"How do you feel?" Ramos asked as he hovered beside Logan's bed. The slender omega looked exhausted. His hair stuck up at odd angles and there were dark circles under his eyes. A beautiful mess of a man. Ramos was vaguely reminded of the moment when they first met. It was still strange for him to think that it had been nine months since that day.

"Content," said Logan as he reached out and took Ramos' hand. He pressed it to his lips. It was a simple action, but it conveyed so much meaning for the two of them. That sort of effortless display of affection was evidence of just how far they had come.

The hospital gown Logan was wearing was a little too big for him. After multiple attempts at shopping for his lover, Ramos had discovered it was difficult to shop to find clothes exactly in his size. Things always seemed to run either too big or too small. At least it wasn't falling completely off of him like the last set of t-shirts he had gotten.

The small room in La Bonita's clinic was made smaller by the group of people huddled within. Somehow, however, it wasn't crowded. The word 'cozy' came to mind as he allowed his gaze to drift over the people that had joined them.

Ramos' heart felt full at the sight of his grandparents cooing over his newborn son. The new great-grandparents seemed positively thrilled by the new addition to the family. Great-grandma had just taken part in changing baby's first diaper and had been tickled pink by the honor.

They had named their son Carlito Jorge Fuentes, a combination of both of their father's names. It had been Logan's idea and Ramos couldn't think of a single reason to try and change it. Part of him wondered if they were setting their son up for a future as police officer though. Carrying the names of not one, but two cops was a heavy burden. He hoped it wouldn't prove too difficult for the little boy to bear.

Lupita sat on the other side of the bed, nodding off to sleep in her chair. She'd been there all throughout the delivery process, offering Logan moral support. It had been a smooth procedure according to the doctor. Everything had gone as planned and there hadn't been any hiccups. It seemed that such smooth pregnancies were an abnormality for the omegas the doctor had been treating recently.

Leaning down, Ramos pressed a kiss against Logan's forehead. He'd become infinitely more comfortable with displaying his affection to Logan around people he considered family. He still had a difficult time being overly affectionate when they were out in public, but he had come a long way for less than a year. The acceptance from his grandparents had gone a long way towards remedying a lot of the unresolved issues he had regarding his role as an alpha.

"What was that for?" Logan asked, looking up with a sleepy smile. The poor little omega was overdue for a nap, but was eager not to miss any part of his son's first meeting with his great-grandparents.

"For being you," said Ramos. Over the last several months, he had spent every spare moment absorbing everything there was to know about the omega in his life. Theirs was a whirlwind romance if ever there was one. What had started as a spark amidst a difficult period of their lives, had been fanned into a flame that left no doubt in Ramos' mind whatsoever.

"Because I love you," he said softly as he kissed him again.

"You're just saying that because I make beautiful babies," chuckled Logan.

"You really do." Ramos looked back towards the foot of the bed where his grandmother now cradled her great-grandchild in her arms. He had never really thought babies were cute before. In fact, he'd always thought they just looked like really tiny old people that couldn't speak and pooped a lot. Somehow, however, seeing Carlito's face for the first time had made him fall in love. He was still pretty sure most other babies looked weird, but his son was perfect in every sense of the word. Not that he was biased in any way.

"I want you to know, I'm going back to work on Monday," said Logan after a moment of silence.

Ramos frowned, "You really should be resting." He didn't like dissuading Logan from work. The job that he had chosen for himself was fulfilling to him and he'd been proud of the effort the omega had put into it. Still, it was Friday. Going back to work three days after having a surgery to remove another human being from your abdomen seemed a little extreme.

"I can't just take the day off. Those kids don't get to take the day off from their lives. I can't let them down." Logan had thrown himself wholeheartedly into an outreach program that he had created with Lupita's help. It was aimed towards teens that had aged out of the orphanages and focused on helping them foster the skills necessary to look for work. It also encouraged them to finish out their high school education, something that Logan had never managed to do. So far, he had managed to fill the dining room of the soup kitchen with a dozen teens that needed the kind of direction and guidance he was offering.

Lupita had managed to put Logan in contact with some of her sponsors within the government. Now he was in talks with some of them to begin promoting adoptions for older children. The older they got, the less likely it was for kids to be adopted. With domestic adoptions relatively uncommon, the island was forced to rely on international adopters to find families for the children filling the orphanage. Unfortunately, with expenses associated with adoption it would be difficult to gain much traction in the area without a lot of money and effort. But with Logan’s dedication to the cause Ramos felt confident that he would be able to make head way.

"Just don't forget, you're a dad now. You've got to think about your kid too."

"Don't worry," said Lupita, stirring from her sleep and stretching. "I'll be right there to look after the little tyke during lessons. I've always loved looking after babies." She was practically beaming. Lupita had been a godsend as they prepared for the arrival of their new child.

While Ramos' grandparents tried to help, it had been decades since they'd had a baby around. While some of the advice didn't change, there were small details that fell by the wayside.

Lupita had spent most of her life babysitting for many of the working families on the island. Once she'd opened the soup kitchen she had all but stopped, but there were still people that called on her from time to time. Her knowledge had helped them outfit the nursery they had carefully put together for Carlito's arrival.

"And on days when you need an extra hand, we're more than willing to help out," Ramos' grandmother chimed in.

Ramos felt his heart swell. He was smiling so broadly that he felt like his cheeks were going to fall off. The joy in his heart simply couldn't be contained.

Alarm shot through him at the sound of Logan sniffling. He immediately dropped to one knee beside the bed and peered up in his omega's face. "What's wrong?" he asked as he reached up and brushed away one of the tears that had begun to roll down his cheeks.

"I just..." Logan sniffled again and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I wanted to say that, other than Lupita I haven't really had much of a family in my life. Now, I suddenly find myself surrounded by more love than I know what to do with. I can't...it's just a little more than I can handle."

"Well you're going to have to get used to it I guess," said Ramos' grandfather with a slight chuckle. "We're not going anywhere any time soon."

Logan wiped away fresh tears and smiled softly. Ramos took his hand and squeezed it.

"Excuse me? I...I'm sorry to interrupt." Aguado peeked her head through the doorway. She'd long since handed in her yellow task force jacket. These days she was wearing a different title.

Ramos kissed Logan once again. "I'm sorry, mi alma, I have to go for now."

"It's okay. Go do what you do." Logan smiled up at him as Ramos rose to his feet. "Keep us safe."

Ramos quickly bid farewell to everyone else, stopping to kiss his sleeping son's forehead, and made his way out into the hallway. He hated to leave right now. This perfect family moment was a snapshot in time and he didn't want to miss it. He was confident that Logan and Carlito would be well cared for while he was away.

"Your timing is perfect, as always," said Ramos, his voice dripping with sarcasm Aguado fell into step beside him.

"It's not like I decide when crimes take place," she muttered.

"What is it this time? Another kidnapped pet?"

"No, this woman says she thinks someone tried to break into her house." Aguado glanced at her notepad as they made their way into the lobby of the clinic.

"So it's actually something serious this time," Ramos nodded his head slowly.

The crime rate on the island had plummeted dramatically since Julio's trial and sentencing. Many of the members of his organization had been deported while those that remained were serving out their sentences in the Catalejo island penitentiary.

The drop in crime had triggered a coinciding rise in tourism across the island. A particularly clever person within the tourism industry had begun to push the phrase "Safest island in the Caribbean" in their ad campaigns. This line, or some variation of it, had been picked up by most of the rest of the tourist industry. The campaigns worked wonders and hundreds of people flocked to the island.

The task-force had directed its efforts to forming a liaison with the Coast Guard. Now that the alliance with the United States was no longer just something being talked about, but an actual formalized agreement that would be signed by both parties in the not too distant future, more effort than ever was being placed into keeping the smuggling operations in and around the island in check.

Because of her exemplary performance, Aguado had been offered a permanent position on the task force as one of its founding members. However, she respectfully declined.

Despite her insistence that she would be perfectly happy going back to life as a tour bus driver, she didn't last two weeks before she had returned to the station and enrolled in the police academy. After graduating at the top of her class, she had been hand picked by Ramos to serve as his new partner. She was a rookie in name only. Despite their rough start, Aguado had proven herself. She just wasn't the type of person that did well in a position of power. Not only that, but she was humble enough to admit it.

Sometimes, however, Ramos found himself missing the measured silence that his old partner had brought to the table.

"Chances are it was just someone's cat knocking over some flower pots," Aguado speculated as they trotted down the steps outside of the clinic.

The unassuming black car the station had issued to them was parked on the street near the steps. Aguado hopped into the driver's seat without hesitation. Another partner that loved being behind the wheel of a vehicle.

It had taken Ramos several months before he could talk about Nacho's death and actually process everything that had happened. It still hurt, and the fact that he had tried to kill Logan was unforgivable, but in some part of Ramos' brain he couldn't believe that his partner truly had any malice in him. After knowing the man for ten years, he had to believe Aguado's version of events. That he was just a man who had meant well but had been manipulated by a man who the newspapers had called "The devil of Catalejo island."

Henrietta still had him come over for dinner twice a week. He had avoided it at all costs at first, at least until Logan had started coming along with him. It had been difficult for Logan to be around Nacho's family at first, especially since they didn't know the entire truth surrounding his death. But he had eventually decided to use it as an opportunity to make up for the fact that Julio had robbed them of their father by trying to turn him into something he wasn't.

"Don't start assuming things before you've even had a chance to look over the evidence," Ramos chastised her as he climbed into the passenger's seat of the car. "The last thing we need is to miss something important because we already decided to blame Fluffy."

"Yes, sir," said Aguado grudgingly. He had quickly learned that she only called him sir when she thought he was being too serious and needed to chill out a little. While her chattiness had taken him a little while to get used to, the underlying intention behind her words was much the same as Nacho's had been.

Ramos had been surprised by how well the two of them were able to work together. His earlier assessment of Aguado had been correct. She made a damn fine police officer once she'd been given a little bit of direction. It wouldn't be long before she achieved the rank of detective for real.

"How are your brother's kids?" he asked as they pulled away from the clinic. Lacey's brother's fiance had given birth to twins not that long ago.

"They're gorgeous," Aguado gushed. "Apparently, their American grandparents are coming down for a visit soon, so that'll be interesting." She had already filled him in on the details of the highly unstable family dynamic her brother's fiance had escaped.

"It'll be nice for you guys to mend those fences," ventured Ramos. "Family is important and babies change everything."

"Which is why you won't see me settling down any time soon," laughed Aguado.

Ramos smiled to himself but didn't reply. He had been in her position not that long ago. Now he couldn't imagine his life any other way.