by Aiden Bates
In the end, Ben's firm did get the contract, although he didn't want to think that it was due to any nepotism. They were just the best, and they had the most expertise for the job. Ben wasn't on site, of course. He wouldn't have been on site unless there was a serious emergency. He liked that little connection, though; liked the idea of contributing to the organization that had taken care of his omega when he couldn't.
Naturally, there had to be a trial for Hartmann. It wasn't like the guy was going to just plead guilty and go quietly into San Quentin, or whatever. No, he had to fight it, and that meant a huge courtroom ordeal for both Ben and Ty. Ty's doctors both objected to putting Ty up on the stand. After all, the trial finally got underway in late October, when he was very visibly and uncomfortably pregnant. He didn't need to be up there, doing this and putting himself through the agony of reliving a near-death experience.
Ty insisted on getting up there. He testified to everything that had happened that night, and everything that had happened before. Hartmann had some good lawyers, Ben would give him that much, but how much could they really do when the guy had confessed in front of multiple witnesses?
They got the conviction, naturally, and after hearing victim impact statements from Ty, Ben, and the mothers of the kids who'd been hurt in the fire, the judge gave Hartmann the maximum sentence allowed. His defense team tried to cry about how his life as a single omega had driven him to desperation and he deserved clemency, but the judge was having none of it. "You showed an absolutely callous disregard for the lives of over a hundred children, Mr. Hartmann," the judge lectured. "Your grudge against Gray House, which thanks to Mr. Ostry's efforts has been well documented, led you to decide that those children's lives did not matter. You will spend the rest of your days in the omega wing at San Quentin, Mr. Hartmann. You will be eligible for parole in thirty years' time, but I sincerely doubt that it will be granted. A man like you, who has been reared to see himself as so entitled that he thinks he can kill with impunity, is rarely able to change. Time will tell, however."
Ben almost felt sorry for him, watching him be led away by the bailiffs. Of course, he knew that Hartmann's father had taken him away on a vacation to wine country before his sentencing, so he didn't feel too badly about it.
Hartmann's father didn't just spend his time taking his son on one last jaunt before the prison doors closed behind him forever. He made a sizable donation to Gray House. This surprised everyone involved, although it was left to Derek Wing to ask why. "My son made his choices," the elder Hartmann explained. "And they were his alone. But I helped to lead him to the well, so to speak. I didn't think he'd end up like this. I didn't. When I first sued Gray House to get Troy back, I had no idea that I was setting everyone up for something like this. I just… I'm sorry." He handed the check over and shook his head. "I'm so incredibly sorry."
Ben had already engaged a lawyer to go after the younger Hartmann personally. He wasn't being opportunistic, or at least he didn't think that he was. He didn't want Hartmann to sit around thinking that he'd make parole in thirty years and then pick his life right back up the way that he'd left it. He spoke with the other families and filed suit on behalf of everyone who had been injured, and then he left the lawyers to handle it.
Ty preferred not to think about it. He had enough on his mind. He defended his thesis in December and went right back to work at Gray House, the promise of a raise and a new job title waiting for him after Bean was born. They'd elected not to ask about Bean's sex, only wanting to know that their baby was healthy and developing normally. That was enough for them.
They barely had time to celebrate the culmination of all of Ty's hard work before it was time to go back into the hospital. After the fire, the doctors didn't want to take any chances with Ty so they had strongly recommended that they schedule a C-section. It took Ben some time to argue Ty around to it, but in the end he came around. "It's not that you couldn't do it the other way, it's that we're all worried about distress. You haven't been able to build your strength back up yet, and we're nervous."
Ty grumbled about it, but he gave in and on January eighteenth, they went in to meet Bean for the first time. Ben stayed up near Ty's head, watching the anesthesiologist. He wasn't a big fan of seeing his mate get cut like that, but he could see that Ty wasn't in any pain at all so he could cope.
Their daughter was beautiful, even before they cleaned her off. They let Ben hold her first, because Ty still had the spinal block on and couldn't move, but Ben brought her over to show to Ty. "Look, Rose. That's your daddy," he said, tears of joy in his eyes. "That's your daddy. He's been carrying you around for nine months."
Rose shook her little fist at him and yelled. The nurses laughed and took Rose away from him. "Let's get her cleaned up," the doctor suggested. "She'll feel better when she's warm and dry and swaddled."
A few minutes later and they were in the recovery room, with a very pink bundle of baby nestled in the crook of Ty's arm. "Is she everything you wanted?" Ben asked Ty.
"You're everything that I wanted." Ty turned his eyes over to Ben and smiled. "Together, you're everything I wanted and more."
<<<<>>>>
BONUS CHAPTER: Chapter Eleven
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