The ABO Serum

(Part 10) The Preacher's Wife

The Rosenfelds were the preeminent lawyers in town for five generations. Lance Rosenfeld, Carey Andrews, and Stephanie Wilkes grew up in the same high-end neighborhood and were in the same class in school from Kindergarten on. Their friendship was natural. Lance was the social director of their class, Stephanie the sexy cheerleader all the girls envied, and Carey always had snacks and sympathy to spare.

The first two had a tumultuous relationship through their school years that officially ended when Lance left for Yale. No one else but Carey knew that Stephanie intentionally got pregnant in the summer before Lance left to try to stop him from leaving her. But coming from a long line of lawyers, he had no trouble repulsing her manipulation. He told her to fuck off and do whatever she wanted with the kid. He wouldn't acknowledge it. Then, he left.

She ate an entire pack of gummy bears while she cried on Carey's shoulder. Then, she pulled herself together, seduced the Pentecostal pastor's son who was also in their grade, and told him it was his baby. She reasoned the pastor's son would feel obligated to marry her quickly and pastor's wives held a high degree of social status in small communities.

It turned out well for her. She supported the pastor's son through Bible school until he received his own ordination and a church in a nearby town hired him. She gave him two more children before shutting down her baby factory. Then, the father retired, and his congregation invited the son to take his place. They were back where she always wanted to be.

And so was Lance. A tall handsome lawyer now, wealthier than his father, more socially powerful than her husband, and as flirtatious with her as ever.

Having entered the church with questionable motives, slipping away from it to dally with her old flame barely registered with her conscience. She'd already had sex with him before, so what difference did it make on her sin meter if she did it again? She couldn't get pregnant anymore. No one would be the wiser.

After four months of alpha isolation, Lance was pleased to meet up with his old playmate. She was curious about his expanded virility and he happily demonstrated it for her. They used condoms, but at least one broke. In the throes of passion, neither cared. And before they parted ways, she forgot. Still feeling horny the next day, she gave her husband a go. That's how the Pentecostal pastor became an omega.

Stephanie stayed to care for their children while her husband went through transition in quarantine and hoped that she could be a sufficient mate for him as a beta that they'd release him after. But the congregation turned on her. They loved their pastor, and her infidelity was too obvious for them to ignore.

When it got to be too much, she packed up her three children, wrote a note giving Lance temporary custody and telling him it was his turn to look after his son, and he could take care of the other two while he was at it in recompense for all the years he did nothing, dropped them off with Lance's housekeeper, and snuck out of town on foot to get past the National Guard.

When Lance came home to find he now had three young children in his custody, he immediately called his mom. He wasn't proud of that, but there it was. When she stopped laughing, she agreed to come over and help him get them settled and show him how to look after them for a bit.

"What's going on here?" A stoic eight-year-old asked Lance as he hung up his phone.

"Your mom left you at my house and I don't have any experience with kids, so my mom is coming over to help me figure out how to look after you until your dad can take you home again." He couldn't help choking a bit on the irony of that statement. He was definitely this kid's dad. He'd be lucky if his mom didn't figure it out at first glance.

"My dad's in quarantine," the boy said. He sighed deeply. "I hope you figure it out soon because it's prob'ly gonna be a while. Mom wasn't handling it well."

"What do you mean by that?" Lance asked.

"She was crying and drinking a lot. She never drank before she fought with the church ladies." As he said this, the boy inched closer to where Lance sat at his home office desk. He never wanted to be a dad, but he could tell the kid needed a hug. He opened his arms, and the boy took the last big step into them.

His son's vulnerability broke his heart. How had he walked away and never spared another thought for this little person? He figured Stephanie could manage her life. She'd made the decision to get pregnant all on her own. She'd poked holes in his condoms for crying out loud. He wasn't responsible for this kid. But now that he was here...all these feelings were too complex to explain, even to himself.

"It's gonna be okay. We're gonna figure this out. You can stay here as long as you need. And I'm gonna handle it well," Lance promised.

The boy started squirming, so Lance released him. "Where are your brothers?"

"They're watching Veggie Tales. You've got half an hour. Can I have a snack?"

"Veggie Tales buys me half an hour? That's good to know. Sure, what do you like to eat?" Lance asked.

"Brie and crackers," the boy answered. WTF? What kid asked for Brie and crackers? Whatever. If it made him happy, who was Lance to argue.

When his mom arrived, she took one look at the oldest of the boys and turned her 'you're in deep trouble young man' mom glare on Lance. "Hey sweetie. What are your names?" She asked him.

"I'm Josiah, and that's Ezekiel and Izzy. Izzy's short for Israel," the oldest answered.

"It's nice to meet you Josiah. You can call me Grandma Katie. I'm this guy's mommy and look how big and strong he is. You can tell I know what I'm doing, right? So, I'm gonna help him out because he's an idiot." She turned the look on Lance again. "How old are you boys?"

"I'm eight. Zeke is four and Izzy's three," Josiah answered. "You're not my real grandma, are you?" He asked, with his adorable head cocked to one side exactly like someone else she'd raised used to do.

"Who knows," she answered. "But it doesn't matter because old ladies can be everyone's grandma. It's the rules. Some people just need more grandmas than they were born with and we show up."

"Oh," he accepted that answer and looked speculatively at Lance's mom. "Izzy stinks."

"Is he still in diapers?" She asked.

"No, he wears pull-ups," Josiah answered.

"Same ruddy thing," Grandma Katie grumbled. "Guess what, Lance? You get to learn how to change a diaper."