Archive of Our Own

After just a mere few long minutes of begging and badgering, North got Kim to slip the pack’s youngest member into his arms. North grinned, glad that the second step of his plan had gone off without a hitch. Babe and Charlie’s four-month-old pup was perfectly fine being handed off from one uncle to another. Prince, to North’s great relief, didn’t fuss at all as North adjusted him so he was just cradled in one arm. He wasn’t exactly used to holding him like that and didn’t think he was properly supporting the pup like he should have been, but he needed the extra hand to complete step two.

With his second hand free, North scooped up Martin under his arm. The five-year-old yelped as he was suddenly lifted, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. North winced. Attention was absolutely not what he wanted at the moment.

On the opposite side of the main room, North spotted Babe pushing past Alan and Charlie, making a beeline for him. “North! Don’t hold my kid like that!”

“Oh, sh- Jeff! I got the kids! Let’s go!” North called to the other Omega, who was trying to go into the kitchen.

“Huh? Go where?” Jeff turned and asked, completely unaware of North’s big idea for the two of them and their shared nephews.

North’s third nephew was not part of the plan until the final step, and could not be called shared since Alan had legally adopted Andy and therefore wasn’t Jeff’s nephew. North wasn’t exactly sure what Andy referred to Jeff as in relation to him. He called his guardians by name, P’Alan and P’Jeff, and North wasn’t even sure if Jeff could technically be considered Andy’s parent, since he was only six years older than the teenager.

“To make a pack nest since everyone is staying over tonight!”

“Ohh… I’ll take Prince before Babe kills you.” Jeff quickly took the baby from him. Charlie caught up to Babe and was able to divert his attention back to the post-race celebration now that their pup was being held carefully by a much more trusted uncle.

The two Omegas brought the pups into the patio, where North had completed step one of his plan, getting everything ready so he and Jeff could jump right into nest building. He’d already gathered all the materials they would need for the nest, as well as pulled out, blown up, and laid out a base blanket on the big inflatable nesting mattress that would fit everyone that Alan had purchased once the pack had gotten too big to fit on any one of the beds in the house all at once. Martin immediately wriggled free of North’s grasp so he could launch himself onto the mattress.

“This bed is really big!” Martin giggled, bouncing a bit as he pushed himself up onto his knees.

“It’s big because it’s for a nest,” Jeff told him. “Don’t bounce anymore. I’m going to put Prince down and he won’t like how it feels if you’re bouncing. It will scare him.”

Martin stopped bouncing and crawled over as Jeff placed Prince on the inflatable mattress. He smiled down at the baby, who just looked around curiously at his new surroundings. Martin looked around as well. “This is a nest?” he asked.

“It will be!” North beamed at the pups. Step two of gathering the kids and getting Jeff was now complete, so he could move on to step three: building the nest. Step four, the final step, would be bringing the whole pack over once it was time to sleep and the nest was finished. He gathered up an armful of pillows and dumped them onto the nest so he could start arranging them. “Do you want to start with pillows, Jeff? Create a border so the baby won’t fall off.”

“He can’t crawl yet, North.” Jeff rolled his eyes as North opened his mouth to protest. “He won’t just suddenly start, either. He’s too small. You know Charlie said he’s only just gotten the hang of propping himself up and rolling onto his back.”

Indeed, every milestone from their youngest pack member was lovingly and proudly sent via many photos and videos through the group chat by his parents, then bragged about again in person. They all knew exactly what Prince was capable of doing.

Still, North was sure that babies could be surprising. And Prince could roll now, even though he didn’t do it repeatedly. But there was a chance that he might decide to, and rolling was technically a form of motion that could bring him to the edge of the mattress.

“What’s all that stuff for, Phi?” Martin asked, pointing at the pile of nesting supplies.

North dumped even more pillows onto the pile. Jeff grabbed a few and took them to the other side so they could create a border. “It’s for the nest.”

“What do you do with it? Why are there clothes?”

“To make it great!”

“How?”

“It just does. Dunno.”

Seeing that Martin wasn’t satisfied with the answer, Jeff asked the pup, “Have you seen a nest before, Martin?”

“No. I’ve never been in one.”

It occurred to North that of course Martin was asking so many questions. He’d never lived with an Omega before, so of course he’d never seen a nest and didn’t know what all the parts were. Both of his parents were Enigmas, and North knew Way didn’t have any kind of nesting instinct at all. Pete, as another Enigma, was probably the same. He wouldn’t have passed on any useful instinct to Martin. North was grateful that Way was just Martin’s stepfather, as he would have surely passed on his utter helplessness and slight indifference when it came to anything relating to nests through his DNA somehow.

“We’re gonna build the best first nest you’re gonna be in ever!”

Jeff explained, “You’ll see what everything is for as we put it together, kid. But basically it’s like making an extra comfortable bed for everybody to share. It needs a lot of parts like pillows and blankets and clothes with the pack’s scents on them to be nice.”

“That sounds fun! Does that sound fun, Prince? Have you been in a nest?”

“He has. He likes them.”

“Can I help?” Martin asked, excited now that he actually knew what a nest was supposed to be.

“Sure!” North happily agreed. Martin was always so sweet and helpful no matter which pack member he was with. It was adorable that he wanted to help them nest, even if he was an Enigma pup and not an Omega one. Maybe North could train some nesting instinct into him so he wouldn’t be as helpless at it as Way had always been. Surely it would work, starting so early in Martin’s life.

-

North soon regretted giving Martin permission to help. He’d brought the pups along so they’d be able to build the nest around them and make sure the two youngest members would be safe and cozy in it. With Prince seeming to get bigger every time North saw him, and having never built a nest with Martin in it, they needed the two right there so everything would be perfect.

Martin had decided after watching them nest for a bit that nest-making was very similar to building a fort, which he had done plenty of times, and that he wanted to build a fort for him and Prince to play in while they were there. North was not one to stop his nephews from doing something fun and had smiled at the pup and told him that he just had to be careful not to let the fort fall onto the baby. It would have been cute watching Martin gather pillows and blankets to place around himself and the baby, but instead of getting what he wanted from the available pile North had gestured to, he was grabbing the nest materials North and Jeff had already placed in order to construct it, undoing what they had created. North tried grabbing things back, but Martin would just laugh and go to a different part to grab replacement pieces.

Prince seemed to enjoy the ‘game’ as well, starting to copy his cousin, babbling happily and reaching for things as well. He managed to pull a blanket closer so he could stick it in his mouth and chew on it. Martin clapped his hands, excitedly telling the baby, “Good job! You’re helping with the fort!”

North couldn’t believe his nephew was encouraging the baby to help him deconstruct the nest. His inner Omega was completely torn- on one hand, it cooed over watching the two pups being so cute and happy together, but it also wailed as Martin grabbed a blanket and pulled hard, disturbing a large portion of already built nest which North had just placed the finishing touches on, specifically the part where he and Sonic would have been. It was no wonder, of course, that Martin had been drawn to the very colorful blanket, and that even Prince started reaching for the bold pattern. It was Sonic’s favorite. As the corner of it descended into Prince’s mouth and Martin hauled the rest over a mound of pillows, North finally intervened.

He cuddle-tackled Martin as the boy went to grab a jacket from Dean to add to his fort. The Beta’s clothes were a rarity in the nest now that he was off racing in the European circuits under the watch of a friend of Alan’s, who’d agreed to sign him on after Dean had completed both an anger management course and the community service he’d been sentenced to. With Dean not expected back in the country until summer break, North had to safeguard the few pieces of nest material Dean had left behind. Martin shrieked and laughed as he was engulfed in a big hug. Sitting up, North scooted closer to Prince so he could tug the baby up as well, setting him on Martin’s lap. Wrapping his arms around both pups, North gave a big exasperated sigh that had Martin giggling. “You two…!” He nuzzled them both until they were wriggling around with laughter, Martin squealing that it tickled. “You’re so cute but you’re both little monsters, huh?”

Jeff gave a small nod as he quickly pulled back pieces from the fort to patch up the nest while North had the pups distracted.

“We’re gonna make the best nest in the world so you two will be far too cozy to even think of goofing around!”

“But it should have a pillow fort in it so it’ll be the best, P’North!” Martin insisted, and North was almost tempted to give in. It did sound fun. But he took pack nests seriously, so making a fort with his nephews would have to wait until another day. He would make a mini nest with a fort for the kids soon, though. “Right, Prince?”

The baby reached up at his cousin as Martin ducked to nuzzle the baby.

“Prince agrees!”

His nephews were truly adorable monsters, North thought. They were both working together to destroy his nest, but he couldn’t help but squeeze them both again and give them both kisses on the head. “Geez!”

“P’Charlie makes really good forts. He should help make the nest!”

Jeff quickly climbed over and covered North’s mouth with his hand before the older Omega could respond to the boy. He patted Martin’s head and told him, “North is too fussy to let an Alpha help us nest, Martin.” He thought for a moment, and then said to North, “Phi, maybe we should just swaddle them so they can’t move.”

So it was bothering Jeff as well. North felt glad he wasn’t alone in his despair.

The younger Omega removed his hand from North’s mouth. North leaned his head against Martin’s. “Jeff…! That would be rude.” He was pretty sure Martin would be able to free himself and Prince anyway. It wouldn’t work for very long, even if the idea was admittedly tempting.

“Then you can be in charge of wrangling them.”

North sighed loudly. “Jeff!” he whined. “We both have to build this together!”

“How come only P’Jeff and P’North are building the nest? It would be done fast if everybody helped.”

“It would,” Jeff agreed. He gave a pointed look to North, who pouted. “But P’North won’t let them.”

“Hey! You know only we can do it. Okay. When I was a kid like you, noo-” North started to explain, turning both kids so they were looking at him.

“Was that a super long time ago?” Martin interrupted. Jeff snickered, then quickly went to rummage through the nesting material pile when North whipped his head around towards him.

He focused back on the pups, telling them, “Not that long. My parents’ pack Omegas always liked making big pack nests like this when I was a kid. I always helped, because I’m an Omega too, and it was so much fun and I liked it a lot! So when Uncle started our pack, I started doing that for us. At first it was just me, ‘cuz I was the only Omega. But now Jeff is part of the pack and he’s an Omega too, so we get to do it. It feels really good to get all the Omegas and little pups together and make a proper nest for everybody.”

Martin listened, wide-eyed. But then he looked confused as North finished his impassioned ramble, frowning and tilting his head.

“All of the pack Omegas? But… Uncle Ken isn’t helping. He’s an Omega.”

North and Jeff both froze.

“...Kenta is an Omega?” Jeff echoed. The younger Omega exchanged a look with North, but neither of them had known about that at all. North’s mouth was open, making him the picture of shock.

“Uh-huh.” Martin nodded, blissfully unaware of the grand revelation he’d just dropped onto his two uncles.

North moved the kids off of his lap and was out of the room to go find Kenta before he could catch Martin’s explanation to Jeff on why exactly neither of them had noticed.

“Huh. I always thought Kenta was an Alpha,” Jeff mumbled.

“He used to be one before he met Papa,” Martin said casually, as if that wasn’t also equally as shocking.

-

North physically dragged Kenta back to the nest, loudly proclaiming that it wasn’t right of him to miss out on quality pack Omega bonding time. He felt quite proud of himself for getting Kenta all the way to the patio. Kenta was a lot stronger than him, but North’s determination was even more powerful than the other man’s physical strength, he thought.

Jeff knew, however, that Kenta could have easily slipped North’s grasp at any moment, or avoided being grabbed in the first place. That meant he wasn’t entirely unwilling to join in. He wouldn’t burst North’s bubble, though.

“Okay! Unless someone else is secretly an Omega…” North stared at Martin for a moment in case the pup had any more big reveals to make about the secondary sexes of their pack members, but Martin was just waving at Kenta and then making Prince wave too. “Doesn’t seem like it. We now have all of the pack Omegas gathered for making the big pack nest!”

Kenta returned a small wave to the pups and sighed. “It wasn’t secret… Kim, Alan, Pete, and Way all know I’m an Omega.”

North gave an exaggerated frown. “They’re cruel to keep it from me, especially Uncle…! He knows how much I love doing pack nests!” North pulled Kenta close to the nest. Martin crawled over so he could hug his uncle. Before North let go of Kenta’s arms, he frowned as he noticed something and leaned in to sniff him.

“North. Don’t do that,” Jeff scolded.

North ignored the scolding from the head Omega of their pack, too curious. “Do you wear blockers? You don’t smell like an Omega, Phi.” North leaned in again, his nose almost against Kenta’s scent gland. “Huh. All I smell is Kim.”

Kenta opened his mouth a little but didn’t answer. He closed it and frowned. Jeff could see the tips of his ears turning pink.

Martin saved him by loudly going, “Omegas have a smell, P’North?”

Confused, North drew back from Kenta to look down at the pup. “Huh?”

Jeff answered instead, also confused. “You’re probably too young to tell scents apart yet, kiddo.”

“How do you know Kenta’s an Omega, then? Did your dad tell you?” North asked.

“Huh? No. Uncle Ken feels like one. That’s how I know.”

“…Feels?”

Kenta patted Martin’s hair, looking awkward. He obviously wasn’t used to talking about his secondary designation. Jeff couldn’t blame him for being uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure who besides Pete and Martin and most likely Kim knew that Kenta was subverted. North would probably just badger him with endless questions if he knew, so Jeff didn’t say that Kenta wasn’t wearing any blockers.

Which was obvious anyway, and Jeff couldn’t believe North hadn’t realized. Kenta wasn’t wearing his usual high-collared shirts that day. His neck and the area where his scent gland was were clearly visible and bare of any blocking patches with the tight X-Hunter team t-shirt he had obviously borrowed from Kim.

“It’s an Enigma thing,” Kenta said. “He just knows.”

“That’s cool!” North lifted up Martin, holding him up high. “You’ve got another awesome Enigma power!”

With North distracted by their nephew, Jeff told Kenta he was welcome to just start adding into the nest with whatever pieces he wanted. He resumed filling in the section he was working on, placing some of his own and Alan’s bedding and clothes down near the edge farthest from the patio windows. They liked having the youngest members of the pack in the middle, so Charlie and Babe always got the center now that they had Prince, and Alan liked being where he’d be able to see the whole pack during the night if he looked up, so he and Jeff got the edge where the light from the windows would be over everyone else.

North’s uncharacteristically gentle voice asking Kenta’s name brought Jeff out of his nest placement thoughts. He looked up to see that Kenta hadn’t moved at all from the edge of the nest, looking frozen. His cheeks were now pink too, and his hands were clenched at his side.

Both pups were quiet now as well. Martin looked worried, and Prince was chewing on his fist and only making some mumbling noises from his place in his cousin’s arms.

“Kenta?” North tried again, carefully taking Kenta’s arm. Kenta flinched but then leaned closer to North when the other Omega pulled his hands away. “Are you okay? You don’t have to nest with us if you really don’t want to. I didn’t mean to force you.”

“I… I want to, I just…” Jeff went over too as Kenta struggled to say what he wanted to, rubbing his back soothingly. “I’ve never… nested.”

“You don’t nest?!” North exclaimed loudly. Kenta flinched again, and the pups both startled. Prince dropped his fist from his mouth and his face scrunched up like he was going to cry. Jeff reached behind Kenta to swat at North before ducking for the baby. “Sorry!”

They waited as Jeff shushed the baby. Prince made a few upset sounds, starting to work himself up, but then calmed down after being bounced and patted. Jeff set him down and Prince went back to chewing on things.

With the crisis of the baby crying averted, Kenta quietly admitted, “I don’t have any nesting instinct.”

North slung an arm around his shoulders, smiling wide at him. “That’s alright! We’ll all help you!”

With some coaxing, the two other Omegas got Kenta to pick up a few items and get into the nest to place them. Jeff told him how Prince and his parents would be in the middle, and how Martin and Andy would also be more to the middle as well, if they wanted. North added that they didn’t have to be specific with it, as generally everyone started out somewhere tailored to them but would work their way someplace else in the nest throughout the night and by morning.

“Only Alan and Babe usually stick to their spot. Cuz of the baby and Uncle having his little protective Head Alpha spot.”

“The pups are in the middle… to protect them?” Kenta perked up at that.

“Makes it easy to reach and cuddle them too!” North added, beaming.

“Andy isn’t fond of being dragged around and Babe doesn’t like when you and Sonic try to steal Prince from him during the night, Phi. Don’t yank Martin from P’Pete and Way.”

North fended off the little lecture with, “I don’t need to steal Martin. He’ll be up for cuddling grabs once P’Way and Sonic are snuggling like they always used to.”

Sighing, Jeff knew it was no use trying to get North to listen. He always tried to steal Andy and Prince from the others, and only getting growled at or having the kids protest would stop him. They returned to nest assembly.

Kenta was struggling with it, stuck on rearranging the few pieces North had handed him with Kim’s scent on them. He didn’t look too upset, just mildly lost, so neither of the other two Omegas interfered. He was very hesitant in actually touching anything but what he’d been given, staying firmly in place where he had initially knelt down and only moving what was within reach. Finally, he took a deep breath and then asked, “How do I know if it’s good enough?”

“It’ll just feel right! Do you like the spot you made?”

Kenta looked down at his spot, downcast. “Not really. Something’s… missing.”

“Maybe your brother’s scent? K’Pete’s jacket is somewhere in the pile there.”

Kenta didn’t look too certain, but Martin jumped up and offered to find it for his uncle. North breathed a sigh of relief as the pup completely ceased all his nest destruction to root through the pile. He found his father’s jacket and brought it over to Kenta. The pup was much more cooperative with the whole nest-building process now that Kenta was there, eager to help him navigate his first-ever nesting experience.

With Martin right next to him handing him whatever pieces he asked for, Kenta got much more into the swing of things. He was more confident in where he placed things and was much more comfortable as he moved around, no longer frozen and stiff.

He stared down at what he’d made and frowned a bit. Then he asked Martin, “Will you try this for me?”

“Yeah!” Martin flopped right into the spot. Kenta adjusted him, making the pup giggle as he was shifted. After seeing how Martin fit in, Kenta moved some things around.

North saw Kenta smile a bit and reached over to shake Jeff’s shoulder. He discreetly gestured to Kenta when Jeff gave him a questioning look, and Jeff’s face softened at the sight.

“Uncle Ken, Prince should help try things too,” Martin insisted to Kenta, making his way over to the baby. “P’North said it’s gotta be cozy for Prince too.”

“...Alright.” Kenta was hesitant but picked up the baby as carefully as possible. Jeff jabbed North in the side to keep him from saying anything or making any sort of noise. It was very sweet how Kenta was so gentle with Prince, and Jeff didn’t want North to potentially start teasing Kenta about how he handled Prince like he would shatter if he wasn’t cautious enough. It was rare that Kenta interacted with their youngest nephew, the man usually avoiding doing so, too nervous to get close to the baby.

It was hard, though, to not laugh as Kenta moved around the kids like dolls. Martin’s quiet giggling every time he was lifted and plopped down risked setting off North as well, so Jeff gave him a pleading look. North nodded in understanding, though it was clear it was taking a lot of effort to not make some kind of quip or laugh. When Prince started making happy little noises as well whenever he was moved, North took a break to root through the material pile to stay strong.

Upon returning to the nest and having to scoot past Kenta and the pups, it was apparent why things had clicked for Kenta and the other Omega had suddenly gained confidence in his nesting. What had been missing to Kenta from the first attempts wasn’t just the scents of the other members of the pack he was closest to, but rather the soft and happy scents of the pups as they received lots of affection and snuggled into the nest. All the parts that Kenta had touched were now covered with the subtle scent, and North immediately stole Martin to drag him over to another section.

“Ah- Martin…”

“North!”

“I need Martin to test my parts of the nest too!” North whined. Now that he’d gotten to experience Kenta’s nesting style, North knew that from now on the pack nests wouldn’t be complete without the scent spread all over it. “I knew it was super important for all of the Omegas to work on this together!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Kenta has to build pack nests with us every time from now on. Or else they won’t feel right. You’re so good at this, Kenta!”

Kenta glanced at his part. It wasn’t anywhere as neat or well-padded as the parts that North and Jeff had made, practically haphazard, obviously made by someone with zero experience. He frowned, not believing that North was being truthful. Surely the other Omega was just trying to be nice. “...Really?”

North nodded eagerly. “Jeff, tell him he’s a natural.”

“You’re doing a good job. It looks comfortable. When I made my first nest after leaving the foundation, it-” Jeff was stopped by North grabbing him and forcing him to go closer to Kenta’s area, demanding that he really see. “Oh.”

“Is it alright…?”

Jeff nodded seriously. “North is right. You have to help us from now on.”

While it would be easy to believe that North would lie to encourage him, Kenta didn’t believe that Jeff would. Red-faced and overwhelmed by the approval, Kenta looked away. They let him take a little bit of time to process and used that time to each snag a pup. North wrapped up Martin in a blanket and snuggled him, then used the blanket to spread the scent through the rest of the nest. Jeff did similar with Prince, letting the pup grab at different parts and then setting them where they belonged before finally tucking Prince in the middle of the nest where he and his parents would be.

Once Kenta had calmed down and continued with nesting, it was only a short amount of time before the three of them stepped back and were satisfied with what they’d constructed.

“What do you think, P’Kenta?” North asked with a big smile on his face.

“P’...?” Kenta echoed in disbelief, glancing at Jeff. The younger Omega just shrugged. “It’s… really nice.”

“Awesome!” North slung his arms around their shoulders and pulled them in for a big hug. “We did it!” he cheered.

Martin cheered as well, climbing out of the nest to join in. North lifted him and held him up, praising him for his help. Jeff grabbed the baby and told them, “I’ll bring Prince back to Babe.”

“Oh yeah,” North realized. “He and P’Way are probably feeling the separation anxiety by now. Let’s get you two back to your parents before Uncle finishes making dinner!”

“Isn’t separation anxiety supposed to be the kids instead of the parents…?” Kenta mumbled. “Martin and Prince never mind being away from their parents.”

North stuck a finger against Kenta’s lips, giving him a loud shush. “Never tell Babe and Charlie that. They’ll be devastated if they think Prince doesn’t miss them.” Jeff rolled his eyes, but it was true, so he didn’t tell Kenta to ignore North.

“When does everybody get to see the nest?” Martin asked. “After dinner? I wanna show Papa and Mama that I helped!”

“Yup! Once it’s time for bed! Everyone should be tired pretty soon. Uncle’s always exhausted after race weekends. Right, Jeff?”

Jeff glanced at their nephew before answering. “...Sure.”

“Does he just lie that he’s tired so he can-” North also glanced at their nephews. Martin looked between them with his bright, innocent eyes. “So he can spend alone time with you?!”

“I’m not answering that. Let’s go before Babe and Charlie start going through pup withdrawal.”

-

Sonic shook North as soon as the Omega dropped Martin into Way’s lap and then made his way over to his boyfriend, the Alpha scolding him for stealing the kids and making Babe and Charlie annoying. North defended himself by saying he had to, to make the pack nest.

“Even Kim got moody when you stole Kenta! Kim! Why did you take him?!”

“Because all the Omegas have to help!”

Sonic paused. Then, “Kenta’s an Omega?!”

Even though he’d had the exact same reaction earlier, North rolled his eyes and shook his head as if it were obvious. “Yeah. And he’s super good at nesting!” Kenta quickly walked into the kitchen to avoid being looked at as North proudly announced that within earshot of everyone. North caught a glimpse of his red face and little smile as he sped by and grinned. “He’s so shy about it! P’Kenta is so cute.”

North looked around for Kim and went up to him. He threw an arm around the Alpha’s shoulders. “You were right, Kim! P’Kenta really is cute.”

Kim shrugged him off, embarrassed. “North. Don’t overwhelm Kenta teasing him.”

He wrapped both arms around him instead, leaning his whole body weight against him to keep from being pushed away. “It’s not teasing! It’s true! You’ll see later.”

Sonic came over to drape himself against North, adding more weight onto Kim. The senior driver sighed, used to the two suddenly glomping onto him, even if he was tired from a long race that morning. “North…! Can I see the nest now? I want my jacket back.”

“No! It’s integral to the structure!”

“I’m cold.”

“It’s warm today. No.”

“Come on. I need it! P’Way looks cooler than me, and that’s not fair.”

North gave a comically loud gasp. Kim shifted, but neither of them noticed. “No one looks cooler than you, Nic.”

“He’s using his sugar daddy’s money to buy super expensive clothes. I’m supposed to be the most stylish person in the pack!”

“Please don’t call me a sugar daddy,” Pete said, only a few feet away from them, covering Martin’s ears.

“Okay. Keep the kid’s ears covered, Khun. Are you two ready?” Kim asked.

“Huh?”

“Ready for- Oh fuck!” Kim twisted out of North’s hold and stepped away, sending the two of them sprawling. “KIM!”

“I warned you.”

“You did not!”

“Stop using boxing moves to get away from us!”

-

After dinner, the pups were the first ones to have all the excitement and activity of the day catch up to them. Prince fell asleep in Charlie’s arms after getting his hearing aids taken off, and Martin started yawning as soon as he saw his cousin sound asleep. He climbed onto Pete’s lap and started to doze off, so Pete took him to go brush his teeth and change into pajamas. He came back with Martin ready for bed and with his head on his father’s shoulder. Pete carefully sat back down next to Way.

“Is he asleep already?”

“Not asleep, Mama…” Martin mumbled, even as he closed his eyes and snuggled against his father.

His parents waited a moment, and then Pete smiled. “Now he is.”

North glanced over at Andy when the teenager was the final kid to start dozing off a while later, beginning to slump against Alan from where they were sitting next to each other. And like a switch had been flipped or that the pups’ sleepiness was contagious, everyone else suddenly looked quite tired. The three drivers looked especially worn out, as did Jeff and Alan, who’d worked hard during the race.

Finally, it was time. North, full of excited energy despite spending the day being in charge of livestreaming the race and managing the team’s social media with Sonic, jumped up and cheered, “Nest time!”

Everyone but Alan was startled. Sonic immediately started hitting him with a throw pillow, scolding him, “You’re gonna freak out the kids!”

“Prince can’t hear me,” North protested. He looked again at Andy and winced a little at the bewildered expression on his face. Thankfully, Andy was steadily getting used to the antics of the other pack members with how often North and Sonic stayed over at Alan’s, so he settled down once he realized it was just North being North. The Omega figured that someday Andy and Jeff would be just as immune to him doing things as Alan, who had just casually looked over at him when he shouted. Long-term exposure to him had made Alan resistant, and that would surely pass on to his mate and adopted child. Martin was quickly soothed by both of his parents as he jerked awake, head popping up and eyes wide. Way did send him a glare as he coaxed Martin into laying his head down again, but North was unaffected by it.

North pulled Sonic up. “Come on, come on!” He started dragging him towards the nest, then circled back to grab Andy’s wrist and pull him along as well.

The rest of the pack trailed after them.

As soon as they reached the nest, North maneuvered Andy into his place in the nest, a spot between where North and Sonic would be and Alan and Jeff. Andy looked between the familiar brightly colored clothes of Sonic and Alan’s coveralls and gave North a pleading look. “You’re going to drag me over to your spot again.”

“What? No,” North laughed nervously. “It’s just near Alan and Jeff.”

“Phi.”

“Don’t bother Andy,” Alan scolded. “He’s an independent sleeper.”

Jeff rolled his eyes as he and Alan got into the nest together, holding hands. “You make him sound like a toddler.”

“I’m fifteen,” Andy agreed, settling down in the spot anyway.

Everyone worked their way into the nest. Babe practically melted into his spot, totally relaxed in the center of the nest with his pup, surrounded by their family and all their familiar scents. Charlie beamed as he curled around his mate and their son.

Martin directed his parents towards their spot, proudly telling them how he and Prince had helped with the nest and that they’d even helped Uncle Ken nest for the first time.

“You made my baby help?” Babe questioned North, reaching with his leg to kick at him. “He’s four months old. Don’t put him to work.”

“His contribution was vital to the construction!” North protested.

“Where’s my blanket?” Sonic asked, looking around for it. He looked at North, who avoided his eyes. “North. You let the baby slobber all over it, didn’t you?”

“My kid doesn’t slobber on things,” Babe said, offended. “He’s not some kind of dog.”

Charlie laughed, knowing that was exactly what happened even if Babe wouldn’t believe it. ”He’s been really into putting colorful things in his mouth, Phi. Sorry.”

As Babe and Sonic settled down, Pete got Martin tucked between him and Way. “Do you like the nest, little one?” Pete asked the pup, tugging a blanket up for the three of them.

Martin nodded eagerly, loudly proclaiming, “I like it a lot, Papa! Uncle Ken made it super good!”

From where he’d sat down, Kenta coughed a bit, turning away to try to hide the redness of his cheeks. Even after accepting North and Jeff’s praise from before, he was still overwhelmed by his nephew’s earnest response.

And knowing how easily overwhelmed Kenta was, Kim paused before entering the nest. Though everyone else had piled in or been dragged into it, he waited for Kenta to glance over at him before he even stepped close enough to crouch down to Kenta’s level.

The Omega looked up at him, and Kim asked in a whisper, “Can I come into the nest, Kenta?”

“Ah…”

The nest was a pack nest, and one Kenta had only helped with part of, so Kim didn’t technically need to follow the tradition of asking an Omega permission to enter their nest. It was just as much North and Jeff’s nest, and North had already demanded everyone to get in for the night. Still, he knew it was Kenta’s first nest, and he wanted to do things properly and make sure Kenta was as comfortable as possible.

Kenta swallowed, immediately looking away. So unprepared to be asked that, it took him a moment before he gave a brief, sharp nod.

As Kim climbed in, he could see the red creeping up Kenta’s face, until finally the Omega turned and buried himself in the pillows and blankets of the nest. Kim smiled, stretching out one of his legs so that he was brushing up against Kenta.

North noticed and mouthed at Kim to cuddle him, but Kim just shook his head and laid back. Today was surely a lot for Kenta, building a nest for the first time in his life, especially with other Omegas, being surrounded by the whole pack in one big nest, and he didn’t want to make Kenta uncomfortable and risk him drawing back from everyone. Nesting with an Alpha would probably be too much for him after all of that.

The kids and Babe fell asleep first once fully tucked in, the pups succumbing to the warmth and coziness of the nest, Babe fully relaxing surrounded by his family members. Everyone else started to doze off as well, until North tried and failed to be discreet in tugging Andy closer, making the teen wake up and grumble for Alan to save him. Alan sighed and left his spot to rescue Andy from North’s grasp, forcing Sonic into the Omega’s arms instead and bringing Andy closer to him and Jeff.

Seeing North pouting about not having a pup to snuggle like most of them, Way wrapped his arms around Martin to prevent North from getting any ideas, and Charlie put a hand over Prince.

With North successfully dissuaded from trying to steal one of his nephews, the pack could finally sleep. There were only minor rearrangements until Kim woke up to a weight settling in next to him. At first, he thought it was North, as he and Sonic often ended up tangled with him whenever they slept near each other, but then he caught the subtle scent of the person and realized it was Kenta. He quickly shut his eyes and did his best to relax, not wanting Kenta to know he’d woken up in case it scared him off.

Kenta rested his head on Kim’s chest, one of his arms slowly wrapping around the Alpha. He sighed, and Kim waited until the Omega’s breathing evened out before he put his own arm around the other.