Chapter Text
Stell and Paulo together with their lovely daughter Eris has been living by the beach in Batangas. After their wedding they enjoyed their peaceful yet exciting life as a family. Eris had grown to be 5 years old now and has been wanting to explore the world outside of the island where they are currently living. Although the child has been interested in weapons throughout her young life, she started to gain a great fascination with animals. She has been begging her parents to take her to a zoo after Justin showed her some photos of animals. Even though the threat for their lives has ended, Stell is still wary of allowing his family to be outside. After all, once they leave their island, Stell won't have any control on whatever will be happening.
While Paulo and Stell were talking one night by the beach, the Omega mentioned that he too wants to go out and explore the world again, they had their peace and quite in their small paradise but as Eris grows, Paulo thought it would be a good idea to show her how the outside world operates, it'll be a good way to teach Eris how to live like a normal 5 year old girl. Stell was hesitant about the notion however he does understand why Paulo suddenly brought out the topic--actually this wasn't something that just happened, there has been a lot of hints for the past few months of Paulo wanting to go out, but Stell chose not to give it much thought.
"I think it's really time for us to go back to the city, it won't be that bad for Eris to experience the world... She's a growing girl, she needs this" Paulo stated as he leaned in the arms of his beloved.
"I know... I understand, but you can't blame me why I do not wish for us to leave our haven" Stell replied while caressing his beautiful husband's hair.
"I get why you're worried, but we can't just cage our daughter in this island... Eventually she would need to go to school, we can't home school her forever"
"Maybe you're right... I'll do some preparations first before we go back to the city."
"Are you agreeing to me now?"
"How can I not agree with my gorgeous darling is asking me to?"
"I miss the city... although I love the calmness of our island... the city is where I lived most of my life in..."
"We'll go... but again, I need to contact some people... I don't want to have any inconveniences while we're there."
"I'll leave that up to you"
"We won't be staying for long though..."
"That's fine, while we're back in the city, let's go check out Manila Zoo, I heard that they renovated that recently."
"Why would you choose such a crowded place?"
"Eris would be happy seeing animals, you know that she has been asking you to bring her some animals..."
Stell took a deep breath before exhaling, he looked at the horizon and just convinced himself that this decision will be for the benefit and happiness of their only daughter. "Fine, let's go..."
"Amazing! I cannot wait to tell Eris about this..."
"But don't tell her yet, I still need to do something... we can tell her the night before we go to the city."
"Okay, okay..."
"But who are you going to contact?"
"Some acquaintances of mine, we need to secure our lodging and transportation while we're there."
"I suppose that's true but who?"
"They're not important for you to know"
"Are you hiding something from me again? Stell, I won't be happy if you do any drastic decisions without me."
"Don't worry, the only decision I'll be making will be for our convience for when we arrive in the city and that would be it, there is nothing that you should be worried about"
"Alright, I'll trust you on that... Well, I trust you either way... but still..."
"Everything will be fine, I'll be there for you..." Stell kissed Paulo's forehead before taking the Omega's hand and him kissing it gently.
"I can protect myself just fine, thank you very much."
"Don't be so prickly, I am your husband and I'll protect you even if you're the strongest person in the whole universe."
"Hmpfh"
"Anyways, how is your heat? Have you been taking your pills properly?"
"I am, but ever since that year, you know how erratic my heats cycle is... sometimes I get it every month and other times it'll be months apart"
"That's true... I am worried about you getting your heat in the city... although Omegas has been extinct in the view of the rest of the world and basically the second gender has been something that people don't care about, you having a heat in the middle of a crowd can be devastating to your well being..."
"It is concerning, but I should be fine as long as you're there with me, but I do hope that it doesn't happen."
"Well for now, it would be best if we go back to bed before Eris realizes that we're missing, we don't want her to cry herself to sleep again"
"That's true."
Stell didn't even allowed Paulo to say anymore words, he pushed his Omega gently before getting up, their eyes were glued to one another before The Alpha went ahead and carried his mate in his arms. He took him inside their beautifully built house; adorned by wood carvings that symbolizes the ocean and a plaque with their names written on it plastered right beside the door, it read; Nase-Ajero.
About a month passed before Stell could finally confirm their departure to the city. Paulo was ecstatic to finally learn about this news, he couldn't wait to tell Eris about it and when he finally did, the young girl was extremely happy and skipped across the house. Stell was unwilling at first but seeing how his husband and daughter show glee was enough for him to be satisfied with whatever decision they made. He stood beside his mate and grabbed his waist before pulling him closer, The omega wasn't even surprised, this wasn't something new to them, it was some sort of automatic response when they stand by each other. They both watched Eris jump for joy as she recites names of animals that she learned from Justin.
The following day they all departed the island and headed to the nearest city where a stark black BMW was waiting for them. It has been quite some time since they all rode a car since they actually don't need to because they were living in an island for the past year. Paulo was actually surprised that such a luxury car was what they will be using, although they never had problems financially, the Omega didn't know that they had enough money to actually get a BMW. He had some questions about it but just tucked it in the back of his mind because he didn't want them to get into a heated argument about it. Their purpose for the next following days was to have fun as a family, and maybe once they are back in the island they could go ahead and have a discussion about it.
As they drive across the country side, Paulo felt a little nostalgic about traveling. His previous job as an FBI agent had him go to different cities and countries, he had experienced so much in his entire life that he didn't expect to be so fascinated in seeing the back waters of the countryside. As the salty smell of the ocean vanishes and the hustle and bustle of the city is starting to tingle their senses, Paulo prepared himself and Eris to meet the world again. Stell on the other hand was busy with his phone; chatting and texting some people as they entered the busy streets of Manila.
"Where will we be staying?" Paulo muttered as he fixes Eris's hair.
"I got us a humble house somewhere in the city, I didn't like the idea of us staying in a hotel, it'll be inconvenient and Eris would feel constricted being in a small space, staying in a house can also lessen the mishaps from happening while we're here."
"I see... are we near?"
"We should be there in a bit..."
As Stell said that the car turned to a exclusive subdivision filled with only huge Mansions. Although the properties there weren't as big or spectacular as the the Black Manor and the Noir Mansion, they were still big enough to cost atleast 50 million pesos each, they were also in the heart of the city so it'll be more expensive than most. Paulo was starting to get worried about how Stell was able to acquire such things when they do not work and they have left the Mafia already, so where does Stell get the money to pay for these extravagant things.
Eventually they reached a house completely surrounded by high walls and with men in black guarding the gates, they got out of the car and walked inside this huge house. Their house in the island was already big enough for their family of 3 and now standing in the 2 storey mansion was extremely intimidating. Paulo clenched his hand into a fist to try to calm himself from lashing out to Stell, but he couldn't stop stressing about everything.
Stell quickly noticed that paulo is feeling concerned about something, and he already knew what it was about. Once they brought Eris to her room and tucked her to bed for her nap time, the couple went to their own room and sat down onto the bed. The silence in the room was deafening and although Stell want to explain everything to Paulo, he refrained himself from doing so, he wanted Paulo to ask him himself so he sewed his mouth shut and just waited for his queue.
"Where did you get the money to pay for these?" The Omega asked with a upset expression written on his face.
"Don't worry, I am not doing anything illegal nor I went back in the Mafia... I have been using our money that I saved to invest in some of my acquintances' businesses, we didn't need anything in the island the requires us to spend alot so the money that I was earning just stacked up... Also the Mansion and the Car were courtesy of those same acquaintances, so basically we didn't actually pay for anything."
"Is that all that you're hiding from me?"
"Yes, I am not hiding it per se, I just didn't mention it to you before... you know that I am used to being busy so of course I wouldn't be able to just sit around the house and do nothing, that's why I started investing... I can do work at home and not lose any quality time with you and Eris"
"Fine, I trust you, I was just startled about the sudden scale up of things, but I am not angry"
"I know that my love, I apologize for not saying anything..."
"It's fine now... let's unpack our things, what's our schedule for our stay here?"
"We'll go to the Zoo tomorrow morning, and then the rest of the week is free time for us... although I need to make some time to meet someone, for today we can rest, I do not wish to tire you and Eris out."
"Got it."
The next day was the D-day of their Zoo adventure. Eris wore an adorable pink bunny hoodie, a plain black skirt and her favorite pink baby bunny shoes. Paulo tied her hair into an adorable low pigtails wherein the natural curl on the young girl's hair perfectly framed her pretty little face. She had a fluffy bunny backpack filled with her things, including her bunny plushie that he got from Paulo; it was the same toy that Stell bought Paulo in the baby store back when the Omega was still pregnant. It holds a special meaning to the couple and it served as a good companion for Eris while growing up.
The excited baby girl couldn't wait to see the zoo animals, she even brought the book that Justin got for her on her 5th birthday so that she can look up which animal she will be seeing for the trip. The parents of this gorgeous girl were looking at her with love and adorations as they held hands with their one and only daughter. They rode the same BMW to the zoo and it was a little eye catching for such a car to be there, not to mention that when they got out of the car, everyone gasps in surprise to see such a beautiful family walk hand and hand towards the zoo entrance. They already got tickets so it didn't take that long for them to be allowed to come in.
Since it was a weekday, there weren't a lot of people in there, which was the reason why Stell scheduled their visit this way. From the moment that they stepped in the area, Eris immediately run towards the Elephant enclosure and was amazed on how huge the animal was. Her eyes were sparkling in glee as she watched the old elephant walk and eat its food.
"Sweetheart, did you know that that elephant has been in this zoo since Mama and Papa were kids... it's actually older than us" Paulo said to his daughter.
"Really?! But Mama... isn't the Elephant lonely by itself?" Eris replied.
"Oh Darling... well it did have someone with it a long time ago... but now the only ones with her are her care taker..."
"Mama, it's sad that the Elephant doesn't have a mama and a papa like Eris... Eris feels sad for the it... can't papa bring another elephant?"
"Baby, Elephants doesn't live in our country, they live in a far away place and it wouldn't be safe for another Elephant to travel that far..."
"But papa can do it! Papa can do anything! Right, papa?"
"Eris, my dear little angel, if you really want another elephant, papa can go ahead and bu--" Paulo stepped onto Stell's foot in order to stop him from continuing his sentence.
"It won't be a good idea, right papa?" Paulo said as he smiled angrily at Stell.
"Ah... yeah baby, Mama is right..."
"Aww, that's too bad... Eris wants to see another Elephant... but if papa can't do it then no one can do it..."
They eventually went towards another enclosure filled with animals, and each stop, Eris would be jumping up and down to see the exotic animals that were being put on display by the zoon. They already walked for almost an hour and a half and Eris was still full of energy. Suddenly Paulo felt something is amiss with his body, he halted his movements and stood there petrified in the middle of the pathway. When Stell noticed this, he quickly went to his mate's side just in time for the omega to fall into his arms.
"Paulo, what's wrong?" A sudden gush of pheromones hits Stell's senses and he realized that his beloved Paulo was having his heat.
There weren't any warnings nor signs before this and it was the first time that this ever happened, so they were both surprised about the situation. While Stell was focusing his attention to his Omega, Eris had run too far and eventually got lost. It took a few minutes before the couple discovered that their child is missing but wasn't in any condition to do any extensive search for their daughter so Stell immediately called the men in black suit to come and assist them.