Chapter Twenty-One
Randy
I worked at home many days, either up on the roof with the garden and hives or in the small room off the kitchen where I processed our honey. Sometimes, doing landlord tasks about the building like collecting rents, keeping up accounts. But today, I had a meeting with my attorney, whose office was across town. He was a jaguar shifter who planned to move into a suite of offices on the third floor of our building, once the remodeling was done.
I considered taking Nixon with me, but since I had some private matters to discuss, I’d have had to leave him in the waiting room and didn’t want to explain why. Determined to make it as quick a trip as possible, I took the elevator to the garage and set out.
Sitting in traffic gave me some time to consider all the changes that had happened so quickly in my life. I’d gone from a bachelor living with his two brothers, to part of a triad with another alpha and a pregnant omega. Pregnant! I’d been very focused on building our family businesses for the past several years, as not just an alpha, but the clan alpha. Most of my days started early and ended late and usually included at least one or two meetings with clan members who needed advice or maybe intervention.
Except...for recently.
I took my responsibilities seriously, but as I ran over all the things I’d been “neglecting” since Nixon and Titus landed in my life, I realized that, without my making a deliberate decision, I’d changed my schedule. Sure, I still headed up to the hives at least once a day, but the gardens had been suspiciously neat and lacking in weeds. When I checked with the contractors working on the various floors, they seemed to be, for once, buzzing along without me having to nag or fix problems.
The honey jars were filled and lined up on the shelves of the honey room, the refrigerator stocked with food. The rents had been not only paid, but deposited.
And most telling, not one clan member had approached me with a request to intervene in an argument, make them a small loan...or anything.
I tightened my grip on the wheel, waiting for a light to turn green, and searched for the anxiety I expected to find in my mind at the lack of control. Someone was helping me, and I could almost guarantee it was my brothers. The same goofball pair I usually had to chase around to get any help from at all. My younger siblings who were more than happy to let me lead and to follow.
Sure, they were both alphas, but, until now, they’d never taken much of an initiative beyond their own individual small businesses. My dad always said the three of us would be an unbeatable team, but I hadn’t seen much sign of it.
I had to put off my considerations then, arriving at the attorney’s office. I spent a couple of hours there, discussing certain arrangements then headed back to the apartment block where I sought out my brothers.
They weren’t down in the restaurant, nor on the lower floors under construction, where things continued to go well and the foremen assured me they would let me know if they needed me. Starting to feel a bit useless and edgy, I searched the rooftop garden where a check of the hives revealed a recent harvest and not a leaf or stem out of place in the beds.
I descended to the apartment level, feeling even more useless, but wanting to see my omega. He wasn’t there, but Barry and Harry were. I stayed in the foyer, observing quietly. To my shock, they sat at the desk with the big ledger open making notations and discussing things that I had no idea they even knew about. Utility bills, for one.
“I tell you, that old lady on five is growing the herb. There’s no other reason one senior bear and her parakeet could use this much wattage!” Barry said.
They knew the tenants better than I’d thought.
“Have you seen her? Does she look like someone who would use that stuff? She’s the sweetest old granny ever. Makes the best honey cookies and brownies.”
Well, that explained how they knew her, my treat-loving relatives. But if she was growing herb, and handing out treats, was it possible she also...
“I’m not saying she uses it. The lights this much juice could power could supply half the city.” My brother grimaced. “Okay, an exaggeration, but a lot. She’s growing a lot.”
They were doing a good job, paying attention to the details...
“So, what do we do? Utilities are included in her rent, but this bill alone is more than twice her rent…”
I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Brothers, I’m home! Are my mates around?”
They jumped as if I’d caught them with their fingers in the honey jar instead of heads down over the bookkeeping.
I kinda liked it.
“Randy!” Harry slammed the ledger closed and rested his big mitt on top of it. “We were just, errr…”
“Working?” I tried to look menacing, but my usual growl deserted me.
Barry nodded, tapping the pencil he held on the desk. “We thought you could use some help.”
“So, you’re also the elves who are taking care of things on the roof?”
Nods.
“The construction guys?”
More nods.
“Clan relations?”
Grimaces and nods.
“Thank you.”
The relief that eased the creases in both their faces brought out a smile on mine. But grateful as I was, it was time to address issues that were long past being faced. After all, they should have stepped up long ago, take their places with me as clan leaders.
“We just wanted to help,” Barry said.
“Take some of your burden while you were busy with your mates,” echoed Harry.
I sat in the vacant chair in front of the desk and prepared to make headway with the current state of affairs. Strike while the iron was hot, as it were. “I appreciate everything you’ve done.” As the older brother, it was time to impart my wisdom to those younger than me. “I only wish you’d done it sooner.”
Harry stood up so fast, his chair tumbled over behind him. His face flushed red, and he pushed away the hand Barry laid on his arm. “Really? After all we’ve done you are criticizing? Are you kidding me?”
Still confident in my seniority, I spoke again. “No, of course not. It was a fair question.”
Harry righted his chair and sat in it, but wouldn’t look at me. Barry, always the calmer of the two, the more logical had no such difficulties. “Big brother, we gave up on helping you because you made it clear we weren’t doing things up to your standards.”
“Right!” Harry snarled. “We —”
“Shh. Let me do it.” Barry drew a deep breath and exhaled then said, “We were able to do it this time because you were occupied with your mates. We took advantage of your distraction to try to help. To show you what we could and would love to do on a regular basis.”
Quelled, I sat back, chewing on my lower lip, trying to take this in. I’d never seen myself as hyper critical, but vignettes skipped through my brain, horribly starting when we were no more than cubs. Taking a rake from seven-year-old Barry when he was trying to help with the family garden and doing it myself. Telling Harry he was upsetting the bees by not being quiet enough. Telling them both they burned the biscuits on Thanksgiving.
“Oh my god,” I muttered. “I’m insufferable.”
Barry shook his head slowly. “No, you’re not. You’re the eldest and had responsibility thrust on you pretty young and you did your best to handle it. You never say no to anyone and even though you were a little insufferable, we should have tried harder to make you let us do more.”
I didn’t know what to say which was pretty rare.
“Did we do a good job, big brother?” asked Harry.
“You did an amazing job, but you don’t have to take on all my work.”
Barry grinned. “We haven’t. There are umm...things we actually didn’t know how to handle.”
The doorbell rang, and Harry stood and headed for his bedroom. “That’s probably one of them now. Turns out we’re better honey gatherers and construction supervisors than interveners.”
Barry stood, too. “Yeah, a few of the clan might be less than happy with us. And probably you.”
Shit.
Still, it felt good to be needed. “I’ve got this.” Whatever, whoever it was. “But, gentlemen?” They paused. “I’m taking you up on your offer of help. It’s time we had a more even distribution of clan leadership. Turns out Dad was right. We are pretty impressive together.”