Lost Alpha

NuNew's POV May 5, 2024

Gun: Me too. I will be there when Strawberry is born, so try not to have her early. LOL

Gun, could not make it today. He decided to take a little vacation time and get out of town. It was Hia's idea. We wanted to spare him from the drama that is my in-laws.

Hia pulls me aside.

"Should we tell them?", he asks.

"About Star?", I ask.

"That too.", he says.

"The other thing.", Hia says.

"Oh... Yes. Let me get the certificate.", I say.

On the same days as Janis' visit, Hia confessed that he wanted to marry me. He even showed me the ring, and his notes on what he wanted to say.

'Why are you showing this to me?', I asked.

'Because I want you to know that I want to marry you and I am not doing this because of what Janis said.', Hia said.

Hia didn't propose to me that night. He said he did not want Janis' name to pass either of our lips on the day he asked me to be his husband. I didn't sleep a wink. I was so excited. Everything was falling into place.

A few days later Hia asked me to marry him. It was a simple affair. I opened the bedroom door and there was a trail of rose petals. I followed them and they led me to Hia. Hia was on one knee waiting for me. Neither one of us was dressed up. There were no fireworks or grand displays. It was just the two of us because that is what marriage is about. The two of us committing to loving each other for the rest of our lives. Even when we are in our pajamas with no makeup on and big goofy grins on our faces.

I said yes, and Hia put a ring on my finger. It did not fit because I was so swollen, but he promised me it would once I had Strawberry. He was prepared and hung the ring on a beautiful chain and put the necklace around my neck. In the same box was a matching ring for his finger. With shaking hands, I put his ring on his ring finger. We were both crying.

The next day, Hia had an appointment to sign the paperwork and make it official. At the same time, we changed my surname to Panich. I am now officially Charawin Panich. We got our formal marriage certificate, with my new identification card in the mail yesterday.

I went to our bedroom and retrieved the certificate and my I.D. card. I also made sure my ring was on the outside of my shirt. When I returned, Hia tapped a glass with a spoon to get everyone's attention.

"Do you want to say it?", he asks.

I shake my head no. My hands are trembling. I am a little worried people will think he asked me because of his parents. I don't want to have to explain that to anyone. If I start making excuses, then they win. Us getting married has nothing to do with the Panichs or Janis and her family.

"I would like to introduce you to Charawin Panich. You may now refer to us as Mr. and Mr. Panich."

Everybody starts talking at once. I take off the necklace with my ring and taking his cue from me Hia removes his ring too. Our rings, marriage certificate, and my I.D. are passed around. Everyone asks when the wedding will be.

"After Star is born.", I say.

"Star?", Mom says.

"Star.", I say.

Mom takes my hands.

"That name is beautiful baby. I love it."

Everyone is congratulating us. They love the name we chose and are happy we are married. James and Nat are already planning my wedding with my mom. And I found out that Hia asked Mom and Dad for permission to marry me weeks before he asked for my hand in marriage.

Now it is my turn to say something. I stand up and everyone stops talking and looks at me.

"Three months ago, I was in the hospital in critical condition. I was exhausted and terrified of losing Strawberry. If not for all of you, I don't know that Hia and I would have been reunited and I would have been forced to give up Strawberry to save us. Everyone in this room had a big hand in taking care of me until Hia could come home."

I look over at Hia. He has tears in his eyes. I do too.

"We can never thank you enough for the unconditional love and support you gave me... you gave us.", I say, choking on unshed tears.

Hia comes up behind me takes my hands and puts our hands on Star. I start to cry in earnest, so Hia takes over.

"When I was not here to protect NuNew, you all did. Look at him now. He is healthy, Star is healthy. We are mated and married and about to have a beautiful baby girl. You all, are our family. If you are ever in need, look around this room and know you are never alone. We will always be here for each other. We love you all so much."

Hia turns me around.

"Nhu, I don't know how I got so lucky. I thought for sure I missed my chance with you after so many years of loving you and never acting on it. Then I thought for sure I lost you after leaving for Africa and having to stay there for months. We did everything backward and sideways, but in the end, it brought us together and now we are having a baby. We deserve this, Kitten. We deserve to be happy. I love you forever.", Hia says.

"All I ever needed was you Hia. I knew that I had to find you, and once I did, everything would be okay. I don't need fancy things or big achievements. I will only ever need you Hia. And now I have you for the rest of my life and the next and the next. You are my forever.", I say.

Everyone is crying now but these are happy tears. We all worked so hard to get here to this beautiful moment.

"One last thing.", Zee says.

"Not even Nhu knows about this.", Zee says.

"I don't. know if I can take anymore.", Max says, and we all giggle.

"In exchange for not pressing misdemeanor charges for Breaking-and-Entering, tampering with my email, and felony charges for Attempted Voluntary Manslaughter, my parents and Janis' family have agreed to leave us alone."

Hia looks deep into my eyes.

"That is if NuNew agrees. The attempted manslaughter was an attempt on your life Nhu. If you want to pursue charges, I will support you. I have not signed anything yet.", Hia says.

"You know I don't want any more trouble. I just want it to be done and for all of us to be safe. If this agreement guarantees that, then I agree. I only ask for one additional thing. I never want to see or hear from any of them ever again.", I say.

Hia hugs me.

"You won't baby, I promise.", Hia says.

There was one person in the room who was not happy with this news.

"Somehow they always get away with everything.", Film says.

"But this time they are penniless and have lost everything.", Max says to Film.

"Didn't I just say if you were in need you could count on us? I think finding out who killed your parents and bringing them to justice is a need you could use our help with.", Zee says.

He stands up and hugs his cousin. They are both thumping each other on the back. Alphaholes, why can't they just hug each other?

I look at James, Nat, and my mom. They all have the same look. I start giggling. I know it is totally inappropriate, but I can't help it. Soon the four of us are laughing. Everyone else in the room is an Alpha so they have no idea what is going on.

Alphaholes. I think this with great affection.

I wonder if they have a name for us. omegabrats... omegababies... omegaholes... oh that is a good one...