Work Text:
“Shh, please, work with me here.” Joshua pleaded, his table at his favourite coffee shop awash with unfiled papers, laptop and half spilt coffee while his baby screamed in his arms. He tried bouncing her, cooing, nuzzling her into his scent but none of it was working.
Joshua was becoming painfully aware of the scene he was making, a put off stare burning into his side from an older couple a few tables over. He was young, inexperienced and absolutely not cut out to be handling a baby on his own. When he’d set out that morning in hopes of a new environment to work in he was ready to be productive while his baby slept. The whole baby sleeping part may have been a bit too optimistic.
She wasn’t calming down, trying her best to jostle out of Joshua’s arms and in the commotion battle, what was left of Joshua’s coffee spilt onto the floor.
Joshua gasped, making sure none got on the baby as he tried desperately to hold it together, not wanting her to smell the souring of his scent the more overwhelmed he got. A disgruntled employee came over with a mop soon after as Joshua kept apologising profusely, still trying to rock the baby to no avail.
“I’m so sorry, but can we help you?”
Joshua looked up to see two friendly pairs of eyes, the first arms already outstretched and a more slender man behind him. “Please, I mean if you could, I’m so sorry about this I just can’t get her to stop.”
Joshua lifted his baby into the offering arms, usually he’d never even consider it but the sense of comfort radiating off the man was something Joshua knew would be far better than his stressed scent. The baby paused for a moment, round bambi eyes meeting the man’s before erupting into arguably louder screams and cries. “I’ve tried everything but she just won’t stop.” Joshua explained, taking the time to straighten out his desk and papers but it was obvious to anyone he was still a dishevelled mess.
“Oh dear, is your mate around? Maybe she needs an omega.” The man asked, looking over to his partner. “No he’s not, I’m um, a single parent.” Joshua said, a discomfort in his voice.
The man then carefully handed the baby over to his mate who brought her head to his neck and softly rubbed her back. Within an instant the cries turned to babbles which turned to calm. “Wow, thank you so much.” Joshua said in slight disbelief that was all it took, “I’m Joshua by the way, and this is Myeong.”
“Hello Myeong-ah,” The one holding her said, bringing her down from his shoulder to examine her small features with a smile. “I’m Jeonghan and this is my mate Seungcheol.” He said, half to Myeong and half to Joshua.
“I can’t thank you both enough honestly, I thought she’d never calm down.” He said, “Not a problem, she’s so cute.” Jeonghan cooed. He went to offer the baby back to Joshua but Myeon protested with an upset screech.
“Please, sit down if you’d like.” Joshua offered and they both agreed, dividing their attention between him and the baby. It was only when Joshua packed away his laptop and papers into a bag conveniently hooked onto his baby stroller did he get a good look at the couple.
The alpha, Seungcheol, had a cuteness to him that Joshua found unusual for an alpha. He was big, yes, but his cherry lips and curly black hair softened his features. The omega, Jeonghan, had a perfect omega glow that emanated so perfectly around him, he wondered if maybe the pair had pups of their own. He had strawberry blonde hair and a loose fitting shirt just enough to see his mating mark. They both looked amazingly put together, Joshua became alarmingly more conscious of his gaunt face from lack of sleep and complete loss of anything close to fashion sense in favour of practicality.
“She has your nose.” Jeonghan smiled, looking between the two. Joshua hummed in agreement, “Do you two have any pups?” He asked, “Unfortunately not, no.” Jeonghan smiled, Seungcheol seemed to be in his own world with Myeong, softly brushing the emerging hair on her head.
“Woah that’s so cool, Myeong is only 6 months old so I’m still learning a lot everyday.” Joshua replied, they continued conversing and Joshua was just happy to have a short break. After all that had happened to him in the past year, it was nice to see the couple’s kindness and just talk to people other than Myeong or his co-workers.
“Listen, you sound like you could do with more help than you’re getting so just call us, if you need anything.” Seungcheol said, writing their names and numbers on a piece of paper. By this point, Jeonghan had managed to send Myeong to sleep and Joshua was convinced he was magic. “Your pup can sense your emotions, you know that but just don’t be too hard on yourself, alright? And don’t hesitate to call if you need.” Seungcheol said as Jeonghan carefully placed Myeong into her stroller and successfully not waking her.
Joshua smiled at them, “Thank you so much, really today was just a bit hectic but I can usually handle her. I’ll keep your offer in mind though.” He said, getting up and watching how carefully the couple waved goodbye to the sleeping Myeong and then him with a sympathetic smile.
He soon walked home from the coffee shop, he didn’t get a lot of work done but he felt a lot calmer. He carefully manoeuvred up his apartment block to not wake the baby. When he reached their bedroom he lifted Myeong out of the stroller and moved to put her in the cot when he caught the smell of Jeonghan’s scent on her. He felt embarrassed about how strongly his body reacted to it but he hadn’t been around any omegas in months and Jeonghan’s scent was especially light and soothing, a nice mix of cotton and orange blossom. It didn’t smell as sickly as some of the omegas he was used to. Even Seungcheol’s lingering scent was tantalisingly good, he had noted in the cafe a neutral sandalwood, not as heavy or domineering as other alphas he knew, or his own.
Joshua nuzzled her closely, his alpha mourning the lack of omega presence in his life. It was easy to fantasise about this before, being a strong independent alpha able to care for his pup alone but he found everything so difficult with no omega to soothe him, to take the baby in the late hours, to hold and take care of postpartum. He used his free hand to fish the piece of paper from his bag with their numbers, thumbing over the cute little doodle Seungcheol had made next to it. The couple seemed so put together and they were so gentle and calm, he wondered what they’d done differently since they seemed about his age.
He would be fine, he figured. Nice strangers were a big help but at the end of the day that’s all they were, strangers. And so, Joshua was confident he wouldn’t take up their offer. He brushed his large palm over Myeong’s small cheek, so innocent to the world, Joshua looked at her like she was the only baby in the world, his pup and his pride and joy. He only wished Myeong would be born into better circumstances, to proper mates like Jeonghan and Seungcheol seemed to be but she would never have to know what happened, maybe when she was a lot older. He tried not to dwell, things were calm now, he had his baby.
Somehow he managed to get all his papers filed before she woke up and envisioned the nice self care he would do while Myeong was asleep. All the selfcare he managed to do in the end was an impromptu nap on his couch but it was welcome, he got rest where he could.
It was only three weeks later when Joshua’s bad luck came knocking once again. He swore he was cursed, or maybe just stubborn, one of the two. He hadn’t texted that couple again, too busy between deadlines and baby, all the time he had was consumed. That was until he was out with Myeong doing his normal grocery shop, carrying his heavy bags on the hook of the stroller when he heard a snap.
Myeong let out a disgruntled cry as the stroller she was in began closing in on itself, Joshua rushed to fish her out and calm her down when his groceries fell everywhere. It was a 40 minute walk home and there was no chance of repairing it as upon further inspection the brake lock had completely snapped. He supposed that’s what he got for buying a second hand stroller at a quarter of the price it would usually cost but what can he say, times were tough. He cooed at Myeong, bouncing her up and down and trying to keep his cool. He bent down with Myeong in his arms, picking up his groceries and putting them into the bag.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” A familiar voice said from above him, offering out a slightly dented tub of formula milk. Joshua flushed red as he stood up, “Jeonghan.” He said, “And Seungcheol!” Seungcheol called from behind him where his arms were already full of the couple’s own groceries. “Gosh, you’re really unlucky huh? You handle your baby, we’ll clean this up.” Jeonghan said, waving at Myeong and picking up the rest of the groceries. “Really it’s fine.” Joshua tried to excuse himself but it was no use.
Seungcheol was already inspecting the stroller and taking the refilled shopping bags off of Jeonghan, “Do you live near or do you want a ride home? This stroller isn’t getting back anytime soon and these bags are super heavy.” Seungcheol asked before Joshua even had the time to begin stressing. He couldn’t realistically refuse, “A ride home would be nice, sorry about this.” He said, soothing Myeong so he didn’t have a reenactment of the other week.
“Not a problem, seriously, you’ve got to have the worst luck.” Jeonghan said, picking up the stroller and walking over to their car nearby while Seungcheol struggled with double the shopping bags. Joshua gave them his address and they set off with Myeong peacefully on his lap. They talked the whole way, Joshua found it strange how naturally conversation came between him and the couple, he knew a lot of alphas that hardly even let their mated omegas speak to single alphas but Joshua felt that same resounding feeling of calm when with them both. He learnt that they were all the same age, Seungcheol was a mechanic and they lived two streets away. They all helped carry the shopping up to Joshua’s apartment on the fourth floor of a shitty complex, it wasn’t much but inside he had tried his best to make it homey. Jeonghan was carrying Myeong, absolutely entranced by the baby who was now happily smiling in his arms, two teeth now beginning to show. Seungcheol and Joshua carried the bags and Seungcheol kept the stroller, he insisted he would fix it for Joshua and assured it would be no trouble.
“Thank you so much,” Joshua said, placing the bags in the kitchen. “You can stay for dinner if you’d like, it’s the least I could do.” He insisted. Jeonghan looked to Seungcheol for a moment and they agreed. “Myeong is learning how to eat solid food now so we can have an exciting game of ‘please don’t destroy everything I try to feed you‘ before dinner.” Joshua said as he unpacked his groceries. “I’ll look forward to it.” Jeonghan said, picking up a teething toy on the dining room table and giving it to Myeong to bite happily.
Joshua gathered up what he needed for dinner and Seungcheol helped cut the vegetables while Jeonghan entertained Myeong as they talked away in the kitchen. They spoke like old friends and Joshua was just so glad to have people around him again other than co-workers and his other companion who only spoke in nonsense and screams for now. “Gosh you’re so good at this, we’re both hopeless.” Seungcheol said, “Only out of necessity, before Myeong was born I was terrible but now I make a mean bibimbap and a baby version that has only landed on the wall two out of the seven times I have given it to her.” Joshua explained.
“Right, time to swap, I have had enough of vegetable duty.” Seungcheol said, as Jeonghan reluctantly handed over Myeong and clumsily chopped some cucumber into slices. “Wah, she’s so strong.” Seungcheol said, having his finger just about taken off by a particularly restless Myeong, “She’s going to be an alpha just like her dad.” He claimed, freeing his finger only to have Myeong clutch onto another one with a grin. “Stop imposing your hegemonic ideals on my new favourite person.” Jeonghan tutted, “I thought I was your favourite person.” Seungcheol pouted, “Myeong makes better conversation.” Jeonghan retorted. Joshua laughed lightly at their back and forth, eventually taking the chopped vegetables off of Jeonghan and arranging their meals. He had made Myeong a tiny portion of only the soft rice and a couple of softer vegetables for her to try.
Myeong was reluctant to let go of Seungcheol as Joshua placed her in her highchair as Jeonghan placed all the bowls down. Seungcheol helped set the table and they all enjoyed trying to get Myeong to eat hers. Joshua had learned fairly quickly what she says goes and any attempts to dispute that would end in a sizable clean up job so a few bites of rice and a few bites of sweet potato in exchange for a few silly faces from Jeonghan was a successful meal time for him, giving her a bottle of formula milk instead once she’d had enough.
Joshua noticed as they ate the way Jeonghan seemed to stare at Myeong, an ever present look that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. The pair were so good with her in the short time they’d spent together he wondered why they didn’t have pups of their own but it wasn’t his place to pry. He told the couple about himself, really there wasn’t much to say aside from his boring job and Myeong taking up all his time but they listened to him like data analysis was the most exciting job in the world. He got to learn about how Seungcheol worked at a repair shop he inherited from his parents and Jeonghan handled the finances, he learnt about how they met when Seungcheol’s dad still owned the place and Jeonghan got a summer job there and lied about knowing the first thing about cars so Seungcheol would cover for him. How they grew up together, loved together and lost together and Joshua clung onto every word.
They ended up in the living room somehow, bowls messily placed in the sink and Myeong tucked into her crib long ago. Jeonghan was leaning comfortably into Seungcheol’s side and yawned sleepily as they talked on the couch. “How do you do it?” Seungcheol ended up asking, combing his hand through Jeonghan’s long hair. “Do what?” Joshua replied, “A single alpha with a newborn? I have no idea how you’re so put together, I can hardly get up in the morning without Hannie by my side.” He said and Joshua had to pause. “You think I am put together? Everyday feels like I am making everything up and both times you have caught me on the verge of a breakdown, that’s hardly put together. But I guess you do what you must, having a pup makes nothing else matter, you want to protect them so desperately that you adapt to whatever they need.” He replied eventually. “You’ve done well.” Seungcheol said in reply. His eyes had an impossible look on them, Joshua really didn’t understand this alpha but his words made his heart feel warm, offering him a soft smile in reply.
It was then that Seungcheol looked down, noticing Jeonghan completely asleep, “Looks like my pup has had enough as well.” He said, yawning himself, “It’s late, we should be going. I’ll have your stroller back to you in a couple of days, I might have to find some parts for it but maybe we can have a repeat of tonight, we both really enjoyed it.” He added, being careful not to wake Jeonghan as he slipped out from under him. The couple were so gentle with each other, Joshua supposed that was the best word to describe Seungcheol, gentle. “Thank you so much again, I’d really like that.” He said, there was a pause that befell the two, like they were taking in each other’s presence although Joshua was sure both of their scents would be lingering in his house for days.
Seungcheol picked a sleeping Jeonghan up bridal style and Joshua helped him with the door, “We’ll see you two soon.” He said as Joshua shut the door, it was the calmest he had felt in months. That was until he heard his baby monitor go off, with a groan he locked the door and went to attend to Myeong.
Joshua spent the rest of the week as he usually did but he felt happier than normal. Myeong’s cries didn’t stress him out as much, his surmounting deadlines seemed to feel more manageable and overall he felt a lot calmer. He received the occasional encouraging texts from Jeonghan along with an apology for falling asleep that night as well as updates about his stroller from Seungcheol.
It was only three days later Joshua had been surprised to find the couple at his doorstep once again, this time carrying a perfectly restored stroller complete with an extra cup holder and a small decal that said Myeong on it. The night occurred much the same as the last and soon there was always an excuse for why Seungcheol and Jeonghan were over at his place. Within two months Joshua wasn’t sure how he lived without them, Myeong was growing bigger by the day and both of them had played such an integral part in her development that it made his heart swell.
There was only one issue at this point, he had grown overly attached to not just Jeonghan the omega but Seungcheol as well. It started off with the small things, the pride he’d feel at Seungcheol’s words or small acts of kindness or the way Jeonghan’s eyes sparkled so prettily when he was playing with his daughter. Then it was the scenting, he recalled the first time Jeonghan had scented him lightly after a couple of beers they’d shared long past Myeong’s bedtime. The hairs on the back of Joshua’s neck had stood like a rake as he waited for Seungcheol to react but there was nothing but a blissful smirk. He had never even thought too much about dating an alpha before Seungcheol but when he started scenting him as well, the thick scents of Joshua’s sage and chamomile with Seungcheol’s classic sandalwood was tantalising and Joshua couldn’t shake the thought.
It hadn’t really dawned on him that this unspoken courtship could mean anything, they were mated and that was usually that. It was one evening that started out largely the same as any other that changed that, that gave him even one iota of a thought that this could be different. He was worn out, Myeong was being particularly challenging and he was just in an off mood and to make it worse he was pretty sure Jeonghan and Seungcheol had abandoned him. The clock ticked to Myeong’s bedtime and he had carefully put her to sleep, brushing the small curls on her head as he read her a story until she no longer stirred.
It was an hour later when Joshua was flicking through a novel of his own that there was a knock on the door. He peeled himself off of the couch and opened it to find himself immediately being pulled into a hug by Seungcheol. Their scents lingered around each other as Seungcheol sighed into his neck “You look tired, so sorry we were late.” He said and Joshua, though at first stiff, leaned into it and brushed off the apology. “Myeong is in bed, yeah? We brought drinks to make up for it.” Jeonghan said, shaking two wine bottles in his hand.
Joshua broke away from the hug and smiled at Seungcheol, trying his best to look like he wasn’t completely exhausted and thanked them both for the wine. They fished some glasses out the cupboard and sat down in the living room. Jeonghan noted the discarded book on the couch and placed it aside before fluffing the pillows and getting Joshua to sit down. He poured the wine and handed out the glasses, the omega really loved to dote on the alphas. It was about a half hour into drinking when Jeonghan asked an innocent question that evolved into something far more.
“What have you been reading?” Jeonghan asked, curled up on the couch in his usual place between the pair as he gestured to the book on the side table. “Oh nothing, just some parenting book.” Joshua explained, swirling the wine glass in his hand. “Gosh, we must take you out some time, seriously, all you ever talk about is work and your baby, have you thought about meeting people?” He asked, not thinking too much of the question. Joshua’s lips crumpled into a frown he failed to hide. This was him seeing people, well, sort of. “No, I have no time and besides, you two make good company.” Joshua insisted.
“Oh cmon, we could look after Myeong every now and then, you must have friends that are dying for you to go out and see them, right?” Seungcheol offered. Joshua dipped his head, taking a rather large and undignified gulp of his wine, “Not since uh, not since around the time Myeong was born, no.” He said, “Sorry, you guys have been there for me so much the past few months and you really know nothing about me. Gosh, that’s unfair isn’t it?” Joshua said, meeting both their eyes. “Oh no, not at all, of course we have our questions but those only need answers if and when you’re ready to talk about it. We care about you and Myeong a lot, there’s no judgement here.” Jeonghan said, intertwining his hand with Seungcheol as he spoke.
Joshua had always been aware of the fact a single parent alpha was a strange predicament and he was often faced with questions like ‘Where is your omega?’ or his least favourite ‘Where’s mommy?’ when visiting the doctor for checkups. “It’s okay, I think you should really know,” He breathed. “I um, had a friend who was an omega and he and I, we, uh-” Joshua struggled to get the words out, intimacy was never really his thing, “We used to get each other through our cycles. One day we took it too far and we found out he was pregnant.” Joshua cleared his throat, “The pregnancy was a confusing time for both of us, we said we were going to raise it together.” He let out a dry laugh, remembering the thinly veiled hesitancy of the time. “But when Myeong was born he rejected her completely. I had to choose between comforting my best friend and holding my newborn baby. He wouldn’t stop crying and I didn’t understand. I loved her from the first moment but he was so scared and confused and soon he told me it wasn’t going to work.” Joshua was surprised he was holding it together, the memories still fresh in his mind. Jeonghan and Seungcheol stayed quiet, letting him speak.
“We tried to make it work for about a week but he and Myeong didn’t bond at all, he started to resent me for loving her, for being able to love her. Our friendship group was all the same people and he started to say things that just weren’t true.” He explained. “It was all a blur from then and all of a sudden I was in my car with a baby and a couple of boxes heading as far away from my home as possible. It was all agreed of course. In fact, the first time we met I was finishing up all the paperwork but aside from a few texts I haven’t heard much from anyone.” Joshua looked down to see somewhere within that story he had downed his whole glass of wine, the couple in front of him looking devastated. “Shit Josh, that’s horrible. I don’t know what to say, do you- do you mind if I hug you?” Seungcheol asked and it was only then the tears started pouring from his eyes, “Yeah, god, I need a hug.” He said and soon he was being embraced by both of them. Joshua crying made both of them cry and soon they were all a ball of slightly tipsy tears and words that were left as half spluttered out sentences of praise and appreciation.
Though the whole interaction was rather incoherent after that, Joshua hadn’t felt so comforted in so long, the pair seemed to have this adoration for him that he didn’t quite understand but he let himself indulge in their embrace. Letting his mind wander to a world where they were his mates, a distant future where he was ready enough to let them closer, healed enough to speak the unspoken. He supposed the unspoken wasn’t so bad, they loved Myeong and he wondered if there was a chance they could grow to love him as well.
Seungcheol and Jeonghan didn’t go home that night, they talked into the early hours of the night, the occasional effort being made to put Myeong back to sleep although she was becoming a lot more forgiving these days. There was little regard for the regret Joshua would feel the next morning when he would have to get up to feed her as he was learning more about Jeonghan and Seungcheol and he recalled the time before Myeong in much more detail to them.
Two months later they had their own key, in case of ‘emergencies’, they had witnessed Myeong’s first steps at the park as she waddled to her increasingly bedazzled stroller, her first word was caught by Seungcheol and Joshua much to the behest of Jeonghan and soon she had learned that ‘daddy’ was a command to turn any one of their heads.
Her first birthday was spent with people they had made an effort to meet at a playgroup Jeonghan had found out about and insisted on taking them to where they had all given up trying to correct their relationship to the assuming parents. It never felt unrequited or strange between the three of them, the unspoken bled into domestic appreciation was always considerate of Joshua and how ready he was to take things further. There was never a grand confession, never a loud proclamation just a slow drip of more consciously used pet names and a whole many more evenings spent tangled around one another.
Myeong could just about form a sentence when they first kissed, it was Seungcheol who initiated it of course, Jeonghan smiled fondly as he watched Joshua melt into it before diving in to get what he’d also waited for for so long. Joshua liked the contrast of the pair, Seungcheol’s larger frame was something so new to him yet so enticing and the way Jeonghan could so easily wrap himself around him while Seungcheol just stared, besotted.
Three months later Joshua was invited to join them for Jeonghan’s heat, the disappearance of the pair for a couple of days every few months was something Joshua always decided to leave unspoken but he was happy enough to go send Myeong on a trip to see grandma and grandpa while he finally let himself take apart his lovers one by one. He was besotted with the pair finally comfortable enough to experience a heat without worry of getting too carried away.
It was slow and careful, appreciative and caring. Jeonghan was always desperate to start a family and in his heat crazed mind, he didn’t really mind who gave him a pup because he had come to love both his alphas so dearly. Joshua was thinking about the life they could all have together, pretty pups with Seungcheol’s cherry lips and Jeonghan’s loving demeanour, he wanted them to be a real family more than anything.
By Myeong’s third birthday there were two bite marks on either one of Joshua’s collar bones and his cramped apartment had become a comfortable home thanks to Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s business taking off. Though of course, he was having to handle a lot more of the jobs as Jeonghan grew more and more unable to handle the workload while carrying what he was betting on being Seungcheol’s pups.
The months of looking at Myeong and wondering how she got so big never did slow down, the unspoken appreciation for his mates soon became very spoken about, to a sappy degree in fact. The sort of sappy he would love to make his pups groan over, three in total. Joshua would sometimes think back to their meeting at the coffee shop, so overwhelmed and underprepared, so worried about the life he could provide for Myeong. Now, in the arms of his two lovers, he sat contented and thankful for that little screaming baby who had spilt coffee all over him all those years ago.