(BL)Alpha Made-Chapter 504: A sweet gesture

When Maxwell, Richard and Ellis arrived, Rose was tucked into her Mom’s arms on a terribly uncomfortable hospital chair while Andrew and Ford stood guard over the small Fern who Jordan had worked tirelessly to give birth to.

Jordan was still in surgery, but someone had been by to let them know that everything was going smoothly. Andrew was glad for the update, and that was now why Rose was crying. She had previously composed herself, but now was sobbing out of relief.

Richard, when he stepped into the room, almost looked disgusted with his sister while Ellis and Maxwell made a beeline for the baby bassinet where Andrew and Ford were standing.

"How is everyone doing?" Ellis asked, glancing at where Rose was curled in on herself before looking towards the baby, Ford and Andrew.

"Well, baby Fern is doing well, we just got news that Jordan is also doing well, hence Rose crying again. He’s sleeping, and the nurse was just by to check up on him." Andrew said, giving them a debrief of the situation since he’d last texted them.

Ellis leaned over the side, smiling down at the newborn.

"He’s so...small." Ellis said, sounding surprised. Andrew let out a laugh.

"You haven’t seen a newborn before, have you?" Andrew teased and watched as Ellis’ features flushed.

"No, I haven’t." Ellis said, sniffing. He sounded offended, but Andrew just grinned, nudging his shoulder.

"Well, you’re going to have a crash course soon, aren’t you?" He teased, and Ellis flushed, glancing at Andrew before he turned his gaze back towards Fern.

"You’re right." He agreed, his voice softening as he looked at the little baby. He tentatively reached his hand out, touching the soft blanket that was tucked around Fern. Andrew noticed that with his other hand he touched his stomach carefully. He wasn’t showing yet, but he would soon have to start wearing larger clothes.

Not many people at work knew he was pregnant. It wasn’t because he was hiding it, but because Ellis was a more private person. He didn’t want to be given special treatment just because he was pregnant. Andrew couldn’t say he understood why he would feel that way.

If Andrew was pregnant, he would let everyone know and impress people with what he could do while pregnant. He’d be a menace to Maxwell’s heart if their roles were reversed.

Andrew felt the smile fade from his face as he realised...Maxwell could be a menace to Andrew’s heart when he became pregnant. Oh no. He had a whole new set of worries around children and childbirth now. Suppress it for now, Andrew. You can deal with it later. Right now was not the time for this.

"He’s so sweet." Maxwell said, his voice soft. Then he leaned in and gently poked the baby’s stomach. "So why did you make it so hard for your Mommy and Daddy, hmm?" He asked and Ford chuckled.

"He wouldn’t be Gates otherwise. May had a few close calls when it came to our kids." Ford said, and Ellis grew interested at that.

"Oh?" He asked, curious, and Ford nodded.

"She got gestational diabetes with Rose, and also had to give birth without pain medication because of a similar issue that Jordie had. I would keep that in mind, Ellis. Make sure you’re near the hospital in the last two weeks of your pregnancy." Ford warned. "It could have been worse if we hadn’t warned Jordie and Rose about it too." Ford’s words felt like a damn prophecy.

Richard came up, placing a hand on Ellis’ shoulder while he gave his Dad a look of warning.

"Dad. Don’t scare Ellis. He’s already worried about everything already." Richard said and Ford’s eyes creased as he smiled.

"He’s going to be a new Dad, of course he’s worried about everything. Plus, his body is being pumped full of hormones. You should be mindful of that, and not try to logic your way through everything." Ford said pointedly. Richard shifted uncomfortably, while Ellis blinked a few times.

"How...did you know?" He asked and Andrew felt a smile touch his lips. When he looked over at Maxwell, he was smiling as well.

"Because he’s my son, Ellis. I know he’s put his foot in his mouth. Despite what everyone thinks, he does take after me. I remember a few times when May wanted to rip my hair out while she was pregnant." Ford said, chuckling. May let out a loud sigh from where she was sitting with her daughter.

"I remember more than a few times." She said dryly, and Rose let out a wet laugh.

"Dad’s so sweet, unless you’re pregnant." Rose offered, getting a chuckle from a few of the people in the room. "Did Andy tell you?" Rose asked, sniffing. She was wiping at her eyes, seeming to compose herself. Andrew didn’t know what she was referring to, and when Andrew gave her a blank look, she gave him a confused one in return. "Jordie said he told you." She said, and a light went off in Andrew’s mind.

"Oh! That! No, I didn’t. That’s not something for me to say." Andrew said with a smile and a wink. Rose looked around the group, taking in everyone who was there before she sniffed again. She met Ford’s gaze and gave a big, hesitant smile. "We named our son Fern Ford Gates." She said and everyone watched as Ford’s face fell into one of complete shock. It was clear that he wasn’t expecting such a thing.

The sensitive man began to sniffle, his eyes watering while May even looked emotional.

"Oh Rose, you didn’t need to do that." May said softly. She wasn’t berating her, more giving her comfort. Rose shook her head.

"Jordie and I were firm in this. We didn’t really have names we wanted to give our child for middle names, and his parents aren’t really involved in his life like mine are, so we decided that if it was a girl, May for the middle name, and if it was a boy, Ford for the middle name." It was such a sweet gesture. Andrew turned, wrapping his arm around Ford’s shoulder as the older man started crying.

Everyone was just so weepy today. Then again, it was an emotional day.

Ford quickly left Andrew’s arms and went to his daughter, hugging her tightly and thanking her for the honour. It made the connection between him and the little one more serious. It was practically like making him the godfather of the child as well as the grandfather.

Andrew watched on, knowing Maxwell was sliding up to him and tucking his hand into Andrew’s he gave it a squeeze and Andrew looked down at the other man, curious as to why he was grabbing his attention. Maxwell stood on his tippy toes to whisper to Andrew,

"We’ll give a daughter your Mom’s name as a middle name as well." He said and now it was Andrew’s turn to grow weepy.

~

It was a while later that William personally brought Jordan back after the surgery. He was asleep, needing the rest but in good health.

Everything went to plan when it came to getting him back together. William didn’t flinch when he noticed that Maxwell was there, but there was a tenseness to his shoulders and spine that told Andrew that he was worried how his brother was going to react.

However, Maxwell didn’t let anything noticeable slip, not even to Andrew. His expression was collected, his pheromones were contained and he wasn’t squeezing or tugging on Andrew’s hand any more than normal.

He let William do his work.

Rose had a lot of questions for him, especially about the care for Jordan and what that would mean for them. Rose was by no means poor, but it was clear she was worried about how much this would all cost.

William didn’t even need Andrew or Maxwell to step in. He just shook her head at her silent, heavy question.

"Anyone related to Andrew isn’t paying a cent." William said firmly, no hesitation. Rose’s jaw dropped at the declaration.

"I can’t-we can’t accept that! Your people need to be paid!" Rose protested and William gave her a smile. It wasn’t kind, but it wasn’t rude either. It was honestly more of the smile of a man who was learning how to do it.

"I promise you, my team is taken care of very well so that they can give the best care to others. You can try to argue with me or anyone on staff, but they have been given strict orders. No bills for the Gates family." William said and Rose looked like she was going to cry again. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

She composed herself this time, but just barely.

"Can I give you a hug?" She asked and William did look awkward then. He glanced towards Andrew, as if seeking help from him, and Andrew inclined his head. He was telling William that he either accepted the hug, or he would end up being hunted down by the other woman until she could pay him back somehow.

William reluctantly accepted the hug from Rose, a woman who was known for giving good hugs, and then looked rather flustered.

"I’ll make sure to give you a detailed rundown for what he’s going to need for care when he wakes up. Until then, the nurses are knowledgeable and we’ll be keeping an eye on both Jordan and little Fern until it’s safe for everyone to go home." William said, giving a nod to the group and leaving.

Maxwell slipped out of Andrew’s grasp and followed after his older brother. Rose watched them go before she let out a sigh.

"He almost seems normal here, you know?" She said. "It’s hard to believe that he’s such a terrible lover and fiancé." Andrew could agree with it, kind of.

"He’s married to his work." Andrew told him with a sigh. "Some people are like that. You can tell he enjoys his work. I think he might be able to be with someone, but I don’t think right now is the time for it. He needs to actually spend time figuring out who he is outside of being a Doctor or a Beckett, I think." Andrew said, speaking from experience on the last part.

He’d had to spend time figuring out who he was when he didn’t live up to his father’s expectations of him as a child. William had to do the same. Whether Luis or Thomas were aware of it, they had had rather high expectations of all of their sons. Ben had overcome it, Maxwell had only done so recently, so now it was his turn.

Hopefully, Maxwell breaking off to speak to him had something to do with that.