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Ezekiel had slept so deeply that he felt kind of sick when he woke up. He barely remembered eating lunch, reading cuddled up on the couch with Liam until dinner, and then getting both himself and Liam ready for bed in the bathroom he usually shared with Zay.
But Zay had not come home last night, not as far as Ezekiel knew. Which should not have been as concerning as it was, considering Zay's outrageous habits.
Ezekiel opened his eyes slowly, and nearly jumped when he was confronted with Liam's large blue eyes. He remembered in time that a sudden movement would spook Liam and chose to smile instead. "Good morning, Liam."
Liam blinked. "It's not morning, Papa."
Ezekiel glanced at the alarm clock angled toward the bed and laughed. "You're right. It's not morning at all." He carefully reached out to cup Liam's cheek, beyond relieved when the boy did not flinch away. "How long have you been up?"
Liam turned to look at the clock and then rolled back over to face Ezekiel again. "Twenty minutes."
Ezekiel did not want to push Liam into a place where the boy would feel cornered, so he held himself back from kissing Liam's forehead. He levered himself up and ran his hand through his messy hair. "I guess we should get up, huh?"
Liam nodded, following Ezekiel's lead by sitting up and smoothing his own hair. He was so precious. He padded after Ezekiel across the hall to the bathroom, where they both got ready for what remained of the day. When Liam saw Ezekiel putting on lotion, he held his hair back with both hands and tipped his face up, giggling when Ezekiel obligingly smeared the cool lotion across his cheeks.
Ezekiel rubbed the lotion into Liam's soft face, feeling like his heart was about to burst. He loved this kid so much already. He knew that he would literally die if Liam was taken away from him, which was probably his omega impulses kicking into overdrive since he was pregnant and finally able to live with one of his children for the first time. He felt safe and happy, even though he always knew deep down that he was never safe and that he could never be truly happy, not after all that had happened to him. Stupid nesting instincts. He loved his son, but he could live without this pull to be soft and trusting.
Liam grabbed the edge of the counter, got up onto his tiptoes, and smiled at his reflection. Then he looked up at Ezekiel. "Lunch now?"
"Absolutely." Ezekiel held out his hand and was thrilled when Liam reached up and took it. He led Liam out to the dining room and sat him at the kitchen counter so he could see everything. "What do you have?" he asked Noah, who was stirring something on the stove.
Noah looked up with a smile. He usually was not home on the weekends, since he often took those shifts to let the other doctors take a break. "I've got chicken and potato soup that just finished. And there's materials for a PB and J if that's what our newest resident desires." He raised an eyebrow at Liam, who smiled shyly in return. "How about it, Liam?"
Liam had been introduced to Noah yesterday, but Ezekiel did not expect him to answer the question. But Liam sat up a little straighter and asked, "Can I try the soup? Not too much, please."
Noah saluted and turned back to the pot on the stove. "Of course." He ladled a small amount into a bowl and placed it, along with a spoon, on the counter in front of Liam. "Tell me if the soup is to your desiring."
Liam laughed quietly and scooped up a spoonful of the soup, blowing on it gently to cool its surface before sipping it. A slightly larger smile curved his lips and he nodded quickly. "I like it."
Noah grinned. "Excellent." He held out his hand for Liam's bowl, and Liam pushed it toward him to refill.
Liam ate his soup with his feet happily kicking the air beneath his stool.
Ezekiel also ate a bowl of soup, sitting next to Liam so the boy felt safe.
Camille came out from the laundry room and shut the door behind himself to block the sound of the dryer before he put his arms around Noah from behind and laid his head on Noah's upper back. He seemed a little overwhelmed, which was unfortunately a common occurrence.
Ezekiel turned to make sure Liam was aware and realized Liam was already looking at Camille with a slight frown.
Right, Liam could smell pheromones. He was well aware of Camille's distress and probably just wanted to know why.
Ezekiel tipped his head down and whispered, "Camille gets scared sometimes, and everything gets too loud for him." That was the simplest way he could explain it to a child.
But Liam nodded in understanding. "Good thing he has a husband," he whispered back. Then he looked right into Ezekiel's eyes and asked, "I think Papa could use a husband too."
Ezekiel felt his jaw drop and struggled to recover. "Papa doesn't have one."
"I know," Liam replied without even hesitating. "But Papa gets scared too."
Ezekiel tried for a smile as he scooped Liam off the stool and set him on the floor. At eleven years old, Liam really was too big for Ezekiel to be lifting him up in any capacity, but Ezekiel wanted to. Even if it did hurt his back and strain his arms. "I got some new books if you want to take a look at them," he said in an attempt to divert the subject.
Liam nodded. He could probably sense Ezekiel's unease around the subject of a husband and was doing his best to comfort Ezekiel by agreeing to the shift in activity. He accepted the stack of books from Ezekiel and browsed through them, eventually settling on the math book Ezekiel had included as an experiment. When Ezekiel handed him a pencil, he worked through page after page of problems, laying on his stomach on the floor. He looked absolutely content.
When the CPS agent had emailed Ezekiel about Liam's bad home life, she had also noted that, before the family had pulled him out of school, all of Liam's teachers had attested to the fact that he was mentally beyond his peers in every subject, but especially math. So the agent had asked Ezekiel to make sure Liam had plenty of brain stimulating activities and mountains of math problems for him to enjoy.
There was a sound at the door, and Zay's voice shot through the house.
Liam's head jerked up like he had sensed danger.
Ezekiel shoved himself off the floor and hurried to the foyer. "Sh!" he hissed at Zay and the man who was with him. Pandi. "You're scaring Liam!"
Zay looked confused for a moment and then the words seemed to register. "They let you have him?" he asked in a much quieter voice.
Ezekiel nodded. "Don't be loud or stand over him. The other family…they weren't nice to him."
Zay nodded, and behind him Pandi scowled ever so slightly.
"Would you prefer that I go?" Pandi asked Ezekiel, his tone calm and understanding. "I know that introducing a child with trauma like that to new people is very hard."
Ezekiel blinked, stunned at the compassion. No wonder Zay liked his new job so much. "Um, I don't know. I guess if he, like, freaks out then I'd prefer if you left."
Pandi nodded. "I'll wait here if you don't want to introduce us both at once."
"I think that's a moot discussion point now," Zay said, tipping his head toward Ezekiel's side.
Ezekiel looked down just as Liam grabbed his hand and wrist. "Hey," he said, debating between crouching down to get on Liam's level or staying standing to serve as a protector. "This is my…sibling Zay."
Zay waved with a smile. "I'm a little loud sometimes. I'm sorry that I scared you."
Liam tentatively returned the smile. He ran his eyes over Zay and, when his smile softened, Ezekiel got the sense that Liam had figured out that Zay was an omega. Then Liam looked at Pandi curiously, his nose wrinkling slightly.
Pandi crouched down without making the movement condescending and held out his hand to Liam. "I'm Pandi. Nice to meet you."
Liam let go of Ezekiel with his right hand and shook Pandi's hand with a hint of his smile returning. "I'm Liam," he replied and then abruptly added, "Why don't you have a smell?"
Pandi smiled, the movement of his lips gentle and easy. "I'm a beta. A normal person."
Liam nodded like a wise old man. "Being normal is good." He looked up at Ezekiel with wide eyes. "Do they live here too?"
Ezekiel laughed. "Zay does. I think Pandi has his own place."
Pandi grinned. "I definitely have my own place. Zay can confirm."
Zay gave him a bombastic side eye and then looked placatingly at Ezekiel. "Please don't make a big deal out of this."
Ezekiel bit back the urge to cackle. His younger sibling had just handed him a conversational weapon and expected him not to use it? But he would save it for another time. "Who am I to make a big deal out of where you choose to spend your time?"
Zay's eyes narrowed. He was wise not to trust this nonchalant facade Ezekiel had put up. "If you want to know, just ask. Don't play these mind games with me."
Pandi laid a hand on Zay's shoulder as he stood up.
To Ezekiel's surprise, Zay actually calmed and relaxed. He seemed at peace with Pandi near him, and Zay letting Pandi touch him practically confirmed their relationship.
Ezekiel was happy for Zay. He really was. After the hard life Zay had fought through to get to where he was now, Ezekiel would be the first to freely admit that Zay deserved his sliver of happiness. "Congratulations," he said quietly, taking Liam's hand and leading him back to the living room.
Liam glanced back at Zay and Pandi a few times, but when neither of them followed immediately, he settled down again, pencil tapping against his cheek as he considered his next problem.
Zay came into the living room a couple minutes later and plopped down on the couch next to Ezekiel as the front door opened and shut. "I didn't know Liam was here already," he told Ezekiel, looking apologetic. "Please just text me or something next time so I don't do something stupid."
Ezekiel nodded. "Yeah, sure. I didn't even think about that. I'm sorry."
Zay nodded in return. "Okay. And I'll warn you next time."
Ezekiel sat back against the couch cushions and closed his eyes. Liam was old enough that he could take a nap without worrying, right?
"You okay?" Zay sounded concerned, like he thought Ezekiel might need to go to the hospital or something.
"I'm fine. Just a little tired."
Liam apparently perked up at that. "Then Papa should take a nap. Naps are good. They help your brain."
Ezekiel cracked an eye open to see Liam looking at him expectantly. "Do they now?"
Liam nodded fervently. "I read it in one of the science journals my old school let me read during lunch and recess."
Ezekiel opened his other eye and sat forward as best he could. "You ate lunch separately?"
Liam nodded, tapping his pencil in a rhythm against his palm. "The other kids were so loud. And mean," he added, almost like an afterthought.
"And is that why you stayed inside for recess too?"
Liam nodded again. "Ms. Lacey stayed inside with me. She was a high school teacher, but she was the one who understood best."
Ezekiel did his best to smile and nod to show his understanding, but his heart was breaking for Liam once again. Even before his father's family had turned on him, he still had not lived a life free of bullying. Ezekiel knew kids were resilient, but he was beginning to think more and more that his son needed therapy. And maybe a test for autism. It would explain why he was so sensitive, so easily overwhelmed. It might also explain why he was so smart, since Ezekiel had heard that high-functioning autistics often had great memories.
Zay carefully put his hand on Ezekiel's arm. "You really should take a nap," he put in, directing the conversation back to the original subject. "You look exhausted. Just take a break."
Liam shoved his pencil into the book to mark his place and crawled over to the couch. "I'll stay with you, Papa, so you don't have to worry about me getting in trouble."
Ezekiel shook his head. "I'm fine. I'll just sit here and rest."
Liam looked like he wanted to argue, but he returned to his book silently.
Zay went to go lay on the floor beside him, asking quiet questions that lit up Liam's face.
They would be fine. All of them would be fine. Ezekiel did not believe it, but he had to at least pretend. How else could he give his child a safe and stable life?