Finian put down the phone, and he smiled to himself. He was so relieved that Dorian wanted to come back home, and it didn't really bother him that Dorian wanted to bring Shiro with him. Finian knew it was all for the best. Finian for one hadn't slept all night. He simply couldn't fall asleep without Dorian next to him. Finian missed his husband's warmth. He missed hearing Dorian's calm breathing. Finian knew that Dorian would spend some nights with Shiro, even here, in their home. But he could deal with that, as long as Dorian was in the same house.
And when the first thing Dorian said on the phone, was that he missed his Finian so much it hurt, Finian thought he could cry of happiness. He had been so scared that Dorian would fall head over heels in love with Shiro and let him go. Finian still was far too unsure of his own importance to Dorian. And foolishly enough, he compared himself to a fated pair. But Finian wasn't the one that gave up without a fight. He was determined to make this work.
After the phone call, Finian went directly to the guestroom and started to clean. Dorian had said that, before they came back, he and Shiro would go to a furniture store and buy stuff Shiro wanted. It was one of that typical ′ Dorian-thing' to do. The blond alpha always wanted to make sure that everybody was satisfied. Well, it didn't really bother Finian. After all, it was one of the things that Finian loved the most about Dorian. His big, kind heart.
Luckily the guestroom was pretty clean, and there weren't a lot of personal things in there. And the few things Finian found, he put away in the closet. When he was done with everything, Finian first went to Eamon's room. The boy was sitting in front of the computer. But he turned around when there was a knock on the door.
"What are you doing, Sweetie?" Finian asked when he walked in and sat down on the bed.
"Looking at the stock market."
Finian smiled and shook his head in wonder.
"I don't know who you take after, but it's certainly not your Dad or me."
"Grandfather," he answered flatly. "It's all he's doing."
Finian chuckled and agreed.
"Yeah, you're really just like your grandfather."
Amused, the father and son looked at each other.
"I have meant to ask you this for a while now. But what do you think of Shiro?" Finian asked in a curious tone.
Eamon looked startled at his Daidaí. It took a while for the boy to answer. He seemed to contemplate whether or not he should be honest with his father. Eamon took a deep breath before he replied.
"I think he seems like a good man. He's very kind and easy to get along with."
Finian nodded. He agreed with everything Eamon said.
"He is, isn't he?" Finian smiled while he talked, thankful that his son felt he could be honest with him.
"I'm sorry, Daidaí," the boy said in a low voice, and he couldn't meet his father's eyes.
"Why are you saying that, Luv?"
"Well, it's hard on you, right? He's Dad's fated pair after all," Eamon sounded troubled and glanced at his father.
"Yes, he is. But haven't I told you that I'm okay with it?"
"But are you really? Isn't that something you say just to make everybody else feel better?"
'Oh, my sweet, perceptive child,' Finian thought, and his chest felt all warm and fuzzy.
The kindness and the sensitivity that Eamon had was pure and very rare in a young teenage boy. Finian's heart was overflowing with pride.
"Well, at first, I was unhappy about it, but not anymore. Being a fated pair is something extraordinary and unique. And we all have to do our best to make this work. I trust your father, Eamon, and I know that he is capable of having a strong relationship with both me and Shiro."
Finian believed in what he said. He was more sure than ever that this would work. But Eamon looked unhappy.
"I hope I never found my pair," the boy murmured.
Finian flinched and walked up to his son.
"Why's that?"
"Because it seems awful. You don't get to chose who you will live with, and you are bonded to someone against your will. I don't want that!" Eamon's voice was shaking, and he looked at his father with tear-filled eyes.
Finian couldn't blame the boy for thinking like that, and he patted his son on his head.
"Have I ever told you why I decided to specialize in relationships between the different genders?"
Eamon shook his head and dried his tears with his hand. His father's voice calmed him.
"Well, when I was around ten years old, your grandmother and I lived neighbors with an old couple. Two women, alpha and omega. They were fated pair and half-siblings."
"What!" Eamon exclaimed, surprised, and Finian continued.
"Yes. Everybody knew about their kinship, but nobody talked about it. Because they were after all fated. Meanwhile, we had two other neighbors, who were an alpha woman and a beta man. The alpha was from a nice, rich family; meanwhile, the beta was from a middle-class family. They fell in love in the old fashion way but were shunned by her family, and everybody gossiped about them. I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about how people looked at different genders and why. I grew up with both my mother and father married, not so much as they loved each other, but because they were suitable alphas. And as you know, they ended up hating each other," By the thought of his parents, Finian sighed and stroked his growing round belly.
"I don't hold any romantic views about finding my own fated pair. Honestly, the thought has never once crossed my mind. And, I have your father, who I love so much. But I think there is something special with someone so perfect for you. And after all, even a normal relationship can go either way, you know," Finian's gloomy expression changed, and he smiled gently at his son.
Eamon listened attentively, and afterward, he sat and looked down at his hands that were grasping his knees. He relaxed and stretched them, grimacing. Eamon had never thought that love could be so complicated. After all, his parents were the most loving people he had ever meet, and his grandparents as well. He had friends whose parents were divorced, but it had never been anything he thought deeply about. Not until this with Shiro.
"Are you really happy, Daidaí?" Eamon carefully asked.
Finian looked at his son, and his smile was radiant.
"Yes, Luv, I really am. I have the perfect children, and I have a husband that I love with all my heart and who loves me back. And I want Shiro, and his daughter, to become a part of our family as well. So, that's why Shiro is moving in today."
Surprised, Eamon's eyes grew big as he stared at his father.
"He is?"
"Yeah. Dorian and Shiro are just going to buy some things for Shiro's room. Then, they will come here."
Eamon seemed a little taken about by that, but not upset.
"I'm glad. I don't want Dad to stay at some other place. It doesn't feel right."
"I know. It feels weird, doesn't it?"
"Yeah."
Father and son glanced at each other, and they smiled in mutual understanding.
"You are a great kid, Eamon. You know that, right?"
A faint blush spread on Eamon's cheeks and feeling a bit bashful. He looked away. But then, his Daidaí put his arms around him and pulled him off the chair into his strong embrace.
"Stop growing, please," Finian chuckled and ruffled the boy's thick red hair.
Eamon, who was almost sitting in his father's lap, laughed as well and returned the hug.
"Sorry, Daidaí. But I am determined to outgrow Dad."
"Wow, you want to become a giant then?"
"Yeah! One day, I want to look down at him and pat his head, and say 'There, there little father.'"
Finian burst out laughing. It was a genuine, happy laugh, and it felt great. He hadn't laughed like that for a long time, and he held his arms around his son even tighter. Eamon smiled tenderly when he heard his father's wonderful laugh. There hadn't been much laughing the past weeks in the house.
"I love you, Pet," Finian said, and then kissed the top of Eamon's head.
Eamon gazed at his father and beamed.
"I love you too, Daidaí."
They sat like that for a while, until Finian's legs started to ache. Eamon was getting too big to be sitting in his lap. The boy noticed when Finian began to grimace, and he quickly stood up.
"Are you going to talk with Caoimhe now?" Eamon asked and held out his hand to his father.
"Yes, I am," Finian replied, and stood up while rubbing his numb legs.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Eamon asked, but Finian shook his head.
Sure, things would probably go more smoothly if Eamon was there. Because he was the one that Caoimhe listened to. But Finian knew he had to have this talk with just the two of them.
"Thank you, Sweetie, but I think it's better if I talk with her alone. But I wonder if you could perhaps call your uncle and tell him everything."
"Dad still hasn't talked to Uncle Lucas?"
"No," Finian answered and sounded bothered. "Your stubborn father is childish. Most likely, Dorian feels betrayed that Lucas told us about the drug. Still, I also know that he realizes that he's unfair to Lucas. Your father just doesn't know how to approach him."
Dorian had refused to talk with Lucas, ever since that day when Lucas, Finian, and Joy had their little 'intervention' about the drug. When Dorian met Lucas at the office, Dorian ignored him. The same thing when Lucas called him. The younger McCallister had, feeling quite miserable, turned to Finian for advice. Lucas didn't know what to do. He felt like the worst brother in the world. Lucas had always looked up to Dorian. And to be rejected by his role-model was devastating for the younger brother. Finian had tried to get Dorian to accept that Lucas did nothing wrong, but once again, Dorian's stubbornness came in the way. The thing was that Dorian knew that Finian was right. He knew that he should be grateful to Lucas for talking with Finian. Because Lucas probably saved both Dorian's and Shiro's life by doing that. But Dorian couldn't make himself reconcile with Lucas. He was too ashamed. The older McCallister hated how he had acted, so foolish, and now he was stuck.
"Alright, I call him," Eamon responded without any hesitation.
He liked his uncle Lucas, and the boy wanted him and his father to make peace.
"Thank you," Finian said and walked to the door.
"Daidaí, what happened to your neighbors?" Eamon asked before Finian walked out the door.
Finian stopped and smiled at him.
"Both couples' lived together until they died of old age," he said and left, leaving Eamon feeling a bit comforted.
Brazing himself, Finian walked to Caoimhe's room. He was nervous about how the temperamental young girl would react to the news about Shiro, and Finian gently knocked on the door. There was music coming from the other side, and it took a while before he heard a response from the other side. The music stopped as Finian opened the door, and he saw Caoimhe laying in the bed with her phone in her hands. Finian knew what she was doing, and he was glad. But Caoimhe acted like nothing.
"What is it?"
"Was that Shiro's latest video?"
Finian couldn't help but to tease his daughter and true, Caoimhe turned bright red in her face and shook her head vigorously.
"No, it wasn't. What do you want?"
Finian smirked and decided not to push his luck further. He shouldn't forget what he was there for.
"I have something to talk to you about, Luv," he said and sat down at the end of the bed.
"Is it about Shiro?" she asked and put away her phone.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. Perhaps you already understand what it's about?"
And he wasn't surprised when Caoimhe nodded. As her big brother, Caoimhe was very sharp.
"Dad wants Shiro to move in here, right?"
"That's right, but how did you know?"
Caoimhe looked at her father with a 'you're kidding me, right?' expression on her face.
"Because it's Dad. He is probably feeling guilty for leaving us, and he always wants everyone to be happy."
Finian was genuinely amazed. This ten-year-old girl never ceased to amaze him.
"Are you okay with it?"
The question made Caoimhe shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know. I mean, it's Shiro Nakamura. Living in my house. That's pretty amazing."
Finian chuckled. So quickly, the girl returned to behave like a child again.
"But, I think I will get used to it. Is Ikumi coming here as well?"
"Yes, I think so," Finian answered, not surprised that Caoimhe knew Shiro's daughter's name.
"But I don't want to share a room," Caoimhe immediately replied, scowling at her father.
"Of course not. We will figure something out," Finian said, surprised that it all had gone so smoothly.
"Are Dad coming home soon, then?"
"Yes, he and Shiro are just going to go shopping for things for Shiro's room first."
Caoimhe seemed to contemplate something when she suddenly stood up and looked at her father with a severe expression.
"Then we should prepare for tea? Don't you think?"
Finian first just stared at his ten-year-old daughter, but collected himself and nodded.
"Yes, you're right. We need scones."
"And we have to make your Irish tea cake. We do have time to make that, right?"
Finian told her that they most definitely had time to make the cake if they get started right away. Laughing, the father and daughter ran to the kitchen. Caoimhe yelled after her brother to come and help them. Which the boy quickly did.
And while Finian stood in the kitchen with his two children, he felt happier than he had done in weeks. This was as it should be. The kids weren't troubled by things that they really shouldn't have to deal with. Finian was convinced that he had done the right thing when he agreed to let Shiro live with them. All the details about Dorian spending some nights in Shiro's room would just have to wait. Now he just wanted to enjoy the joyful atmosphere in his home, without any worries.
Caoimhe and Eamon were in charge of the scones and the sandwiches, and Finian made his mother's Irish tea cake. Afterward, they set the table and picked which tea to serve. And when everything was almost done, they only had to put the scones in the oven, take out the cake, and patiently wait for Dorian and Shiro to come home. That was when Caoimhe realized she was in Dorian's old t-shirt and had leggings dirty with flour from the scones, and the girl panicked. She couldn't meet her idol looking like that. So Caoimhe ran, as fast as she ever had, upstairs to her room to change clothes.
Eamon decided to call Lucas while they waited, and Finian sat down on a chair, relaxing his aching feet. He was growing heavier by the day, and it started to feel in his feet. Eamon hadn't been gone for a long time when he came back to the kitchen with his phone in his outstretched hand.
"Uncle Lucas wants to talk with you."
Finian took the phone to his ear.
"Hi there, Lucas!"
"Hello brother-in-law, how are you?"
The younger man sounded tired, and Finian got a concerned expression on his face.
"Good, thanks, but you don't sound so well?"
There was a little break and then a deep sigh.
"Truth be told, I don't feel so good. Since this whole thing with Dorian, I haven't been sleeping that well, and I just can't seem to focus. I feel ridiculous Finian, I mean Dorian is just my brother, but I miss him so damn much."
Finian could hear the dejection in the younger man's voice, and his heart was filled with compassion. Finian understood very well what Lucas was talking about, even if Lucas himself, most likely, didn't know the significance of what he was saying. Because there wasn't that many Prime-Alpha's in the world, and they often were in such high positions that scientists couldn't easily just study them. As a psychologist and a researcher in the different gender's behavior, Finian was lucky to be in the same family as two Prime-Alpha's. He was confident that he had plenty of knowledge about them by now. Lucas was a regular alpha, just like Finian was, and he was subordinate to Dorian. The latter, as a Prime-Alpha, was much more dominant then Lucas was. When Dorian dismissed Lucas, the man lost his leader's favor, and that affected Lucas a great deal. It was just a natural reaction that they couldn't do anything about. It was the same reason why Caoimhe seemed to listen to Eamon because he most likely was a Prime-Alpha too.
And Finian had his suspicion that the boy would turn out to be even more dominant than his father, just like Dorian was stronger than Keith. Dorian was the current head of the family, and Lucas was now being shunned by his leader, leaving him rejected and feeling lost. Lucas was filled with the need to appease his brother and be welcomed back to the family.
"I'm thinking of throwing a dinner with your parents and my mother, to welcome Shiro into the family. If you come a bit earlier, I can make sure Dorian has no other choice than to talk with you."
"Are you sure you want to do things behind his back again."
"Well, it all worked out alright, didn't it? In the end, I mean," Finian snickered.
He was in a great mood and full of confidence.
"And Dorian misses you as well, so it won't be a difficult task getting him to talk to you. He just needs help getting started, that's all."
"Are you really sure?"
"Yes, I am a hundred percent certain. Trust me."
"Alright, I know you are a lot smarter than me, so let's go for that. Just get back to me about the date and time then," Lucas said after a moment of silence.
The younger alpha was glad that he could leave the matter in the hands of Finian, whom he trusted greatly.
They said their goodbyes and ended the call. Finian gave back the phone to Eamon, and the boy looked at him.
"You're not going to make Dad angry at you again?" Eamon asked concerned.
Finian shook his head and smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, Eamon. I won't even have to hide anything from Dorian. He won't object at all. He might act like he doesn't want to meet Lucas, but the truth is that he really wants to."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Don't forget that I have been with your Dad since we were kids. I know him."
That was true, and Eamon knew that as well. So the boy let the subject go. As they finished discussing the matter, Finian's phone received a message, and he quickly read it.
"Good, they are on their way now. Go and get Caoimhe. We have to finish the scones and make tea," Finian stood up and turned to the stove.
And as Eamon ran to the second floor to get his little sister, his heart was hammering happily in his chest. Everything was returning to normal. Well, he had gotten a new step-father, if that was the right word for what Shiro was to him. And soon, he would also get a new little sister. But most important was that his fathers and Caoimhe were happy. That was all that mattered to him. Eamon was truly a strong Prime-Alpha in the making.