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Buck sat up in bed, stretching his arms over his head. He took a moment to feel the chill of the air as he looked down at his Alpha. Eddie’s face was smooshed into the pillow, his hair pointed in every direction and a little drool running out of his mouth. He is the love of Buck’s life. He leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to the side of Eddie’s head. He had to get up, it was early, but today was special.
To a stranger, looking at a calendar, today was just another day. Early in the morning on a Tuesday, late November. They might notice a recent fourth birthday for two little girls. They might notice the snow starting to fall on the trees outside. They might notice Buck starting to borrow Eddie’s sweaters to take the kids to their little school.
Today, despite its appearance, was a very important day.
Buck tip toed into the hallway, shuffling softly towards the first door. He opened the door softly, starting to poke his head inside. There were two options. He was going to be greeted by the most precious sight; one of his (not so baby) girls curled up in their beds. Mirabelle always managed to kick the blankets off her bed, before in the middle of the night trying to pull it back on. She was always on an angle and it made sleeping in her bed absolutely impossible for everyone except her and her favourite stuffed toy, ‘Bunny’.
Aurelia though, she slept at a more human angle most of the time. But today, today was special and different. Because today, when he pushed the door open, she was awake and sitting up in bed. She had even done her best to make it, which made Buck’s heart so happy. She was such a sweet little girl.
“Good morning, Lia.” He greeted her, kneeling as she got up and shuffled over. Her curly blonde hair was poking up, in a fashion very similar to Eddie.
“Hi Papi.” Her toothy grin made every late night and early morning worth it.
“Why are you up so early?” He teased her. It was a mistake though, because her face dropped, her smile gone in a second.
“You fo’got?” She whispered.
“Oh no.” Buck reached forward, pulling her easily into his arms. “No no, Papi was just being silly, I promise.” She pulled back, just a little, as if to assess if he was serious.
“You ‘emember?”
“Of course I do.” Buck whispered, carrying her towards the door. “I just make silly jokes sometimes.”
“Daddy says that you’re ve’y silly.”
“Does he?” Buck chuckled, lowering her to the ground. He started to pull on his boots, Aurelia matching him. They were in an independence streak, not wanting help with anything. Christopher was the same, which made Buck feel a little sad if he thought about it for too long.
“Papi, my coat?” She pouted, trying to pull her arm through. Not grown up too quickly.
“Here.” He helped her, before pulling his own on. “Oh the fire.” He started to walk towards the fireplace.
“Papi!” She whispered-shouted, before pointing down at his boots. “Boots!” Oh right. They were trying to teach them rules and this was one of the biggest ones.
“Ah, it’s okay. Just this once.” He threw logs into the fire, before turning back and offering a hand. “Should we walk to the hall?”
“Can you ca’’y me?” Big blue eyes looked up at him, pleading. The situation wasn’t helped at all as she was still learning her ‘r’ sounds and he and Eddie had the cutest children in the world and it was so hard to say no.
“Always.” Buck promised, reaching down and scooping her up onto one arm. She giggled happily, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Let’s go!” She kicked her legs around. He walked her into the hall, kicking the door shut behind them. “It’s dark.” She giggled again. “Look Papi! It’s so da’k!”
“It is!” Buck put her down, before pulling off his boots. It was not only dark, it was cold. He walked over to the fires, getting them started as Aurelia stood patiently behind him. Well, as patient as any four year old could be. “Okay. Should we get started?”
“Yes!” She cheered. Because today was a very special day. Today was Aurelia’s first time helping Buck and Bobby cook breakfast. She had helped with little things before, her and Mirabelle was always keen to learn new things (Eddie blamed Buckley genetics for that). Breakfast was special though. “What fi’st?” Buck picked her, swinging her to sit on the bench.
“You can be in charge of toast?” Buck offered.
“In the toasty?”
“Yeah!”
“That’s bo’ing.” She whispered, looking a little disappointed.
“Okay, what about eggs?” She perked up. “Yeah? We’ll crack some eggs.”
“Okay!” They heard the front door open and soft footsteps approaching them. Buck could scent Bobby before he stepped into view, but Aurelia watched with wide eyes. “Pops!” She shouted, as soon as he could see her. Bobby knew she was coming, but he pretended to be shocked.
“Well look who it is!”
“Papi! Down! Please!” She scooted towards the edge of the bench, so Buck quickly lowered her to the ground and she sprinted at full speed towards him. Bobby scooped her up into his arms, squeezing her into a hug.
“Lia! How good of you to join us!”
“I’m doing the eggs!” She announced. “Papi said so.”
“Well that makes sense.” Bobby agreed, going to put her back on the bench. “Did your Papi wake you this early for this?”
“No!” Aurelia looked over to Buck for confirmation. “I did it myself!”
“You did.” Buck kissed her hair, putting a bowl in front of her and a carton of eggs.
“You’re very clever.” Bobby praised her. Buck showed her the first few eggs, then let her do her own thing, cutting up some fruit. They were able to cook quietly for close to an hour, before they heard the door open.
“Twin delivery!” Christopher’s voice echoed out, before a flurry of brown curls came sprinting towards Buck.
“Mia!” Aurelia shouted excitedly.
“Lia!” She replied, already in the air as Buck swung her around.
“Hey baby girl.” Buck grinned, giving her little butterfly kisses. “How are you?”
“I’m awake!”
“She’s awake.” Christopher confirmed, grinning at the adults. “I’m going to wake Denny so we can play.”
“Okay!” Buck called out to him, putting Mirabelle on the counter.
“Papi!” Aurelia started, looking at him with big eyes. “Can we go play?”
“Yes, but stay in the hall.” Buck instructed, lowering them both to the ground. They ran off together, giggling happily.
“They are too cute for their own good.” Bobby announced.
“Of course they are.” Buck laughed.
“You make cute kids.”
“We’re done.” Buck reminded him, chuckling. He loved raising the twins, but he was done. They were done. Their family was full. “Start taking this stuff out?”
“Good idea.” Bobby smiled, picking up a couple of plates and walking it out to the dining table.
“I help!” Mirabelle announced, running into the kitchen.
“Hey.” Buck knelt in front of her. “Do you remember the rule about running in the kitchen?”
“Don’t?” She guessed, nearly breaking Buck’s smile.
“That’s right. There’s hot things up here. I would never forgive myself if I hurt you.” She nodded, poking her bottom lip out a bit and reaching for him. “Hey, are you okay?” He opened his arms for a hug.
“Yes.” She scurried forward, planting her head on his chest. “I still help?”
“Of course.” He reached up for a plate of fruit that Bobby had made, passing it to her. He watched, overly fond as she carried it into the main room.
“I help too!” Aurelia came running towards him, before stumbling slightly to a stop. He raised an eyebrow and she smiled, a little sheepish, before walking in.
“I love that you guys get so excited.” Buck told her, passing her a carton of juice. “We just need to be excited safely.”
“It’s faster.” She nodded.
“I’m sure it is.” Buck laughed, before smiling as Bobby walked into the room.
“Running?”
“Always running.”
“We should strap a step counter onto Mirabelle.” Bobby laughed. “She’d max it out.”
“Daddy!” The joint chorus made Buck’s head pop up in their direction.
“Go ahead.” Bobby smiled, taking his place at the stove. “I’ll watch this.” Buck nodded gratefully, before making his way into the dining room. Eddie was poised by the door, one boot on, one off, a daughter in each hand. He was grinning, pressing kisses into their heads as Aurelia told him all about their morning. Buck couldn’t help himself as Christopher followed his Dad in, pulling his family in for their moment of peace.
-
“Okay! Listen in!”
“Listen in!” The children chorused back. Buck had gotten quite practised at running these classes. They had thirty students now, coming from all over the woods, five days a week, just to learn! It was very exciting. “Okay, for today, we’re going to get our blue group outside!” He’d split the class into three. The blue group, the young kids, who were mostly there for exposure and learning their ABCs and shapes. The brown group, who were learning to read and write and the green group, who were doing things like writing stories and researching for essays.
Not that he would ever say this out loud, but Christopher was definitely the best writer in the group.
“You’re gonna come with me!” Ravi announced. A new addition to the teaching room was Ravi. The young Alpha had wanted to come along when it was too cold for them to build anything or hunt and help out. It had actually been massively helpful and Buck had been talking to some of the parents about getting some volunteers throughout the summer. There were various cheers, as the kids scurried up to pull on their boots and go outside.
“Our green group, you’re going to have a special challenge today. I want you to pair up with a buddy in the brown group and you guys are going to brainstorm a story!” He nodded enthusiastically. “It can be about anything you want!” A young boy, Samuel, raised his hand.
“Can it be about sharks?”
“Sure.”
“Does it have to be about sharks?”
“No.”
“Okay, I’m not going to write about sharks.” Samuel decided, smiling at Buck as though he’d just solved a riddle.
“Sure.” Buck smiled. “Okay, if anyone wants some help, raise your hand and I’ll come over to you.”
“Knock knock!” Maddie said as she stepped into the room.
“Mummy!” Jee shouted. “I can’t say hi now. I’m working.”
“Okay.” Maddie giggled, walking over to Buck and throwing an arm over his shoulder. “Hey little brother.” Buck said nothing about how she had to lean up towards him.
“Hey big sister.”
“How do you feel about having your niece and nephew over for a sleepover Saturday night?” She gave him the puppy dog eyes. “Howie is gonna book us a hotel room and-”
“La la la.” Buck teased her, jolting away. “Yes, but shush.”
“Okay, perfect. In exchange cousin sleepover?”
“Cousin sleepover!” Mirabelle had (as usual) teleported right behind Maddie, a big grin on her face.
“Shouldn’t you be outside with Ravi?” Buck raised a gentle eyebrow at her.
“Of course.” She nodded sternly. Buck waited for an explanation, but his daughter waited for no one. “Cousin sleepover?”
“Well yes. I was just thinking that we could, I don’t know, make ice cream sundays and camp out in the living room?” Maddie still had that magic at her fingertips, the sparkle in her eye. Buck remembered his campouts in her room as some of his most precious memories.
“Yes please!” Aurelia (who also teleports) added from behind them.
“You should be outside too.”
“Papi.” She gave him a look so sarcastic it made him smile. “I came in to get Mia.”
“I’m coming!”
“So yes to the sleepover?” Maddie checked with them both.
“Yes!” They both cheered, already discussing plans when Mirabelle paused, looking up at Buck.
“Please Papi?” She stretched each syllable and for a second Buck’s breath caught. It was silly. He was leaving them with his older sister and there was a scarce list of people he trusted more than her. But still, it was the idea of his babies not being at home. Of them being out of arms reach. If something happened Eddie couldn’t just stumble down the hall to them (something about their biology had Eddie hardwired to tell if any of his pups had a nightmare). Buck wouldn’t be right on his heels to join them.
“We could be good!” Aurelia convinced him.
“Of course you’ll be good.” He knelt, accepting his daughters into his arms happily. His pups. His babies.
“Should we ask your Dad too?” Maddie checked, half eyeing Buck there.
“Dad just does whatever Papi wants.” Christopher announced from a few chairs away. Buck would laugh and shake his head, but it was perhaps fair. Buck had the best mate he could ever ask for.
“We’ll tell him over lunch, yes? Now, you two, get back to work.”
“Okay. Love you!” Mirabelle shouted, sprinting for the door.
“‘Ove you!” Aurelia added, following her sister quickly.
“So if you don’t say no to the girls, and Eddie doesn’t say no to you, does that mean they run your household?”
“No one is surprised by that information.” Buck gave his sister a fond smile. “Now get out of here. I have a class to run!”
“Of course, sorry sorry.” She grinned at him, slipping out.
“Okay kiddos, let’s see what you’ve come up with.”
-
“Dig in!” Bobby announced at dinner, everyone happily tucking into their meals.
“How was your day?” Eddie asked Buck softly, looping their feet together.
“It was pretty good.” Buck smiled, looking over to their children. “Has Christopher told you about his alien story?” They watched their eldest perk up at that, looking over to his Dad with a grin. “I recon it was pretty good. Do you want to tell us about it?”
“I love a good non-fiction book.” Chimney chimed in. Buck watched Christopher think for a moment, before grinning at his Uncle.
“No Uncle Chimney.” He laughed. “It’s aliens. It is fake.”
“What?” Chimney shook his head. “What are you teaching those kids Buck-a-roo?”
“Are aliens real?” Jee piped up, eyes wide.
“No.” Buck assured her, just as Chimney argued-
“Well maybe.” Okay, he won’t lie. Buck has gone into more than one rabbit hole about the possible existence of other life in neighbouring universes. Does he believe that there is another form of intelligent life out there? Yes. But does he have the capacity to explain the vast existence of universes and the complexities of possible interspecies communication? No.
“What?” Mirabelle nearly shouted, turning to face her parents. “Aliens?”
“They’re not real.” Christopher assured her.
“You’re just a kid too!” Jee looked absolutely panicked now. “My Dad is a grown up. Grown ups know things.”
“Most of them do.” Eddie interjected. “Hey.” He got up, moving quickly around the table and kneeling next to Mirabelle. “Aliens are not real.”
“And if they were, I highly doubt they’d be interested in us.” Ravi shrugged.
“I watched a video of an alien killing something because he was bored.” Denny piped up. The table went quiet. “On the internet.”
“Oh no.” Tears sprung to Mirabelle’s eyes, flinging herself off her chair and into Eddie’s lap.
“Hey.” The Alpha soothed, sitting down properly to hold her gently against his chest.
“Denny.” Hen scolded.
“What! I did!” He argued.
“I’m sorry, Mia.” Chimney knelt by Eddie. “I was just being silly. You know me.” Buck heard a little sniffle and his heart ached. His baby was crying. She was always so brave, leading Aurelia into any adventure. Eddie stood, Mirabelle in his arms and walked around to Buck’s side of the table.
“I’ll be right back.” Christopher announced, scooting back from the table and grabbing his crutches. Buck called out to him to be safe, soothing the inside of his wrist against Mirabelle’s back. Aurelia got off her chair, coming over to talk to her sister.
“Mia?”
“Yeah?” She managed.
“Daddy is really strong.”
“Yeah.”
“He would stop aliens.”
“Yeah.” The third ‘yeah’ sounded more convincing then the last couple. “Okay.”
“Of course I would stop the aliens.” Eddie agreed fiercely. “You girls know I’ll protect you from everything.”
“Athena wouldn’t even let the aliens in.” Buck added on.
“Nana is even stronger.” Aurelia agreed. Eddie chuckled, glancing over to the other Alpha with a soft smile.
“The strongest.” Buck concluded. “Do you want to stay here and have some dinner?” She nodded gently, so Buck reached across the table and dragged her plate closer as Aurelia ran back under the table. “Here you go.”
“Thank you Papi.” She reached over for her fork, stabbing some potato. Buck decidedly didn’t laugh when Eddie did the exact same, still holding her up with his right arm.
“Here!” Christopher, with little flecks of snow in his hair, came over, sitting next to Mirabelle and Eddie. “This is my book.” He had spent the afternoon drawing little illustrations too, so she quickly looked over. “He is my alien. His name is Bob.”
“Wait! I wanna see!” Aurelia came sprinting back. Buck chuckled, picking her up and planting her in his lap.
“Me too!” Robby came running around, poking his head over Buck’s thigh.
“Bob came all the way to Earth.” Christopher traced his finger over the page. Mirabelle was still half hiding in Eddie’s arm, but she was looking over at Christopher. “He went to the ocean.”
“With the fish.” Aurelia added in.
“Yeah.” Christopher encouraged her. “Bob liked the fish. Then he went to the jungle.” Christopher pointed to a new page, with a picture of the green alien and a tiger. “He saw the big cats and loved it!” Mirabelle’s head poked up more. “Then Bob went to the forest! He saw a wolf.” Buck’s heart sang in his chest when he saw the little pack of wolves on the page resembled their family. “Bob loved the wolves.”
“Wolves are cool!” Aurelia agreed happily.
“Then he went to the desert! Bob didn’t like the cactuses.” Buck made a mental note to teach about plurals. Now was certainly not the time.
“Pointy.” Mirabelle whispered.
“Very pointy.” Christopher agreed happily. “Bob headed back to the sea, waving goodbye to Earth.”
“Oh.” Aurelia pouted.
“He was very excited to go home and tell everyone about his adventure.” Christopher turned to the last page, before turning to smile at Buck. “Did you like my pictures?”
“Loved them.” Buck praised him, Aurelia wiggling to get off his lap and around to her chair, dragging Robby right behind her.
“Denny, did you write a story?”
“I’ll show you tomorrow.” He promised. Christopher planted a hand on Buck’s chair to stand, grinning at his Papi.
“Thank you.” Buck smiled up at his son.
“Big brother magic.” He nodded solemnly, before returning to his chair. They finished dinner, Aurelia skipping along Christopher as she reported how much they were going to have with Jee and Robby. The braid Eddie had done in her hair before school was officially beyond saving, he’d decided. Buck opened the front door, holding it for Eddie who was carrying Mirabelle. Buck had a sneaking suspicion that she wouldn’t be making it to the sleepover.
“Okay, go back your bag!” Buck instructed, watching the eldest two go running. Mirabelle tucked her head into Eddie’s neck and the Alpha gave him a look.
Are you seeing this?
Of course I am. He replied with a soft smile. She needs us tonight. Eddie answered by rubbing his hand up and down her back softly. You or me? She nuzzled her head into Eddie’s neck a little more, answering his question.
“Do you want Daddy to give you a hand?” Buck prompted her. She nodded shakily, her little grip holding him strong. Eddie led the way into her room and Buck leant against the hallway wall.
“Daddy?” He heard her whisper.
“Yes mija?”
“I don’t wanna go.” Buck nodded, intuition right.
“Hey, then don’t go.” Eddie whispered happily. “You stay here with me and Papi?”
“Please.”
“Okay. Do you want me to ask Lia to stay too?” She must’ve had a silent cue because Buck had a second Eddie’s footsteps before they appeared in the hallway. She was still in his arms, head still tucked away. “Hey love.” Eddie greeted him. “Mia is going to stay at home with us tonight.”
“Really?”
“Is that okay?” She whispered.
“Oh Mia.” Buck ducked his head to catch her eye. “Baby girl, you can always stay with us. Every single time.” She nodded shakily, before holding her arms towards him. He took her happily into his arms, nuzzling against her head. Her hair was also a bit of a wreck, but they could fix that all before bed.
“Aurelia?” Eddie knocked on her bedroom door. “Come brush your teeth so I can do your hair.”
“Okay!” She came out, dropping a backpack in the doorway. Both girls had curly hair, which Buck absolutely loved. It was the cutest thing in the world, especially when it rained or they went swimming. His real life Moanas.
However, despite growing up with Maddie, Eddie was the older brother and therefore had the magic touch for braiding hair. When Buck met his sisters, they said he had braided their hair at least twice a week, every week. Eddie still blushes and denys. Buck is grateful every night that Eddie found happiness in doing his daughters’ hair.
“One or two?” Eddie asked, standing behind Aurelia with a comb.
“What’s Mia doing?” Aurelia poked her head towards her sister. He waited a couple of seconds, before realising she wasn’t going to answer.
“Mirabelle is actually going to stay here tonight.”
“Oh,” Aurelia came right over. “You okay?”
“I just wanna stay.” She shrugged.
“You want me to stay?”
“We can if you want.” Christopher added, reaching over for his toothbrush.
“No, you can go.”
“We can play tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” Mirabelle smiled.
“Hug?” Mirabelle nodded and Buck lowered her. He had to blink back tears as he watched his daughters hug. “Okay, two, Daddy!”
“Okay.” Mirabelle twisted and held her arms out for Buck again. He happily scooped her back up, taking them back towards her room.
“Should we read a book?”
“Yes please.” She decided, pointing towards her favourite. He reached for it, lowering them to her bed. They had just finished up when they heard Chimney knock on the door.
“Bye Mirabelle!” Christopher called out. “Bye Dad! Bye Papi!”
“Bye Mia! Love you all!” Aurelia shouted happily, skipping out.
“Bye!” She called out.
“Okay.” Eddie appeared, leaning in the doorway. “Shower, then bed?”
“I do it myself.” She decided.
“Okay, but I need to set the water.” Eddie said sternly. They had found a flower soap, which they loved and actually used. But Buck was completely paranoid about them accidentally bumping the tap and making the water too hot.
“Don’t touch.” She agreed.
“Let’s pick your pajamas.” Once she was in, Eddie leaned against the wall by the bathroom, smiling softly at Buck.
“Come here, gorgeous.” Buck stepped into his arms, tucking his head into Eddie’s neck.
“We do this a lot.”
“I like it.” Eddie decided. “Knowing you all find comfort in me.”
“Well, you could fight all the aliens so I gotta keep you close.” Eddie laughed, squeezing his arms around Buck’s torso.
“Oh is that it?”
“Can’t think of anything else.” Buck hummed teasingly.
“Oh is that so.” Eddie tilted his head, catching Buck in a kiss. Buck made sure to thread his fingers into Eddie’s hair, pulling his Alpha just a touch closer. “I love you, my beautiful Omega.” He whispered against Buck’s lips.
“I love you too.” Another kiss.
“I’m done!” Mirabelle shouted, making Eddie chuckle.
“Date night soon.” Eddie whispered, one last kiss before turning. “Okay! Coming, mija!” Once she was in her pajamas, Buck sent his Alpha to get ready for bed.
“Papi?”
“Yes?”
“I’m scared. I’m sorry.” She looked away and it nearly broke Buck’s heart.
“I don’t want you to ever be sorry for being scared.” Buck whispered to her. “I still get scared sometimes.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. It makes me feel a lot better knowing I have you guys.” He explained softly. “I want you to always come to me when you’re scared.” She nodded, before looking up and stepping back into his arms. “Do you want to sleep in your own bed tonight? Or in the nest?”
“Can I bring Bunny?”
“Can’t have him alone in there, can we?” She shook her head, so he lowered her to pick up the toy, carrying her into the nest. “Settle in.” Eddie stepped out of the shower, pajama pants on and a big smile.
“Have we got a Mirabelle with us tonight?” He knelt by her side of the nest, pressing little kisses into her hair. “Lucky us.” He looked right at Buck for a moment, that sentence gave him everything.
Lucky him that Eddie found him when he did. Lucky him that the pack took him in so lovingly.
Lucky him that he fell in love with Eddie and Eddie loved him back. That they were mated and happy.
Lucky him that he had two beautiful daughters and that they’re growing up into gorgeous young people. Lucky him that Christopher was such a brilliant older sibling and that he is a gorgeous young person.
Eddie climbed in next to Buck, tucking Buck into his side and kissing his neck softly.
“Ready for lights out?”
“Ready!” Mirabelle announced, looking oh so cute tucked into the blankets. Eddie reached over, flicking the light out.
“I love you, my darling.” Eddie said to Buck, always the last thing the Alpha said to him every night.
“I love you, Papi!” Mirabelle added. Yeah, on this random Tuesday, all Buck could think was lucky him.