When Alex found out about his mother’s death, a pit had formed in the middle of his stomach. He hadn’t known exactly what to say or do about it, and he’d ultimately decided there wasn’t much to say. Wasn’t it a normal symptom of grief? A little bit of lightheadedness was normal too. He thought he remembered the same thing from when his mom killed his dad, but Alex had a pretty bad concussion at the time so maybe he shouldn’t go by that period of his life as a guideline.

When the nausea hadn’t subsided by the time he finished his day job, he got nervous. Nausea that stuck around was a troubling sign. It could just be a lingering stomach flu, but that wasn’t likely.

Every omega knew the risks of being sexually active, of course. There wasn’t an effective method of birth control for omegas. Alex would have been all over it if there were. Omegas’ fertility wasn’t cyclical, like women’s were. It just kind of happened. And there was no way to get an IUD or something in there, not without some way of knowing if the uterus was going to be open at the right time. It simply wasn’t feasible.

Condoms were pretty much it, and they weren’t terribly reliable. They broke. They tore. They came defective. They leaked. Some guys wouldn’t use them at all. Alex was scrupulous about using them, because he couldn’t afford to raise a baby on his own and because there were issues besides pregnancy that he didn’t want to have to face. Being scrupulous wasn’t necessarily a cure-all.

He headed to a pharmacy on the Sunday after his last day with BSNY, and picked up a pregnancy test. Thank whatever gods or spirits looked after orphan omegas Jimmy Senior had wanted some grand baby time. He wouldn’t want Maya to see him like this, and he wouldn’t want Jimmy Senior to see him in this shape either. He grabbed some Gatorade on his way out, too.

Once he got home, he headed into the bathroom, bit the bullet, and took the test. His stomach roiled, but there wasn’t much to be gained by wringing his hands over it. He’d still be pregnant, or not, and at least once he took the test he’d know.

He filled the cup, threw the dipstick into it with a little more anger than might have been justified, and set the timer on his phone. Five minutes later, he had an answer.

A year from now—hell, nine months from now—Alex would have two children in diapers running around.

He got rid of the test, washed his hands, and retreated to his bed. Well, at least now he knew. He didn’t know how he felt about it, but now he knew it was happening. He could work on the emotional part later. He was a practical kind of guy, he would focus on the practical parts before he tried to do anything else.

The apartment he bought might need to be a three bedroom—but no. The kids could share a bedroom. That would be fine. If the show took off and he wound up making a gazillion dollars or something he could move them into a three bedroom. He wouldn’t be able to afford to pay Inge to watch two babies, either. Jimmy Senior had been generous with covering Inge for Maya, but she was his. Alex’s baby would be his and his alone.

Well, not so much his alone. His baby had another father, too. How would Sol feel about another baby? It was probably the last thing Sol wanted or needed. No one had a one night stand and expected to have to be tied to that person for the next eighteen years. Granted, Sol had pushed for more, but he’d pushed for more one-night stands. He hadn’t pushed to start a family.

Once upon a time, Alex would have been over the moon about this. He wouldn’t have necessarily wanted to start a family when he was still finishing high school and finishing his associates’. No, that would have been a major challenge. He would have found the strength to do it anyway, because he’d loved Sol just that much. Sol’s family fortune hadn’t crossed his mind at all. He’d expected they would have to earn their own way in the world, and he’d been fine with it.

Now, Sol’s money was very much on his mind, but not in the way Sol probably expected. Alex didn’t want Sol going along and thinking Alex had gotten pregnant with the intention of getting at Sol’s money or taking away from Carsten’s inheritance. He didn’t want Sol thinking he was some kind of gold digger.

And Sol had enough problems, didn’t he? His ex-husband had failed to get legal custody of Carsten, or even visitation, because of his dangerous behavior. Now he and his mother were trying to take out anyone they saw as competition. Alex had friends who could keep him safe, and he wasn’t any slouch himself. What about someone Sol might actually want to be with?

No, Sol needed to focus on the child he already had. Alex did too, but he didn’t have that luxury. He guessed he could always give the baby up for adoption, but the thought made him squirm. It was a good solution for people who needed that, but Alex could afford to keep his baby.

He stared at the ceiling and tried to read the future in the cracks in the plaster. Once upon a time, he’d wanted a family of his own. He figured he’d be good at it. Then his fiancé dumped him—but offered to keep him on as a dirty little secret—and he’d taken a good hard look at his life. He couldn’t pinpoint a reason why he’d thought he’d be any good at the parenting gig. He wasn’t someone who had anyone in his life, other than Buddy, who cared about him. How was he supposed to teach a kid how to grow up and become someone who was worthy of being cared about, when he himself hadn’t figured it out?

Now, though, now he’d grown. He had people. He’d had a chance to see how he did with kids, and he had to say he was pretty good. He could handle this. Maybe he couldn’t be the perfect parent, the shining example of fatherhood he’d once dreamed of, but he could take care of a child and give it love. He didn’t need to force an unwilling parent into the picture. He could just go ahead and do what needed to be done, without reference to anyone else.

He cleaned himself up and headed over to Buddy’s. He wasn’t going to drink. Buddy would be disappointed, obviously, but he would understand. He’d probably understand better than anyone else. First, though, Alex had to get Maya from her granddad.

Jimmy Senior stuck around for a little while after dropping Maya off. “I want you to know,” he told Alex, as they sat in the corner drinking club soda, “those two lunatics haven’t set foot off the Delaney property up in Greenwich since Lena got out of jail. I get that the kid’s a customer, and it’s not good business to keep him holed up in some ugly mansion somewhere, but I don’t feel safe having them out on the streets. Not with my granddaughter out here.”

Alex bowed his head. “I understand if you want Maya to go to someone else. I don’t want her to get hurt because of me. With Mom, it was hard. It is hard, you know? She had nothing to do with any of those people. She didn’t know Sol Delaney even existed. At least she had a full life, you know? She lived, she protected her child, and she worked to help other women in prison. She had a full life. Maya’s just a baby, a perfect, amazing little baby. She doesn’t deserve to be hurt because someone sees me as a threat.”

Jimmy patted him on the back. “You’re the right man for the job, Alex. You’re tough, and you’re moral. I don’t want her living with some wise guy, you know? I want her living with someone who can take care of her and teach her right. I know you’ve helped us out a time or two, but you’re not out there busting kneecaps or nothing. You stick up for people. You’ll give her the skills she’ll need to keep from making bad decisions, okay? You just let me worry about security. Between me and the cops, Sol’s ex won’t be a problem for long.”

Alex had more faith in Jimmy Senior than in the police. The police had laws they had to follow and a press to appease. Jimmy had none of those things. Still, Jimmy expected his enemies to behave logically. He might not be able to accommodate it if Lena suddenly decided to do something that didn’t make sense.

It was better than anything else. He smiled and thanked the man, who grinned. “Yeah, I get it. These people’ve got you rattled, and that’s understandable. I remember the first time I had someone like that after me. I probably shouldn’t have been having an affair with a rival family head’s daughter, but that’s beside the point. Let me tell you, I was seeing his face in every shiny window in the Bronx. Sometimes he was even there.” Jimmy launched into a hilarious story about the time another crime lord tried to hunt him down, and Alex found himself relaxing bit by bit.

When he got to the end of his story, Jimmy stood up to go. “I’d better head out. I’ve got a business to run, and of course, you and Buddy here have to get ready to do your show tomorrow. You start work then, don’t you?”

Alex nodded. He’d almost forgotten. “Yes, sir. It should be exciting. I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“You’ll be great. Both of you will. You’re naturals at what you do, and you love the Bronx. Don’t worry about a thing.” He leaned in and murmured into Alex’s ear. “Congratulations, by the way.”

Alex gaped at his benefactor. “Wait—how?”

“Club soda. You usually let Buddy surprise you.” Jimmy winked. “Part of the reason I’ve gotten as far as I have is paying attention to the little details. You do it too, you know. You may not do it consciously, but you do it. Keep it up, and everything’s going to be just fine.”

“Thank you, sir.” Alex tried not to shake. He hadn’t planned to tell anyone yet.

Buddy watched Jimmy go. Then he got out from behind the bar and sat down across from Alex. “So. Spill the beans. What’s going on with you?”

Alex rubbed at his face. “I seem to have made a slight miscalculation.”

“Slight?” Buddy put his hands on the table. “Are you in debt? I’ll help you out, don’t go to a shark. That’s a great way to wind up with a problem you can’t solve. Trust me here.”

“No, Buddy. I’m not in debt.” There was no other way to make an announcement like this. If Alex couldn’t tell Buddy, how was he supposed to tell anyone else? “I’m pregnant.”

“Oh.” Buddy’s face went blank for a good ten seconds, and then his eyes went wide. “Oh! Oh, my God. Oh, my God! Alex, what were you thinking?”

“I’m thinking sometimes condoms fail, Buddy. What do you want me to say? These things happen. There’s not a lot we can do about them, even though we want to.” He dangled his keys in front of Maya, who shrieked with delight and banged them on the table.

Buddy winced. He’d enjoyed his night last night too. “Okay. Okay. Have you told Sol yet?”

“No.” Alex licked his lips. “I don’t think I’m going to, either.”

Buddy chuckled. “I’m sorry. For a minute there it seemed like you were pretending you weren’t going to tell the father of your child, who’s filthy freaking rich and can help you out with minor things like housing and child care and food for that baby’s ever-growing belly, that there was a baby on the way. But that can’t be what you said because you’re a smart guy, and I know you’re not that stupid.”

Alex looked up at the ceiling. “It’s not stupid, Buddy. Okay. It’s a little stupid, but telling him would be stupid too.”

“Sleeping with him in the first place was stupid, and I’m ninety percent sure I told you that before you did it, but here we are. Alex, you cannot just hide it from him. For one thing, he’s going to notice your belly swelling up. His nanny babysits your daughter.”

“But, I can get around that by finding a more local babysitter. I can. I just—I don’t know. He doesn’t need the hassle, and maybe I don’t want to have the psycho squad coming down even harder on me than they already are.” Alex looked down at the table. “It’s not like a baby’s going to make Sol reconsider his position from ten years ago. I’m not suitable marriage material. I’m just a guy. I’m a jerk from the Bronx with no bio family and connections he can’t even talk about.”

“Hey.” Buddy smacked his hand down on the table, which prompted Maya to do the same. “You’re an up and coming television personality and writer. Right?”

Alex rolled his shoulder. “Right. I’m still not the kind of guy he’s going to want to marry, but you’re right. I’m not just some jerk. I’m someone. I’m someone my kids can be proud of, and anyone who thinks otherwise can go straight to Hell.”

“That’s the spirit.” Buddy grinned at him, and then he shook his head. “Club soda. I should have known something was up when you ordered that crap. You’re going to be the death of me.”

“Can we maybe not phrase it exactly like that?” Alex winced.

“Sorry.” Buddy grinned, showing all of his teeth. “Hey, can we have the baby shower here?”

“Where else would we do it? All of our social stuff is done here, Buddy.”

“Good. We’ll do the christening here too.”

Alex buried his face in his hands. “You can’t baptize a baby in whiskey, Buddy. It’s against something like six laws.”

“I can if no one goes snitching.” Buddy addressed himself to Maya in a singsong voice.

She put her chubby little hands on each side of his mouth and blew him a raspberry.

“I guess that answers that,” Alex laughed. “But you’ll be the godfather.”

“Damn straight.” Buddy lifted his martini, and Alex toasted him with his club soda. Alex was going to get through this, with Buddy’s help. Just like he got through everything else.

* * *

Sol found it odd that he would have any part in the investigation into Alex’s mother’s murder. The police investigating said murder didn’t seem to care much that he found it odd, and they didn’t seem to care that he resented their presence in his office. “We can do this in your house after work, but I get overtime pay for that and your kid would be around.” Staley shrugged. “It’s up to you, but that doesn’t seem like the kind of conversation a kid needs to be around to hear.”

Sol couldn’t argue with that, even if he wanted to. “Well, he’s already had to hear some of it. My father came over and pushed the issue.” He grimaced. “There was a kind of an epic meltdown. I was worried for his sanity, if I’m being honest.”

Staley leaned forward, eyes burning. “And what happened then?”

Sol sighed. “I called Alex. It was weak of me, I know, but I’m not very good with all of this…stuff. Alex knows how to handle trauma, because he’s been through so much of it. And he’s good at relating to kids. I try, but at the end of the day Alex is just better at it.”

“Did it work?”

“Of course.” Sol bowed his head. “I should feel bad about that. On some level, I do. But Carsten is my son, and he’s my first responsibility. I’d love to be able to protect Alex from having to deal with the spawn of the people who killed his mother, but Carsten has to come first.”

“Of course he does. And Alex, out of everyone, understands that.” Staley put his notebook aside and gave Sol a kind look. “Does it help you to know I’ve talked to Alex about it, and I don’t think he minds. He’s got a soft spot for Carsten as big as the East River, you know? And it’s like you said, he gets this stuff. He’s been there. He knows what’s going on and why. He’s definitely the right one to help Carsten process his feelings without making him feel bad or ashamed for having them, if you know what I mean.”

Sol hated himself for the way he looked up at the cop. It was craven, needy, and not worthy of an alpha. “You honestly think so?”

“Oh, yeah. Remember, I’ve actually spoken with him. He loves Carsten like he was his own. Which might have something to do with why our suspects hate Alex enough to want to kill his mother.” He made a face. “I’m telling you, the leaps in logic you have to take in this job will kill you eventually. Anyway, they’re obviously jealous of him. Would you say they’ve got cause?”

Sol massaged his temples. “We slept together once after I got back to New York. But it was after Lena tried to kill my nanny, not before, and it only happened once. I don’t think it’s something they get to be upset about.”

“Remember the usual rules of logic and common sense don’t apply here. We’re talking about two very damaged psyches. I’m not condemning you when I ask if they have ‘cause.’” Staley even added in the air quotes for emphasis. “I’m just asking to see if I can’t figure out what they’re going to try to do next, so we can hopefully head her off at the pass. How would you describe your relationship with Alex now?”

“Tense.” Sol didn’t have to think about that one. “We were engaged when we were younger, but my father made me marry Stuart. I tried to have my cake and eat it too, which is as terrible as it sounds, and now it’s like walking on broken glass to be around him.”

“Okay. How do you mean?”

“Alex was the one who insisted we could only be together once. I’d have cheerfully gone back again and again. Hell, I’d be willing to try a real relationship.” Sol scratched at his goatee. “I didn’t say it at the time. I wasn’t sure. There are a lot of obstacles, as I’m sure you can imagine. But he’s…he’s a special kind of guy, you know? And the way he and Carsten get along and work together, I’d be an idiot to walk away from that. Right?”

Staley blinked at that. “I was kind of thinking in terms of are the two of you getting along well, were you working together as employer and employee, that kind of thing. But you know, relationship counselor works too.” He shrugged. “We train for that at the police academy.”

“Really?”

“No. But you work enough domestics, you develop a certain flair.” Staley gave a thin little grin. “Now, here’s the thing. Don’t get together with someone just because of a kid, especially not if you see him as some kind of servant. Because that’s just going to go wrong, and you know it. But if you care about Alex, and your son cares about Alex, it’ll probably work itself out in the end. Right?”

Sol relaxed. “All I have to do is sit down and talk to him about it. And not when my evil ex is trying to take him down or something like that.”

“Yeah, that would be for the best.” Staley grinned and picked his notebook up. “So. Stuart did confess to you, correct?”

“He did. And that was corroborated by what Denise told Alex right before she died, and what my father told me when he inflicted his presence on me.”

“Man, you couldn’t pay me enough to be rich.” Staley huffed out a little laugh. “So. We can be pretty sure that this is true. I’ll let the DA decide what will stand up in court at this point, but I’m buying it. You know these people better than I do. Are they likely to go after Alex next, or you?”

“They wanted Carsten, initially. Taking a shot at Alex is new. I wonder if they’ll make another play for Carsten at the school, maybe? They could see it as a soft target.”

“That would be exceptionally stupid of them, considering the situation. There are dignitaries’ kids there, there are all kinds of people there with such beefy security I don’t think the Secret Service could get in. But they can try. It’ll be fun to put Lena in lockup again. She gets so creative when she tries not to use profanity.” Staley got up. “We’ll try to have some guys keep an eye on Alex without cramping his style too much. And Mr. Delaney? Talk to him. Don’t let it wait too long, okay?”

Sol nodded with a rueful grin. He knew he should talk to Alex sooner rather than later. He didn’t want Alex to find someone else.

And what was more, he knew Alex had the wrong impression. Alex thought Sol wanted him to be a side guy. Sol had wanted that, years ago, but he didn’t anymore. He just wanted Alex to be his now, his and his alone. He would live with the social consequences. They couldn’t be worse than the consequences from having a junkie spouse who wrecked the car with the kid inside anyway.

Sol got back to work, because he did have a job to do other than talking to the police. Production had started on Bronx Bar and Grill, although it was still in its nascent stages. He called Woodham to check in. “Hey, Woodham. It’s Delaney. How are things going with the new show?”

Woodham chuckled. “Well, the new chef BSNY brought in at home is thrown by the whole vegan thing, but he’ll catch on quick. I’m…” He stopped for a second. “I knew we’d have a good thing with this one, okay? That wasn’t even a question in my mind. It was a sure thing. I just wasn’t prepared for how professional and ready these two would be, you know?”

Sol hadn’t been expecting that response at all. “How do you mean?”

“There are some things they just don’t know, and that’s fine. They don’t know how some things work. They don’t know the technical terms for some production related things. You tell them once, though, and they remember. They’re participating in discussions, they’re pushing things forward as fast as they’ll go, and they’re not half-assing it either. We’ve already got twenty episodes roughly outlined. Now we’re going to sit down and flesh them out, and then we’ll be able to start on scripts and filming. We’re actually ahead of schedule, Sol.”

“Holy crap. That never happens.” Sol flipped a pencil up into the air. “What are they missing?”

“Nothing so far. They’re even paying attention to the budgets, you know? They’ve come up with cheaper solutions for a lot of the things we’d have paid through the nose for. One of our writers suggested an episode where they worked truffles into things, and Alex laughed so hard I thought he was going to barf. ‘You wanted a show for working people, normal people. There aren’t truffles in normal people’s lives. We can do a different show, where we take some fancy recipes like that and adapt them for normal people kitchens, but we’re not putting truffles into this show.’ Brought down the budget by an order of magnitude, I’m telling you.”

“And gave you a new show to sell, too.” Sol laughed quietly. Alex wouldn’t have thought of it that way, of course. Alex would have just been making an offhand comment. “If you sit down with him he’ll give you a whole new list of episode ideas for that show. He finished his associate’s while he was still in high school.”

“He’s pretty bright. It shows. I will sit down and talk to him. We don’t want to saturate the market with his face too quickly, but we can release the new show after the first show’s been on the air for a season maybe. Maybe during the hiatus.” Sol heard a pencil skittering across paper in the background. “Good plan. Thanks, Sol.”

Considering how much Alex was bringing in for the one show, he’d be bringing home a good chunk of change if they did a second show. He wouldn’t need Sol or Sol’s money to have a good life. Would he want Sol then?

He didn’t want Sol now.

Sol chased the bleak thought from his mind. Alex wanted Sol. He didn’t want the baggage that came with Sol. He didn’t necessarily trust Sol, but he wanted Sol. Sol could see it in his every move, his every gesture. He could see it in the way the two of them moved closer together every time they stood in the same room. They had always been a match, and they always would be.

The phone rang, and he answered it without thinking. “Delaney here.”

“Sol. This is your father.”

Sol banged his head on his desk. He’d just come to a perfect realization and come up with the tentative beginnings of a plan for dealing with it, and then his father had to come along and ruin it. “Are you ready to start pulling yourself out of the moral grave you dug for yourself?”

Dad scoffed. “I was hoping you’d started to see reason. That piece of trash is no good for you, Solomon. He comes from a violent family. His friends pulled guns on me when I went to go talk some sense into him at that hovel of a bar where he spends his time. He has no respect for anyone, at all. Do you honestly think you’ll have the upper hand with him if you get together with him? No. He’ll be the one ruling that house with an iron fist.”

Sol picked his head up off the blotter. “Fortunately you won’t have to see it, since you’re not allowed into the elevator to come up to the house. Funny how that works. Why are you really calling?”

“The police have been around. The actual police. They keep asking questions. They’re seriously prosecuting Lena for conspiracy. This has gone on long enough. I insist you call them and recant your statement.”

“And I insist you recant your testimony at Bernie Madoff’s sentencing, but we can’t always get what we want. Honestly, that was embarrassing. Thank God no one listened. Dad, I get you don’t like Alex, and I get that for some reason you want me and Stuart to be together, but you’re not in control of this. I tried things your way, and what that got me was a husband who couldn’t stop sleeping around, who picked up six different STDs, a husband with a major drug habit, and a kid in the hospital who was put there by his father.”

“I have a responsibility to that kid. It’s my job to keep him safe, and it’s my job to show him that boundaries need to be set. That means keeping Stuart away from him, and it means keeping you away from him until you learn to respect the law and custody agreements. Stay away from us, and don’t call here again.” Sol hung up the phone.

His father called back. Sol ignored it, watching the caller ID screen flash his father’s name in angry letters. Then his admin’s phone rang. He cradled his head in his hands as he heard her dulcet voice speak. Then he heard her walk in. “I have your father on line four. Should I put him through?”

“Absolutely not. Disconnect the call and block the number. He can’t call Valor Entertainment, at all.”

“All right, sir.” She went away again.

People like Dad thought that family trouble only happened in poor families. They were wrong. Sol had known so many people at his boarding schools with families that defined toxic. He just hadn’t known it was unusual until he got out of school and socialized with normal people.

Maybe poorer people had just as many family troubles as the rich. They probably didn’t have to block their families from calling an entire multinational corporation. Maybe they did, though. Sol could be wrong. It had happened before.

Someday soon, he would have a proper family. He would ask Alex to marry him, and Alex would say yes. They would blend their two families together, and they would shower their children with the kind of love and affection and support they’d been denied growing up. Carsten and Maya would be happy, healthy, and functional people, and Alden Delaney would weep to see them. To be sure, they hadn’t had a chance to talk this out yet, but they’d always been meant to be together. All of the old feelings were still there. There was no real reason they couldn’t just pick up where they’d left off.

All of that would have to wait, though, until this mess with Stuart and Lena was sorted out. Once they were locked up, Sol and Alex’s life could begin again. In the meantime, Sol could just offer Alex the same quiet support he’d been trying to show since this mess had started.