Pride, Pups and Prejudice, Part 7/9

[isamazed]

Title: Pride, Pups and Prejudice, Part 7/9
Author: isamazed
Word count: 16,500 in 9 parts (approx. 2,000 in this part)
Characters: Becker/Ryan, OC
Rating: MA
Warnings: pup!verse (Alpha/Omega verse with puppies and mpreg), lots of hurt, and only little comfort… If you read pup!verse for some TLC, you’ll probably regret opening this one!
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures. I only write for fun…
Summary: Ryan and Becker struggle with their relationship.
A/N:  Thank you, fifi, for the beta, suggestions, language support, cheerleading and generous help provided to a newbie whirling up your pup!verse.
A/N2: This is the last part in which I am being so nasty. Promise! Even though I blame fred for this one (but she has no clue this is coming…).

Link to Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6

Becker returned home on Monday morning when the kids were in pupcare. He’d been awake practically all night on Friday, organising people to look after the pups and then leaving in the middle of the night to arrive in Northumberland on time. In the end, Allen had stayed all day on Saturday, resulting in him having a fight with the Colonel. Becker was proud of his dad standing up to his alpha wife, but he knew Allen would pay for it later. The kids had slept over with Marcus’ friend Liam and his brother Jake. Dan had picked them up on Sunday and spent the day with them, and then Allen had come back to look after them at night. Becker and his team hadn’t been granted a change in their rota, so they had to pick up the nightshift on Sunday after they had spent two exhausting days marching through muddy fields and woods. Becker felt like he could sleep for a whole week.

Becker also felt utterly guilty. He had failed at everything last week. He had been late again which was inexcusable for a military man, he had left his team on their own and hadn’t managed to protect them from a punishment that was clearly aimed at him and not the team, and worst of all, he hadn’t been there for his pups when they needed him most. The extra exercise had done nothing to improve his composure and after more than 24 hours on his feet he would have immediately handed in his notice if someone had asked him at that moment.

He was also worried about Ryan who had been away for more than three weeks now. There had been no word. Not to him, not to Dan. Becker hoped that meant that the operation was going to plan. The pups needed their other dad, and as much as he hated to admit it, Becker’s heart was aching every time he thought about the alpha.

Again, Becker was woken by the doorbell. He glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table. 11 am. That was weird, he didn’t expect anyone. He yawned widely and padded downstairs in only his pyjama bottoms. He opened the door and an unfamiliar lady in a blue suit and a white blouse looked up to him.

“Mr Becker, Hilary Becker?” she enquired.

“Yes, Ma’am. And you are?” He was confused.

“Constance Miller, Mr Becker,” she said and took in the sight in front of her. It was the middle of the day, and Becker had clearly been called out of his bed by the doorbell. “I work for the Pup Protection Office, Mr Becker, and we were informed that there are a variety of men looking after your three pups while you seem to be out a lot. We would like to check on the living conditions of…” She glanced at a piece of paper: “… Alex, Marcus and Kay, please. Would you mind letting me in?”

+++

Becker’s heart skipped a beat, and then hammered with a brutal force. A wave of cold fear washed over him, and he grabbed the door for support.

“Mr Becker?” the woman repeated with a pinched nose.

Becker shook himself and hurried to say: “Uhm, yes. Please come in.” He opened the door properly and suddenly became very self-conscious about the fact that he was half-naked. When he stepped aside to let her in, he also realised the state the house was in. His muddy boots and jacket were lying on the floor in the hallway, he hadn’t bothered with his dirty dishes before he had fallen into bed, pup toys were scattered on the living room floor and the grass in the garden was clearly overgrown. He swallowed.

“Please take a seat, Ms Miller. I’ll just put some clothes on, I was on the nightshift today. I’ll be with you in a second,” he apologised. “Can I get you some tea or coffee?”

“No, thanks. I’ll just wait here while you get dressed.”

Becker raced upstairs and into their bedroom and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes for a moment. Oh God. He had a Pup Protection Officer sitting in their living room. Who had…? The Benthams, it must have been the fucking perfect Benthams next door who had called them. But now that he thought about it, he couldn’t quite blame them. It was true. He was a terrible omega, and the worst father. He hadn’t properly seen his three kids for a week, apart from the night they had spent on the floor when Alex had been sick. And he hadn’t even spent the weekend with them even though Alex had still been recovering. He was a complete failure.

Becker felt like crying when he put on his jeans and a shirt. He quickly combed through his hair and splashed some water in his face. He gathered all the strength that was left in him and slowly made his way downstairs.

Ms Miller seemed to be classic beta, confident but not aggressive, and had an aura of severity floating around her. She stood at the bookshelf and looked at some of the framed pictures on it.

“That’s Alex, Marcus and Kay three weeks after they were born. And those are Bl… Niall, Finn and Lyle, three of their uncles. Well, not real uncles but they are close colleagues and friends and helped us a lot during the first weeks.” Becker cast her a nervous smile. He grabbed another picture and showed it to her. “There’s my… their alpha dad, Tom, with the pups, and next to them is my father, Allen.” He remembered the wonderful day when they had taken the picture. They had been so happy.

“It seems there are a lot of different men involved in raising your cubs, Mr Becker.” The Pup Protection Officer looked at him intently, but not unkind.

“Well, we hadn’t expected three pups. It was a bit turbulent in the beginning, and it was great they helped us during the first weeks. After that it was usually just me, Tom, and my father looking after the pups. And of course, we found them a good nursery when I returned to work,” he explained.

“Work…” She glanced at the piece of paper in her hand. “The file says you and your alpha are both military captains?”

“Yes, we are. But we are permanently assigned to a project in this area.” He hoped that would prove they didn’t need to travel a lot and had enough time for the pups.

“Is your alpha around, Captain Becker? Can I speak to him as well?”

Becker felt hot and cold. “I’m sorry, he’s not. He’s been on a mission for a couple of weeks, but we expect his return any day now.” He cleared his throat.

“I see. And then he will live here again with you and the pups?” Obviously, someone had also informed the PPO about their breakup. Fuck. It practically never happened that mated alphas and omegas broke up, and if they did, it would always be the alpha no longer being interested in the omega. There still were so many biases that male omegas had to fight, especially when they were working.

“I… He… Well, I hope so.“ And he did, he truly did. If the last weeks had proved one thing, it was that he was not a complete person without Ryan. He needed the warmth and strength of the alpha, as much as he needed the air to breathe. And if that meant he would need to stop working, so be it. He couldn’t risk losing the pups to the PPO.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Captain?” Ms Miller raised an eyebrow at Becker’s response.

Becker fought the lump in his throat. “Uhm, we had an argument shortly before he was called to his mission, and he stayed at a friend’s house for a while. I am sure we will find a solution once he gets back,” he said almost pleadingly.

“And what was this disagreement about, Captain? We need to gain a better understanding of your family environment to evaluate the situation, I’m sure you understand that.”

“Well, it was about the new rota at work, and the effects it had on our life.” It sounded almost ridiculous, now that he said it out loud.

“And those were?” the woman enquired.

“Sorry?” Becker looked at her with a blank expression.

“The effects on your life, Captain. What were they?” she poked.

Becker looked at his feet. Oh God, he knew admitting that would only make everything worse. “It was becoming increasingly difficult to organise pupcare. We were on different shifts and sometimes one of us didn’t come home on time for the other to clock in punctually. He was suggesting I should quit.” He swallowed and closed his eyes.

“Which you didn’t agree with?” She watched him with eagle eyes.

“No, I didn’t. I thought we could find another way to deal with it.” It sounded selfish in his ears.

“So, you struggled with appropriate pupcare when you were together. What made you think it would work once you split up, Captain?” It wasn’t so much an accusation as a frank question. Becker almost felt like he'd been shot in his gut. He just wanted to curl up and whimper. This was all going so horribly wrong.

“I… Well, when Tom was still… around… everything worked quite nicely most of the time. He was still seeing the pups basically every day. That was important for both of us, and the kids love him, of course. It was only when he was called to the special mission when… things became a bit more… complex.” He swallowed.

“And that was when all the uncles got called in, I suppose?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And you trust all of these men? We were informed that some of them are rather… unusual.”

Becker winced and secretly cursed Blade for his obsession with knives, and Lyle for his big mouth. Out loud he said: “I do. We do. Actually, we do trust them with our lives at work every day. We can fully rely on them. They would never let anything happen to the kids.” His voice was quiet but full of certainty.

“I understand. Well, Captain Becker, could you please show me around the rest of the house? Again, this is just to gain a better understanding of the living conditions for your pups.”

Becker closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing. Tears were threatening to roll down his face and he blinked a couple of times. He was quiet when he showed the PPO around, answered when she had questions, and simply hoped that the house he loved so much would be met with approval. Finally, Ms Miller seemed to be satisfied and they walked towards the front door.

“Captain Becker, I think it’s best if we pop by again when the pups are at home. I understand they are at the nursery from around 8am until approximately 4pm?”

“Yes, that’s correct, Ma’am.”

“Excellent. Expect our visit in a few days. Have a good day, Captain.”

He showed her out and walked back to the sofa. He sat down and started shaking violently. This was it. He couldn’t do that any longer. He could take any discrimination at work, nasty comments and disapproving glances on the street, but he could not risk his cubs being taken away from him. He had tried but being a working omega dad had been a mistake.

Defeated, he reached for the phone to inform Lester that he wouldn’t come in for his night shift. Or any other, for that matter.

Part 8

Comments

[nietie.livejournal.com]

Meep! Poor Becks.
You’re very mean to him. And I love it *g*

[isamazed]

LOL, it’s good to have such lovely company. Glad you like it

[fredbassett]

OMG, someone's called in social services! Meep! Poor Becker.

And this was my fault??!!?? LOL, you're right, I didn't know this one was coming.

[isamazed]

Yes, all your fault 😁 I probably would have never thought of it but during my research (i.e. reading all pup!verse fic), I found this one. I only developed the idea a bit further 😇

[fredbassett]

I'd totally forgotten those references!

[fififolle]

Oh my god, he's going to quit!

And who called the fucking PPO on him!!!!

SO MANY FEELS. *hugs Becker*

[isamazed]

Aww, thanks. He‘s in much need for comfort!