(BL)Alpha Made-Chapter 519: Not nervous enough
Andrew felt like he was speed running his practical tests. In a way, he was. He’d finished most of the theory he had to worry about for his classes. Now he had a condensed week of practical tests to get through before he finished the semester and he could focus on his upcoming wedding and everything that came with that.
Going into the school every day early in the morning, before even Maxwell left for work for a week, was taking a toll on his mental health. Andrew missed his Maxwell cuddles, his kiss goodbye and the soft noises of complaint as Andrew gently woke up his sweet fiancé.
Instead, he was the only one waking up at the crack of dawn, stumbling downstairs and eating. It was a grim picture, and one that was coming into focus as Andrew realised he was probably going to have to deal with this when he started his residency.
That was a sobering thought as he worked towards his goal. Thankfully, the staff and teachers were nice, competent, and understanding. While Andrew was exhausted from long days of testing and having his brain picked and then going home to his handsome, pretty fiancé, he wasn’t given much of a break.
This wasn’t made worse by Maxwell’s news as he came home, but it wasn’t exactly welcome either. Hearing that Walter was involved with what had happened to him didn’t leave a good taste in his mouth. However, Maxwell explained how Walter had looked, the way in which he spoke, and everything that came with it. It was clear that the man was deeply upset by the news, and Andrew was a forgiving person.
Maxwell was the one who forgot and forgave nothing, and if he was the one who came to Andrew hesitantly to tell him about Walter’s involvement? Andrew should forgive the man. Probably after a long chat so that Walter could feel better, but Andrew would forgive him.
After all, it wasn’t like he expected his money to be used for evil. He had been putting money towards a good cause. He was trying to help his people. It was his own people who betrayed him. In a way, he was also a victim, but of a lesser hurt. Andrew did agree with Maxwell’s sentiment that this would harm research projects in the years to come. People like Walter would not want to get mixed up with these kinds of atrocities and every research project would be under scrutiny.
It was another reason to curse the Abraham name.
Despite the new little hiccup, they hadn’t heard anything else from the police and that meant that everything was going smoothly. Nicole and Elijah had settled into their new life together, and so had Jordan, Fern and Rose. Amir and Ben had found another place for them to live that was one storey and gorgeous but still had room for Amir’s grandparents and Mehar was growing and hitting her milestones without a problem. She had just started standing on her own, but not walking quite yet.
Everyone was so excited to see how everyone else was moving forward in their lives. Maxwell was on the tiny details of how the marriage island was coming so that Andrew didn’t have to worry about it, while Andrew was in strict control of flowers and everything related to plant life.
Well, Andrew and Ford. It was a joint effort, since Ford wanted to be involved and while Luis knew plants and presentation, it was Andrew and Ford who had more knowledge across the board.
Ford was as much of a menace as Maxwell when it came to nagging and making sure that everything was perfect. After all, it wasn’t as if they chose spring for no reason. They wanted flowers, they wanted it to be pretty and stunning, even if it rained.
Ford was going to make sure that his second son’s dreams were met and exceeded, partially for himself, and mostly for Andrew’s Mom. Everyone who knew her knew that she would have been exactly the same. Andrew was in charge of making sure the meanings of the plants didn’t clash and that everything looked pretty and meant pretty things.
No flowers of jealousy or rejection were allowed. Nor were mourning flowers.
It did not feel like his wedding was around the corner, even though Andrew knew that he was doing all of this because that was the case. The stress level was just...too low in his opinion. He just had a normal level of stress.
That was what he kept telling himself as his hands shook when he tried to get a clear image of something. His teacher asked if he drank coffee. He said no. His teacher then laughed at him, told him to go take a five minute break, and then come back.
Andrew still didn’t think he was nervous enough, but when he looked at Maxwell, the man wasn’t nervous either. Maybe it was because he was used to high stress situations, but the man wasn’t fazed at all.
Andrew was impressed more than anything. Not even upset at the ability that Maxwell had at keeping his cool. He did still tease him about their baby every now and then, patting his lower stomach and Maxwell would go pink across the board. Not just his ears, his whole face.
Andrew was going to use that one for a while.
~
Practical week ended and now they were in April. The countdown was one. Luis was at their house often, Thomas busy with work or else he would be at their house too. Amir’s grandparents had confirmed that the rings were complete and Andrew and Maxwell had done a fitting with them at Ben and Amir’s new home to make sure that they fit.
The rings were gorgeous, as well. They had made companion pieces to both Maxwell and Andrew’s engagement rings. Maxwell’s rings fit his engagement ring beautifully, cupping the ring on two sides, giving him a rather elegant ring, thicker ring in the end. It really accented the blue centerpiece stone and was framed with the same black diamonds that Andrew had given him originally. Andrew had no doubt that he had these rings made alongside each other. It was not a surprise to Andrew in the slightest that they fit so well together.
Andrew’s ring was thinner, basically a companion piece to his own engagement ring. He needed it to be a little simpler so that it wouldn’t get in the way of his work. It was thin enough that it didn’t add too much to the space it took up, but it added another, prettier layer of vine work and had a few flowers carved into it. It was sweet, since Andrew could tell the artistry took a while. Maxwell’s rings probably were quick and easy while Andrew’s had taken a lot of time and effort. No one would think that because his looked ’plain’ in comparison, but Andrew appreciated the little touch.
The little reminder that Maxwell knew who he was and cared for him deeply.
Their outfits were being kept at Luis and Thomas’ house since it was bad luck for them to see their wedding outfits until the day of. Andrew didn’t think that superstition applied to them, but Luis took it very seriously, as did Maxwell.
He wanted their marriage to be solid. Maxwell told him he was not taking any fucking chances. Andrew thought that was adorable, which was why he didn’t argue with it. It also meant that Andrew didn’t get to see Maxwell in his wedding suit, and Maxwell didn’t see Andrew in his own. Only Luis, Thomas and May knew what the boys looked like, and they were convinced that both men would be head over heels for the other.
Andrew had laughed and said that there was no way that would change on his part, plus he did know that Maxwell and Luis had worked on these designs together. Luis had just smiled.
"It’s different from seeing it on paper then seeing it on the person, Andy. Max is going to need a moment to compose himself." Luis promised, and that only made Andrew’s heart warm.
It was in the middle of all of this that Andrew received a letter. It wasn’t from the Abraham family, thank goodness, but it was from his old company.
Maxwell had laughed loudly when he had seen it, his eyes narrowing as an angry, but knowing smile touched his lips.
"Those fuckers." He muttered, while Andrew, unknowing, opened the letter. Andrew understood why Maxwell was so angry after he had opened it.
It was a return to work order. For Dr. Andrew Knox. They had ’finished’ their investigation and had found that he was innocent and that he could come back. They were not going to pay him for the time that they had put him on hold, which was over a year at this point, and he could have his old job back.
Even Andrew had laughed at the audacity of the company he had dedicated years to.
"They can’t be serious." Andrew had said out loud, glancing at Maxwell who was getting a glass of water across from him. Maxwell had given a laugh of his own.
"Oh, they’re serious. I know for a fact it’s because our team finally dealt them the papers. They are trying to cover their ass, but even I know that this isn’t going to work. They are clearly going to try to say that they sent that to you earlier but ’you never received it’. Bullshit." Maxwell muttered and Andrew let out a soft sigh.
"We can always ask one of my neighbours if they kept any of my mail." Andrew told him and Maxwell blinked, before a slow, pleased smile touched his lips.
"That is something that they would do, isn’t it?" Maxwell said in agreement, before he chuckled. "Oh, let’s do that. If we have mail marked around the time that they said it was delivered but it’s not there? It’s going to be glorious." Maxwell said with a devious grin. "That is, until we gain access to their files that they are hiding from us." Maxwell was good at this.
"Did you ever think about becoming a lawyer?" Andrew asked and Maxwell blinked before he shook his head.
"Nope. Wasn’t on my radar. Couldn’t exactly do that with my constitution, Baby. People tend to get upset in court, and with my pheromone sensitivity, that would be a very bad situation for me. It doesn’t look good if your lawyer collapses in court." He gave Andrew a smile before he took a sip of his water. Andrew couldn’t argue with that.
"So you were always going to be an incredible CEO?" Andrew asked and watched as Maxwell’s ears turned pink.
"You could say that." He said, taking another sip. Andrew chuckled.
"How lovely." Andrew told him and Maxwell cleared his throat, looking away from him. Andrew continued to smile at him, smitten. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
Well, Andrew wasn’t going to worry about this letter then. Maxwell already had a plan, it was already in work. All he had to do was smile and ask for any mail that he had gotten. Andrew could do that. Easily.
