Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
BEAU
P enny squirms on my lap. I quietly hand her a new toy, trying to focus on the man across from us who’s setting a small stack of papers on the table.
She squirms more insistently, and I let her slide down to the floor.
She crawls a couple feet to the diaper bag and starts sifting through it, emptying it in calm and methodical movements.
Emily sighs, and I squeeze her hand under the table.
“All right.” The Council staff is all business. “As you know, it can take up to two weeks for the entire process to complete.”
He grabs a small handful of pens and hands one to each of us.
Then he smooths down his tie and adjusts the small tie tack that holds it in place.
The small piece of silver is the Council’s insignia, an omega symbol with the alpha symbol nestled in the middle.
It’s too small for me to be able to read the small words that are probably engraved in it, the Council’s full name.
He clears his throat, and I uncap the pen.
“This first bit is a series of disclosures for Mr. Harding and Ms. Monroe,” he says. “They’ll serve as updated information for your profiles already filed with the Council.”
He pulls a few pieces of paper from the stack and slides them in front of Emily and Triston.
“If you’ll make sure all of the information on this page is up to date. If it’s not, please cross out what’s incorrect and write in the update.”
Emily scans the page and then signs at the bottom.
Triston’s slower, quietly scratching out the address they have listed.
His eyes flick over to me, triple-checking.
I smile and palm his thigh. His smile is softer than mine, more intimate.
It makes me want to find a quiet corner and kiss him until his cheeks are flushed and his scent surrounds us.
He guides them through the next few forms. I try to listen, but most of my attention is on Penny, making sure Emily and Triston feel comfortable focusing on the information the Council member is providing.
She starts trying to open the wipes, and I quickly cross the room before she can make a larger mess that won’t be as easy to clean up.
She pushes her lips into a pout as I take the wipes out of her hands and replace it with her bunny blanket.
“Dada,” she says. She grabs for the wipes. Instead, I offer her one of the small bars from the snack cube. She smiles and reaches for it. “Dada.”
“Mr. Pierce?” the Council member’s voice pulls my attention back to the table. “We’re ready for you.”
I settle back in the seat between Triston and Emily, grabbing the pen I’d left uncapped. He slides a form in front of me.
“Since you’re not officially registered with the Council given your designation, we’ll need to create a profile. If you’ll fill this out, I’ll be able to do that and then process your pack registration right afterward.”
I fill in the boxes with the required information and then sign the bottom. He takes it and sets it in a separate pile from the forms already signed. Then he holds out the last of the papers.
“This is your official pack registration. This is what will be held on file with the Council and will be provided if there are any concerns regarding pack information like proof of pack name.”
This form is longer than the others and on thicker paper.
“Some packs choose to frame it in the same manner as some couples put their marriage licenses on display. I encourage you to be intentional how you sign this in case that is something you’d like to do in the future.”
Emily signs it first, notating her designation next to her signature.
Then I sign on the line below her, following the same pattern.
Triston’s hand trembles as I slide the paper to him.
Emily reaches across me, grabbing his elbow.
He looks up from the form, his eyes wide with surprise that quickly melts into a happiness I haven’t seen from him much since he came back.
Vanilla slowly weaves around us, and Triston relaxes entirely.
His signature is more practiced than ours, probably from all the public events he’s done in the last two years.
The Council member smiles when Triston sets down the pen.
“Congratulations,” he says with genuine warmth. “Some packs desire pictures. There’s a small courtyard they often use, and we have a few photographers if you’d like to use them.”
“Yes, please,” Triston says without looking at either of us.
“Lovely. Let me make sure the courtyard is currently available and pull one of them.” He stands from the table and buttons his suit jacket. “The person in charge of confirming paternity should be here in the next few minutes as well.”
Then he leaves the small conference room.
I immediately pull Triston into me, palming his neck and slamming my lips to his.
Emily joins, too, her hands twisting into Triston’s hair as she runs her lips along his jaw and behind his ear.
He shivers and then his hands are on us, running down Emily’s spine and cupping my cheek.
We only separate when there’s a small double knock on the door.
Triston’s flushed and Emily’s vanilla is so damn thick in the room.
The woman who walks in is dressed in dark jeans and a white lab coat. In her gloved hands are two cotton swabs, the ends covered in a plastic lid. She gives a small smile as she stops just inside the threshold, letting the door close behind her.
“Hi, I’m here to get the samples for the paternity test.”
Triston scoops Penny up from the floor, kissing her cheek until she giggles and pushes him away. It puts her in a good enough mood she only resists the swab for a moment. When they’re both finished, the woman smiles again. Just as she’s twisting the doorknob, another set of knocks sound.
The Council member from before gives a small smile as she slides past him and heads deeper into the Council offices.
He scoops up the paperwork, putting most of it in an unlabeled manila envelope.
The larger official registration he holds out to us.
Emily takes it in a careful hold. I scoop up the contents of the diaper bag, shoving them back into the main pocket without worrying about any kind of organization.
Penny screeches when I put the bunny blanket on the top, and I quickly pull it back out.
She takes it in a hard grasp as I pass it to her.
The Council member leads us wordlessly to a small open space tucked in the back of the building.
The spring flowers are in full bloom, their white and pink petals filling the area surrounding a small set of benches.
A young woman with a camera that rivals Faedra’s around her neck smiles. He leads us to her.
“Congratulations,” she says. “Do you have any views you’re specifically wanting?”
Triston shakes his head. Then he eases the brown cowboy hat he wears when working the cattle on his head.
I adjust the Western-style shirt, making sure the cuffs are straight and the bolo tie is adjusted properly.
Emily runs her hands through her hair, shaking out the barrel curls.
Then she messes with the small gold necklace she wears, moving the clasp to the back of her neck.
Penny’s white dress coordinates with Emily’s, down to the floral lace overlay that reaches to the floor but leaves most of their legs exposed.
Her pink boots are much brighter than Emily’s dark brown, though.
Emily scoops her into her arms. Then I adjust Triston’s bolo tie just to have an excuse to touch him right now.
He smiles, seeing through the excuse, and then he kisses me, a light meeting of our lips that’s finished too soon.
There’s the click of a camera lens.
The photographer is faster than even Faedra, arranging us in various corners of the courtyard, each of us taking turns holding the registration and Penny.
By the end, my face aches from smiling so much, and Emily’s laughing as Triston pretends to eat her neck.
Penny giggles on the ground, a small stick in her hands.
The Council member offers another congratulations and takes the registration form.
“The department that handles adoptions should be here in another few minutes. They typically wait until the paternity testing has finished before going through the paperwork.”
I shake his offered hand. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” he says. Then he’s disappearing back inside the building.
The photographer holds out a small business card. “I should have them edited and uploaded to the portal in about a week,” she says. “Your access ID is on the back.”
I give her my thanks, too, and then we’re alone in the courtyard.
I soak it all in, Triston’s soft laugh and Emily’s smile and Penny’s happy squealing as she runs around with the stick.
Emily grabs my hand and pulls me to them, kissing me until I’m hard and aching and wishing we were somewhere I could lay them both out in front of me.
When she pulls away, there’s a request in her eyes. Without a word, I adjust my aching dick and pull the small jewelry box from the side pocket of Penny’s diaper bag. I offer it to Emily, and her cheeks flush. Then she holds it out for Triston.
His eyebrows furrow, a question in his gaze even as he cautiously takes the long velvet box. The sun glints off the simple gold chain nestled against the pillow of black.
“Stacking rings are more traditional,” Emily murmurs, “but…”
“Rings are dangerous working with the cattle,” I murmur.
Triston’s Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows.
“This should be short enough to be able to tuck it under your shirts, though. If it isn’t, we can adjust it.
And you don’t have to wear it at all while riding if you don’t want to.
Safety’s more important than any kind of jewelry. ”
Emily nods. “We know you’re with us. A necklace doesn’t change that.”
“Thank you,” he says, looking between us both.
I lace my fingers with his, and Emily tightens her hold on his arm. She presses a kiss to his cheek even as I run my lips along his knuckles. It’s Emily who says the words.
“We love you, Omega.”
His smile is soft, nearly wondrous. “I love you, too. Both of you.”
The words send a bolt of lightning straight down my spine that spreads into a happy contentment in my chest.