Step Alpha

Samantha.

The zoo is quiet. Which makes sense. It is December. All the outdoor exhibits are closed. They still have a decent amount indoors, though. We get to see some reptiles, insects, monkeys, and fish. Alex's favorite seems to be the bats. They just creep me out. Alex names one grampa because of its wrinkly face. Now it's time for the dinosaur exhibit. To get to each exhibit, we had to walk an outdoor path. On the way to the next building, we pass by closed outdoor exhibits. One of them is the northwestern wolf exhibit. I stop.

"What's wrong?" Eli asks.

"Nothing, just a shame we can't see the wolves." I say as I pull Alex's hand for him to keep walking because he also stopped with me.

"I can show you my wolf." He whispers. His warm breath brushes against my cold ear, giving me goosebumps.

"Really?" He nods. "I'd like that."

Eli smirks as he opens the door to the exhibit. He held it open as I stepped in first and Alex second.

"A T-wex!" He shouts in shock.

Just as he does, I look up to see what I assume can be considered a life-sized animatronic T-rex towering above us. Its mouth opens and closes, and its little arms flare. Its roars drown out all the noise in the exhibit.

"Cool!" Alex exclaims, jumpin' up and down. "Mommy!" He points all around. His smile is the widest I've ever seen. It's what I live for, him to be happy. It's what makes me happy. At this moment, I am so thankful for Alex; the one I can always count on bringing me joy. I am also thankful for Eli. He is considerate and consistent. He is filling in the emptiness I didn't know I had. The emptiness I didn't know Alex was missing, too. Our family was always two, but I never realized it needed three to be full.

We walk around the exhibit. Alex is ooing and awing at every dinosaur we pass. Eli read the dinosaur facts out loud to us every time. Even though they just met, they seem so comfortable. Alex reaches up to tug on Eli's hand or shirt whenever he notices something he thinks is cool. Eli does not hesitate to pick him up so he can get a better view. I feel like a third wheel trailing behind them, but I don't mind it at all. It is amazing to watch the person I care for the most in the world bond with someone who I grew to care a lot about as well. I don't know where we stand, and I am ready to press him further on the topic. Especially now that he has met Alex and Alex has taken a liking to him.

By the time we finish checking out the dinosaurs, we are straving. We stroll over to the food court. Eli refuses to take my debit card and tells Alex and I to have a seat at an empty table.

"Mommy?" Alex watches his feet as he swings them beneath the table.

"Yes, baby?"

"I like him, mommy." He smiles up at me.

"Me too." A warm feeling fills me.

"Can we play all the time?"

"If he wants to." I force a smile. I hope he wants to.

"He's a big man." Alex says, causing me to snicker. "He said that."

"Yes, he did."

"Correction," Eli walks up to the table, balancing four trays full of food and drinks. "I said I was mommy's big man."

"My mommy!" Alex says again, but this time with a giggle.

"Always." I assure him as I stand up to help Eli place the trays on the table without spilling the drinks. "Why so much food?"

"I didn't know what you wanted."

It looks like he ordered everything on the menu. There are slidders, pepperoni pizza, cheese pizza, french fries, onion rings, chicken nuggets, wings, and even a couple of grilled cheese sandwichs

"How are we supppse to eat all of this?"

"You heard Alex, I'm a big man." He scoffs.

Alex, let's out a wale of a laugh, making me laugh too.

"So," Eli sits down beside me. "You guys were talking about me?"

"Yeah." Alex snickers, and I put my finger to my lips to playfully hush him.

"About?"

"Nothing much," I say nonshalantly. "We were just discussing how much we like you."

"Really?" His cheeks rose over. "Alex too?"

"Yeah." Alex nods as he shoves his mouth with fries.

"Yeaup, you were step alpha approved." I wink and giggle.

His eyes twinkle with joy, and then a sudden frown flashes across his face. He tries to hide it by stuffing his face with a few slidders.I looked between him and Alex, then pulled out my phone.

"What's the problem?" I text him.

When his phone pings, he stares at me intensely as he wipes his hands clean with napkins before reaching for the phone. After staring at it, he replies, my phone pinging almost instantly.

"I have to figure out how to get my step son on pack lands." He messages back.

Did he really just call him step-son? I know they just met, but it feels so good to read that. I might be crazy, or it might be the bond, but it feels right. Me calling him Step-Alpha was obviously just a joke at first. Until he confirmed he feels the same. This is what I needed to make up my mind. Alex isn't welcomed in his pack, but I am going to do whatever it takes to have Eli stay with us. He has to. There is no other way we can survive if he doesn't.

"Samantha?" Eli gives me a worried look.

"Yes?"

"Lil Alex here says -"

"Big Alex!" Alex corrects him, causing Eli to chuckle.

"Big Alex here says his birthday is next week. Care to tell me why I was not informed?"

"Oh, right! He's having a birthday party if you wanna come? My mom, some family, and friends will be there."

"And meet your mom?" Eli's face brightens up.

"Yes..are you into cougars or something?"

"Yeah, do you like cats? Grandma doesn't have one, though." Alex taps his finger on his chin as if he is in deep thought. "I think she algebra too."

"Allergic." I roll my eyes and giggle at his innocence.

"Well, to meet the woman who birthed the love of my life, my Luna would be an honor." He bows his head.

"It'll definitely be more pleasant than meeting your mom." I say as I pop a fry into my mouth.

"You have a mom, is she nice?"

"Yeah, bud, she's really nice." I answer sarcastically for Eli.

Eli glares at me, then turns over in his chair and slouchs down to Alex's eye level.

"Do you want to meet her?"

The fries I am munching on go down hard.

Has he gone mad? That woman wants nothing to do with me or my child. Last I checked, Alex isn't even able to lay a foot in his lands.

"Ok, so the day after your birthday, I will take you to meet her."

I cough hard.

"Ok!" Alex, yawns.

"Tired bud?"

"Mhm." Alex admits as he rubs at his eyes with the back of his hands.

"Let's get out of here." Eli stands up and scoops Alex out of his seat and into his arms. Alexs face burries in his neck so naturally my chest tightened.

"You're warm." He hums, and I blush at how cute they are together.

By the time we get back to the car, Alex is already sleeping on Eli's shoulder. We work together to get him comfortably into his booster seat without waking him.

I give him a kiss on the head. After the door shuts, Eli pushes me up against the car and jams his mouth on mine. As the brittle December winds blow by, we make our own warmth. I feel myself finally accepting; He is mine, and I am his. If fate is really in our favor and this moon Goddess has planned this all out, then we shouldn't worry. It will have to fall into place at some point.

"We will figure this out." Eli says as he pulls away from me breathlessly.

I can feel his determination. It's always been there whether mines just started up or not. That's how I know he means it.

"I know."