20. Chapter Twenty
Pierce
There were a lot of arrests over the past month. The Westover Omega. Terrence Hunt and a few other councilmen. Half the staff at CCOE. All but twelve of the Alphas registered with the CCOE heat service. It's been busy for the authorities.
It's been a busy week for us, as well. Dana won't give up her investigative work no matter how convincing Beckett and I try to be. She has, however, agreed to only take one case a month. She's going to be putting the majority of her focus on the revamping, remodeling, and reopening of the new CCOE.
I've had a change of heart about the center, and about Coburn in general. It's entirely because of Beckett. He changed my mind about pulling funds from CCOE. His friends have been spending time here and they've helped to change my mind, too. They've worked hard to make me understand that, despite its faults, the center is the safest place for Omegas to learn skills, to congregate and form community. They even made a strong argument for the heat service.
I was ready to shut that shit down. After hearing in greater detail what happened to Beckett, and then finding out about other similar happenings, I was ready to pull the plug on everything and uproot my pack to a new location without any bad memories for us. Some might call that running, but I call it preservation. Why stay in a place that is slowly killing you? Why would I continue to house my pack, my greatest treasure, in a place that tries to bury their hopes with every sunrise?
But I've changed my mind. I meet with Frank at least once a week. I don't attend all the emergency council sessions that have been necessary to get to the bottom of everything. They get into arguments about things that I feel should be simple decisions, and when things start getting loud, I start getting frustrated. It's just better all around if Frank comes over once a week or so to keep me up to speed on things and ask for my opinions and things.
I've always worked under the scope of the public, and now is no different. I don't want to be in the center of things. I mostly just want to know that the things I'm throwing money at are worthwhile and deserving of it. Between Frank's updates and Dana's hub of information, I've got a fairly decent handle on how things are going.
It's been good for all of us to have company. Community is good. I can't speak for all Valla, but for me, finally being in a position to spend time with people outside of my brother's pack has changed my outlook on myself and life in general. The relationships my pack is building with other packs and social groups are showing people that Valla can be part of their communities. In small doses, anyway. There aren't many, if any, Valla who would want to be in the middle of everything very frequently, and that's alright. It's more important that we know that we can be welcome, than it is to be involved in the theatre that is society.
I've started baking regularly again. It feels good after such a long time away from it. The city storefront is more popular and successful than ever now that people are catching on to the idea that The Baker won't actually grind them up into the dough.
Tonight is pizza night. We order in every Thursday night. One large supreme with no mushrooms, one large pepperoni and cheese with light sauce, and one extra large, extra cheese pizza for those brats on the wharf. I'm picking it up on my way home from checking in on the progress on the library remodel at the center. I'll drop off the kids' pizza and then I'm heading home as fast as I can get there.
The house is dark when I get home, except for the light in the bedroom. Dinner and a movie in bed sounds perfect, and I take off my coat and hang it before grabbing some drinks from the fridge and carrying them up with the pizza. My pack isn't waiting for me in the bedroom, so I place the pizza down on top of the night stand.
“Dana, Beckett,” I call. “I'm home!”
I go into the bathroom to wash my hands and freeze when I look down to turn on the water.
“Dana!” I yell. “Beckett!”
All I can do is stand there with my mouth dropped open. I reach down and pick it up, looking closely to make sure I'm seeing what I think I am.
Dana comes in, smiling at me in the mirror. She puts her arm around my waist and leans into me. Beckett is right behind her, coming to stand on my other side and also smiles at me in the mirror.
“Is this … ?
“Surprise,” Beckett says, smiling wide.
I look at Dana's grinning face and she leans her head against my shoulder. “You're going to be a daddy!”