A knock sounded on the door, and Mrs. Beckett went to answer it. It was one of the staff mbers, and they spoke quietly enough to each other that no one else could hear what was being said. When she closed the door after speaking with them, she had a slight smile on her face.
"The photographers are just arriving, and the other people we’ve hired have also begun to trickle in. Everything is beginning. Amir, are you ready to go get your first set of photos done?" Mrs. Beckett asked, and Andrew watched as Amir laughed nervously.
"O-Oh. Am I going alone?" He asked, and she chuckled.
"Well, I didn’t think you wanted any of us older folks with you. Why don’t you take Max? He’ll probably be able to give you so pointers." Andrew had no idea what they ant, but heard both Ben and Will laugh and watched as Maxwell’s ears turned pink.
"Mother!" He said hotly, and she chuckled. Making her way over to her smallest son, she reached out and ruffled his hair. Much to Maxwell’s disappointnt.
"What? Are you saying you can’t give Amir so pointers? That will make Andrew quite sad, won’t it? Especially when your ti cos." Her blue eyes sparkled, and Maxwell’s flush spread to his face. Andrew knew his eyes had to be huge.
"Am I missing sothing?" Andrew asked. Everyone gave him a pitying look, and Amir’s grandmother patted his hand.
"The Beckett’s have a tradition before their weddings. Where the bride takes so...specific photos for the groom before the wedding itself. I would assu as an incentive to go through with it." Mr. Beckett laughed.
"Well, back in the day, the grooms were known to run away simply because they were arranged marriages. It was a good thing to provide an incentive, but nowadays, we don’t always do that." Amir’s grandmother raised an eyebrow at Mr. Beckett who chuckled. "They happened to hit it off. If it didn’t work, we would have figured sothing else out." He promised, and he relaxed.
"Well, I am glad to hear you had no intention of teasing us and then running off, Tom." Amir’s grandfather said. "Don’t you dare pop your head out, Ben. I will not have you bring bad luck on this auspicious day." He warned and Ben laughed.
"I would never dream of it. How long do you plan to take Amir away?" He asked, and Mrs. Beckett chuckled.
"Anxious to be away from your bride? He’ll be in good hands, Benjamin." She teased, but Maxwell and Andrew shared a look.
"I’ll go with him, Ben. He’ll be fine." Maxwell promised. Ben sighed.
"Thank you, Max." Andrew could hear the tension in his voice. It was clear that Ben and Amir were keeping the news under wraps for obvious reasons. They’d already had a miscarriage, and didn’t want to worry anyone just yet. It was also their wedding day. Only a few people needed to know the good news to be able to work around today.
Andrew had a feeling that if either of the older people in the room knew that Amir was pregnant, not just trying, that they would treat him differently.
"Did you want to go as well?" Andrew offered, and was glared at by almost everyone.
"No. You’re too..." Mrs. Beckett started. "Alpha. Let Max handle this." She told him, and Andrew didn’t know what to say to that. Maxwell snorted, covering his mouth with his hand.
"Okay, well, if you’re going to take away from Andrew, you have to be nice to him. Make sure he eats so snacks. That he drinks so water. If I’m away for too long, take him for a walk. You know, anything you would normally do." Andrew felt his cheeks flush at Maxwell’s teasing tone, and the way his eyes sparkled as he stared up at him.
"You better be careful, Maxy. I know where you sleep at night." Andrew warned, and to not just his surprise, but everyone else’s, Maxwell stuck his tongue out at Andrew.
"Oh no. I’m soo scared. The big alpha is going to corner the little old ? What am I ever going to do?" Andrew stared down at him, unblinking, and Maxwell snorted. "Stop trying to intimidate . You aren’t scary." Maxwell told him, and Andrew’s lips twitched. Reaching up, he pulled off his glasses and then stared down at Maxwell. He was blurry, but he could see Maxwell’s lips part.
"What about now?" He asked, and Amir’s grandmother cleared his throat.
"Put those glasses back on and stop seducing your oga, Andrew." He protested and Andrew laughed.
"I can’t even see without them, so it’s practically a mute point." He said, slipping his glasses back on to notice that Maxwell’s eyes were narrowed and he was almost pouting.
"We need to get you contacts." He muttered, and Andrew smiled down at him.
"Why? So more people can be scared of ?" Andrew teased, and Maxwell narrowed his eyes.
"What’s so wrong with keeping others away from what’s mine, hmm? I don’t see a problem with this. But, you are also very attractive with or without the glasses, Andy." Maxwell told him, and Andrew shook his head, smiling.
"While I appreciate you saying so, I know what I look like Maxy. You don’t need to comfort ." Andrew gestured with his chin towards where Amir was taking a few, calming deep breaths with his grandfather. "You should go make sure Amir doesn’t pass out. Bring so of the decaf drink with you. I assu Kim and Jenny are coming, so if you need any more of it, just ssage . I can ask them to bring so more." Andrew told him and Maxwell narrowed his eyes.
He glanced around the room before deciding, fuck it, and yanked Andrew down, kissing him on the lips in front of everyone. Even Andrew was surprised.
"Stop saying bad things about yourself. Why the fuck would I be dating you if I didn’t find you attractive, Andy? And are you going to shit talk about my tastes? Hmm?" He asked, his lips brushing Andrews. Andrew blinked slowly, shaking his head. Maxwell smirked. "Good." He kissed Andrew again before releasing him. Andrew stood in a daze as he watched Maxwell speak with Amir, flip Ben off on the other side of the curtain, and leave the room.
He was still in a daze until Amir’s grandmother pulled the curtain back so that he could see Ben getting ready now.
"Look at how smitten he is. You aren’t planning to propose at my grandson’s wedding, are you?" That question directed towards him had Andrew shaking himself out of his stupor.
"Oh! Uh, no. Maxwell and I haven’t even...discussed marriage. We’ve only been dating for just over a month." Andrew told them. Even Ben seed surprised by that.
"Were you two not dating before you were, uh, about to manifest?" He finished, and Andrew smirked.
"No. I’d actually been dating soone else when I first t Maxwell." Amir’s grandmother tugged on Andrew’s hand, forcing him, and his husband, to go over to the couches so that they could talk more comfortably. Andrew sat next to him, not given much choice. He hadn’t let go of Andrew’s hand, even when Maxwell had kissed him.
"Not for long, I assu. Max would have made short work of that." Andrew smiled and shook his head.
"No. Actually he didn’t. Max isn’t the type to...try to hit on soone when they are taken. We just...beca close friends. I was a beta back then, and so he hired as a bodyguard of sorts. It was alarming how many tis I was actually needed because so dipshit alpha wanted to take advantage of him. At the ti I was also clueless to who he was, or what weight the Beckett na carried too. I was a perfect bodyguard." Andrew said, sounding rather smug with himself.
The others seed surprised.
"You had no idea what weight our na carried?" Mr. Beckett repeated, and Andrew flushed.
"Uh, yeah. Due to my own personal circumstances, I tend to avoid tabloids, news about celebrities, that sort of thing. I just...it’s a personal thing." Andrew said awkwardly, and Amir’s grandmother gave his hand a squeeze.
"If your father is who I think he is, that’s a rather smart plan. Was that from your smart, beautiful Mother, or sothing you decided on your own?" Andrew’s eyes creased with his smile at his words. The way he described his Mom made him very proud.
"It was a bit of both. Mom never did, and I slowly caught onto the reason why she didn’t. Then, it just stuck. When he stopped coming around, I really didn’t have to see his dumb face anymore, so it worked out." Andrew said, and Mr. Beckett shifted.
"Uh, I know this is supposed to be a happy day, but do you mind if I ask you a few questions about that Andrew?" Mr. Beckett asked, and Andrew gulped.
"When you say it like that, it makes worried. Especially when you say my na like that. Please, just call Andy. Hardly anyone close to calls Andrew unless I’m in trouble." Mr. Beckett’s lips quirked for just a mont, before he grew serious again.
"Of course Andy. So, uh, I rarely talk with other true alpha families. I an, we all have an understanding of how they function from the outside but, how do they...?" Andrew shrugged.
"I can only tell you what we experienced, and that might not be universal. Mom and I did not live on the estate. I have no idea how many partners my father had, but I know it was a lot. He used to co to our apartnt with ogas still in the car waiting for him. Mom probably didn’t want to know that, but I wasn’t a stupid kid." Andrew sighed, leaning back into the chair. "It was like he had a roster. Whenever they got pregnant, they got added to that. I knew he was only coming to see if I manifested, and sowhere deep inside of I knew that if I did, he’d take away from my Mom." Andrew scowled. "I didn’t want that, so I was very happy when my test ca back beta." Amir’s grandfather snorted.
"He’s an idiot without a pair of working eyes then. It’s clear from your height alone that you would have manifested at a later date." Andrew flushed.
"I uh, actually just had a growth spurt." He admitted, and Mr. Beckett laughed.
"No, you were a giant before this, Andy. The signs were there. There might have been other things, but we’ll never know now. I heard from Dr. Smith that you were quite the wingman in University too." Andrew’s cheeks ward.
"Well, not in the way you’re thinking, no. I just...I grew up with an oga Mom who had a particular constitution. I always made sure to have things that could help an oga out, and I used my height and everyone’s perception of to my advantage. So alphas are f-uh, creeps. They unfortunately needed soone to scare away the worst offenders." Ben chuckled.
"So you lured Max in by just being a good guy?" He asked, and Andrew flushed.
"Uh, maybe? Our first interaction after I brought over a casserole was-"
"You brought him a casserole?" Mrs. Beckett interrupted, and Andrew nodded. "Andy, that’s so sweet." She told him, and Andrew blushed. He ducked his head, not used to this kind of questioning.
"Well, I wanted him to feel welcod to the neighbourhood." Andrew muttered quietly.
"So you did. You seriously seduced my brother by just being a nice guy. Hilarious. I can already imagine him panicking about being handed a casserole by this fucking giant at his front door." Ben laughed, and even Mr. Beckett chuckled.
"So then? How did you begin working for him?" It slowly dawned on Andrew at that mont that they were questioning him about how he had t and fallen in love with Maxwell. Right now. Because Maxwell wasn’t here.
Oh boy.
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