Liona caught a whiff of her mate's subtle pheromones before she even saw him. She warred with herself over, rushing to the front door to see him the second he walked through. What she didn't expect was that when she finally saw him, he would be so battered-looking. His bruised face pained her immensely and made her angry at whoever had dared to hurt her mate. As this internal struggle went on, she covered up her expression by giving him a friendly hug to give her the chance to recharge, if even for the briefest moment and to remind him of the security measures they had in place for the public areas of her house.
His mate was a sight for sore eyes. Erik finally, after nearly a month of waiting, saw Liona again. This past month had been torture for him, but this moment made up for all of that instantly. The rose pink invaded his vision in a pleasant cloud that reminded him of all that he loved about her. However brief the hug he had been given was, it felt like he had just gained the strength to run a marathon. When before, he had been so depleted that the walk to and from home felt like he had leaden weights on his limbs. The quiet reminder that this home had security was enough to make him remember his place before he could be busted for taking advantage of the daughter of rich people, no matter how friendly they appeared.
Having been told briefly that Erik and his family were going to be dinner guests tonight, had been just enough of a motivator to put a pep in her step and extra care into her appearance today. As soon as she got home from school, Liona wasted no time getting to work in the kitchen to make the most nutritious and tastiest meal she had ever made, just for Erik, since she knew he had to be starving. The hug she had given him had been enough to confirm he felt just as skeletal as when she first met him.
Artemis had been summoned to dinner by his sister- and brother-in-law to discuss one of his students, so he complied and brought the boy over. He had some idea what this dinner was going to be about, so he came prepared with the boy's school records that were missing good chunks of information and took nearly three months to arrive after the request had been sent. The sparse records were full of errors and outdated information regarding his test scores, grades, and other vital information for his schooling.
A lot of these tests that had been administered were so archaic that they failed to test for standard things, such as the presence of a tertiary gender, or advanced STEM abilities in alpha and omegas. Erik's records indicated a rampant disregard for accurate information that could be crosschecked with his or the school's power. The boy had moved around so much, never spending more than a half a year in any one school, so that might contribute, but it didn't explain the gaps in his testing records. His brother-in-law, Leon, would need to extend his reach for the rest.
However, the last record that had any relevant information was that of his grades. They didn't match what he had seen of the boy's abilities. Although the kid seemed to put no effort into his work, it was nearly flawless and he always earned an A in his and the other classes, no matter the assignment given. The grades he had been sent from the previous schools all failed him on information that had been covered by his current studies that Erik was excelling at, and he had been throwing advanced health assignments at the boy to keep his attention in class.
Vivi sighed. She had been called for a second opinion on a beta patient that Jeannette had. Jeanie suspected that her patient might be a sleeper omega and was exhibiting signs of becoming an omega during her pregnancy. After examining the patient, it was indeed another case of a beta becoming an omega just like Jeanie had during their high school years. These phenomena were becoming increasingly common as the study of fated mates yielded more information.
Now that she was done with this task, she needed to head over to the EEA's campus to head over to Erik's family's home with one of their larger vehicles. She arranged to have the appropriate child seats delivered to his workplace earlier, so an officer should have them installed by now. By her calculations, at least half of Erik's siblings were below the recommended height and weight for traveling in a motor vehicle without proper safety seats. Meeting up with Leon outside the building that had his office, she followed him to the garage where official vehicles were kept. All throughout the ride, she and Leon discussed the approach they would take at dinner to allow them to help Mrs. Norman to the best of their ability.
Leon pulled into the trailer park where Mrs. Norman lived and opened the doors to the back seats of the car while Vivian went to fetch the family. Once everyone was settled and properly buckled in, they headed for their home, where Liona had volunteered to make tonight's dinner. His daughter had perked up so much at the small reprieve from her grounding that he couldn't bear to have the meal catered instead. According to Liona, she knew exactly what this large family would like the most, so he had been convinced to let her do her thing.
Julie was unsure about all this hullabaloo about dinner, but she had been convinced early this morning. Her eldest daughter again came to the defense of her son's mate and said that if Liona was as good as she was, then she had to have gotten that from somewhere. She brought up valid arguments that she couldn't just ignore. Now she found herself in the most luxurious vehicle that she had ever seen, let alone ever been in. Although she was still on guard and didn't want to mention that her son was their daughter's mate, since they hadn't brought it up. She feared that if she did, then they would discriminate against her and her son.
She didn't want his happiness to end because of her doing. She hadn't been blind to Erik's lethargy and longing, but there was little she could do since the young lady had broken her parent's rules, ending in a grounding. Erik had informed her of at least that much. She had tried her best to make sure he had a bit more to eat at home since he wasn't getting his mate's lunches. However, it seemed that he had been secretly making sure his youngest siblings got that food instead of himself, but she hadn't realized to what extent he had been doing it with her back turned.
Nikki had covered for her older brother while he made sure that the food their mom had tried her best to provide for him went to their younger siblings. They were still growing and needed more food than she or him. She didn't understand where his depression had come from, but she did her best to support him to the best of her ability. The car ride was pleasant and smooth, just like the last time they had been in it, but she didn't expect that the house they were going to be practically a mansion! It was huge and set back from the street a fair distance. The property was surrounded by an iron fence with pointy bits that looked scary enough that she would never attempt to climb it.
As the car entered the gates and drove up the short drive, Nikki couldn't believe how someone like Liona could live here and act the way she did. People that lived in houses much smaller than this acted way more stuck up and condescending toward poor people like her, like her family. Even Liona's parents were super sweet and caring, much like Liona herself. She had stuck up for these people in front of her mother without even knowing them because they had raised her future sister-in-law; at least that what she privately hoped she would become; to be the person she is.
Entering the house with two of her younger sisters in tow, while their mom took Tyler and Emily. The rest of the girls were old enough to understand the ground rule of look but don't touch. It served them well while shopping, so it should be equally effective while here. She was amazed at just how much space was wasted inside. Their entire trailer could fit inside the space for just the door and the staircase to the second story.
As they moved through the house, they were given a brief tour before being deposited into a luxurious living room. The couch was huge and spotless, while the rest of the room sported many things that could only be described as unnecessary luxury. Besides a ton of antique printed pictures behind glass, there was a massive tv and a bunch of electronics she had never seen, and probably never heard of. There was room for all of them to spread out and not even be crowded.