Yet ever since Lachie’s birth, Valentin had been hesitant to spend time around Zinn. Assa hadn’t registered it at first. Zinn had been at home with a newborn and Valentin had a busy job running The Cracked Heart, so it was easy to chalk it up to circumstance. But when the families got together, he noticed that Valentin was reluctant to hold the baby, and some of the awkwardness from when he and Zinn reunited a year ago seemed to be back in full force.
Before Lachie was born, Valentin had admitted how strange it sometimes was to see the omega he’d once imagined a future with settle into that future with a different man.
He’d reassured Assa and Wes that he was completely committed to their relationship, that what he felt for Zinn was notlonging, but something more akin to disorientation. Assa believed him. He was certain that Valentin was happy. Just because the alpha could be honest about feeling like the Parkensons had robbed him of his former life did not mean he didn’t love his life now. And in a way, Valentin had come full circle, because he was helping raise the child Keyes and Deveron had tried to keep from him.
But Assa wondered if Valentin would always be weird about seeing Zinn in his element as a daddy to Lachie.
Shifting in the wooden auditorium chair, Valentin was quick to shake off the tension. He raised their hands and kissed Assa’s knuckles, then Wes’s.
The touch of his lips was reassuring. His alpha’s easy affection soothed the part of Assa that worried about beingtoo muchornot enough. Valentin also encouraged Wes to let go and relax.
The three of them healed each other in ways Assa never imagined, and although their relationship had progressed rather quickly, he’d sensed its inevitability from the start.
Eight months ago, half a year after the night they met, they told Calder and Zinn that they planned to move in together and take steps to make their arrangement more official.
At first, Zinn seemed taken aback, but ultimately, he expressed congratulations. He also spoke privately with Valentin that night.
When Assa and Wes asked Valentin what they’d talked about, he’d explained, “Kind of like it’s weird for me seeing him with Calder sometimes, it’s the same for him knowing I’m going to live with Ryde and be with you two. I told him I’d do whatever I could to not make him feel like he was being left out of parenting our s—parenting Ryde, and he said he was happy for me.”
“You don’t need to keep correcting yourself,” Assa said.
“Huh?”
“Ryde. He isourson—yours, mine, Wes’s, and Zinn’s. Calder’s too, honestly. You and Zinn have been careful about not overstepping, but I think we’re past that. I mean, you’re going to be living with us.”
“Right,” Wes said. “Legally, we’ll always be Ryde’s fathers, but having his birth parents and Calder nearby has been nothing but positive.”
“A year ago, we had no extended family,” Assa added, teary-eyed. “Now Ryde has big brothers, a little brother on the way, and three extra fathers.”
Valentin pulled them into his arms. “The day Asher made sure you got Zeller’s baby was the luckiest day in all our lives.”
Assa laughed. “Obviously.”
“Seriously,” Valentin said. “Loving you has made me whole again, allowed me to be the man I’ve always wanted to be, and filled me up in ways I never imagined.”
“We love you too, alpha,” Wes murmured.
“So much,” Assa hushed out.
After that day, Wes and Assa disclosed their relationship to their colleagues at the university. While they wouldn’t be flaunting their polycule, they wouldn’t be hiding it either.
Because Jordie was dating Kino McGinn, they were able to sit down with Teal McGinn and ask him questions about how they could make their triad aslegally officialas possible. The state’s most famous omega lawyer gave them plenty of direction.
“You have the right idea,” Teal had said. “It’s best not to do anything that makes it appear as though you’re hiding or, stars forbid, ashamed. Normalizing polyamory requires us to do what we can to make the situation visible.”
Assa wasn’t sure he, Wes, and Valentin were on the level with the McGinns to influence public perception, but he appreciated the thoughtful words.
Not to mention the great advice.
While they couldn’t marry legally, Valentin changed his last name to Pashuk. He hadn’t spoken to his parents or siblings since before going to prison and had no connection to the Dannon name. Wes and Assa put away the wedding rings they’d worn for a dozen years, and the three of them got matching ones. They held a small commitment ceremony in front of Ryde, Calder, Zinn, Jordie, and Ked, along with close friends and colleagues.
Afterward, Zinn pulled Assa aside and told him basically what he’d said to Valentin months earlier, that while it was sometimes disconcerting seeing Valentin with Wes and Assa, he was grateful for the alpha’s happiness.
It did not surprise Assa that Zinn made a point to speak with him. The past year had solidified their intense bond. He considered Zinn his closest friend and knew the feeling was mutual. That was why he reassured him that Assa and Wes had long ago made peace with the palpable energy between Valentin and Zinn. Laughing, Zinn revealed Calder had said the same thing.
“It’ll always be a little electric between you and Valentin,” Assa said, pulling Zinn into a hug. “It’s only a problem if we make it one. And none of us want that.”
“Agreed.”
