Page 59 of A Baby for the Beast
It took a while for the case against Kyle to be built. Once it was, a trial date was set, and I was given a specific date to testify about what happened. There were eight of us with strong enough cases, and a dozen more who came forward with their own stories of Kyle using them. I'm working on accepting what he did to me as what it was. A part of me minimizes it, and I'm working with someone to unpack all of that. Lucas gets pissed whenever Kyle is mentioned, and Remus is always around to remind him that they should have killed him when they had the chance.
A couple of days ago, the prosecutor called me and told me my testimony would no longer be needed. I had a little freakout thinking that, for some reason, Kyle went on another spree of trying to smear my name on his social media. No, turns out, he signed a plea deal. One that was too generous if I'm being honest, but then again, I didn't expect much anyway.
Kyle's picture pops up on the television because the trial and the plea deal are part of the segment of whatever sports news channel they have on right now. I'm paying more attention to my daughter than the screen. I already know everything that they're going to report on. The plea deal, the lack of jail time, the fact that he victimized so many people, and how it was just never talked about until he tried to use it against me. He was his own downfall, and I just wish it had been a bigger one.
Sure, his name is being scrubbed from the fighting league. His time holding the title has been given a little asterisk at the end with a note that reads 'The league does not condone the actions of this fighter during his time as title holder.'
He's been barred from participating in any of the mainstream fight scenes, but that came after Lucas did an interview talking about his retirement and the lack of response from the league. He was brutally honest about there being a systemic issue in the community with using omegas in the same way I was. Perhaps not to the same degree and without the deception, but many of them are used for their pheromones to aid in a fight, and no one had done anything to condemn it until Lucas brought it up.
If he wasn't already retiring, he'd have ostracized himself from the community just by bringing it all out into the daylight. Once he did, the league had no choice but to either address the problems or ignore them like they had been for so long. It might have worked in the past, but there were endless social media campaigns against them, with groups dedicated to calling their sponsors. It was actually impressive how just a little push had people begging for change, and how quickly the league responded when their wallets were being impacted.
"Damn, it's kind of crazy just how much he looks like–" Henry's eyes go wide as he shuts his mouth.
Beside me, Remus is already out, ready to go to bat for me and our daughter even against his twin. A twin that he's finallyallowed me to be around without causing a fuss because they smell the same.
"He looks like what?" Remus asks, biting out the words in such a way that everyone in the house knows there's no correct answer to this question.
Henry dips his head, trying to appease Remus in any way he can. I feel bad because it's not like he was going to say Tessie is anything like her sperm donor. And he's not wrong. There's a picture of Kyle up on the screen looking eerily similar to the baby I'm bouncing on my knee.
"He looks like Tessie," I answer, looking at my daughter and smiling at her when she babbles. The room is silent except for the sharp intakes and exhales Remus is making because he wants to fight someone right now. I turn our daughter to face him. "Remus, we've talked about this. She looks like him. Nothing is going to change that."
Remus snarls at his brother, but when he looks back down at our daughter, it softens. Of course, that lasts for all of a few seconds before he looks back up at Henry. "Stupid thing to say."
"Oh, are you calling me stupid?" I ask, quirking a brow at my alpha, who immediately looks like he's been struck.
And just like that, the tension in the room eases, and everyone can relax a little bit while Remus grovels to me for inadvertently saying I said something stupid.
"Not you, omega," Remus says, scooting closer to me and taking Tessie from my lap so he can hold her.
"It's okay to admit she looks like him," I say gently, ignoring that everyone in the room is listening in on our conversation, even if they're trying to give us some semblance of privacy by not saying anything and pretending to watch the television.
Remus huffs for a second, but he won't snap his teeth or growl when he's holding Tessie. He's too much of a softie for ourdaughter to even think about scaring her or making her fear him in any way.
"Not his place to say," Remus settles on saying, his golden eyes landing on where I'm sure Henry is still ducking his head to show he's not trying to cause problems with Remus, and he's not trying to insult me.
"Well, I said it, so now anyone can say it," I tell him, giving him a look that begs him to argue with me about it. "She looks like him. It's not like we were going to keep it a secret that you're her chosen dad and not her biological father."
Remus screws up his nose at that, but it's true. We've had long talks about when we're going to sit Tessie down and explain to her why she doesn't look like her dad at all. Probably at some point before she does those little square genetic things at school, because then she'll learn the hard way that she shouldn't have blue eyes if we're her parents.
Remus doesn't say anything else, just lets Lucas have control again. It's something that used to send my heart rate soaring when he was holding Tessie because some alphas aren't that great at transitioning their body back and forth. Lucas and Remus are seamless, and they've never once even put our daughter in any kind of danger. They no longer switch back and forth when they're standing and holding Tessie, because I almost fainted once with worry.
"Is the dick measuring contest over?" Jace asks, breaking whatever privacy Lucas and I were pretending to have with one another.
"Wasn't really a contest since Henry submitted immediately," Lucas laughs, the animosity between the brothers dissipating in an instant.
"Not trying to have my ass beat," Henry says, looking up through his lashes to make sure everything really is good beforehe sits back up straight. "You think Romulus was going to save me?"
"Dude was probably shaking like a leaf," Jace throws his head back and laughs harder.
"Okay, but really, though, do you think his genetics were so strong she's going to end up with a beast?" Scott asks the question, catching us all off guard.
I open my mouth to say she's probably going to be an omega like me, but is she? She hasn't taken on any of my physical markers, so why would I think she'd have the same dynamic I do?
"Remus wants you all to know that he wants her to be a beast so bad because she will kick all of your asses," Lucas says, standing Tessie up on his knees, facing the rest of the room. She's babbling away about something, staring right at Scott like she's answering his question.
"Look at our strong girl," Lucas beams, his adoration clear on his face as he listens to Tessie babble on and on. She's been getting more and more vocal, even if she's not making any sense at all.
A cry from the other room has Janie and Sam getting up to grab Evie from her crib. Someone turns off the television since we're no longer watching it. Everyone breaks off into their own little groups of conversations while I check in with Lucas.
