Pride, Pups and Prejudice, Part 9/9

[isamazed]

Title: Pride, Pups and Prejudice, Part 9/9
Author: isamazed
Word count: 16,500 in 9 parts (approx. 2,400 in this part)
Characters: Becker/Ryan, Lester, 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: The pups belong to fififolle. 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 it. I hope you'll forgive me for all I've put them through ;-)
Link to Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8

In the early morning sun, Ryan lay on his side watching Becker. He had been fading in and out of sleep all night, needing to reassure himself that the omega was still lying next to him. It was taking all of Ryan’s self-control not to touch and kiss Becker, but he knew that the omega had been running on empty and was now catching up on some much needed sleep. Ryan would get up in a few minutes and get the pups ready for nursery. Thank God Becker had not yet taken them out.

Ryan would not be back on his ARC shift before the next week, but Lester had asked to see him this afternoon. Ryan had been surprised at the request last night, but now he understood. He smiled to himself. Lester was such a softie at heart, and an inclusive and supporting leader. Ryan didn’t quite know how, but he hoped that they would find a way to deal with the strenuous three-shift rota. They hadn’t talked about it yet, but he wouldn’t let Becker quit unless it was what he really wanted. He knew Becker would regret it otherwise.

He took a shower and walked downstairs to prepare the pups’ breakfast. When he went back upstairs and to the pups’ room, he heard them playing quietly behind the door. He smiled, they were such obedient little souls and they surely knew that their omega dad needed as much rest as he could possibly get. He entered the room and closed the door behind him. When the pups realised that their alpha dad had returned, they charged towards him, howling excitedly. He fell to his knees and the puppies were on his lap immediately, jumping up and down, barking happily and licking his face. He grabbed them and held them in a tight embrace, until they were squirming in his grip. “Missed you so much, my little ones”, he murmured into their fur.

He let go reluctantly, and only to take one after another in his arms to kiss and nuzzle their heads and necks. He took in their scent. They smelled so much like Becker, but all with their own special note. He would never get enough of that. He looked at the clock with a sigh, they really should go downstairs now and get ready for nursery. “Okay, kids, time for breakfast. But let’s be quiet, your dad is still sleeping.” The pups wiggled their tails and lined up to go downstairs.

+++

Mrs Newall from nursery had been pleased to see him when he dropped off the pups. She had almost casually enquired after Becker, and seemed happy when Ryan’s reply proved that they were living together again. Ryan wondered if that was what it was like for Becker – people always asking about his alpha, secretly seeking for the confirmation that he was fine with whatever the omega did. He probably only then really understood, why Becker had always been so desperately striving for independence and respect.

He was preparing breakfast for the two of them, planning on eating in bed, when he heard Becker coming down the stairs. He turned around to see Becker entering the room, hair ruffled, gaze still drowsy and only in his pyjama bottoms. The man was quite a sight, and Ryan felt pride swelling up in his stomach that this beautiful man was his.

“Good morning, my beautiful bitch.” He met Becker in the middle of the room, closed his arms around him and placed a soft kiss on his hair.

“Morning, Tom,” Becker mumbled into his shoulder. “You’re cooking breakfast? Smells delicious.” His stomach was rumbling in agreement. Ryan chuckled and released from their embrace.

“I see, someone is desperate to get his hands on a Full English here. Sit down, it’s almost ready.”

After they had eaten, Ryan watched Becker carefully who had leaned back in his chair with a satisfied smile on his face, hands on his belly and eyes closed. They needed to talk about how they wanted to handle things now, and they couldn’t put it off any longer.

“Beck, Lester said he wants us to come in and see him in the afternoon. We should talk about what we’re going to tell him.”

The smile slipped from Becker’s face, expression turning blank, and he sat up straight, his gaze set firmly on the table top. “There’s not much to discuss, Tom. I already told him that I would quit,” he said flatly.

“But that’s not what you want. Not really, is it?” Ryan said cautiously. There was no reply and after a few moments he softly nudged the omega’s leg under the table. “Beck?”

“I can’t risk the PPO taking the pups, Tom. I just can’t,” he replied almost pleadingly. 

Ryan’s stomach cramped. He was shit-scared about that too, but they hadn’t actually threatened to take the pups into care when they had come to see Becker while he was on his own. Now that they were back together, there was every possibility that they could convince them that they would provide a good and loving home for the puppies. He got up from his chair and took the two steps to kneel beside Becker. He grabbed his hands. “Look at me, Beck,” he waited until Becker’s gaze settled on his face before he continued, “I want you to be happy, and your job always mattered a lot to you. I don’t want you to give that up only because you think you have to. If you quit, I want it for you to actually want to stop working. Okay?”

Becker hesitated for a moment and then nodded, “Okay.”

“So, what are we going to tell Lester?” Ryan asked. He needed to hear it from him.

“I’d like to continue working, Tom. But I don’t see how it could possibly work on the three-shift-rota. The pups are more important.”

“Okay, so let’s talk to Lester. Maybe there’s a way to bring another team in, or adjust the schedule.”

“If it were, he’d probably already done it, Tom. You know that.” Becker seemed determined not to get his hopes high.

“We won’t know until we discuss it. And if there’s no option for that, we can still look for a babysitter or two. We could also think about taking an au-pair in. The house is big enough. Let’s give it another go before we decide anything for good,” Ryan tried again.

Becker stared at him intently, as if it was only then when he realised that Ryan meant it. His lips curled up into a small and cautious smile. Ryan almost sagged with relief when he saw the fire return in his omega’s eyes.

“Fine, let’s give it a try, Tom.” Becker squeezed his hand.

+++

Ryan and Becker walked through the ARC’s corridors in the direction of Lester’s office. Ryan was so close to the other man that their bodies almost touched. His instinct to protect the omega was going into overdrive. And that Becker didn’t protest at Ryan’s behaviour was just another sign of how vulnerable he was. Ryan could hardly suppress a growl at a non-existent immediate threat.

Lester saw them approaching through the glass walls of his office and waved them in, gesturing for them to take a seat while he finished a phone conversation.

“Captains, it’s good to see you back in the ARC. Both of you.” He looked at them and leant back in his chair. Ryan nodded briefly and Becker let his gaze rise from the floor for the first time since they entered the building.

“Captain Becker, have you thought about what we discussed when we last spoke? Do you wish to return to your job here at the ARC?” Lester watched him intently.

“I’d love to, Sir,” Becker admitted quietly. “However, I don’t see how it could work with the three-shift rota.” He looked down again miserably.

“Ahhh, well, if that is the only obstacle, I have good news, Captains. Mr Temple was so kind as to analyse the data from all anomalies we’ve had, and as it seems we’re experiencing an increase in alerts. This, together with the quite frankly absurd overtime balances of the SF teams and Ditzy’s logbook of casualties and sick days, convinced the minister to approve a fourth team coming in. If you wish, you could return to your job on, let’s say, Monday, Captain Becker. You would save me the trouble of introducing yet another trigger-happy officer to how we deal with things here.”

+++

It was Friday evening, and Ryan leaned in the doorway to their living room with a steaming cup of tea in his hands. He smiled as he watched his family. Becker was sitting on the floor with Kay curled up in his lap. Marcus and Alex were lying next to his thighs. Becker was reading one of their favourite books to them, one about a small dinosaur (a gift from Connor), and made funny voices. The pups were completely immersed in the story, for once lying on the floor still and wide-eyed.

The doorbell rang and Ryan turned to open it with a vague feeling of disappointment that he could no longer enjoy the sight. A woman was standing in front of him. She seemed surprised to see him which he found strange considering he’d never seen her here before.

“Captain Ryan? I am Constance Miller from the PPO. I came to see Alex, Marcus and Kay, please,” she introduced herself.

Ryan froze for a second, before he remembered to stretch out his hand to shake hers. He stepped aside to let her. “Please come in, Ms Miller. Beck told me about your visit.”

“He did?” She looked at him, and Ryan thought she seemed pleased about that. “Can we briefly talk alone before I check on the pups?”

“Of course, Ma’am. Let’s go into the kitchen then. Beck and the pups are in the living room.” He led her through the hallway into the kitchen and saw how she caught a glimpse of the domestic scene in the other room.

“I take it you moved back in then, Captain?” she enquired.

“That’s right, Ma’am. I returned from my mission a couple of days ago and we cleared up our misunderstanding. I assure you that’s not how things usually run in our family,” he hurried to explain.

She nodded, if in agreement or just to signal she heard his words Ryan didn’t know. “Captain Becker told me you struggled with your work-life balance and suggested he should stay at home?”

Ryan winced. “That’s not… I didn’t mean it. We both had a hard time, and we were too stubborn to listen to each other. I would never want him to give up his job. He’s a great captain to his men, as much as he is a great father to our pups. The best indeed. I would never make him choose between his family and his job.”

The PPO scribbled down a few notes in her file and pinned his gaze. “How are you going to resolve the childcare issues if both of you keep working? I don’t think it’s common to work part-time in the military?”

Ryan swallowed and shifted on his feet uncomfortably, “Well, the project we’re working on has been granted another team. We’re currently working on setting up the new schedule but it should be fine then. And we still have Becker’s dad, Allen, who supports us a lot. He loves looking after his grandchildren,” Ryan cast her a cautious smile.

She made another note and said, “I see. Could you please inform me once your new working schedule has been fixed? I left my card with your omega when I visited the last time.”

They heard Becker finishing the story and chuckling softly at the protesting whines from the pups. “It’s bedtime, my darlings. If you behave, I might be persuaded to read you another story when you’re in your basket. Off you go,” Becker’s voice drifted to them. The pups barked happily and the four of them appeared in the kitchen doorway.

Becker’s smile was washed from his face as he saw the PPO standing beside Ryan. “Ms Miller? It’s… nice to meet you again.” He said cautiously and searched Ryan’s glance. The alpha tried his best to send him a soothing look.

The social worker, to their surprise, laughed quietly, “I doubt that, Captain Becker. People are rarely happy to make my acquaintance.” She walked over to the pups who had stopped close to their daddy’s feet. She kneeled down and held out a puppy treat for each of them. Alex made a small step towards her and sniffed at her hand. He searched the approval in his father’s eyes and when Becker nodded, Alex took one of the treats from her. Marcus and Kay followed suit.

The PPO carefully checked them over with her eyes, probably looking for signs of malnourishment or abuse. She seemed pleased with what she found and got up again to add further notes to her file. She cleared her throat when she looked up again, “Well, that should be it for today. Captains, as I said, please be in touch when your new work schedule is available. We might check in on the pups once again, but if everything is going as it appears to be, there should be no need to trouble you any further. Thanks for your time, Captains. If you would excuse me now?” She grabbed her stuff and turned towards the hallway.

Becker and the pups hurried to clear the doorway to let her through and together with Ryan they showed her out. After they closed the door behind her, Ryan and Becker looked at each other with utter relief. They fell into each other’s arms and shared a tight embrace. The pups at their feet were confused, not understanding what was going on with their dads. Marcus whimpered and Becker let out a shuddered laugh and got down to lift the three pups in his arms. He placed a kiss on each of their heads and turned to Ryan who enveloped his family in another hug. “Everything’s going to be alright,” Becker smiled.

THE END

Comments

[fififolle]

Yay!! It really is!! PHEW. All is forgiven.
I love Ryan sniffing the pups and being all cute about it, and the pups wiggly tails <3
Lester is a STAR for using Connor and statistics to get them another team. RESULT.
Hardly surprising the strain it took on them. Or should I say the strain YOU put on them, lol. Loved it *evil cackle*
Great fic, thank you so much for an amazing read x

[isamazed]

LOL, I love your comments 😂😘 glad you liked it!

[nietie.livejournal.com]

Awwww! Such a sweet ending. And I’m sure everything’s going to be alright indeed.


Ryan, Becker and the pups are so lovely together.
Great fic!

[isamazed]

Glad you liked it! They are a lovely family 😊