Work Text:
Top of the line prescription lenses with the latest in anti-blue light technology were proving no match for the endless, ENDLESS inventory sheets, invoices, and supplier emails Chris was (somewhat futilely) attempting to reconcile before the end of the month. Despite the slowly increasing twitch in his eye, however, he was determined to finish by tonight. He had absolutely no interest in trying to do paperwork while stuck in a house full of shifters suffering from full moon hangover (he’d long ago learned that lesson), which unfortunately put him on a bit of a time crunch. His hopes of having it all done early had been crushed, as always, by the reality of life in an already large and seemingly ever-expanding pack. Not that he regretted anything about his life now. They’d all worked far too hard for far too long to get here, and he adored every moment with his family for the precious gift it was. He just wished it was slightly less hectic on occasion, and didn’t leave him in situations like this; trying to do most of a month’s finances in one day.
They’d managed to get all the wolves to head out to one of the small parks dotting the edge of the Preserve for a game of pick-up lacrosse to blow off some excess energy for now. Stiles had volunteered to go along to referee, and to keep an eye on Ben since he was so much smaller than the others. Right around the same time, Lydia had grabbed Allison for a trip to the mall, because it was apparently “never too early to start planning for prom season.” Erica had opted to go with them, saying she’d rather attack a sale rack, and somehow they’d convinced Kira to join them, as well (though Chris had some suspicions on that front, given the looks she and Malia kept sending each other when they thought no one was looking.) That left only his husbands in the house, and this close to the full moon Peter was, to put it mildly, highly reluctant to leave Noah’s side for any significant amount of time. Chris had opted to take full advantage of the unexpected reprieve, and closed himself off in their home office to try and get the last of his month-end business taken care of.
Now, at least – he glanced at the clock in corner of his screen – five hours (wait, five? Really?) later, fatigue was creeping determinedly in, despite his best efforts. Just as it occurred to him that he really should probably take a break and get some water and maybe a snack soon, something very warm, very fuzzy, and very heavy dropped onto his left hand, pinning it to the keyboard and stopping his typing mid-phrase. With a confused blink that rolled seamlessly into a resigned sigh, he looked down to meet limpid, glowing red eyes. They glistened wetly, their surrounding brow ridge shaped into the most forlorn expression it was capable of. One furry ear twitched hopefully. Chris let out another sigh, amused despite himself but trying to hide it.
“Peter, I told you I was busy until tonight.”
There was no response from the massive alpha wolf beyond an increase in the weight of the head against his pinned hand. The rougher short hairs along the bottom of Peter’s jaw prickled at his knuckles, the softer floof of his ruff tickling at the side of his wrist. He ignored this.
“I meant it, Peter. I need to finish this.”
This time when he leaned further into the Omega he threw in a soft, pathetic-sounding whine. Chris considered for a moment, since normally his husbands tried not to bother him when they knew he genuinely had work to finish. After a couple minutes contemplation, during which his Alpha continued to blink sadly at him, he let out another sigh, this one more resigned.
“You were hovering too much and Noah told you to go away for a while, didn’t he?”
The whining got louder and somehow even more despondent. After a few more minutes of stalemate, he let out a deep, weary groan, shoulders sagging in surrender.
“Alright, fine. I could use a break anyway.”
A happy yip and an excited butt wiggle were his only response. Chris switched off his wireless keyboard, scooping up his laptop and heading towards the surprisingly comfortable couch in the corner of the office. Peter took two steps and stopped, staring at the computer in his hands, before turning a glare on his husband far more befitting of his current countenance.
“Okay so it may just be a partial break. Do you want to cuddle or not?”
The wolf stared at him for another moment before heaving a derisive sniff and following. Chris snagged one of the lap desks tucked between the couch and end table and dropped onto a cushion, settling his laptop as securely as he could. When he looked up he found himself face-to-snout with his husband, who was holding one of their reusable water bottles clamped with surprising delicacy in his sizeable jaws.
“Oh. Thank you, Peter.”
He accepted it gratefully, chugging almost half the bottle in one go. Peter preened briefly, somehow making his fur fluff majestically seemingly on command. He then very determinedly crammed himself between Chris and the nearest corner of the sofa, draping himself languidly across the Omega’s legs while still facing protectively towards the door. Shaking his head with a bemused fondness, Chris situated the lap desk atop his furry adornment as best he could. It made it perhaps more than a little awkward to use, as the keyboard was now almost level with his face given his mate’s sheer bulk in his current form, but little enough of a price to pay for some snuggle time. He’d gotten a couple more emails sent and was finishing off the last of the water when the alpha’s head shot up, eyes flaring bright and tail swishing excitedly against his leg. Given said reaction, he was unsurprised when a soft knock preceded Noah into the room, a tray rather heavily laden with food balanced carefully on one arm. Glancing suspiciously between his husbands, he let out a soft, wry huff of a laugh at the two’s antics.
“Ah, so this was a coordinated maneuver, then? And here I’d been given to understand that someone had been banished for the unrelenting re-emergence of his mother hen tendencies.”
Eyes flashing briefly purple, Noah sent a deeply unimpressed look to the lounging wolf, who stared innocently off into the distance.
“Oh were you now?”
Peter continued to not meet Noah’s gaze, blithely ignoring the flat tone and stern expression. After a moment he seemed to decide to try another tack, dropping his head to his paws and unleashing the puppy eyes again. Their husband was unfazed.
“You know that hasn’t worked on me since we were like 16, right?”
When Peter just continued to give his best pathetic look, Noah rolled his eyes so hard it was a wonder he didn’t tip backwards. Resuming his journey to join them, he turned to address his fellow Omega.
“No, as it happens we both came to the conclusion that you probably hadn’t stopped to eat or drink anything since you shut yourself in here, and decided to do something about it.”
Chris could feel his expression turning bemused again as he fought off his own eye-roll.
“You both do realize that I CAN take care of myself, right?”
His attempt to inject some (mostly mock) outrage into his voice was rather badly thwarted by his stomach choosing that moment to protest its state of neglect. The synchronized raised eyebrows he received in response only fed the blush he could feel trying to spring up on his cheeks.
“You were saying?”
“...well maybe a little snack wouldn’t hurt.”
Peter somehow managed to lift himself out of the way without sending the laptop flying, which he was intensely grateful for. Gently placing the tray on the other end of the sofa, Noah sank into the spot next to Chris, kicking his feet up on the ottoman and rubbing one hand absently over his slightly swollen belly. Their Alpha immediately stretched to drape himself across both his mates, positioning his large frame with infinite care to avoid any chance of accidental injury. Pressing his head against Noah’s abdomen, he let out a contented rumble as he listened to the twin heartbeats within. Chris found his own hand reaching tentatively over, too, unable to help himself. Noah let out an amused snort.
“They’re barely even kicking yet, you realize?”
“Yeah, but it’s still exciting.”
His husband’s hand pressed briefly against his own, before raising it to his lips for a gentle peck. A container of grapes was then very pointedly placed into his captive hand.
“Here. Eat.”
His gaze then dropped down to Peter, who was currently providing the spectacle of endeavoring to wedge his massive, furred head underneath Noah’s hoodie in a bid to get even closer. With a bemused sigh, the Omega wrapped a hand firmly around his muzzle and forced him into eye contact.
“And you. While we’re definitely gonna need to have a talk about the hovering at some point, don’t you go using it as an excuse to try and get some sympathy or pretend it’s why you were bothering him. You were just as concerned as I was.”
Peter’s conceding sniff was rewarded with a thorough chin scratch, and some resigned assistance in his quest for increased access to Noah’s person. Glancing over at Chris, who had been dutifully munching on his grapes, his face broke into a sly smile.
“Though personally I think he just wanted an excuse to enjoy the view.”
When his husband just blinked at him in confusion, Noah reached over and gently slid Chris’ glasses back up his nose. The sly smile was turning heated and teasing, those hazel blue eyes darkening as they continued to rove his fellow Omega’s face.
“It’s a good look.”
A predatory rumbling echoed his sentiment, glowing crimson eyes shifting to watch them hungrily. Noah poked lightly at Peter’s nose with one finger.
“We’ve talked about this. None of that unless you’re in a shape where your teeth AREN’T the length of my thumb. You’re far too fond of leaving bite marks as it is.”
Before becoming involved with Peter, Chris had never even been aware that a wolf’s features were capable of managing a pout, but his husband had long ago mastered the skill, and was currently deploying it with extreme prejudice. It was a struggle to keep his own expression neutral, and he crammed the last few (perhaps just a few too many) grapes into his mouth as a buffer.
“It’s only until tomorrow, you’ll be fine.”
The tone may have been unsympathetic, but the hands that came up to cradle Peter’s face and rub soothingly at his ears were soft with affection. Chris reached down to stroke comfortingly across his flank, the thick, dark fur almost completely obscuring his fingers. Neither of them minded that the alpha tended to find it easier to stay shifted for most of the day leading into a full moon, but the point about his mouthiness was still entirely valid. Thoroughly placated by all the petting, Peter was practically a puddle of peaceful pleasure by the time Noah tucked his muzzle back into his lap and traded out the empty grape container in Chris’ hand for a baggie of peanut butter filled pretzel bites.
“Here; I didn’t bring all this just for me – well, us, I guess – you know.”
“Yes, dear.”
The unimpressed look his bland response garnered would probably have been far more effective if Chris hadn’t already gone back to typing with one hand while still nibbling absently on his pretzels. He heard a low huff of amusement and startled slightly as the empty water bottle in the desk’s holder was swapped for a new one. Glancing over he found Noah currently utilizing Peter’s shoulder as a book rest as he enjoyed his own snack, which seemed to involve dipping baby carrots into steak sauce (Chris was just going to chalk that one up to pregnancy cravings and not think about it.) Suddenly somewhat curious, he looked past the two to the tray itself, and realized that everything on it was some sort of finger food, most of them fairly free of mess. He was just debating whether he should actually ask for the container of freeze-dried strawberries and bananas, or if he could perhaps just yearn hard enough for his husband to sense it somehow, when he noticed Noah watching him with a warm, if wry, grin.
“I knew no matter what Peter hoped, there was no way we’d be able to fully pull you away from your work, so I opted to try and accommodate.”
With a rueful shake of his head, Chris leaned over to press a few light kisses to those wonderfully familiar lips, giving Peter a quick affectionate scritch as he did.
“Thank you, both of you.”
Turning back to survey his various open tabs, he felt another sudden weight drop – onto his should this time – as Noah leaned his head against him to give the screen his own once-over.
“Anything I can help with?”
Thinking it over, Chris ultimately went with the only response he really could.
“You already are.”
“...Sap.”
Chris gave a faint huff as he pressed a brief peck to the short, sandy waves so nearby. Nuzzling his cheek against the silky strands, he refrained from comment as the empty pretzel baggie was tugged away and the plastic bowl of strawberries and bananas was wedged into a semi-stable and equally reachable position between them. With a tiny, probably-not-all-that-well-hidden smile, he took a deep breath of the clean scent of Noah’s shampoo mixed with the pervasive, earthy scent of Peter’s fur, and got back to work with a keenly reinvigorated determination to finish up as soon as he could. Much easier to enjoy a good cuddle session with both hands free, after all.