24. Blake
Blake
The front door opens before anyone finishes clearing breakfast from the table. Samuel runs through first, already talking before both feet cross the threshold. “Papa! Oliver made blue pancakes. We saw a toad too. Bartholomew said it might be a prince, but it was bumpy.”
He keeps moving toward the kitchen, carrying the story with him.
James follows more slowly, holding a piece of construction paper in both hands. He stops in front of me and raises it carefully.
“Bartholomew drew this. It’s for the wedding. It’s a security dragon.”
I take the paper from him and study the crayon creature stretched across the page. It has wings, several uneven teeth, and what appears to be a crown floating above its head.
“A security dragon seems useful,” I tell him. “We should find a safe place for it.”
James nods and carries it toward the living room.
Rosalie enters last with her pink crown tilted over one eyebrow and a feather boa trailing behind her.
“The visit was satisfactory,” she announces. “Oliver doesn’t have enough crowns. And Wilson said bad meetings need cake.”
Wilson steps through behind her with the overnight bags. “I said cake might help.”
“Same thing,” Rosalie says.
Samuel’s voice carries into the kitchen while Rosalie begins explaining where Oliver should store additional crowns. By the time James finds a safe place for the drawing, the house no longer feels suspended around yesterday’s meeting.
Grayson comes down the hallway and catches Samuel around the middle before he can run past a second time. Samuel twists in his arms, still describing the pancakes while Grayson kisses his cheek.
Luther takes the children’s overnight bags from Wilson while Maceo closes the front door behind them. Wilson sets the last overnight bag inside before leaving the family to settle back into the house.
Breakfast takes another hour because Samuel tells the pancake story three times, James needs tape for the dragon, and Rosalie refuses to discuss anything serious until someone confirms there will be cake.
Once the children carry Grayson’s blueprints into the living room with a fresh box of markers, Luther lowers his voice and gives us Thane’s first update.
“Thane confirmed the initial charges against Alastair,” he says. “Racketeering, trafficking conspiracy, extortion, and obstruction. Investigators are also reviewing the foundation’s records and charter.”
Maceo folds his hands beside his plate. “Victor?”
“His attorney is negotiating cooperation terms. He still faces conspiracy and fraud charges.”
“And Dorian?” I ask.
“He’s refusing to cooperate.” Luther glances toward the living room before continuing.
“They recovered the preserved campaign materials, surveillance photographs, altered interview language, and notes about using the children as pressure points. The files strengthen the case against him even if he keeps refusing.”
I tighten my hand around the cane when Luther mentions the photographs.
Victor and Dorian came into my company pretending they were challenging my leadership. They were studying my home, my health, and my children for any weakness they could turn into leverage.
Luca sits beside me with one hand around his glass.
“All three identified sites were reached,” Luther continues. “The residents were removed, the operators on-site were arrested, and investigators secured records linking more entities to the network.”
“Philomena’s former placement site was one of them,” Maceo adds.
Luca looks down at the table before speaking. “Blossom called me. Two of the rescued Omegas are coming to Ember House today. We’re setting up temporary beds in the main parlor until the expansion wing is ready.”
“The community is stepping up,” Grayson says.
“The Solace network is organizing medical care, and Kai’s pack is handling transportation from the out-of-county location.
Several families who once appeared on Hearthstone’s donor list have offered food and temporary housing after learning what the placement program actually was. ”
The records seized yesterday are already revealing additional names and accounts. Alastair’s arrest has broken open the operation we traced, but it hasn’t finished the investigation.
“The Welfare Board withdrew the complaint this morning,” Maceo says. “Josie authenticated the original recording and confirmed that the filed version was altered under Alastair’s direction.”
Luca’s thumb moves along the side of his glass. “What about the bite removal?”
“I filed for an emergency victim-protection order, and Thane’s office submitted supporting documentation. The court hasn’t ruled yet.”
Luca nods once and reaches for his water.
“The board dismissed Victor’s fitness challenge this morning,” I say. “His arrest and the evidence tying the motion to the merger campaign destroyed any claim that it was filed in good faith. My medical plan remains in effect, but the challenge itself is closed.”
Grayson glances at the cane beside my chair, then returns to his breakfast without turning the update into another medical discussion.
The legal updates run out before the tension from yesterday does. I turn my coffee mug between my palms while Samuel argues with Rosalie in the living room about whether the dragon needs wings.
“I was afraid my body would fail during the meeting,” I say. “I kept thinking about what would happen if I couldn’t finish the questions.”
Luca’s knee presses lightly against mine beneath the table.
Maceo looks down at the wood between his hands. “I nearly dismissed the access discrepancy because I kept looking for a more complicated explanation. I should have trusted what the data showed sooner.”
Grayson reaches automatically for Luca’s juice, pauses, and leaves the pitcher where it is. Luther picks it up and refills Luca’s glass without comment.
“Leaving Josie inside Ember House after we knew what she was doing was the hardest part for me,” Luther says.
Luca keeps his hand around the glass. “There were nights when I looked at Ember House and understood why control can feel safer than uncertainty. I hated that.”
Rosalie appears in the kitchen doorway with her crown tilted over one eyebrow. Samuel and James hover behind her, each holding one side of the security-dragon drawing.
“Is the baby a girl?” she asks.
Luca glances down at his stomach, his fingers still around the glass. “No. He’s a boy.”
I turn toward him. “Our son?”
Luca shrugs, a smile pulling at his mouth. “I just know.”
Maceo leans forward before anyone else can answer. “The baby may initially present as a Beta. Some uncommon designations present that way before their actual designation becomes clear.”
“Maceo.” I raise my hand before he reaches for another study. “Step away from the textbooks.”
He sits back, though his expression says he has several more facts available.
“We’re going to love the baby regardless of gender or designation,” I tell him. “I may not understand all of what you went through, but I know what it’s like to have people decide a designation makes you less. That isn’t happening to our baby.”
Maceo’s attention drops briefly to Luca’s stomach. “I know.”
“Good. Then no more research citations at breakfast.”
Luca takes a drink, still smiling. “He’s a boy.”
Luther rests his elbows on the table. “Twenty says Luca’s right.”
Grayson looks between them. “Are we actually betting on the baby?”
“I pick girl,” Rosalie announces.
Samuel lifts the dragon drawing. “I pick dragon.”
James frowns at him. “Dragon isn’t one.”
“The dragon still needs cake,” Rosalie says, settling the argument before anyone can continue. “Bad meetings need cake too.”
“Then we’d better get some.”
Luther follows Samuel into the living room while Maceo retrieves the cake from the refrigerator. Luca brushes his hand across the small of my back as he passes my chair.
I pull the leather folio from the bag beside me. Maceo and I have been developing the restructuring throughout the board challenge.
“Luther. Maceo.” I open the folio across the table. “Before the cake.”
They return while Grayson keeps the children occupied with the blueprints. Luca remains near the doorway, close enough to listen without pulling the children back into the conversation.
I turn the first amendment toward Luther.
“The amended bylaws separate my authority as chief executive from designation-based succession. The medical contingency preserves my decision-making authority while assigning day-to-day operations to the COO when I’m unavailable.”
Maceo leans over the table and reviews the final language again.
“His COO role now carries defined operational authority,” I continue. “If my health temporarily limits my schedule, day-to-day decisions remain with him instead of reverting to an Alpha trustee.”
Maceo scans the last page. “The contingency closes the loophole Victor used. The board can’t redirect operational authority through designation alone.”
I turn to the trust amendment.
“The existing corporate documents still contain designation-based language that Victor used to imply my leadership depended on an Alpha’s approval. Your signature is required to remove that language.”
Luther reads the first page without speaking.
“You aren’t granting me authority,” I tell him. “You’re formally helping remove the structure that let Victor misrepresent where my authority came from.”
Luther turns the page, reads the remaining language, and signs beneath the trust-consent provision.
“It should have been removed years ago.”
He passes the pen to Maceo.
Maceo signs as witness, checks the completed pages, and closes the folio.
“Cake?” Rosalie calls from the living room.
I reach for my cane. “Cake.”
Maceo carries the signed documents toward the office while Luther goes ahead of me into the living room. Samuel has covered the ottoman with a quilt, James has taped the security dragon to its side, and Rosalie is waiting beside the cake with her crown straightened.
Luca holds out his hand as I reach the doorway.
I take it and join them.