Epilogue
Freid
After a day of sitting on the bench wearing my black robes, it was easy to start to think the world was filled with minor criminals and those who would do anything to benefit themselves.
I was not sitting over anything huge, not yet at least, so instead of a trial lasting weeks, most of the sessions involved a parade of petty thefts and vandalism and shoplifters.
Others, as well, but it could be a dozen actions in a day.
It was easy to develop a negative outlook on life and my fellow creatures.
What saved me from that? At the end of the day, when I parked in the driveway, a row of little faces would appear at the window, waving and smiling.
And the moment I opened the door, they launched themselves at me.
Four young children and a baby who had just begun to toddle around on their heels.
And my mates. With two polar bear cubs, a wren, and a turtle wrapped around my legs and Skye in my arms, I would make my way to the kitchen where Ty and Penn were cooking dinner, making the whole house smell great.
Fridays when we ordered takeout and watched movies were the exception to the cooking process.
My mates would lean past the multitude of children to kiss me and welcome me home.
Sometimes, I wondered whether being a judge was worth it, but then others, rarely, I was able to help a defendant to change their life.
To make sure the punishment fit the crime…
or maybe they didn’t deserve to be punished.
Maybe treated. Our omega had been in the foster system and shared how many people he knew ended up in front of a judge because they’d never had any kind of security or love.
We had four little people who would never be in that situation because we showed them every day that they could count on us and how much we loved them.
But from my seat at the front of the courtroom, I had a chance to listen, really listen, and do what I could to help others who had not had anyone who cared.
Oh, not everyone who faced me was someone like that. There were plenty of others, but my job was important, and I was determined to do it with every fiber of my being.
Without this family who healed me every single night, I’d burn out for sure.
“Hey, alpha!” Penn held up a platter of cookies. “I made these without using every bowl in the house.”
“Funny boy.” I grinned at him. They still teased me about that first dinner I made for them, but I didn’t mind at all.
It was all in love. Ty joked that there was so much love glowing from our house, it could be seen from space.
I thought he was probably right. “So, are we having cookies for dinner tonight?”
“Cookies!” a chorus of voices rose around me. “Papa says cookies for dinner!”
“Now what do we do?” Ty moaned, but he was fighting laughter. “You little beasts cannot have cookies until after dinner.”
Chaos was a constant in our home. Chaos and love. And I wouldn’t trade one iota of it for the world. Managing to get to my mates, I held out my arms and they came in for a group hug. I still had kids hanging all over me, just like in my dream. My family. My loves. My life.