even legitimate, which we all know it isn’t.”

Zeke looked back and forth between Dean and I, his eyes resting briefly on Dean’s hand, which still rested on my shoulder. A flash of amusement sparkled in his eyes, while the rest of his poker face remained intact.

“Are you sure about that, Dean? I know you and Laurie have been friends since God created orange juice, but marriage?”

Dean nodded as he spoke in a voice that brooked no argument as he proceeded to lie through his pearly-white teeth.

“Damn straight, I’m sure. Laurie and I have been seeing each other since he’s come back home. We were only waiting for a respectful amount of time to pass before we announced it. We’d planned on waiting until after his mourning period ended before we got hitched, though. But if it will help protect those babies, we will marry as soon as we need to.”

My head spun as Zeke and Dean hugged with a slap to each other’s backs before my new attorney sped off to go file the injunction. Helen stalked off in a snit with her lawyer scrambling in her wake. After the sheriff walked away with a smile of satisfaction that justice would be served, I turned to Dean.

“Dean, you can’t do this.” I moved across the hall and took a seat on one of the chairs there. I glanced up at him where he leaned against the opposite wall watching me indifferently, as though he hadn’t just agreed to something pretty damned monumental.

“Why the hell not? Fuck those assholes, and fuck them for trying to take your babies. They didn’t show even one iota of interest in seeing Chris. They only wanted to push their way in and hurt you. Fuck that shit.” He folded his arms over his chest and glared at me stubbornly.

“Why not?” I answered. “Hmm. Well... let’s start with the fact that you don’t like men in that way? Why the hell would you marry me? I don’t have the right parts, in case you haven’t noticed. I know you’ve always wanted kids, too. I can’t give you those if you’re not sexually attracted to me.”

Dean smirked. “Trust me, I’m well aware of your lack of the right body parts. That’s the only thing that keeps you from being the perfect omega for me, in fact. Too much sausage, not enough melons, you know?”

His face softened then, as he moved to come sit down beside me. He grabbed my hand, holding it as he spoke urgently. “Listen, Laurie. The most important thing in a marriage is friendship, or so I’ve been told. We have plenty of that and then some. As for kids? You’d be giving me four, between the three you have and the one you’ve got in the oven. All of whom I’ll be proud to claim as mine.”

He reached up to boop my nose with tip of his index finger as he grinned. “Now shut up. We’re doing this, you hear me? Just like when we were kids and you let me beat up Johnny Matheson for stealing your lunch money, you’re going to let me fight these bullies who want to steal your kids. Got me?”

“Okay, fine.” I huffed out a sigh. “I forgot how bossy you can be.”

“Get used to it, Darlin’,” he drawled with a slow grin. “We’re getting married, right? Now you’ll have to obey me, because I’ll be your alpha.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” I said with a laugh. “Marry you to save my kids? Sure. Obey you? Fat chance of that happening.”

“Thank fuck, we’ll be way better off if I let you do the bossing. Kinda like when you made me give up my summer vacation to take that extra-credit Algebra class after sophomore year. I was pissed, but you were right. I had a great junior year in math after I had a better handle on the subject,” Dean chuckled. “And don’t even get me started on all the lessons you’ve given me on how to talk to girls.”

I rolled my eyes, then grew serious. “You do realize that you won’t be able to date for awhile, right? We’ll have to make sure that our marriage looks legitimate, if we’re going to do this thing.”

Dean shrugged. “So? I’d rather hang out at home with you and the kids anyway. Dating life hasn’t ever been kind to me; a break will do me good. Besides, even if the only sex-life I have is with my left hand, I still won’t cheat on you. I’m not a dick.”

I blew out a breath. “Wow. We’re not even fake-married yet, and this relationship is already sounding better than my last one.”