(BL)Alpha Made-Chapter 287: Trying to make a game plan

Once Andrew finally emerged from the storage room, he was ambushed by Dr. Cox and Dr. Piper. It was only fair. They had probably worried themselves to death about the current situation.

Andrew couldn’t blame them. He would have worried too if he had been left in the dark. Andrew did feel a little bad about that. Dr. Piper was a bit more excitable, as she always had been. Rushing Andrew, pestering him with questions now that Maxwell was gone. Dr. Cox hung back, her expression just as concerned, but her attitude completely different.

She was ringing her hands, just as worried, but her questions were a volley thrown at his face. They were thought out, careful. It was interesting to see the contrast between these two women, and how they got along so well.

Especially after Dr. Piper stopped seeing that person she had been. Andrew could tell because of her changed, back to normal attitude. He would have to ask Dr. Cox about that at a later date. He had a feeling he wouldn’t have time today.

Between the actual work that they had to get done that day, and all of their questions, they had to set a timer to order food for lunch. They then chatted through lunch about what they were going to do about Richard and his manifestation.

Thankfully, because most of the workers in the lower levels were omegas, the girls were quite familiar with the practises in place and helped Andrew understand them as well. They all avoided the main topic.

When Richard would be coming back, and if he was even coming back to their department. Depending on how he reacted and how he manifested, there was a chance that he could be overly sensitive to pheromones.

It was even more likely for someone who had manifested late. There was a reason Maxwell and Michael had been so worried about Andrew and it wasn’t like Andrew didn’t know that from the support group he was still in, but rarely visited anymore.

It was a slight disservice to Richard that he had manifested as an omega since most of his education was in alpha related issues. It would be devastating if he wasn’t able to do his work anymore, especially if he wasn’t able to do it in person.

Andrew was already worried about how the alphas of their studies would treat him once they realised he was an omega. Most alphas did treat omegas differently than betas and other alphas.

It had a chance to be a gong show. Just a true nightmare for everyone involved, and Andrew could tell that the other women also had that worry as well. But none of them spoke of it. Richard wasn’t even awake yet. It was too soon to let this worry consume them. They would have plenty of time to be panicking about it later.

~

The day moved quickly, and the time to go home arrived and slid past everyone by Dr. Cox. Even if it was a hectic day, she still had to go pick up her little one. She looked embarrassed that she was leaving Dr. Piper and Andrew to finish up the few remaining tasks for the day, but they both just waved her off.

She had a kid. Both Andrew and Dr. Piper were childless, and in Dr. Piper’s case, partnerless. She was fine to leave early. Dr. Cox left, anxious, but Andrew wasn’t worried. She was a good worker. It would also be completely understandable to everyone in the know if they were slightly behind for a few days. They had just lost the head of their department for an unknown amount of time. Productivity was going to be down.

Dr. Piper eventually fell off, having to leave or the night after she finished her work. Andrew had taken on some of the tasks he’d been trained on by Richard which was giving him a bit of a hard time. Dr. Piper asked if he needed help, but Andrew waved her off. Maxwell was still in the building, he was just going to pluck away until Maxwell said he was done.

Dr. Piper nodded, and with a wave, she left him alone in the office.

Andrew sat by himself in the silence. No other person, no other sound except the distant ’whoosh!’ of the elevator as it went up and down, the clicking of the keys on his keyboard, and his own breaths.

It was...pretty calm, actually. He understood why Richard hung around after everyone had left now.

Andrew didn’t have to wait long for Maxwell to message him, letting him know he was done for the day. It was Maxwell who offered to stop in to check on Richard before they left and Andrew felt his heart squeeze. Damn it, he loved the man.

~

When Andrew and Maxwell got there, May and Ford were there. Dr. Liu wasn’t, but another lady, another omega, came over to speak to Andrew and Maxwell, introducing herself as Dr. Spencer. She was a short, well rounded woman. She had brown, slightly curly hair and big brown eyes. She wore the normal clothes of most researchers here, but Andrew could tell she wore something a little extra special.

She had a collar on, like Maxwell was wearing. Andrew, who felt like he was now in on a secret that everyone else knew, couldn’t help staring at it as they spoke. He knew it was rude, but Andrew was just so fascinated by it. He hadn’t seen anyone besides Maxwell wear one. Or maybe, Andrew just hadn’t noticed.

Andrew wouldn’t have noticed it was anything different since it blended in so well with her outfit. He only knew because Maxwell had decided to wear one and was showing it off. His collar didn’t match his outfit, at least not at a first glance.

Andrew knew that she had caught him staring at one point, and embarrassed, Andrew had dropped his gaze. He knew he would be running into her more often, especially after she had explained her role.

Normally, she was just a regular member of the research department. She trained like everyone else, and had the same qualifications. The only difference was she had an extra task. She was also the head of the overnight facility.

If anyone was staying overnight, due to heat or otherwise, Dr. Spencer was informed and she took the lead. Dr. Liu would leave for the day and Dr. Spencer would tag in. In fact, as soon as it was found out that Richard had manifested and she was notified, she was immediately told to go home and get rest so that she could come in and do the night shift.

It was very honourable, and a rather smart practise. Maxwell looked pleased as punch when Andrew said this. After that, Andrew and Maxwell made their way towards Ford and May.

The two hadn’t noticed them when they had entered originally. Andrew couldn’t blame them. They were just standing there, staring at their son. He couldn’t even begin to think what was running through their minds.

Maxwell, however, wouldn’t let Andrew approach Richard without a few calming breaths, a few deep breaths of Maxwell’s pheromones, and several assurances that he was going to be okay. Then, and only then, was Andrew allowed to approach Richard and his parents.

Ford was the first one to turn, his gaze tired, but it brightened at the sight of Andrew. He held out a hand and Andrew took it as Ford looked him over, exhausted.

"Andy. You didn’t have to come back." Ford told him, telling him with his words that he didn’t need to, but gratitude radiated off of him. Andrew sighed.

"What do you mean? Of course we were coming back to visit him again, and check on you. Did you eat?" Ford looked a little embarrassed, and Andrew didn’t even need to look to know that Maxwell had whipped out his phone.

"I’m on it." Maxwell said. "You two don’t have any allergies?" Maxwell asked and Ford chuckled.

"No. May doesn’t like eggplant, but everything else is fine." Maxwell nodded.

"Noted." He said. Andrew knew that Maxwell would never forget that fact, and Ford did too. His eyes creased with his smile, before he turned to look at May.

Andrew felt his heart ache. She looked shocked. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her hand was pressed against the glass. She wanted to be in there, but she also knew that she might hurt him. May must have been feeling an incredible amount of inner turmoil. She had been able to help Andrew, but not able to help her own blood and flesh son. She looked as if she had come from work too. She hadn’t even changed, just rushed here.

"I’m assuming Rose knows?" Andrew said quietly and Ford nodded.

"Rosie knows. She’s...she can’t come in here. She’s afraid." Andrew wanted to shake Rose, but at the same time, understood. Andrew hadn’t grown up as an alpha. He wasn’t afraid like others were. He just pulled up his pants and dealt with it. It was different.

"I see." Andrew said and Ford slid him a look. His lips were turned up and he squeezed the hand he held. Andrew felt the strength there.

"My alphas are delicate, Andy. That includes you, but you’re delicate in a different way. Both May and Rosie are..." He sighed. "They just don’t want to be weird around him. They’ll wait till he’s out of his heat at the very least." He said and Andrew sighed.

"Rosie’s marked someone. She should be fine." Andrew said and Ford shook his head.

"Logic isn’t a friend in this situation, I’m afraid. It’ll be fine in the end. I won’t let them get too far." Ford said.

"Are you two planning to remain here overnight? Do you need us to do anything for you? Go anywhere? Pick up changes of clothes, let work know what’s going on?" Maxwell asked and Ford looked as if he was going to turn it down before he slid his gaze back to his wife.

"Ah. We will need some fresh clothes. I’ll message Rosie so she can help. It’ll make her feel useful too." He said, his shoulders relaxing. "As for work...I don’t know if May said anything." Maxwell nodded.

"Don’t worry there. I’ll go tomorrow. Or Andrew will. Either one of us will be more than enough to get her some time off while this is going on, without her getting fired, obviously." Maxwell said and Ford chuckled.

"They are more likely to give her a severance package than truly fire her. They do like her quite a bit there." Ford bragged, before he sighed. Andrew pulled the other man in close, Hugging him tightly with his one arm, Maxwell’s hand in the other.

"We’ll make sure he’s fine, Ford. He’s in good hands." Andrew told him, meaning it and Ford let out a sigh.

"Coming from you, Andy? That means everything."