Chapter Text
The shrill sound of a whistle being blown greeted Arthur Kirkland as he stepped into the pool area of the Williams-Jones Family Aquatics Center. He was a bit surprised at the sudden ruckus, because the usual lifeguard, a lovely alpha named Matthew, never used the tool while working with the children. Arthur made sure of it, because his youngest son, Peter, wasn’t very fond of loud noises. Jett, his eldest son, couldn’t care less about noises, but his baby was too used to slamming doors and raised voices. A sharp sense of shame and disappointment filled Arthur’s chest for just a moment before he squashed them down. To deny those feelings he shifted his thoughts towards anger. Here was yet another alpha that seemed to enjoy breaking promises to Arthur and his children. Maternal instincts rose up in the omega like a furious lion and he stomped over to the shallow end of the Olympic-sized pool to give Matthew a piece of his mind.
Of course, as he rounded the edge of the pool, Arthur froze in place as he realized his children, and the rest of the class, weren’t being taught by Matthew. He’d heard that Matthew had a young brother, but he never thought he would meet the man. Louis seemed rather adamant that his son refused to return home. The absent member of the Williams-Jones family had been away at school getting his MA in business, if memory served Arthur correctly. Curiosity would certainly kill the cat as Arthur slipped into a pool chair to watch this unfamiliar alpha.
“Okay kiddos, we’re going to pretend we’re fish,” this blue-eyed, blond alpha cheerfully said as he stood to his full height at the end of the pool, “On the count of three we’re going to hold our noses and sit in the water and blow bubbles.” Most of the children were barely taller than the 3 feet of water and sitting on the bottom of the pool would cover their heads. Arthur certainly hoped this stranger watched his children closely. “Remember, make really big bubbles so the fish can hear you in the ocean.”
As the alpha counted down up to three and the multitude of little heads disappeared beneath the water, a gentle hand pressed to Arthur’s shoulder and startled him with a jolt. “Oh,” Arthur exclaimed, blushing hotly as he peered up into the smiling amethyst eyes of the co-owner of the aquatics center, Louis Williams. “I’m so sorry Louis. You startled me.”
“No, no, I’m sorry, Arthur. I shouldn’t have come up behind you.” Louis Williams was a kind omega that rarely said a cross word to anyone involved in his business. His mate, George Williams, and his eldest son, Matthew Williams, owned one of the best aquatics centers in Virginia. Not only did they boast one of the only Olympic-size pools in the region, but they offered classes in several aquatic sports. Matthew was a notoriously good water polo player, and George held certification in scuba diving instruction. Louis tended to the accounts and held water aerobics classes in the morning. The short omega, with the thick wavy blond hair ran the place with an iron fist hidden behind a soft smile. His boys knew to listen to him, or risk his quiet wrath.
It was the large sense of family that brought Arthur and his children to the business. After fleeing from Missouri, a difficult marriage, an unforgiving family, and very few job aspirations, the omega wanted to give his children stability in Virginia. His eldest son, nine-year-old, wild-eyed, wonderfully stubborn Jett, and his sweet four-year-old, Peter, begged him for weeks to sign them up for swimming lessons. They were so close to the ocean now that it was cruel to not take them one weekend. Of course, he wanted to make sure they were safe, because he couldn’t swim well enough to save them if they ran into trouble. Before the end of the school year, he relented on signing them up. He hadn’t regretted his decision yet. His children were making friends, and he was learning to step back into society.
“I shouldn’t be such a nervous nelly.” Arthur insisted, chuckling as he wiped a bit of perspiration off his forehead. It was a slight reprieve from the hot summer sun, but the humidity inside the pool area was a bit too much for the omega. Especially considering he was still wearing his work clothes.
“You look like you’re about to faint. I can’t have that happening.” Louis fretted; clucking his tongue as he carefully took the younger omega by the arm to guide him into a much cooler room behind them. It turned out to be the omega’s office and the wonderful air conditioning was turned on full blast. There was a singular window overlooking the pool, which Louis helpfully supplied a chair for Arthur to sit. “I know you like watching your babies,” the omega helpfully supplied as he grabbed a bottle of water off his desk to take a refreshing sip. “I’m guessing you’ve met our new swim instructor?” Louis mentioned lightly with a strange gleam in his lavender eyes.
“To be honest, I thought it was Matthew. I nearly yelled at the poor lad for using the whistle. Peter, well, he has such sensitive ears.” Arthur mumbled, blushing as he listened to the older omega giggle at his mistake. “I’m assuming he is your younger son?”
Louis nodded his head, looking every bit the proud mother as he grabbed a picture off his desk to show Arthur. The framed photo held a side-by-side comparison of two blond haired little boys. Their faces were nearly identical, but the lavender eyed boy was just a half-centimeter taller than the blue eyed boy. The picture on the right was older and showed the smiling boys in a kiddie pool, while the picture on the left showed a new picture with the same smiling boys grown-up. “Yes, that’s my Alfred out there. He graduated at the end of last May with his Master’s degree in Business. It’s funny,” Louis mentioned with a ghost of a smile, “he always said he would never come back here. It was too ‘small town’ for him. Now he’s becoming a partner in the family business and picking up the youth swimming classes. I’m rather proud of him.”
Arthur smiled too, because he couldn’t deny the happiness he felt for one of the kind people who helped him after he first arrived in town. After his divorce was settled and his bonding mark removed, the distraught omega packed his children up and drove until the car broke down. It was Louis’ mate, George that found the sobbing, terrified omega stranded with his slumbering children at the local diner. The alpha had been so kind to them and took them to a hotel to wait for their car to be repaired. It was in this town that Arthur planted new roots. With his money from the divorce settlement, he managed to purchase a small, cozy house in the countryside and his past experience as an office clerk landed him a nice desk job at the police station. Everything felt normal for the first time since Jett was born. He would raise his children in a place where screaming and infidelity wasn’t an issue. They would be happy and safe. “I’m glad he’s home for you. I’m sure it’s nice to have a full house again.”
“Completely hectic is a better word,” Louis joked, shaking his head as he watched Alfred show the children how to hold onto the side of the pool and kick their little feet hard enough to create large splashes. “I hate to admit it, but he’s better than Matthew with the kids. I hope you didn’t mind that we switched them out,” the light haired omega turned to Arthur with a bit of worry inching across his face, “I know you’re uncomfortable with the boys around unfamiliar alphas, but I didn’t think it would be a problem.”
“It’s fine, Louis.” Arthur insisted, smiling as he crossed his arms over his chest and watched Alfred carefully hold Jett’s stomach as he assisted the older boy with swimming. Though it looked like his attention was divided, the alpha never took his eyes off the six other children kicking their feet along the siding of the pool. “It’s obvious the boys like him, or Peter wouldn’t have gotten in the water.”
Louis let out a sigh of relief, “you know, Arthur, he is single and obviously good with children. He’s always had a thing for cute accents too. I’m not a bragging man, but I made a pair of good-looking alphas.”
Arthur’s face blossomed pink as he struggled to find the proper words to reply to the smiling man beside him. He finally settled on stammering out the omega’s name and shaking his head. “You can’t just say stuff like that, Louis! Besides, two kids and a messy divorce is baggage very few young, attractive alphas want in a potential date.”
“So you agree he’s attractive?” Louis asked, laughing as the omega buried his face in his hands with a soft groan. “Okay, okay, I’ll leave you alone, Arthur, but you do need some adult interaction beyond me.” He reached over to pat Arthur’s shoulder. “You’re only twenty-five, Arthur. You don’t need to wither away in solitude.”
Arthur was highly uncomfortable with the turn in the conversation and greatly appreciated the end of the hour. He wished a concerned-looking Louis a good evening before slipping back into the pool area to collect his boys. Peter saw him first. His big, blue eyes widened almost comically as he wrapped his towel around his shoulders and raced to his mother. Well, he would have, if Alfred hadn’t held a hand out in front of his body to stop him. “Whoa, little dude. We don’t run in the pool area because it’s dangerous. You might trip or hurt your Momma.”
Arthur couldn’t deny the fact that Alfred was attractive. Even in the rather conservative swim trunks and t-shirt, the American had well defined muscles in his chest and arms. His strong jaw and smiling blue eyes only added to his attractiveness. “Listen to your instructor, Peter.” Arthur managed to stammer out, his cheeks pink as the alpha locked eyes with him. There was no sense in letting the attractive alpha get to him. Arthur was just another client, no matter what Louis inferred otherwise. A young, attractive alpha didn’t want someone like him. “We haven’t had the opportunity to met, I’m Arthur Kirkland. Jett and Peter are my sons.”
“I figured,” Alfred drawled with a smile on his face as Jett walked over to stand beside his brother, “they’ve both got your eyebrows.” He laughed at his own joke, awkwardly trailing off when the omega in front of him didn’t find his observation funny. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” Alfred held his hand out, “I’m Alfred F. Jones. I know Mattie..err..Matthew used to teach this class, but I’ve taken it over since I returned home. Don’t worry, I’m certified in everything I need to be certified in and I’ll keep a close eye on those two. I’ll have them swimming like sharks before too long.” He winked at the boys, chuckling as they returned a set of bright, matching smiles. Goodness, they even got their mother’s pretty smile. Alfred had seen the omega speaking with his mother and that smile might have caused his heart to skip a beat. He scolded himself for mixing business and pleasure.
Arthur was just a tad upset about the eyebrows crack, but he found himself easily forgiving the alpha. Rude jokes or not, he seemed genuinely concerned with the well being of his students. Arthur would let it slide just this once. “It’s nice to meet you, Mister Jones. I have no fear you’ll take good care of them.” Peter whined and tugged on his trouser leg. Distractedly, Arthur lifted the child into his arms and situated him on his hips. God, his child was getting far too heavy to carry like this. “My only concern is the whistle. Loud noises startle Peter and I’d prefer if you didn’t use it.”
“Please, call me Alfred.” The alpha insisted, not wanting to sound like a stuffy old man. He was only twenty-three, after all. Alfred thought about the request before nodding his head in understanding. “That’s fine. He seemed okay with it today, but I can work out another way to get their attention.” A new set of kids walked over, happily sitting on the edge of the pool as they waited on their instructor. Alfred hated to leave in the middle of a conversation with such a pretty omega, but his next class was soon to start. He walked over to ruffled Jett’s brown hair and cutely ‘bump’ fists with Peter before smiling at their mother. “It was nice to meet you, Mister Kirkland. Maybe we’ll convince you to get into the water next time? Jett said you couldn’t teach them because you can’t swim either, but the boys are quick learners, so I’m positive their mother is too.”
Surely the alpha wasn’t flirting with him? No, Arthur had been out of the game entirely too long. Alfred was just being friendly. “If you insist on being called Alfred, then I insist on being called Arthur.” When he heard his son being so open with a stranger, Arthur’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline as he looked down at his blushing son. His children really did like this alpha. The pink blush even darkened the scar running across his boy’s nose. A permanent reminder of their previous life that he wished he could erase. “Maybe if you end up being as good of a teacher as you boast, we’ll see.” With Alfred giving him another wink, the omega carefully ushered his family to the lockers to grab their bags. Peter was worn out by the evening’s activity and moodily refused to walk to the car. He wanted to be carried despite Arthur’s weakening grip on his hips. That started Jett complained loudly that he was hungry and he wouldn’t be placated with the promise of homemade chocolate-chip cookies. Arthur tended to burn them and his son never let him forget it. Even when his boys were being unreasonable and moody, he never, ever wished for silence. He liked hearing their endless chatter. It wasn’t that long ago that he lived underneath an alpha that demanded silence from mate and children. Arthur never wanted to force his children to be quiet again.
“Mummy,” Peter called, tugging Arthur’s collar when his mother didn’t respond immediately. “Mummy!”
“Shut-up, Peter!” Jett shouted, green eyes glaring at the young child hogging their mother’s attention. “Mum is not paying you any attention.”
Almost instantly, Peter’s blue eyes filled with tears as he kicked his feet towards his older brother. Arthur barely had time to shift his body to keep Peter’s feet from connecting with Jett’s head. “Stop, both of you.” He scolded, gently tapping Peter’s legs. “No kicking, Petie. Mummy will put you in timeout when we get home. Apologize to your brother.” He flicked his eyes down to the smug-looking little boy sticking his tongue out at his brother. “And you, no yelling at your brother. I don’t need help disciplining him. Apologize, loves, or there will be no story time tonight.”
Begrudgingly, both boys mumbled out an apology. Jett even sweetly hugged Peter’s legs as he apologized for yelling at him. They truly did have Arthur’s heart. Smiling at his boys, Arthur unlocked the car and buckled them into their seats.
He never expected his new life to feel so natural.
(Later that night…)
“How’d the under ten class go today, Al?” Matthew asked his brother as the twenty-three-year old alpha scraped the scraps of their food into the dog’s food bowl. Kumajiro happily wagged his tail before chowing down on the brisket. “Alfred?” He called again, leaning his hip against the counter as he watched the younger alpha scratch the large white dog behind his ears. Rolling his eyes, the Canadian grabbed a wet washcloth and tossed it at his brother’s head.
“Ack!” Alfred gasped, groaning as he grabbed the washcloth and threw it right back at his older brother. “Fucker! I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Yeah, I can tell.” Matthew goaded, chuckling as he jumped up to sit on the countertop. “You’ve been quiet all afternoon, what’s up? I mean, this is your first week home in almost six years, and you haven’t said a word since supper.” Something was bothering his brother, but he didn’t know what it was. Best to goad him until he said something. “C’mon, Alfie, how was your first day on the job?”
Alfred shrugged his shoulders, mostly ignoring Matthew as he dropped the plate into the sink for a good soak. “It’s exactly like it was in high school, Matt.” The alpha looked like the picture of frustration as he placed his feet on top of the table and glared at the opposite wall. “I was gone, bro. I have a good degree from a good school, but I’m back in this Podunk town. I’m good at this, but it’s not challenging. It’s monotonous. Mom should have let me join the military.”
“You wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in boot camp.” Matthew said without missing a beat. He understood that his brother was frustrated with his circumstances, but he had to make the best of it. Alfred always wanted something bigger than their hometown, so having to come back home must have wrecked havoc on his confidence. Alfred would need to find his happiness, or he would make everyone around him miserable. “You’ve got to make the best out of it, Al. Maybe after you’re back on your feet you can get an apartment or something.”
“Maybe.” Alfred mumbled as he grabbed his glass of sweet tea to take a long gulp. He didn’t want to think about his ruined dreams in Hawaii. He didn’t want to think about the layers of debt and the embarrassing memory of having to ask his parents for financial help to keep him from declaring bankruptcy. “I guess today wasn’t really that bad. The under ten group was fun.”
“Yeah? That’s my favorite group.” Matthew really enjoyed seeing those kids enjoy learning how to swim. The infant class was fun, but it usually involved new alpha fathers glaring at the back of his head as their babies and mates played in the water.
“I think they’re going to be my favorite group too.” The younger alpha lazily swirled the last swallow of his tea around the bottom of his glass. “I…Arthur Kirkland came to pick up his kids today, Jett and Peter. Is he mated? I couldn’t see a ring or a mating mark, but we both know that doesn’t mean anything. He’s kinda cute, so I was just wondering.”
Matthew sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. It was a nervous habit that he hadn’t been able to break. “Arthur’s…he’s divorced, and it wasn’t a very happy marriage. Dad found him and the kids almost a year back. Their car broke down and they just sort of stayed here.” The older alpha hopped down to finish washing the remaining dishes. “I know he’s cute, Al, but going after him is a big commitment. Don’t follow that path unless you’re mature enough to handle that kind of a relationship.”
Alfred sighed, rolling his eyes as he finished off his tea. “I’m not a child, asshat. I just think he’s cute.” He stood up and walked over to the sink to drop his glass into the soapy water. “Don’t forget to let your bear out. Lord knows he’ll probably eat us in our sleep if he’s not happy.”
“Kuma is not a bear, asshole.”
“Love you too, bro!”