Chapter Text
When George was five, there was only one thing in this world that scared him the most, which was Big Uncle Kimi.
“I don’t want to go to Uncle Kimi’s house!” George would scream his head off whenever both of his fathers had to go overseas for work, and they’d drop him off for a few days at Uncle Kimi’s house.
“What’s wrong, George?” His alpha father, Lewis, asked him soothingly. “I thought you liked playing with Charles."
Charles, who was a year older than him but smaller in size, was Uncle Kimi and Uncle Sebastian’s youngest son. They both basically grew up together in the pack, not only because they were neighbours but also because Uncle Seb was George’s godfather. Charles had an older brother, a boy named Antonio. He was older than George by almost four years and very brave. George thought Charles was very lucky to have Antonio. He had always wanted a big brother.
“I like Charles,” George mumbled. “But I’m scared of Uncle Kimi.”
His omega father, Nico, as dramatic as he usually was, shrieked. “Did he do something to you?!"
It was the other way around, actually. Uncle Kimi did absolutely nothing. Literally nothing. He just sat there on his old and rusty sofa, watching him play with Charles. Whenever Charles asked him if they could play outside, Uncle Kimi would just grunt in response. Whenever Uncle Seb asked him if he could bring the boys outside for ice cream, Uncle Kimi would just get up, take his car keys, and soundlessly drive them to the nearest ice cream truck.
“But Uncle Kimi is very kind, no?” Lewis, who was kneeling down in front of him, tilted his head in confusion. “He took you and Charles to the trampoline park the other day.”
George shook his head. “I don’t want to go to Uncle Kimi’s house!”
Both Lewis and Nico exchanged an exasperated look.
George knew his fathers loved him so much they’d do, quite literally, anything for him. If George didn’t want to go to Uncle Kimi’s house, they surely wouldn’t take him there. But George also understood that his papa had to go to Germany for the pack’s business, and dad, of course, would come with him. They usually tried not to leave George alone as much as possible; one of them always tried to stay home with their son, just in case. But this time, Lewis deemed that it was too dangerous for his mate to go alone and had decided to come with Nico, leaving George in the care of Uncle Seb and Uncle Kimi. Or maybe that was the plan beforehand.
“Okay then,” Nico said slowly. “What about Uncle Toto’s house? You can play with Alex there.”
George, with his arms folded in his chest, nodded. Trying not to look too happy with the prospect of having to spend a week with Alex. “Anywhere but Uncle Kimi’s house is fine.”
Later that day, when Lewis was busy packing George’s clothes and toys while Nico was busy combing George’s hair, his omega father mumbled something along the line of, “you may look like me, but your personality? That stubbornness?” The German shook his head. "Mein Gott! So much like your dad!”
George grinned at his alpha father, who grinned back at him.
“I need you to behave yourself, George.” Nico told him sternly when they were in the car, driving past through the neighbourhood to go to Uncle Toto’s house. “Listen to Uncle Toto and Aunt Susie and play nicely with Alex. No fighting.”
“And definitely no biting.” Lewis pipped from behind the steering wheel.
George pouted but nodded his head nonetheless. He was now at the biting stage; his canine hurt like hell, and he wanted nothing but to bite things off. He sometimes felt a bit like Roscoe, really.
“Oh, look! It seems like the Webbers have just renovated their yard.” Lewis distractedly turned to look at their neighbour’s house as he drove, where the Webbers’ garden, which previously had nothing in it, was now filled with various types of flowers. Fernando had definitely entered his gardening phase now, and it was only a matter of time before the rest of the omegas in their pack followed suit.
“Ach, Lew! Pay attention to the road!” Nico yelled. “Actually, it does look good. Should we plant some flowers too? Oh! And maybe plant some trees like Dogwood! Yeah… Dogwood sounds nice, or Magnolia?”
“You just refurbished our home last month!” Lewis protested. “Nobody needs a new bathroom floor, yet you’re still remodelling ours, and we definitely don’t need a brand new front yard!”
“Waterproof stucco is good for children’s development!” Nico shoot back.
“You changed our bathroom’s floor, Nico, not George’s!”
George rolled his eyes and turned his head to stare out of the window of his car. At this rate, his fathers will continue arguing until they reach Uncle Toto’s house.
Uncle Toto’s house was the biggest one in their neighbourhood, even bigger than George’s own house—perks of being the pack’s alpha. George felt a little thump of excitement as his father’s car pulled up at the driveway of the grand house. There were several figures standing in the front yard, waiting for their arrival. George instantly recognised Uncle Toto, who stood tall and intimidating with his arms folded on his chest. Beside him stood two figures. One was Uncle Toto’s mate, Aunt Susie, who smiled softly as she watched Nico unbuckle George from the baby seat. Next to Aunt Susie was Alex.
Lewis once told George about how his body nearly vibrated with emotion whenever Nico came near and how his heart always beat faster every time someone spoke of Nico’s name. George also felt those things every time he saw Alex. Was it love? Did George fall in love with Alex?
“Alex!” George screamed in excitement, ignoring Nico’s grumble as the man released his jumpy son to the ground.
Alex, two years older than George, grinned widely as he caught sight of George.
Lewis exited the car with his hands full of George’s belongings. “Toto,” he greeted with a nod. “Susie.”
“Lewis, so good to see you.” Susie said before she turned his head towards Nico, who was trying to grab hold of George’s hand, “and you too, Nico.”
Lewis turned around to greet Toto, while Susie welcomed Nico and George. Nico walked up to her, gripping George’s hand with one hand as George tried to keep up with his omega father’s strides. “Hey,” Nico greeted Susie before leaning in for a hug. “Sorry for coming in on such short notice.”
Susie laughed, “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I don’t mind looking after George for a few days, and I’m sure Alex will be happy too.”
Nico sighed in relief before pulling George, who was jumping on his shoes giddily behind him, closer. “George, say hi to Uncle Toto and Aunt Susie.”
Suddenly feeling shy as the attention of the pack’s alpha and his mate turned towards him, George ducked his head into Nico’s thigh and murmured a little ‘Hello’, earning a chuckle from both of them.
“What’s wrong, George? You’re not usually this shy.” Said Lewis while ruffling his son’s hair, making Nico groaned in response and swatted his mate’s hand away from their son—he had spent an hour doing George’s hair, for God’s sake!
"George." Alex took a step forward beside his mother and smiled at him, smelling like lavender. “Wie geht’s?”
George’s body was frozen in horror when he realised that Alex was speaking in German to him. His papa spoke German to him most of the time, but George, being as stubborn as Lewis, would always talk back to Nico with nothing but English. “Mein eigener Sohn! Too British!” Nico would always complain. But again, Nico could speak five languages, and George sadly struggled with only English, so nothing surprising.
“Bien.” George replied and then frowned. Wasn’t that French? "Um, I mean, bestens, danke.”
“Spoke French too now, huh?” Uncle Toto said with a chuckle. “Careful, Nico. He might be able to speak more languages than you in the future.”
Knowing his own son’s capability, Nico murmured, “I wouldn’t go that far.” Before saying something about a work-related topic to Toto and Susie.
“Wanna play?” Alex had asked him while their parents were still busy talking about work. George nodded his head excitedly before pulling his hand away from his papa’s grasp and running to the house with Alex.
“How was school, Alex?” George asked curiously when they had settled down in Alex’s room. Alex was showing him his Lego collection and had decided to build Star Wars’ Executer Super Star Destroyer Lego for George.
Alex’s whole face lit up like a Christmas tree. He just started elementary school a few months ago, and George had to admit that he was a little jealous. He wanted to go to school, too. But his dad said George still had two years left and that he was still too young for school. George had cried at that. It was so unfair. He couldn’t wait that long. “It was really cool! I met a lot of new friends there. The teachers were also super kind.”
George’s eyes twitched. “New friends?”
Alex nodded. “His name is Esteban. He’s from France, but he speaks English very well.”
George was from England, but he could not speak French that well (his papa had tried to engage him in a French conversation, but oh well). Still, he disliked that mesmerised look Alex had given him when he talked about this Esteban kid, so George suddenly blurted out, “I can speak French too, Alex; je t’aime mon amour.” It was something that his papa usually told his dad in the morning before going to work, so George thought it must be worth doing to impress someone. Especially when that someone was Alex.
“I don’t know the rest of it, but the first part means ‘I love you,’ right?” Alex giggled.
“Ouais.” George could feel himself turning red like his papa whenever his dad complimented him.
“That’s great,” Alex said encouragingly. “You should say that to your future mate, George. They might be French.”
George frowned. He didn’t want a French mate. He had very specific criteria for a mate in his head. He wanted to be mate with someone who was two years older, English, could speak German better than him, had dark hair, and a sweet smile who might or might not be their pack’s alpha’s only son.
His fathers had always thought that George would someday present himself as an omega. George didn’t mind being an omega; male omegas could do great things too, and his papa was one prime example. “It’s not a bad thing to be a male omega.” His papa, who enjoyed the princess treatment from his dad, used to say this while he was doing George’s hair. “Be proud of who you are, George.”
Alex might present himself as an alpha in the future. Everyone in the pack expected him to; he was the son of the pack’s alpha anyway. With such a remarkable father, people tend to compare and look for a son who, perhaps, grew up to be even brighter than the father. But Alex grew up to be a shy and timid kid. Despite being two years older than George, Alex was still smaller, but with such sweetness in that small body that could bring people down to their knees. Nevertheless, some people perceived that as weakness. There were even some people who thought he might present as a beta or omega instead. Those people were usually very subtle with their disappointment (out of respect for Toto) to find Alex, who didn’t meet their expectations at all.
George might be young, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew all the horrible things the pack had said about Alex and how Susie had failed the pack by giving birth to a son unfit to become the next alpha. Lewis said those people were ignorant, and Nico also warned George to ignore all the unkind words about the Wolffs because those were loads of codswallop.
“The boy is too kind and too sweet to be an alpha. Such a disappointment to the bloodline. What kind of parents would let their child to be his mate?” Guenther Steiner had asked George’s dad during one of the pack’s monthly gatherings.
“I wouldn’t mind if George wished to,” Lewis snapped, making George flinch a bit in his arms. He buried his face on his father’s neck, trying to calm himself by scenting his alpha father. “In fact, I would be very happy and honoured.”
Nico, who was fuming beside Lewis throughout the conversation, nodded his head furiously. “What he said!”
“I don’t know who my mate is,” said George softly, fretfully playing with the hem of his shirt. “They might not be French.”
“Whoever it is, I’m sure they’re the best for you.”
George found himself blushing again. He had a terrible blushing problem (thanks to Nico’s gene). Especially whenever Alex was around.
“What about you, Alex?”
“Me?” Alex pointed at himself.
George nodded his head. “Who do you want to be your mate?”
“I don’t really know, honestly. I haven’t thought about it that much.” Alex said thoughtfully. “As long as they’re kind, I guess?”
Kind. Was George kind enough to meet Alex’s standard?
George was kind, alright. In the whimsical world of a five-year-old’s imagination, George pondered the idea of kindness with a touch of innocent self-reflection. He usually let Roscoe eat his vegetables for him, even though he would end up getting scolded by his papa afterwards. He also usually ran slower for Charles in their wolf forms whenever their fathers took them for a run in the forest because, well, Charles was smaller than him.
But was that kindness?
“It doesn’t matter yet, Georgie.” Alex’s voice abruptly pulled George’s attention back to the present time. "We have plenty of years to look for mates; you don’t have to worry about it at all.” The older boy fondly messed George’s hair before turning back to his stack of Legos.
George was at a loss for words.
“Papa? Am I… Kind?” George asked his papa a week later, when they were together again at home. He was curled up on the sofa with Nico, and they were watching a newer movie of Godzilla (George’s favourite). Nico was complaining at some length about how the original one was better, while Lewis was busy feeding Roscoe his lunch in the kitchen.
Hearing his son’s question, Nico, with his blue eyes full of love and adoration, turned his attention to George and answered, “of course you are! You’re my kindest boy, Georgie.”
The television was showing George’s favourite scene, where Godzilla was fighting King Ghidorah, but he was too distracted by his own thoughts. “But am I kind enough to be Alex’s mate?”
Lewis looked up suddenly from where he was squatting in front of Roscoe’s feeder, with a frown attached to his forehead. “Why are we talking about you having a mate already? You’re too young!”
“Ignore your dad,” Nico said, rolling his eyes. “What happened, liebling? What’s with the question about mate so suddenly?”
“Alex told me he wants a mate who is kind,” George shrugged. “I want to be kind so I can be his mate.”
Both Nico and Lewis laughed at his innocent remarks. George smiled broadly at the sight, feeling pleased because he could make his fathers laugh. However, Nico stopped laughing a few seconds later and gave his son a big grin. The omega then drew George onto his lap, movie forgotten, and hugged his son tightly while peppering kisses on his face, making George giggle.
“You grew up so fast, Georgie. It feels like just yesterday you took your first step, and now you’re already talking about having a mate!”
“Papa, hör auf! Es kitzelt!” The sound of George’s delighted laughter filled their house, making Roscoe bark happily.
“But Alex is a good kid,” Nico said to George after rubbing their scent glands together to keep his son happy and content. George purred as a response. He smelled like vanilla and almond milk now, like his papa. “And you can be yourself, liebling; you don’t need to change who you are just to be someone’s mate, because,” his papa looked at his dad fondly, as if he were a living wish, granted beyond all hope, “the right man will love you no matter what.”
The right man.
George couldn’t stop thinking about it.