Vivi couldn't be happier than when she was with Leo. He was standing up for her and at the same time for himself and their future family right here and now in front of their parents.
After that day, Vivi, Leo, and Uncle Lionel, all worked on making not only new contraceptives for the two of them, but new suppressants that would work with their bond as well. Just as they thought, they were emotionally bonded to each other, and it showed in the data that her uncle showed them.
A week after the confrontation by their parents, Vivi received her acceptance letter for her thesis, making her a doctor as soon as she graduated. Graduation was a huge ordeal for the family when she received her diploma and doctorate as well as graduating top of her class and with all the honors one could obtain.
What she didn't expect was that her graduation present was the keys to a brand-new apartment. It was an apartment complex close to where she would be working with Dr. Matty as she learned all the tricks of her trade.
"Now that you are a fully grown and graduated, working adult, with a mate, you'll need a space all your own…" Darrol said with a smile at his daughter in her cap and gown.
"I had to talk your Uncle Lionel down from getting you two a house since we know you are going to be too busy to care for a full-blown home yet. But that's not to say that it's completely off the table later…" Kaito laughed at his niece's expression.
"Really?! An apartment for just Leon and I? Are you freaking kidding me?!" Vivi squealed with delight and threw her arms around her mom and uncle.
"Congrats on graduating, Vivi!" Noel said as she hugged her cousin. "Are you sure you can live with my brother? If he bothers you with his neediness, I can whip up something that will for sure knock him down a peg!" Noel laughed at her twin's expression.
"I can handle him Noel, don't worry." Vivi smiled at her cousin.
"Noel, can you not insinuate that I'm some kind of insatiable beast?!" Leon glowered at his twin sister.
"What can I say? You're an alpha, like me, and I know a thing or two…" Noel laughed at Vivi's expression.
"What, did you think I was going to remain innocent my whole life?! I have a boyfriend, you know." Noel proclaimed.
"Who is your boyfriend and how come this is the first I've heard of him, Noel?" Vivi asked.
"Because I thought you already knew we were dating…" Noel pointed over to Chad and Jeanie that were talking to Henry, Luxia, and Kirby.
"So, which of the three are you dating?" Vivi asked.
"Henry of course! He's the only one of the three that I can stand. Did you know he's a recessive alpha? He's the only one that can stand toe-to-toe with me, especially after I discovered his secret. You know he was hiding his secondary gender in high school because he didn't want to be judged based on that?" Noel explained. It wasn't a secret he kept any more so she was safe talking about it.
"Hey babe, how's it going?" Henry sauntered over and pulled Noel into his embrace.
"It's not going anywhere if you keep that up!" Noel laughed and pushed Henry away playfully.
"Since when have you been dating my sister, you bastard?! Leon asked in slight outrage, Henry was one of his friends and he hadn't said a word to him about it.
"Cause it's not a big deal. Besides, it's only recent, it's not like we've been dating long and if Noel didn't see fit to tell you, then I wasn't going to say anything."
"Take a chill pill, Leon. We gave things a shot after our birthday. You've been so focused on Vivi anyway that it's not like you would have noticed anyway."
Leon sulked a bit. As usual his sister was right.
After her graduation, Vivi and Leon moved into their small one-bedroom apartment. It was small but cozy and their parents had made sure that it was fully equipped with everything they needed. Although it was hard to think of this place as their love nest, it's what their parents thought they would need so they weren't about to look a fully paid gift horse in the mouth. For the remainder of the summer, the two made frequent trips up to the mountain getaway cabin.
This was the place that they considered their true love nest. Vivi had to admit that this was more comfortable than their small apartment and it had the added benefit that they didn't have nosey neighbors nor annoyingly loud ones disturbing them at all hours of the day or night. There was one particularly annoying neighbor that looked down on them because Leon was four years younger than her, and it infuriated her that they felt the need to stick their nose where it doesn't belong. She was happy with Leon and him being four years younger was just a number. Mentally he was just as smart and advanced in his wisdom as she and that made him her ideal partner.
Soon enough, Vivi's 23rd birthday was fast approaching. Leon knew what he wanted to do for his goddess, but his funds were depleted. He had renewed the rental on the cabin love nest for another year and couldn't get what he wanted to give her for her birthday. He had been working as well as going to school to keep a bit of money in his pocket above and beyond the modest allowance his parents gave him and Noel. He had to wait until he was 21 before he would receive access to his trust fund, but he honestly didn't mind picking up odd jobs here and there.
He kept his grades up and got A's in all his classes, even though he hated to study. He did it for his and Vi's future and that kept him going strong. Plus, when something really stumped him, Vi helped him study, even though she was dead tired from work. He tried his best to be there for Vi but there were days it was hard to know what to do for her when she was so exhausted.
Ever since they had moved in together, he found it was no easy picnic life like he had imagined living with his goddess. They had their differences that became glaringly obvious the longer that they were together in this small space. But honestly, he wouldn't change a thing for the world. He had a feeling that this cohabitation was cooked up by their parents to make them realize that adulthood isn't all that it's cracked up to be.
Even without the stress of having to worry about rent for their home, he wanted to keep their 'secret love nest' for his goddess because it was a place she could literally let down her hair and be herself and not Dr. Hendrix. It was their favorite place to escape to that they felt truly at home at. So, in a way it was part of Vi's birthday present, but it was his selfish desire to have a place where he could observe her in her natural and uninhibited state. She couldn't really let loose in their apartment since they had thin walls and nosey neighbors.
Since he was observant of his goddess' cycle, he knew that her heat was coming up just before her birthday and the only thing he could afford to do for her birthday this year was to whisk her away for a getaway for her heat leave from work. Even if he suppressed his alpha's rut during this time, he would still like to take care of her. He and she had been very careful about not losing themselves to their rut or heat at the same time. He didn't want to risk getting her pregnant yet, so he had been making sure that he was the one to suppress his rut during her heats.
Ever since they started to live together, he had learned the symptoms to look out for when she was due for her heat. And since she had suppressed them all too often before, this is when he decided to be the one to suppress his rut for the time being.