by Aiden Bates
Derek let her chew on that and checked his social media feeds. His Facebook feed was filling up with threats, and specific threats at that. It looked like a bunch of new accounts with no friends, or linked to other new accounts, had decided to start posting promises of violence to his timeline. Derek decided not to respond, but sent a message to Detective Langbroek in hopes that she might be able to follow up.
He took screen shots, too, just in case.
He tried not to let the threats bother him. After his shift at the local station he had to record commercials, two hours' worth of commercials, and then he had a shift on satellite radio. His local station was kind enough to let him use the booth for the satellite gig, provided they got a cut.
He sat through that gig as well, even though this was a late-night gig and didn't offer nearly as much entertainment for him. Then, when he was done with that, he finally went home.
He and Carmela hit the sack as soon as they walked in the door. He felt guilty about that. In the short term, it wasn't the end of the world to ask Carmela to deal with the schedule. He'd spoken about it with Ms. Myles, with Dr. Radic, and with Ayla. If Carmela stayed with him in the long term, they might want to revisit his working hours. He could certainly live with the reduction in income. He'd been socking away money for years. If he could convince the satellite people to let him switch to the morning drive, that would be best.
What would probably be best for Carmela would be to return to her family, assuming they were safe. Derek would miss her, but it was still the best solution.
A couple of days after he started up back at work again, he and Carmela returned home to find Ayla and Alex standing out in front of Alex’s apartment. Ayla was talking, and from her snappy and frequent gestures Alex could only assume she was angry. Alex’s face looked like it was shrouded in a dark cloud.
Carmela glanced over at Alex. "What's going on?"
Derek looked away. "I don't know. But I think we're going to find out."
They walked up to the door to Derek's condo, which meant they had to pass by the quarreling siblings. Alex’s face lightened up as soon as Derek stepped up onto the landing. "Derek. You're home."
"Wow, they taught you to reason like that in medical school?" Ayla snorted. "Derek, do you think we could talk?"
Derek stifled a yawn. "Of course we can." He opened the door. "After you."
Carmela looked around at the adults. "I think I'm going to go and hit the sack." She walked down the hallway to her room.
Once her door was firmly closed behind her, Derek turned to the others. "Okay. Carmela lives here. This is her house. I get that what you have to tell me is important, but seriously. Can we not treat her like she's an add-on?"
Ayla's cheeks reddened. "I'm sorry. You're right. It was rude of me. I'll apologize tomorrow."
Alex’s jaw tightened, but he bowed his head after a moment. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's hard to remember sometimes."
It was the best he could get, and Derek wasn't sure what else he could really hope for. Carmela was already off in her own room anyway. "Great." He flopped down onto the couch. "Now that we're through that, maybe you could let me know what you're so excited about?"
"We've completed our investigation into Carmela's parents." Ayla took a seat next to Derek. "We've found they had nothing to do with her abduction. She was abducted after a scam promising jobs."
Relief rushed through Derek's veins like adrenaline. It was mixed with a healthy dose of grief, since Carmela surely wouldn't stay with him much longer, but he'd been scared to find out something more terrible than what he already knew. "Okay. Okay, that's great news."
Alex settled in on Derek's other side. He was too close to pretend they were just friends. Derek leaned against him before he knew what he was doing, and Alex pulled him in and let him rest. "Go ahead, Ayla. Tell him the rest of it."
"What rest of it?" Derek turned his head to look at Ayla, who was now glaring at her brother.
Ayla ran her tongue over her teeth. "Well, since there wasn't any reason to keep the information from them, I had to inform them that Carmela had been found. I told them the truth. She'd been held captive for months by traffickers, and that she'd heroically saved herself and the other girls along with you, Derek."
Derek tensed. "How did they react?"
"They were still trying to come up with ways to show their gratitude to you when I got off the phone with them. They were a little less enthusiastic when I explained that she was reluctant to contact them and why."
Stubble scraped against Derek's cheek as Alex shook his head. "You shouldn't have told them until she was ready."
"Are you kidding me right now?" Ayla slapped a hand against her own chest. "Are you kidding me? After all that time going on about how I had an obligation to come home long before I was ready you're going to sit there and say I was wrong for following the rules and informing that girl's parents that she's still alive?"
"I just think it's crueler to let them know she's alive and doesn't want to talk to them, than to think she's gone and not have that extra heartache." Alex sighed. "And yeah. I was wrong about you having an obligation to come home. It was naive of me to think Dad would somehow go back to being Dad."
"Hell yeah it was." She snorted. "Anyway. We're not going to force her to go back to them unless a judge pushes the issue. Some parents do take us to court, but in this case the Melendez family isn't interested in doing that. All they want to do is help Carmela."
"I know she's afraid." Derek threw his voice into the mix before Alex and Ayla could completely derail the conversation. "I know she's afraid of being judged, or cast out, or treated badly, or whatever. Her parents are religious and she's got ideas about sin."
Ayla grimaced. "Yeah, I understand that a little bit too well. I've spoken with them about that. It made them cry. All they care about is bringing their little girl home. They understand she's been through unimaginable trauma, and that it's going to take time. They've gotten leaves of absence to leave California and come to Syracuse to be here and available, and maybe ease her into it when she is ready. I think that's probably the best course of action."
Derek ran his tongue ring along the bottom row of teeth. "And you want me to explain it to her."
"I think it's not a bad idea. You're the one she trusts most."
Derek sighed. "I'm like the least qualified here." He rubbed at his temples. "But I will give it a shot. I want everything to go right for her, or as right as we can make it." He looked up at Ayla. "I could wish you'd warned her before you took this step."
She looked away. "I know."
Alex rubbed at Derek's shoulders. "You're a good foster dad."
Derek didn't say anything. He wasn't a bad foster dad, under the circumstances, but he wasn't looking forward to sharing this kind of news.
***
Alex stayed with Derek for a few hours that night. He could see Derek was upset, and he didn't blame him. After all, Alex was upset too. Ayla's hands were tied by proper procedures and law, and of course it was right for the Melendezes to know their daughter was alive. She'd just kind of forced Derek into an uncomfortable role.
"You okay?" He stroked Derek's long blond hair.
"I will be. I get why it has to happen." He sighed and relaxed into Alex’s embrace. "I hope I'll get to meet them, you know?"
Alex did a double take. "I can't imagine how you wouldn't. You're a great dad to Carmela."
Derek snorted. "More like an older brother with guardianship. I'm not exactly dad material."
"You don't think so?" Alex pulled back just enough to stare at Derek in amazement. "I think you'd be fantastic. You're so good at all of the sensitive stuff, you know? You know how to deal with people, how to handle their problems and all that."
Derek hid his face behind the curtain of his long hair. "I do okay, sometimes, when it's something I know. That's different than starting a family, you know? And family is something I just don't get. I'm not the kind of guy people bring home
to meet the parents. I'm the guy people sneak around to hide, and then break up with when they marry someone else."
"Ouch." Cold sweat dripped down Alex’s back. "That's harsh."
"That's fact. And it is what it is. I'm a kind of enjoy the moment guy, you know what I mean? I can live with it. I can deal with it, if the time leading up to that breakup is good." He sat up straighter. "I get that for most folks, happiness is marriage and babies and all that, but I guess I never saw that as 'good' when I was a kid. Even before everything, my parents' relationship was a horror show. I don't want that for myself."
"I suppose you wouldn't." Alex adjusted his position on the couch. "You're young, but you must think about the future sometimes."
"Oh, sure. Who doesn't?" Derek flipped the top of his tongue ring at him. "But I can't exactly change it, you know? I'm going to be me whether I get all maudlin about it or whether I accept it. I'd rather put my energy toward something I can fix, you know?"
"I guess." Alex decided to let the matter drop and enjoy some time alone with Derek. They didn't get much time together as it was.
They got less time together as Alex had to figure out Derek's new schedule. Now he understood why Derek had come home so late and aroused his ire. The man worked as hard as a hospital resident. Alex could only sit back in awe as he watched Derek trudge back to the house late at night. He had his two jobs, with the radio station and with the satellite channel. He had his show on Saturday nights, on the Spanish channel. And he had appearances at concerts and other local events to round things out, although the station was cutting him a break on those right now thanks to the people wanting to kill him.
It was a lot. It was a lot, and Alex wasn't sure when he was supposed to step in and spend time with Derek. Alex had responsibilities of his own, and as the weather turned cooler he found himself pressed into staying later at Silver Oak. It wasn't as though he could leave mid-surgery, after all.
His parents, too, had demands. Alex found himself summoned to dinner on a Sunday, when he could have been spending time with Derek. He considered telling them to screw off, but the summons had been issued by both parents. That didn't happen often. Derek was increasingly willing to defy his father, although that was easier to do when his father wasn't right in front of him. Mama, on the other hand, was everything good and sweet in life. He couldn't defy her.
So he went, and they enjoyed a rare dinner with meat. Ayla and Ivy were there, of course. Ayla looked like she was sitting on nails instead of upholstery, but she was there.
Alex’s foot tapped against the floor throughout the meal. He didn't understand why his parents had demanded this meeting, but they weren't going to show their cards until they were good and ready. Mama served dessert after dinner, followed by tea. No one spoke much. Everyone could feel the tension in the air, although there was always tension when Ivy or Ayla was around Dad these days.
After dinner, Dad led them into the formal living room and directed everyone to sit on the larger black leather couch. It was the same black leather couch that had been there for thirty-odd years. Alex had his first kiss on that couch, with Ryan Messana. He'd sucked his first cock on that couch, too, fast and messy in case his parents came home.
Somehow, Alex didn't think this was going to be such a pleasant experience.
Mama sat on the other couch, elegant and a little sad as she draped herself over the arm. She glanced over at Dad, an expression Alex couldn't quite read on her face. Then she cast her gaze back over to her children.
Dad stood. His back was to Mama, and his weathered face hard as he looked at his children. "I directed you to come here tonight because I could see we needed to talk about your responsibilities to this family. You've all been shirking. After everything we've put into you, all the work we've done, you're sitting here like you don't owe us anything. This family made you. This family is everything."
Ivy rolled her eyes and flipped her long hair over her shoulder. "We're normal people, Dad. This isn't the mafia."
Alex snickered. He could almost imagine Dad in a pinstriped suit, opening fire on all of the lower-class omegas who might want to date his son. Then he remembered that someone did want to open fire on the lower-class omega who was dating Alex, and he sobered up again.
"I don't owe you squat." Ayla narrowed her eyes at her father. "I'm sure you'd have done something for me if you'd been able. I don't really blame you for anything that happened to me, but let's be real here. Everything I've accomplished I've done on my own. I built my life back up. I got back on my feet with no support. I put myself through undergrad, and through law school. I built my own career. You had nothing to do with it."
Dad's face flashed red, then white. "You owed this family the knowledge that you were still alive. You owed this family your return. You should have been right back here where we could keep an eye on you. You know damn well that we would have made sure you were in a better line of work. And honestly, why the hell aren't you married yet?"
Ayla's cheeks flushed red. "You know absolutely nothing about what I've been through. If you knew, you'd never ask that."
Dad waved a hand. "Come on, Ayla. It's been twenty years. Grow up and get over it already."
Alex wrapped an arm around Ayla's shoulders. "You're out of line."
Dad stepped closer to him. "This is my house, and my family. You don't get to tell me I'm out of line." He turned to Ivy. "Ivy, you don't even have Ayla's little excuses. You've just been flouncing around, refusing to take responsibility. You're thirty, for crying out loud. You're too old to not have a husband and children yet. Sure your lifestyle was cute enough when you were twenty-two. Now it's just pathetic. Who can be proud of that? And I've had it up to here with your defiance. I am your father. You answer to me."
"Wow, do they have air conditioning in your cave?" Ivy wrinkled her nose. "I'm not interested in kids. And you don't exactly fill me with the desire to go saddling myself with a husband. If a man treated me the way you treat Mama I'd cut him."
Mama gasped and covered her mouth with one hand. She didn't spring to Dad's defense, though, not even when Dad turned to look at her.
"You have no right to say anything about my relationship with your mother. Grow up, find a husband, or I'll find one for you." Dad shook a finger at Ivy.
Alex tried not to laugh at that. Did Dad not understand that he couldn't actually force Ivy to marry anyone? He couldn't do it legally, and he couldn't do it physically? Was Dad in the early stages of dementia?
"And as for you." Now the finger of blame was pointed at Alex. "I told you specifically not to be involved with that nasty, dirty omega. I told you to stop seeing him. I told you to move out of that complex. As near as I can tell, you've done neither of those things."
Alex's insides clenched. It was one thing to decide to defy his father in the privacy of his own condo. Sitting here in his childhood home, with his father looming over him like an avenging ghost, he was having second thoughts.
He banished those thoughts away. He was an adult, and Derek was a great man. Of course, defiance didn't have to be overt. He could probably avoid confrontation by lying. "No, I haven't." He shrugged. "It's a fling. Alphas have needs. It's convenient. Derek knows what the expectations are."
"I'm pretty sure I gave you a direct order." Dad crossed his arms over his chest.
"You did. I'm thirty-three. I'm way too old to have someone else managing my sex life." Alex wanted to throw up, but he didn't dare. Ayla and Ivy had both pulled back from him, so there was no support to be found there. Whether they'd pulled back because they didn't want to be hit by the spatter or because they were repulsed by the way he'd apparently sacrificed Derek, Alex didn't know.
"It's not just your sex life. It's like I told you the other day. It's important to the family for your sisters to settle down and give us grandchildren. That's what will make us proud. But the family name won't be carried on until you get married and give us a son. You've been out there screwing around instead of fi
nding yourself a good, appropriate partner that will be a good match for the family.
"I've come up with a list of six omegas for you to choose from. You're going to pick one, and you're going to propose." Dad reached into his pocket and pulled out a paper list.
Alex laughed. There might have been a touch of hysteria to it. This had been exactly what Derek had described. Had Alex somehow tripped through the looking glass?
"It's the twenty-first century, Dad. I'm not calling some guy and saying, 'Hi, I'm an alpha, let's get married.'"
Dad smirked. "They've been pre-screened. They'll be receptive."
Alex doubled over as the laughter tore out of him. "This is absurd. You understand that, right? I'm not calling anyone on this list. It takes more to build a marriage than just an alpha and an omega. I mean for crying out loud, Dad, are you high right now?"
Dad grabbed Alex’s hand and forced the list into it. "You will call, and you will get married. Within the week." He stormed out of the room.