Chapter Text
It’s around lunchtime when everyone starts showing up. The first is Phoenix, the first thing she does when she walks in the door is hug Jake, something that surprises the omega but he immediately accepts and returns the hug. “I’m glad you’re okay,” the she-alpha says, “we’ve all been anxious to see you after the incident at the hospital.”
He’s a little surprised about that but doesn’t let it show. Considering that everyone has been by his side in and out of the hospital practically every second, it’s getting harder and harder to tell himself they’re all going to up and leave. “I’m okay, Nat,” he says. He’s the only one other than her sister that’s allowed to call her that.
“Good, now, what’s this I heard about Bradshaw and Javy fighting in your room while they’re supposed to be helping you?”
That gets him to laugh a little, of course, Bob told her about that. “It’s okay, whatever’s going on with them seems to be working itself out.”
“It is not! They never should have let anything like that happen while they were with you right now, let alone in your room—”
“Nat, it’s okay, Uncle Slider handled it and…” he glances over his shoulder at where his brothers went with his dad. Mickey’s by the window in the kitchen with Amelia and the two are staring out the back like gossiping teenagers. “Pops is talking to them now about it.”
She huffs but backs off a little. “Fine, but if they do it again let me know.”
He laughs a little. “Okay, okay, but I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.” Something between his brothers has changed drastically after whatever Slider got them to do. From the bruise that formed on Bradley’s jaw and the ones he saw around Javy’s arms, he’s pretty sure it didn’t involve just talking.
“Good.” Then stands on her tip-toes and gives him another gentle hug. “Really, I’m glad to see you up and around.”
He hugs her back. “Thanks, Nat.”
The next to show up are Neil and Callie, the beta bounds into the house with a bag on her arm, and the alpha’s got a stack of six large Tupperware containers in his arms. Bob grabs a few of them off the other alpha and helps him carry them into the kitchen.
“Callie, how much did you make?” Jake asks, laughing as he watches them unload enough baked goods to feed an army. Then again, given that the Daggers are about to become an official squadron it just might be enough.
The beta snorts. “Oh relax, this is nothing. You should see what I make for my family reunions.” She puts her bag down before throwing her arms around him. “I’m glad you're okay, Goldie, how are you feeling?”
Callie has come to remind Jake a lot of Penny. She’s got that comforting presence about her that will wrap around you and just ease every anxious bone in your body, but the second someone does something to someone she cares about she turns into a fierce protective bitch ready to punch someone. The first time she stayed with Jake after that nurse withheld his medication, she’d questioned every person who came in to check on Jake.
It was scary when she teamed up with Pete. Jake’s pretty sure at least one nurse changed shifts just to avoid them.
“Sore, exhausted, but good. I can move around on my own which is nice.”
She smiles at him. “Good, now go sit! You are not to lift a finger tonight.”
He laughs. “Callie, the doctors want me moving around.”
She narrows her eyes. “You’re pale and a little warm, Goldie. I can go get a thermometer if I need to.”
Jake’s eyes widen. He’s not sick, but he’d already checked his temp after breakfast to find it at 99.1 which is not concerning but still something he has to keep track of. He hasn’t told anyone because he’s fine, it’s not uncommon for a fever after surgery unless it gets higher or lingers too long. If he told his parents about it they’d insist on pushing everyone off another day and he really wants to see his pack. “I’m fine, promise,” his eyes shoot over to Bob who’s laughing with Nail and Reuban about something, “please don’t say anything.”
Her features soften a little. “I won’t as long as you take it easy and let me check you over later, okay?”
Jake sometimes forgets that Callie also has medical training. It’s not as extensive as Bob’s but she keeps up with it and always goes for her recertifications when she needs to. “Deal.”
The last to arrive are Fritz, Harvard, and Yale. Like Callie and Neil, they come in laden down with bags of food and drinks, all non-alcoholic even though Jake said he was fine with everyone drinking some beer.
Yale scoffs when he says as much. “It’s one thing when we’re at the Hard Deck or a normal hang out, but you're recovering from surgery, none of us need to drink to do that.”
“Yeah,” Fritz adds, “besides we're here to bond, not drink.” He holds up another bag. “I brought movies!”
Jake laughs as Yale steals the open seat next to him. Ever since the beta stayed with him in hospital they’ve become closer and closer. He can be a bit of a know-it-all at times but after getting to know the man, it’s more of a teasing nature. Jake can’t help but lean into Yale and the beta easily bulls him into his side. “You know my parents have almost every streaming service, right?”
Fritz scoffs dramatically. “Oh puh-lease, streaming is going out of style now that every network has decided to go rogue with their own subscription service.”
“You should see Rooster’s living room,” Harvard says, “he’s basically taken over the bookshelf with his collection.”
Jake grins. Bradley recently opened up his parents' old place next door and allowed the Daggers to move into the empty spare rooms. While the alpha is still staying in his childhood bedroom while Jake is recovering, it’s nice to know everyone is close. Especially now that Jake is going to be able to see everyone more.
Fritz points the corner of one of the DVD cases at the other alpha. “You say that like you haven’t been binge-watching my Weeds box set since you found it.”
Both Jake and Yale start laughing at the look on the other man’s face. “Sh-shut up.”
With everyone now here, the living room is suddenly filled with an entire squadron. Pete, Tom, and Beau filter in and out to check on them here and there but they’re mostly left on their own. That’s when Jake realizes that while his childhood pack and this new one will be connected and woven together, they’ll still be separate entities. He once thought that would upset him but it doesn’t. Maybe it’s because he’s older now and he understands that it isn’t a bad thing.
Fritz demands that Jake select their movies for their marathon and the blond settles on the Scream movies and a handful of other slasher flicks. Callie takes great delight in helping Javy cover his eyes during some of the more gruesome parts while Natasha’s got an arm around his shoulders.
Jake tosses bits of popcorn at his friend when he’s not paying attention just to make him flinch.
By the time dinner’s rolling around, he takes mercy on his best friend and agrees to watch the first Fast & Furious movie. They’re all rearranging for the night to get more comfortable since everyone’s decided they’re going to sleepover as opposed to going off next door.
And yes, Callie does discreetly check his temperature when Bob, Javy, and Bradley are all distracted. The beta gives a satisfied nod when she sees he’d dropped back to a normal range.
“Hey Jake, did you hear what Ma said?” Bradley asks from his place on the floor. “Someone bought that rundown place next door.”
He blinks at his brother from his place on the pullout (Bob insisted on remaining near Jake the entire night in case the omega needed something and now the two are curled up together with Bob sitting up against the pillows and Jake sitting with his back to the alpha’s chest). “Really? Someone actually bought that thing? I thought it was condemned.”
Bradley shrugs and accepts the slice of pizza Harvard hands him. “Yeah, they’re going to have to gut the place completely to make it livable.”
“Are you talking about the ghost house?” Natasha asks.
“The ghost house?” Javy asks, “Where’d you get that from?”
She shoots him a look. “Have you walked past the place at night? It’s like something out of a horror movie.”
Jake grins at his best friend. “You know…I think there was a murder that happened there when Bradley and I were pups. Some local kids or something.”
Bradley’s got a matching smile on his own face that Cougar would tell them looks far too much like Maverick’s if he were here. “Oh yeah, some high school kids were messing around in there or something. Pops used to stop people from going inside but this time we were all at the hospital. There were police and ambulances everywhere. Found out when we got home that six people died in there.”
Javy’s face drains of all its color. “You guys are messing with me,” he says, a barely noticeable tremor appearing in his voice.
“Are you sure about that?” Jake and Bradley say in unison.
Callie pats Javy’s head. “Of course, they’re messing with you. If there really was a murder there the way they’re saying you’d have heard about it before then.”
“Even if it were, we’d protect you from the ghosts,” Natasha says, her legs thrown over Javy’s lap.
Fritz tilts his head back to look up at Harvard. “Babe, will you protect me from the ghosts?”
Harvard narrows his eyes. “After the stunt you pulled in the kitchen this morning? I’ll throw you to them.”
They all start laughing at the aghast look on the alpha’s face. “Ex cuse me, but the eggs were all Logan!”
Yale rubs the back of his head and gives a sheepish smile to Harvard when the alpha turns to him. “In my defense, I didn’t know you hadn’t eaten yet otherwise I would have left out the hot sauce.”
Fritz points an accusatory finger at the beta. “And he let me take the fall!”
Bob laughs at them and presses his nose into Jake’s temple, quietly scenting him while everyone else descends into bickering over the best way to eat eggs. He’s been doing it all night. None of them have scent patches on and Jake’s been off his suppressors and blockers since he went into the hospital so they’re all able to get very acquainted with everyone’s scent profile. It’s a little overwhelming but it also settles the lingering anxiety burning in Jake’s chest.
Biting his lip, he tries to hold in the whimper that builds in his throat when Bob trails his nose from Jake’s temple to his scent gland on his neck. He really does not want to deal with another round of wolf whistles from everyone else or the laser eyes his brothers will shoot at the alpha.
Chucking at Jake’s squirming, Bob shifts them just enough that Jake can rest his head comfortably on the alpha’s shoulder. “How are you feeling?” he asks.
He smiles while watching Bradley and Neil basically playing footsie while throwing popcorn at each other. “Good,” he says, “really really good.”
_____
Pete leans over the railing from upstairs to look down at his aviators, a small smile on his face.
Despite the lingering threat of Matt Bennion, he doesn’t think he’s seen Jake as happy as he’s been tonight. The smile on his face is genuine and his scent has taken on a brighter, almost carefree note to it. It’d started after Bradley showed up and began to truly show he’s going to stay in their lives and he couldn’t be happier about the whole thing.
Sure, they could have done without the hospital stay or the damn stalker, but he’s just happy that his family is back together.
“What’s got you smiling so much?” Beau asks as he comes up on Pete’s other side.
He leans into the alpha’s side, extremely grateful to finally have Beau as his mate. “Jake’s happy, and Bradley’s home, I’m just…our family is back together.”
Beau’s arm wraps around his shoulders and pulls him in close. “Yeah, I’m just sorry it took me so long to finally let myself have this.”
“And we’re sorry it took us so long to bring you in,” Tom says as he joins them. “We never should have left you out for so long when you are all we wanted.”
“The way you are with our boys,” Pete looks up at Beau, “we’ve known since before they were in grade school. We were just too scared or too preoccupied with Jake’s health to do or say anything.”
“They needed to come first,” Beau says, “especially Jake, you needed to focus on him when he got really sick.”
Tom laughs. “And that’s why we love you. You put Jake and Bradley first every second. You love them just as much as we do.”
Beau clears his throat to hide the burning sensation in his eyes. He used to be so afraid of overstepping when it came to the boys but at some point, those lines had blurred to be non-existent.
“Let’s go to bed,” Tom says, his arm curling around Beau’s waist. “I borrowed Fritz’s copy of The Shining.”
Pete shakes his head. “I swear you and Jake have that movie memorized.”