On his screen, the alpha, who appeared to be around thirty, said, “I appreciate your kindness—Assa, right?”
“Right. And you’re Calder?”
“Mm-hmm. Thank you for letting me speak to Denni’s parents. They’re the only family my kids have besides me, and we don’t get to see them in person. It’s been difficult since my husband died.” He exhaled heavily. “Fuck, that sounds trite, doesn’t it? …Difficultisn’t the right word. There really isn’t a big enough word to describe how hard it’s been. Anyway, thank you.”
Assa experienced a surge of sympathy. “It was my pleasure,” he replied. “I’ll check in on them next time I’m here too. And I’ll try to arrange another call.”
“That’s kind of you,” Calder said, his voice catching. “This…meant a lot.”
Assa wished he had more to offer. “It’s not a problem. Hopefully, I can help again.”
Calder ran a hand through his loose brown curls. “You know, I almost didn’t pick up. Unknown number and all. I’m glad I did.”
“Me too.”
They shared a pointed glance, and Assa wanted to take some of the sadness from the beautiful alpha’s eyes.
“I’ll put your name in my contacts,” Calder said. “So I won’t almost not pick up again.”
Assa laughed lightly. “I’ll do the same.”
After disconnecting the call, Assa helped a nurse take the couple back to their room before finally making his way to his car.
He was glad the stars had driven him to check out the other side of the facility today, grateful he’d been able to do something impactful for someone else’s parents, even if all he’d done for his own was make sandwiches.
Endo was right about plans going awry. You could do your best, but every unknown hallway held its own surprises.
***
Assa finished up his workin the lab early. He was excited because he and Wes had an appointment at an adoption agency that evening. This was the last one on their list. The meetings had gone well so far, and he was hopeful they would start their family soon.
After disposing of his gloves, he retrieved his phone from his locker and saw he had two voicemails. One from his father and one from Calder.
He listened to his father’s first.
“I’m out of sandwiches. You said a month, so you better get your ass back here then and not a day later.”
Charming.
Assa scoffed before pressing the button to hear the message from the alpha he’d been thinking about for ten days. It was one minute and thirty-eight seconds long.
“Hello Assa. This is Calder Rosen… I want to thank you for letting me speak with my in-laws last week. That act of kindness you showed to strangers has turned out to be a lot more meaningful than it may have seemed that day… There’s no easy way to say this, but I believe you’d want to know that I received word from Green Rivers that Sal and Endo passed away yesterday, peacefully, within twelve hours of each other.”His voice broke, and he cleared his throat.“It’s not a surprise they went together, since they were married for over fifty years, and it’s been so hard for them since…since Denni… I take comfort in how quick it was, but obviously I’m shocked… Anyway, at their request, there won’t be a service. Their ashes are being sent to me here in Bellwether Province and I’ll make sure they’re buried with their son… I called to let you know, of course, but I mostly needed to thank you again for giving my children the opportunity to speak to their grandparents one last time. We are very lucky that you happened upon Sal and Endo that day… Almost like it was meant to be… I suppose there won’t be a reason for us to speak again, but I wanted to make sure you understood that I will never forget what you did. I’m glad we met, even briefly. I wish you all the best.”
When Assa met Wes at the agency later, his husband clearly sensed something was amiss.
“What’s wrong?” he asked with concern.
Assa had never told him about the call he’d made for Sal and Endo. He hadn’t deliberately kept it a secret, but with the excitement of the adoption meetings, it simply hadn’t been top-of-mind.
Now, realizing the significance of that conversation for Calder and his sons, it felt very important.
He figured he could explain everything to Wes later, when they had more privacy. “Nothing’s wrong. Just wondering if there’s even such a thing as coincidence, or if the universe has it all planned out.”
“Deep thoughts for the waiting area,” Wes teased.
“Meh.” Assa kept his tone light. “I’m also thinking about what to have for dinner.”
“Tacos. The answer is always tacos.”