The quiet little square looked completely different in the daylight. The fountain in the center bubbled cheerfully. People milled around and carried on quiet conversations as they strolled along the cobblestone pavement. Several of the little cafes had set out sandwich boards with their specials written on them in fancy chalk lettering. A small group of street musicians played a gentle melody on a combination of stringed and wind instruments. In short, it was completely different from the lively bouncing cacophony of main street and shops that crowded for attention.

Logan hoped it would serve as an appropriate setting for the conversation he was still trying to mentally prepare himself for. His entire body felt rigid as he sat in a chair outside of one of the cafes.

When he caught sight of Ramos hesitantly approaching, he waited for the usual burst happiness he'd come to expect. Instead, he felt a soft little bubble of joy. There was no immediate and overwhelming urge to race across the courtyard and throw himself into Ramos' arms.

It seemed like the medication the doctor gave him was having the desired effect. That was something positive at least. Hopefully he'd be able to translate his well rehearsed speech into a series of coherent sentences now.

Of course, it hadn't just been the overwhelming sense of desire that he'd been dreading. Seeing Ramos again brought that events of the previous day fully into view once more. He couldn't help but feel a desperate sense of agony tinged with terror when he relived that moment and every moment after.

"Hi." Ramos awkwardly took the seat across from him and looked down at his hands. "You...uh, what did you want to say?"

Logan chewed his lip slightly. It was clear that Ramos didn't really want to be here. He was probably going to end up running for the hills the moment Logan finished telling him what he had planned on saying.

"Look...first I...I want to try to explain...I didn't--"

"No, don't," Ramos interrupted him. "I...please, don't say anymore about what happened yesterday. It's a mess in my brain. I can't...I don't want to think about it right now. Aguado says I should lay all the blame at Julio's feet and maybe she's right, I honestly don't know." Ramos looked up at him and sighed.

"I know I came here to hear what you've got to say," he continued, "but I feel like I need to say some things first."

Logan swallowed. He couldn't help but feel nervous. Whatever was coming next, he couldn't begin to anticipate it. He hated the thought of everything potentially falling apart before he even got a chance to say his piece. From the look on Ramos' face, he hoped that wasn't going to be the case.

"I feel like you and I have been through a lot these last few days," said Ramos. He reached across the able and took one of Logan's hands in his own. "In a lot of ways you've helped me open my eyes to a part of myself I had kept shut away. I denied a fundamental part of myself for my entire life and the look in your eyes managed to entice me out of my shell. Partially anyway...I'm...I'm still working on the rest of it." He looked away for a moment and Logan could just make out the blush blooming across his cheeks. His heart skipped a beat and this time he was relatively certain it was his own emotions fueling the reaction.

"I want you and I want to have a chance at finding out if we've got something here," Ramos said as he met Logan's gaze once more. "Once all of that crazy desire melted away, I realized that I really do like you. I...I liked the way you feel in my arms and the way you look at me when you're trying to be coy. I just...with everything that's happened. I need to know that you really do feel that way too. If it was all just whatever love-sick infection that got into us then I'm willing to just move on and let it rest..."

"No! No, it's not." Logan had started out little too strong, but he felt the need to make it clear where he stood on the matter. "I like you too. I really do and before you start wondering, no it's not because of the sickness. I...I need to explain..." He sighed. Ramos had just spilled his heart out on the table between them and now here Logan was about to insert a heavy dose of reality.

"So, I'm not going to get all technical about this. I'm also going to spare you the doctor's lecture on safe sex practices."

"Please, tell me it's not an STD." Ramos' expression fell.

Logan had been going for humor and had apparently landed somewhere in the realm of horror. "No, no...Sorry, no I'm...I'm clean and I mean..."

"Yeah I am too, though I feel like this is a conversation that should've come before the sex."

"You were the one that came onto me," Logan reminded him. "I had nothing to do with the first time. I'll take full responsibility for the second." He grinned lopsidedly and tilted his head.

Ramos chuckled softly and leaned back in his chair. "Then what does this have to do with safe sex?"

"I...okay so apparently there's this thing that can happen. It's rare, it doesn't happen all the time, no one's certain exactly what causes it or what the circumstances are. Anyway sometimes, when an alpha and omega sleep together they form a really tight like chemical bond with one another. Apparently it might be triggered by high stress situations? The doctor wasn't really clear on this part, but from what he was saying it's a rare occurrence that, to his knowledge, has never happened on Catalejo before.

"The symptoms vary, but usually include feeling almost physically ill and an intense need to be near the other person. Usually it's clear to the people that have it that something isn't right and what they're feeling can't be real, as opposed to something like infatuation where someone is convinced that they're actually in love." Logan took a deep breath and wet his lips before continuing.

"The doctor was able to give me some medication to lessen my symptoms. They're almost non-existent now and should fade on their own given time. He speculated that your 'bond' may have been lessened by the traumatic loss you experienced..." Logan hurried along, not wanting to linger on that note. "The thing is, there is one common thread that all of the cases of this bond seem to share. It appears invariably every time this pops up. No one knows if it's a symptom or a cause, it's difficult to pin down because affected couples usually have sex several times before actually realizing something is wrong."

"Okay, I get it. Can you just drop this life altering bomb and get it over with already?" Ramos was grinning playfully but Logan could see the uneasiness in his eyes.

"Basically...in cases like ours, the omega always turns up pregnant. It's way too early for any sort of test to tell yet if that's the case for me. But, given the statistics here..." Logan's voice trailed off and let the sentence hang. He could tell from the look on Ramos' face that he didn't need to explain any further.

"What do you want to do?" Ramos asked, meeting Logan's gaze with uncertainty on his face.

"I honestly don't know. That's part of why I wanted to talk to you." Logan sighed and looked down at the table. Ramos was still holding his hand. He smiled slightly. "I bet you're regretting all that talk of us giving things a chance. Aren't you?"

"I still mean every word of it." Ramos squeezed Logan's hand reassuringly. "I...I want to say I'm willing to follow you down this path. Or lead, if that's what you want. I honestly don't know if you and I are going to be good parents. I'm a workaholic, you're..."

"A former criminal?" Logan supplied. "Whose only work experience is volunteering in a soup kitchen." He exhaled forcefully.

"I want to say we can figure it out," said Ramos. "I think, if we can come together like this after the last few days of turmoil then we've got a chance at weathering whatever life throws at us. I can't be certain of anything, but if you were to ask me to go on journey with you then I feel like I want to at least give it a try."

"You can't just give kids a try, Ramos," said Logan. He couldn't help but feel a little exasperated by the prospect. He'd never taken on more responsibility than he had to. The only one he'd ever looked after was himself. "Hell, I didn't have any sort of parental example. I have zero idea what I'm doing here. If anyone is unqualified to have kids, it's me. That's part of why I've always been so careful about my birth control.

"I figured missing a day or two was okay, but according to the doctor, omegas are so fertile that something like eighty-three percent get pregnant the first time they have unprotected sex, and of those that don't get pregnant the first time, ninety percent get pregnant the second time. Birth control just doesn't hang around in our systems for some medical reason that I wasn't paying attention to. I was too busy trying to wrap my head around the fact that in all likelihood I'm pregnant right now."

"Hey, look at me." Ramos' voice was calm, but there was a hint of a command in his tone that made him sound insanely sexy. Logan looked up and found those storm-cloud eyes peering into his soul.

"I don't know what the future has in store for us. I don't know if we'll be good parents, but I like to think that because of what we both went through, we can understand the value parents have to their children. I want to take the time to get to know you better and prepare for the changes that are coming for us." There was a confident glimmer in Ramos' eye and a sparkle of hope that he hadn't seen before.

Logan's entire philosophy for his life had been to keep moving forward. Dwelling on past mistakes and decisions never seemed to help in the long run. He was pregnant. He could be a parent now if he desired and he had someone willing to go through all of this with him. Someone that he honestly believed would make a good father.

"Be careful," teased Logan, "If you keep talking like that I might just fall in love with you for real this time."

Ramos smiled, "I'm counting on it."

* * *

Logan nervously stood outside of the apartment in the assisted living facility several weeks later. The apartments were all more like small cottages, spread out over a single level and surrounded by rolling grass lawns and well maintained gardens full of native flowers. There was a golf course nearby that was frequented by the residents, many of which were retirees from other parts of the world.

Ramos hesitated before knocking on the door. He glanced at Logan and forced a weak smile. It was easy to see that he was nervous about what was coming. They had arranged to have lunch with his grandparents so that he could introduce them to a "good friend" of his.

The situation was made even more nerve wracking by the fact that they had finally gotten positive confirmation of the pregnancy. The blood tests had been confirmed by an ultrasound the day before. It hadn't looked like much to Logan, but the doctor said there was no doubt now that he was definitely pregnant.

To Logan's surprise, Ramos had enthusiastically embraced the idea of parenthood. Including, suggesting that they pay a visit to his grandparents so he could officially come out to them. Now that they were here, however, Logan was picking up on the intense nervousness emanating from his alpha.

Ramos finally managed to knock.

A few moments later, Ramos' grandmother opened the door and greeted them both with a broad smile. She ushered them into the living room and closed the door behind them.

"Look who finally decided to show up!" she called out as she lead them into the living room. Her husband switched off the television and rose to greet them.

"There you are, you can't imagine how much we've been talking about you lately." Ramos' grandfather was beaming with pride. "Seeing you on television was a treat."

Julio's hearing had been televised across the island. The trial and sentencing of Catalejo's most prominent criminal was an event that everyone had been eager to hear more about. The media attention surrounding it had continued despite the storm that had made landfall the day before the hearing. It wasn't a hurricane by any stretch of the word, but it had been severe enough that the power had gone out across the island and several trees had come down.

"I thought that lawyer was bullying you around," muttered Ramos' grandmother. "Lunch is on the table already," she said as she directed them towards the dining table.

If either of Ramos' grandparents had noticed Logan's presence, they didn't mention it. He wasn't sure whether to be grateful for their oversight, or upset by it. There were four places set at the table, however, so he hadn't been completely forgotten.

"She was just doing her job," said Ramos as he approached the table. "But enough about the trial right now. We can talk about that more later." He took a deep breath and turned to face his grandparents. "First, I want to introduce you to someone."