“Hey, Harris?” he said, stopping his team leader. “I know we don’t do it real often, but my daughter’s birthday is in a month. Trucks are huge for her, so… I was wondering if I could take her out on a spin on one of the ladders.”
He’d never asked Harris for a personal favor before. But he would hate for Harris to say no, when Gwen had looked at Brad with those puppy eyes.
Harris had been team leader for as long as Brad remembered—he was an alpha with salt-and-pepper hair, and he was bonded to both an alpha and an omega. His relationship was kind of weird. Brad had attended their wedding last year, though. He’d seen Valen visiting the station occasionally with their omega and two sons, when Harris was on duty.
Harris stared at Brad for a moment. “Sure. I didn’t know you had a daughter.”
Brad blew out a breath. “I do. Just found out a few weeks ago. She’s turning seven in Feb.”
Harris frowned, then stepped into the locker room. “You wanna talk about it?”
Brad hesitated. He’d been nervous, working up the courage to ask for Harris’ permission with the ladder truck. He’d seen other alphas at the station do it before, but this was several things rolled into one—acknowledging he had a daughter, having the other guys know, being responsible for both the truck and Gwen at the same time.
He still didn’t feel like a dad, but this… it felt like he was setting things in stone.
“I’m not sure I want to say much,” Brad answered. “It’s still a bit of a shock. I’m getting used to it, though. She’s great.”
“Yeah?” Harris let the locker room door close, nodding for Brad to go on. “She in Meadowfall?”
“Yeah. Her dad’s working at the college. He’s a professor.”
And now his cheeks scorched, because a few months ago, he’d told Harris he was taking evening classes for his Master’s. Harris had asked if Brad would be okay juggling the course and his work.
Harris raised his eyebrows now. “He’s teaching your class?
“Yeah. He’s my omega.” Made him feel good, saying that. Brad hadn’t come out and said it to Ian, but thinking of Ian as his… it helped him sleep better.
“Huh,” Harris said, folding his arms. “That was some secret.”
It wasn’t like Harris didn’t have secrets of his own—it had been a surprise to everyone when Harris went and married Valen, a firefighter on a different team. And they shared an omega—both Valen and Sam were a couple decades younger than Harris, and some of the station alphas had talked about it.
Brad hadn’t joined in with the speculation, though. He’d slept with his professor even before he’d joined the station, so he could guess Harris’ opinion on relationships with age differences.
“He’s pregnant, too,” Brad said in an undertone. This, he was more nervous about. “It’s mine. I don’t know shit about kids.”
Harris chuckled. “You’ll pick things up. It’s not that difficult.”
There was learning to raise kids, and then there was screwing up spectacularly when he didn’t mean to. Brad hesitated, wary of forging more relationships when he couldn’t prove he was capable of not fucking up again.
If he lost any more people he loved… It had hurt like mad when Brad’s mom died. He didn’t want to grieve again.
And yet, whenever he thought about his professor, his stomach did a funny dance. He couldn’t wait to see Ian another time.
Brad had spent way too long at Ian’s place last week, with Gwen and the dancing and the chicken wings. Ian had let Brad suck him off after Gwen went to bed, and the way Ian had gripped Brad’s hair… It felt like Brad had been the only person in his world right then. Brad had felt like he was someone important to Ian.
“Anyhow, I’m around if you need an ear,” Harris said, clapping Brad on the shoulder. “But for now, the team meeting.”
Brad nodded, following Harris out of the locker room. A couple more hours, and then he’d be off work. He’d catch some sleep, maybe visit Ian at the college. Or maybe he’d offer to pick Gwen up from daycare. He’d been volunteering a couple times now, and Ian had agreed. Ian seemed to appreciate him picking Gwen up, and Brad loved the idea of fitting into Ian’s life.
Brad shrugged off his worries, joining the rest of his team. Family came later—for now, there was work to focus on.
* * *
Some hours later, he pulled up in front of Meadowfall Tots.
The childcare center was small, with bright rainbows and clouds painted on the walls, and a playground out in front. Some cars were already driving out of the parking lot—Brad was one of the last to show up. He’d rushed over here; five hours of sleep wasn’t enough after a twenty-four-hour shift, but that was fine. He’d recover.
He hopped out of his car, jogging over to the front door. Knocked and let himself into the center, grinning when Gwen looked up amongst some other children.
“Brad,” she said, hopping to her feet. “I thought my daddy was coming to pick me up.”
Brad signed off at the log book while she grabbed her bag from her cubby hole. “He asked me to. Let’s get you out of here, and then you can decide where you wanna go.”
Last week, after Brad had convinced him, Ian had added Brad to the list of people who could fetch Gwen from the childcare center. It had felt strange at first, stepping into the place, collecting his kid. Brad wasn’t sure if the teachers there even knew who he was, but maybe it didn’t matter. He was Gwen’s dad.
“Goodnight, Gwen,” the teacher manning the logbook said. He had graying auburn hair in a French braid, and a tired smile on his face—his nametag read Dale.
“Night night, Mr. Dale,” Gwen said, waving at him. “I hope Phil gets better soon.”
“Thank you,” Dale said, cracking a smile.
Brad headed to the door, holding it open for
