When we brought Steven home and showed him the baby room, it was still in the reconstructing phase. Sean and his dad were working on making the room more comfortable for the baby. The paintwork had begun, with sky blue the main colour — and the clouds which were outlined with a grey pencil and then coloured for that handmade effect.

Sean let me have the most input, and he built around that. There would also be drawn helicopters on the wall: bright red and yellow; with dark grey choppers. And the crib would be made by Sean’s father who used to be quite handy in his youth when it came to carpentry.

The end result of the crib was impressive: he shaped it like an arc on a stand, and Sean and I would be able to gently rock it from side-to-side to help Steven fall asleep. We also setup a monitoring system to hear if Steven was crying from our room. And it would flash red like a wireless phone that we could pick up and speak to Steven.

“What do you think of the room?”

“I think you and your dad should go into a private business! Sean, this needs to be looked into as a full-time career!”

“How do you find the room, Steven?” He gurgled out some spit, and just stared at Sean: never blinking those eyes of his. “I’ll take that as a yes, Dad, I love the room.”

“Let’s test out the cot—”

“You want me to go in first, or you?”

“Hmm. I was thinking, since I have a baby in my hand, that he should be the first to go in?”

“I can’t argue with you there, Robbie.”

When Steven settled down, we rocked the cot together, then went downstairs and stood in the kitchen. Sean jumped up onto the counter, and I gave a tiny leap to kiss his forehead…which wasn’t needed since I could easily reach Sean’s lips. But it was fun for both of us. I did it a few times, until Sean gave me a playful kick in the middle of my rump that helped me up.

“Physical abuse already? Tut-tut-tut!”

“I’ll have to site it as not being able to reach your bum from up here.”

“Keep your hands to yourself,” I said this with a kittenish tone.

Sean liked that very much.

“That came out teasingly, but I’m serious. I need to recover after pushing out our little hunk upstairs.”

“So that’s what happens once you…uh…once you push a baby out?”

“Yeah. So, no fun time for you.”

“We can find ways of making that work.”

“Right!” I opened a bottle of sparkling water and it fizzed onto the kitchen floor. “I’ll clean it later.” I felt lazy. “You didn’t tell me about who bought the house? You screamed it on the phone and you had the doctor and nurse laughing.”

“Oh yeah!” Sean jumped down and ran into the front room.

I followed with a curious brow and stood at a position where I could see Sean sending a text and then laying his phone on the table.

“You reminded me that I had to confirm my return date to meet the buyer. He wants to meet me. We could maybe take Steven for a trip?”

“To California?”

“Yeah. After we register our family out here first.”

“I forgot all about that.”

“Well, it has to be done. How are you feeling about that?”

“Going from pack-less to having a pack is a big move for me after all these years. I might feel like I’m signing my life away.”

“Liza said she’ll take us, since your car is in the garage and you wouldn’t let me look at it.”

“Sean, you need your rest—”

“I’m a mechanic. You could’ve saved some money—”

“I’m not arguing with you now.” I tried not to smirk. “They’ll do a better job than you will.”

“Thank God Liza is here, because I was just about to throw you to Steven.”

“Leave Steven out of this! He’d take my side anyways.”

* * *

With the changes that came with the Beta movement, many in the community found that life would be improved if they stuck to their attempts at working toward the green light. And that shone brightly on Mark, who the council had decided should be hired as the new manager that would front a funded course that managed Betas without work and an education. It did mean though, that Alphas and Omegas would have to find a way to deal with one section now lacking in their favour.

We were heading to the registry office by foot. “Sean, I don’t want Steven to have a little sister for now.” I was content with Steven for the foreseeable future. But the idea of a little brother and sister stimulated Sean into overtime in the bedroom; and I didn’t want to put him off the sex-drive or enthusiasm. “I don’t want to put you off though. Keep trying to get into my pants.”

“Very funny, Robbie.”

“The healing process takes time.”

“I know that. I just want to speed it up, so we can get onto the matter of another.”

“Why not think of your cousin in the news? That’s a matter that should be discussed.”

“I’m proud of him—”

“Really? Not too long ago, you didn’t want him to join the Beta movement. And your mission to have him leave failed.”

“I see it as me recognizing that I can’t influence the stubborn.” Sean checked on Steven in the pram. “I want Steven to be the same: don’t influence those who are leading others in the right way,” he said that to the baby who gurgled his reply.

“That’s real deep, Sean. I’m sure Steven understands every word that comes out of your mouth.” Sarcasm reined its head all over Sean.

“Don’t underestimate babies, Robbie. They know more than burps and poops.”

The Alaskan community centre was ram-packed with Betas and Omegas who had come to witness Mark introducing the new course that solved some of the issues that starved Alaska. We found it hard to manoeuvre our pram without introspective glares and nosey-snouts peeping inside to see Steven soundlessly asleep.

I went on ahead to get inside, but Sean wanted to speak with his cousin before he joined. “Sure. I’ll meet you in there. There’s a que, so I’ll let you know when to come in.”

Sean gave me a peck on the lips, and then he went off to find Mark.

* * *

Sean

Mark was inside the same part of the centre that held the council meeting the day Robbie announced he was pregnant. He was preparing himself to be the head speaker with the council who would be seated on the seven available chairs behind the main mic. Shelby would arrange the seating differently, which now had a more hexagonal shape for listeners to have a close-knit feel. And it carried on all the way back to the end of the room.

Another Beta member was assisting with the wiring and sound checks. I watched as he ran all sorts of coloured cables around the room; stuck them down with duct tape; and then placed the mic back on the speech-stand for Mark later.

They were also going to use a wireless mic for those who had questions for Mark and the council.

“You come to offer us some help, Sean?”

“Na. I was just passing through and thought I’d come and see you. I came out with Robbie and Steven.”

Mark came down from the platform with papers in his hands. “Ah, nice. You going to come and listen tonight?”

“Don’t make me repeat what I just said.”

“I know. But that’s now. What about later?”

“Later, me and Robbie want to find out if we can book a cheap flight to California with our little one.”

“Why are you going back to Cali? I thought this was your home now.”

“It is. But I need to finalize some things with my house.”

“Oh wow! So, it’s all sold and ready to be shipped to another bachelor?”

“Why do you assume it’s an Alpha?”

“Who else is going to buy a place that’s smaller than a tool shed?”

“Hey, my home isn’t smaller than a shed. It suited me fine for the last five years.”

“You were never there. The last time I stayed with you we had to share your single bed because you said the floor had some trouble with mice. Is that all gone now?”

“Can you send your blessings to my sold home and not bring up the cob webs?”

Mark thrashed his papers on my chest in a good mood. “I’m just playing! You sold your home and found a nice Omega to go with it. I can’t believe it. But that’s how the globe has rotated for you.”

“And you…you’re now working where you wanted to. Guess things worked out ok?”

“Yeah. For now, I can be content that a Beta has a position that doesn’t involve a yes sir, can I please scoop up your shit! I really let them have it when you left that day. And if it wasn’t for a few Alphas backing all us up, we wouldn’t be here with a six-week course that gains a certificate; and then the license to be able to work in various cities in Alaska. All that hard stubbornness has paid off.”

“I hope I can keep on trailing through Alaska and pick up work in the same way.”

“Don’t worry. They might be cutting back, but I finally see what you mean about not uprooting Alphas from their responsibility to be able to work if they find themselves impregnating an Omega out of their current postcode. I’m going to work something out for you.”

“So, my mission was successful?”

“If you mean in the sense of me not joining the Beta movement, then no. But seeing that Alphas, Omegas, and Betas need to work as one…then hell-to-the-yes! You did help me broaden my vision.”

And straight after that, I received a text from Robbie that he was at the desk and wanted me to be there before he signed any documents. It was a big moment for us both… and I ran to the registry office — which could be accessed through the downstairs of the council building and then down a short corridor – and through the double doors.

Robbie had the pen in his hand and Steven in the other. He looked over to me; I had my hands out to take Steven and then kissed him on the forehead. And then we both came close to the desk; bent down together; and Robbie registered our names in full: alongside Steven when the question asked if we had a child.

“Just one more box to tick before I slide this over, Sean.”

“What box is that?”

“The confirmation of me no longer being pack-less.”

With a smile I watched him mark the box. I pulled him to me and wrapped him and Steven into a hug. “I love you,” I whispered.

“We love you too,” Robbie replied, kissing me soundly.

With a grin we left the office, and I was ready to get started on making our new pack bigger.