Meanwhile, while Erik's family had been escorted to the living room, Liona was still in the kitchen on the opposite side of the house engaging in a game of catch up with Erik while she finished cooking the night's meal for everyone.
Erik was engaged in a long overdue session of just listening to his mate talk. He didn't care if most of it was complaints, he just reveled in being in her presence again after so long. Lia was amazing as she effortlessly pulled, to his eye, random ingredients and combined them into a delicious smelling meal. His cooking skills were no match for hers, even in this huge and fancy kitchen with so many appliances he had only seen in advertisements.
As the two caught up on their month apart, Leon, Vivian, and Artemis were having a quick discussion in the office.
"So you're saying that Erik's school work far surpasses what his records indicate?" Leon asked his brother-in-law as he took quick notes on his tablet.
"Yes, and the puzzling aspect, besides the sizeable gaps in his school records, is that his previous schools had him marked as a troublemaker, but I've not seen a single indicator of him causing anything that could be construed as trouble. If anything, it's other students that are the aggressors and Erik just walks away without a word, which is hard for a young alpha to do if riled up in such a manner. The only time I or his other teachers have seen him raise his voice was to defend his sister, Nichole from a clique of girls harassing her, but it wasn't against the girls, it was only to remind his sister over the rabble of voices that it wasn't worth it." Artemis explained.
"So in your professional opinion, it would be worth testing the young man for a tertiary gender and see what his STEM abilities really are?" Leon continued to jot down notes.
"Yes. I recommend a summer program to help him obtain the missing credits he needs to graduate and to fully assess his intellectual capabilities, as well as get his tertiary gender results noted for his continuing education."
"Well, Liona is headed for summer school, despite her best efforts for a while, so this may be a hidden boon for both of them." Vivi thought aloud.
"Ah, how is my niece doing in school, Vivi?" Artemis inquired
"Not as well as we hoped. For a while her grades were slowly, but steadily increasing, but after her grounding it seems she slipped back into old habits and stopped any effort to improve. She is going to have to attend summer school at this rate if her final grades don't equate to a passing score for graduation requirements." Vivi sighed.
"That's certainly not good. Last I heard from Emma, she had been doing really well in class." Artemis was referring to his and Vivi's sister Emma, who was also a school teacher.
"Back to the subject at hand. What do you think of Erik's health while he's been your student, Art?" Vivi was also taking notes, but on his well-being, rather than his general background information, like her husband was doing.
"I'd say he's been in rough shape since he started attending my class. However, his aptitude for sports is more on a collegiate level, which is surprising. At one point, I had the pleasure of seeing him tackle a complicated maneuver to make a goal none of my soccer kids could have done at their level. If he wanted a career in sports, he could easily qualify for a scholarship on basic abilities alone, but you wanted health wise. Besides his concerning weight, I'd say he is fairly good at masking any illness and hides his malnourishment from all of his teachers a little too well. It's like he's done this before. It's most likely to keep questions at bay from concerned parties."
"Alright, I think I have enough information to come to a conclusion." Leon then looked at his wife. "What do you say, Vi?"
"I'm of the same mind, Leo."
Artemis raised his brow in question, since he wasn't privy to their thoughts.
"We are going to take the boy in for the summer and oversee all his education and testing while he recovers from being malnourished."
"Won't the boy's mother have an objection?" Artemis questioned.
"Well, Erik is due to turn eighteen over the summer in just about a month, so I don't think she'll have much say in the matter for long." Leon was going to convince Mrs. Norman that this was the best for her son.
"Besides, Art, we'll be helping Mrs. Norman and her remaining children find appropriate education and work for their skill sets and house them in one of our unused properties in town. Meanwhile, we will work with our charities to help them with their basic needs, such as food and clothing, until such a time as the mother can stand on her own two feet to support those children. I'll be overseeing the mother's medical care and I already have the perfect doctor in mind for the children." Vivi smiled at her brother. It was with his help they had a clearer picture of the family and mainly Erik.
"Well, I'm glad I could help. Am I still needed for dinner? Or would you all prefer that I vamoose?" Artemis joked.
"Oh, you may come in handy for convincing Mrs. Norman. So if you have nothing better to do, we'd appreciate your presence." Leon stood up to head to the office door.
"Well, Liam and the kids are at a birthday party this evening, so I'm on my own tonight."
"Then please join us as planned, Art." Vivi followed her mate out of the office.
In the living room, Julie was nervously trying to make sure her youngest children touched nothing. They didn't even sit on the beautiful couch and instead were grouped in the center of the large room as they awaited their host's return.
They hadn't been left alone for more than five minutes when their hosts returned.
"Mrs. Norman, would the kids like to play a game while we wait for dinner to be ready? We have plenty of them to choose from. Many are family friendly titles from our children's formative years." Vivi offered, since she noticed them standing or sitting in the center of their living room.
"We wouldn't want to impose…" Julie didn't know if this was some kind of trap or not, but it was better to refuse.
"Nonsense. It's no trouble at all!" Leon added with a smile at the younger kids as he pulled out various physical games while Vi booted up the game console and brought up their library of games the kids could play. "We have board games, card games, and video games. Plenty of variety that the kids can play."
Julie didn't know what to think. These had to be expensive items, yet these strangers were trusting her kids with them without a second thought. Her older children looked at her with hopeful eyes, seeking permission before they touched the offered items. Not sure if she would regret it, she nodded to them to allow them to play.
"While the kids are occupied, would you mind coming with me, Mrs. Norman?" Vivi smiled brightly.
Before she could object to leaving her children unsupervised in the house, Mr. Bartley introduced her son's teacher, who she had met briefly once before, but only in passing the day she registered Erik and Nichole at the high school.
"Don't worry about the children, Mrs. Norman. This is Artemis Edevane, who teaches health and coaches soccer at the public high school. He's my mate's brother and has a lot of experience with children. He's the mother of two himself."
This surprised Julie. She didn't expect the teacher to be an omega. He seemed more like an alpha, or at the very least, a beta. She just didn't get that sense from him.
"Mrs. Norman, I helped to raise my younger sister and have two lovely young children of my own. I also teach health and fitness, so you have nothing to worry about." Artemis did his part to reassure the nervous mother. His job once the mother left the room was to talk to the children and assess their learning capabilities as they played.
"Alright…" Julie hesitantly followed Dr. Bartley out of the room. She was led to a side room that contained nothing but a washer, dryer, and a few cabinets for storage before entering a garage.
"I have a few things on hand that I couldn't quite bring myself to part with when my children were still small. I'd like it if you gave them a suitable home since I won't be having any more children and grandkids are miles off yet." Vivi laughed to put Mrs. Norman at ease.
Julie kept her mouth shut. She couldn't very well out her son's relationship yet and have her son crushed before he could even really put his best foot forward as a capable alpha for their omega daughter. Pretty soon, Dr. Bartley began piling box after box at her feet. Each one labeled with a year and which child they had belonged to. Everything was so neatly organized on shelving units, it was hard to believe that there was so much stuff hiding behind more boxes.