As soon as they got through the door, Will called Tracy down. Tracy had heard a lot about his mother during their time on the same research team, it had been pretty common for them to vent about their families and share a few personal details while they were shivering in the cold. It had made them closer. She always thought his mother sounded like a hilarious person, and had insisted on meeting her as soon as she had the chance. Well, now she had her chance.

Tracy came down the stairs and greeted Sandra with a smile.

“Mrs. Blanchard, it’s so nice to meet you!” she said, offering her hand.

Will and Logan both watched nervously as Sandra looked the other woman over. He should have warned his mother to be gentle with Tracy. This was going to go badly. But Sandra simply smiled at the plump young scientist, and then shook her hand.

“It’s my pleasure. Tracy, is it? Will told me some of what happened on the boat. Come here, dear.”

She hugged Tracy in a tight, warm embrace, and Tracy grinned at them over her shoulder, winking. Will shook his head in amazement. How the hell had Tracy managed that?

“Oh, Mrs. Blanchard, thank you. Don’t worry about me, I’m doing just fine now. Did Will and Logan tell you that they’ve made me Lisa’s godmother?”

“Sandra, dear, call me Sandra. Have they? That’s wonderful. Come with me to the kitchen, these boys don’t know how to put on a pot of tea for guests. Isn’t Lisa just darling? If only they could dress her. My son has always been practically colorblind…”

Sandra and Tracy went off into the kitchen, and Will laughed, turning to his fiancé.

“Well. It could have gone worse.”

Logan laughed, too, pulling Will in and hugging him close.“She’s going to be a great grandmother. But I believe you now.”

“Good,” Will said, giving his fiancé a meaningful, amused smile. “Just remember, she’s here to help with the wedding, not plan it for us.”

Logan chuckled. “Well, maybe you should remind her of that.”

“Oh, I will,” Will said.

Lisa began to fuss, and he bent down to unbuckle her car seat. He sniffed at her, and then nodded.

“Yeah, she needs to be changed. Do you wanna do it, love?”

Logan laughed. “Sure, pass it off on me,” he teased, but he took their baby upstairs to change her, and Will went into the kitchen to make up a few bottles for Lisa. He found that sometimes, when they were busy, it was easier to just have some made ahead of time.

“What are you doing?” his mother cried. “Oh, that formula is awful!”

“Mom!” Will protested. “Just…butt out, will you? She’s fine. Like you said. Healthy, chubby baby. Stop worrying.”

She tsked and shook her head, and then whispered something to Tracy, who gave him a helplessly amused look, but was clearly enjoying being the only one Sandra didn’t pick apart.

Growing up, he remembered it being less annoying when he’d been a child. His mother had simply been attentive, always teaching him about things, imparting her morals, reminding him of his manners. But the older he’d gotten, the more patronizing and irritating it had been to have his mother seemingly unable to keep her mouth shut about his life.

The only thing she’d ever really approved of were his grades and his looks, and even then, she picked on them constantly, trying to ‘help’ him improve his performance or his appearance. It was really a miracle that Will didn’t have any terrible self esteem issues. As he’d gotten older, he’d simply avoided Sandra, taking her in small doses instead. He hoped what Logan said was right, that she would turn out to be a wonderful, loving, doting grandmother. He didn’t want Lisa to end up feeling insecure about her weight or her voice or her looks before she could even walk, and he doubted his mother would allow them to simply avoid her now that she’d met her darling grandchild.

“Would you two like to look at a few wedding magazines with me?”

“Oh, you should start a scrapbook!” his mother said with joy, but she backed off a little when she saw the look in his eyes.“Magazines are a good start,” she said, almost like a peace offering.

He smiled, nodding. “Right,” he agreed. “Is the tea ready? We’ll see what ideas we can get.”

“Have you two picked a date yet?” Tracy asked, bringing mugs for tea, while Sandra took care of the teapot itself, laying it out with cream and sugar and cookies from their cupboard. Leave it to his mother to already have searched, and probably reorganized, their kitchen cupboards. She didn’t do anything halfway.

“We’re thinking in a few weeks.”

“Well, you’ll have to set a date soon, so your father can take the time off work,” his mom said, and that actually made sense to him.

“Okay. I’ll talk to Logan when he comes back down. He’s just changing Lisa,” he said, settling down on the couch.

Sandra opened her mouth, and Will half expected her to try to tell him that Logan wouldn’t be any good at changing his own daughter’s diaper, but she seemed to change her mind. She simply poured herself a cup of tea and dropped sugar and cream into it, deliberately stirring, intensely focused on the act.

Will smiled. He appreciated that she was trying.

“You’ll have to check with the church, to make sure the date is available,” she finally kindly suggested, and Will realized they might have an issue.

“Uh… Mom, we’re not getting married in a church,” he admitted.

She almost dropped her tea, and he was glad to see she didn’t. He never would have heard the end of it.

“You— I— Well, why not?” she demanded.

He shook his head. This was going to be hard to explain to his mother. His parents were very traditional, but he’d always been too much of a scientist to be religious.

“We just don’t believe in that, Mom. You know I think it’s fine that you and Dad do, but Logan and I are getting married here, at home, on the beach, by the sea, which we love.”

“You’ll be having a pastor, though? Won’t you?”

Will looked into his mother’s concerned eyes and shook his head.

“No, Mom. This is a legal wedding, not a religious one.”

The look on her face made him feel like he was speaking Italian, or maybe some alien language not even on Earth. She reached for her teacup, and her hand was trembling.

“Mom,” he said, but she shook her head.

“Just… Show me your wedding magazines,” she said, but he could tell his mother was deeply disappointed in him, so truly disappointed that she couldn’t express herself, and that was rare. He sighed and pulled out the magazines. This is not going to go well, he thought to himself.

* * *

By the time they’d picked a date and planned the wedding, Logan thought Will’s mother might kill him for corrupting her baby boy before she’d let them walk down the aisle. She went along with everything, of course, and was very helpful, both with the practical elements of planning a wedding, but also with caring for Lisa, whom she clearly adored.

The tension between Will and his mother, however, was palpable at every step along the way. Their house was spotless, and Will had told Logan one night that he was pretty sure his mother had cleaned it out of spite. Logan couldn’t remember his mother ever doing anything like that. Cleaning? How was cleaning aggressive? But the terror in Will’s eyes made it clear he was dealing with forces Logan didn’t fully understand.

She spoke to her husband every night on the phone, and Will said he knew she was talking about them from the tone of her voice. Logan never heard any words, only her slightly shrill, sweetened voice, which always sounded like that.

“Just wait,” Will had warned him. “Just wait until my father shows up.”

Tracy drove to Auckland to pick up Dan, Will’s father, and they’d all been working on decorating the house and preparing the food. The wedding was set for the next evening, at sunset, like Will and Logan had planned. Sandra hated it. Weddings should happen in the morning, she said, or the early afternoon at latest.

In the end, it was their wedding. Logan and Will were both of the opinion that she could sit and be witness to the wedding, she could help them plan and decorate and cook, but she would not dictate the terms of their marriage. It wasn’t happening.

Most of the town would be at their wedding, and several of Will’s friends from the university had flown in as well. His father was the last to arrive. The house seemed to buzz with anticipation, and even Logan was getting nervous. He was going to marry the man’s son. He already had a child with him. His father would certainly be protective. Could Logan really blame him? But Will seemed much less concerned about his father than his mother, yet he was still on edge. Maybe it was simply that another alpha, a dominant force of his own, would be in town, and until both alphas were in their separate corners again, no one would be able to settle down.

The door opened, and the man who came through the door was very tall, and very handsome. Logan felt immediately threatened. He felt all the hairs on his body go up, and although the man, who was well into his sixties but still looked like Harrison Ford, was grey and grizzled, Logan actually had to remind himself that Dan was Will’s father, and not a threat at all.

He stepped forward, his shoulders straightening, holding himself to his full height just by instinct. Was this how all alphas felt? Was this why they had to live so far apart?

He held out his hand and shook Dan’s.

“I’m Logan,” he said.

“I know,” Dan said with a smile. “My wife told me. The handsome, brutish one who doesn’t shave often enough.”

Logan chuckled, rubbing at his five o’clock shadow.

“Call it too long at sea.”

Dan laughed with him, and Logan knew immediately what Will meant when he’d said that he and his dad would get along. Will was beautiful and fair like Sandra, but Logan had been puzzling about the personality difference. Compared to Sandra, Dan was easy-going, and he might not have been around much, but Logan saw a lot of Will in Dan’s wise, golden eyes. Their hands were the same, too.

Dan took off his coat and Logan welcomed him in, introducing him to everyone. The alpha stood so tall that Logan felt like he needed to go up onto his tiptoes just to get people to look at him. He didn’t. He stood next to Dan, and eventually settled into that. Dan was a guest in his home, he was being pleasant, he wasn’t threatening Logan’s status as alpha. After the wedding, the man would leave. Until then, Logan just had to be a good host, and get to know his fiancé’s father before the wedding.

* * *

Later that night, when their friends had gone home, Sandra and Dan sat down with them and Dan looked at Logan like he might just rip his throat out. Will recognized that look. To most people, it was perfectly pleasant, a smile, a pleasant pat on the shoulder, a cordial laugh. But Will knew that his father could so quickly turn into a ferocious animal, a ruthless alpha, at any moment. It was absolutely imperceptible from how he looked with his friends, his wife, his closest confidants. That was what made his father such a great businessman.

It seemed like Logan had slipped right into his father’s trap, and was resting his head between his gnashing jaws. Will watched his mother and father nervously. He had begged them to go easy on his fiancé, but the closer they got to the wedding, the more terrified he became. They were laying out cheese and wine and smiling too much, and that could only mean terrible, nasty things were about to be said.

Will took Logan’s hand and tugged him into the hallway. His parents were calling for them. Blood rushed to his cheeks and he kissed Logan’s hand desperately. His heart was pounding so fast. All of the excitement of the wedding had him restless.

“Just remember, whatever they say in there, that I’m going to marry you tomorrow, just like we planned.”

Logan looked down at him, and his handsome alpha looked so sincere and confused.

“Of course. What do you mean?” he asked.

“I just…just promise me. We’re getting married tomorrow, out there, at sunset, just like we planned.”

To his relief, his fiancé pulled him close and kissed the top of his head, and Will wrapped his arms around him and breathed in his familiar scent, taking that comfort.

“Of course. I promise. ” Logan said, in that deep, growly voice that Will loved so much.

He shivered.

“C’mon, let’s go deal with whatever the wine and cheese is about,” he said reluctantly.

Logan only had a moment to glance at him in confusion and worry, asking with those beautiful hazel eyes whether he should be worried. Will smirked. Logan should be worried.

They sat down across from his parents and Will smiled, just by reflex. He hated how both of his parents did that, and had taught him to do the same.

“So, Logan,” his dad said, looking over at his fiancé.

Will desperately wanted to scream, “No, look at me!” but he didn’t. Logan had already proven he knew how to take care of himself.

“I hear that you refused to wed my son in a church.”

“No, Dad, I refused,” Will said, actually speaking up about that.

Logan shrugged. “It’s true, but I do like the beach.”

Dan sighed, shaking his head.

“Do you mean to tell me you won’t be marrying my son in spirit? Under God?” he asked.

“Actually, I do believe that we will be married in spirit, under God. We’re soul mates. Your son is the scientist, I’m just a sailor. I believe in a higher power.”

Will was shocked. They’d never really spoken about that in any depth. He’d always assumed, because of Logan’s irreverent nature, maybe, that he thought the same things Will did about God and religion and science. Apparently not.

“Are you superstitious, too?” Will asked his fiancé, amused.

“A little,” Logan admitted, and then turned to Dan. “Is that what you’re worried about?”

Will watched his fiancé look at them both, his mother and his father, and for once, was very quiet, fascinated and respectful of the conversation going on between the two men. It was like some sort of strange dream. Will had never seen any of these people behave this way. They seemed to be getting along, at least, none of them were fighting or snapping at each other. Will was relieved. He drank wine heavily, however, just to counter the pure absurdity of the scene. Logan and his father discussing religion and spirituality. What an odd end to the evening.

Dan nodded. “It is,” he admitted. “I want to know that you’re marrying my son, not just in body and mind, but in soul. That you two will be bonded together under God, forever. I want to know you’ll take care of him, and our granddaughter, the way a man should.”

Will groaned a little to himself. His parents were almost comedically traditional, but it would be far more comedic if they weren’t his parents. Logan seemed pretty amused.

“Absolutely,” Logan said without question, and Will was a little touched, he had to admit. “Will and I are fated to be mates. My soul is his for eternity.”

Dan suddenly smiled, and it wasn’t a grin like he would eat Logan, but a true smile, like something had touched his heart deep inside, and Will thought he might be dreaming. His father didn’t smile like that at anyone. Maybe his mother, once or twice, but that had always made Will very uncomfortable, too.

“Good. Then I’d like to give you away tomorrow evening, Will. If that isn’t too traditional for you.”

Really, Will had gone the opposite of his parents’ wishes, and nothing had been traditional about their plans, but that… that had actually sort of felt like it had been missing. His father’s approval meant something to him.

“Yeah,” he said softly, with a genuine smile of his own, one of those gentle, heartfelt ones. “That would be great, Dad. Thanks.”

Then his father reached out and touched his shoulder, and squeezed it.

“I love you, son.”

Will shook his head, cheeks hot. His dad had said that a few times, but never in front of anyone else. He felt Logan’s eyes on him, taking in the touching moment between son and father.

Will smirked.

“Jeez, Dad. I knew you’d find a way to embarrass me.”