“Wait—what?” Father stammered.
Zinn and Asher ignored him.
Zinn took Lachie from Wes and placed him on Daddy’s lap. The baby calmed, the effect of sharing the omega bond with his grandfather. “This is Lachie,” Zinn said.
Daddy gave Lachie a reverent kiss on the head. Tears slipped from his eyes as Zinn brought forward the other boys. “This is Ryde, Jordie, and Ked.”
The older boys shook Daddy’s hand as Father glared at them, arms folded.
Your loss, Zinn thought. Foolish, prideful old man.
Asher gestured to Antoni, who hung back in the doorway. “Can you please take the children to another room to watch TV?” Asher asked him. “They’ve had enough grandparent time for the day, I think.”
“Of course.”
Jordie gathered Lachie from Deveron and followed Antoni out of the room with his brothers.
“They’re beautiful children,” Daddy whispered.
“They are,” Zinn said. He introduced Calder, Wes, and Assa to his parents. Daddy shook each of their hands and said hello. Father remained stone-faced.
Zinn bit back the powerful urge to roll his eyes. It was almost comical how afraid he used to be of this small, petty man.
“We need to talk about Lanni and Bevin,” Asher said as the men pulled chairs from a nearby table so they could sit in a circle. “I’m taking them back to Bellwether with me. Zinn will help, but I want custody.”
Father’s mouth gaped and he shook his head. “No chance. Those boys are staying right here until your daddy and I can provide for their future.”
“Like you did for me?” Zinn asked angrily. “No. They will not be chess pieces on your board. They’re coming home with us.”
“You two are delusional! You can’t just disappear for three years and then demand to take away our grandchildren, ouronly connection to Jem,” Father thundered. “I’m shocked you thought we’d agree.”
“We didn’t think you’d agree,” Asher said neutrally. “Which is why this isn’t a request.”
“You can either give us the boys, or we’ll take you to Low Court and get custody,” Zinn said. “And we will make sure the case is very public. If you force our hand, you can expect the media and all your friends in government to find out that you forced me to have my appendix removed, had Valentin imprisoned, and that your omega son is currently living in a polycule. Trying to convince people I have some sort of mental condition isn't going to work, not when I have my whole family behind me.”
“Or you can simply surrender custody, and no one will know,” Asher reasoned. “We’ll go back to Bellwether quietly, and you can tell people whatever you want.”
“What makes you think we’d allow the case to go to court? I can make sure you’d lose before it got that far. And that things stayed quiet,” Father challenged.
“We are aware that you are very scary and powerful and all that bullshit. It’s been, like, a theme of our lives,” Zinn said dryly. “But our lawyer is also influential. And very famous. If he took on this case, it would attract a lot of attention.”
“Who?”
“Teal McGinn.”
The pulse in Father’s neck jumped.
“Figures,” he sneered. “That you’d be friends with that upstart omega and his perverted family.”
But Daddy looked almost awestruck. “How do you know Teal McGinn?” he asked.
“Our son Jordie dates his son Kino,” Calder said.
Father looked at Calder as though seeing him through fresh eyes. “Who are you? What kind of alpha shares his omega with other men, not to mention another alpha?”
Rather than take his words as the blow they were intended to be, Calder looked at Keyes with pity. “I was a grieving widower, and now I have more love than I ever imagined. What kind of father sees his son for the first time in almost four years and treats him like a stranger? You haven’t even asked where he’s been or how we came to be a family.”
“I want to know,” Daddy chimed in mutedly. “I want to hear everything. We were just surprised when you came in, with Valentin, and…all of you.” He clasped his hands in his lap. “I want to know how you found your baby…Ryde.” He looked at Zinn. “You seem happy.”
