“Honestly? You and your brother haven’t said much about this plan other thanokay. I thought being here might make it more real, perhaps spark some questions you hadn’t thought of. I love you, and I want you to feel like you can ask me anything.” He paused before bringing up the subject that he’d been mostapprehensive about. “It doesn’t bother you that I’m going to be with someone else? An omega who isn’t your daddy?”
Jordie hung his head before peering up. “Daddy’s been gone a long time. We don’t want you to mourn him forever.”
Calder glanced at Ked, who dipped his chin.
Jordie sat on the couch next to Calder. “We know you loved Daddy. That doesn’t mean you have to be alone.”
“Papa! Frozen pizza rolls! You don’t even let us have these!” Ked sounded genuinely outraged.
“What?” Calder defended himself. “Zinn brings them in for lunch sometimes, so they were a safe bet.”
“You could just ask him what he likes,” Jordie reasoned. “Instead of buying the entire grocery store.”
“I know. I guess I’m just trying to anticipate some of his needs. Take the burden off him having to plan things. Or tell me things.”
Jordie and Ked shared an odd look.
“What?” Calder asked.
Ked snickered. “Nothing.Anticipate his needs. That sounds like some weird alpha-omega stuff.”
“Yeah,” Jordie said. “Sometimes I forget you’re not like us.”
“That’s not a bad thing, is it?” This wasn’t the first time Calder had questioned if the boys needed more beta influences in their lives. Lolo was a great friend to the family, but he wondered if they needed more.
“Uh, definitely not.” Ked snatched an apple from the bowl on the coffee table and flung himself into a side chair. “I’m feeling pretty lucky to be a beta right now.”
Calder was proud of their compassion and maturity. Although Jordie was quiet and studious while Ked was loud and brash, they had their empathetic hearts in common. He hoped that somewhere in the stars, Denni could see them.
“It’s not so bad being an alpha or an omega,” Calder assured his sons. “I really enjoyed sharing heats with your daddy.”
“Ew!” Ked gagged dramatically. “We don’t need to know that.”
“I wasn’t going to give details. I’m just saying.”
“We get it,” Jordie deftly shut down the topic, punching his brother lightly on the shoulder. “What Ked meant by being lucky was how so much of this is driven by instinct for you. To us betas, that lack of control is hard to imagine.”
Calder could see that perspective. “You really are a thoughtful kid.”
“No he’s not,” Ked said sassily. “Being with an alpha like Kino just makes him think about all this gender stuff.”
Calder frowned. After the late pickup incident, Ked talked to Jordie about his boyfriend. Jordie hadn’t realized that Ked had been feeling neglected. Since then, he’d made more of an effort to spend time with his brother. He’d even switched shifts at work to go to Ked’s game yesterday.
“I thought you liked Jordie’s boyfriend,” Calder said.
Jordie grabbed Ked and attempted to put him in a headlock. “He likes him just fine. He just doesn’t like that he’s a school nerd like me. Ked wants me to date somebody who’ll play soccer with him.”
Calder chuckled, relieved at the lack of true animosity between them.
“Yeah, Kino’s cool,” Ked said. “And, duh, you should date someone who’s into what you’re into. It’s just weird how everyone knows about his family.”
Calder hummed. The same thought had entered his mind when Jordie started seeing Kino McGinn three months ago. Calder had been concerned not only because Kino was an alpha but also because his parents were the McGinns, a well-known polycule of five men including the famous omega rights lawyer Teal McGinn.
But Calder found Kino to be unfailingly humble and polite. Most importantly, he treated Jordie well. Ked was likely correct that Jordie’s exposure to Kino was what had him thinking about instincts and biology. The McGinns had literally gotten famous by pushing social norms.
Since meeting Kino and learning about his family firsthand, Calder had thought about what it might mean to love more than one man. Polyamory wasn’t common in society, more tolerated than endorsed, but he’d never seen the problem with it as long as everyone consented. Hearing about the McGinns’ chaotically happy household, with its five fathers and ten children, made the concept even less abstract.
Truthfully, he was curious. He and Denni had married so young, he’d never had the chance to explore anything other than the typical alpha/omega dynamic and monogamy.
