Fic, Down with the Grumps, Becker/Ryan, Puppies, 12

[fredbassett]

Title : Down with the Grumps
Author : fredbassett
Fandom : Primeval
Rating : 12
Characters : Becker/Ryan, Allen Becker, Alex, Kay and Marcus
Disclaimer : Not mine, no money made, don’t sue.
Spoilers : None
Summary : One of the pups is poorly, but Becker and Ryan still have to go to work, leaving Allen to look after the pups.
A/N : Written for the deinonychus_1’s birthday. I hope you have a lovely day! With thanks to fififolle for the beta and for letting me play in the Pup!Verse sandbox. This is also for my trope_bingo square 'sharing a bed'.

“Are you sure you’ll be all right?”

“Yes, for the tenth time, Hils, we’ll be fine.” Allen smiled and added, “They’ll be fine. Now go to work and don’t worry.”

Becker was doing his best to hide his concern, but his father knew him too well, despite the time they’d spent apart. Becker had few illusions about himself. He might be a Special Forces captain, but where his puppies were concerned he was still a protective, over-anxious omega. This was the first time he’d had to leave the puppies with someone other than his alpha or Mrs Newall, the calm, competent woman who ran the nursery where the pups now spent their time when he and Ryan were at work. But nursery wasn’t an option today. Kay had come down with swollen glands and a nasty cough, and the chances were it would spread like wildfire around the nursery, so that left them with few options, and staying at home wasn’t one of them.

Joel Stringer wasn’t available to cover for him; he was away with several of the lads on an op, leaving them desperately short-handed. Anomalies had been popping up with monotonous regularity, usually in the most inconvenient places – hungry herbivores in the Hampton Court maze might have been alliterative, but they certainly hadn’t been his idea of fun on a hot afternoon. So whether he liked it or not, Becker had to do his full shifts, and extra time if needed, which was how he’d ended up swallowing his pride and calling on his father for help.

Allen Becker adored his three grandchildren and had, for once, been prepared to risk his wife’s disapproval. He’d arrived ten minutes previously, carrying an overnight bag in one hand and a new puppy doll dressed in bright pink in the other. Colonel Ruth Becker had no doubt made her views on the matter known, probably losing no opportunity to point out that this sort of thing was only to be expected as Becker and Ryan had refused to follow her advice – or more accurately, her order – to put their daughter up for adoption. No good would ever come of keeping a ‘third’ in the family, in the Colonel’s view. Ryan had thrown her out of the flat after she’d delivered that particular order, and she hadn’t been back since. But she hadn’t stopped Allen seeing the pups, which was something to be grateful for, especially now.

Becker took a last look into the living room. Alex and Marcus were snuggled together in the big grey fleece basket, a present from a surprisingly indulgent Lester, and Kay was wrapped up warmly in her favourite pink, fluffy blanket, cosy in a nest of cushions on the sofa, her head propped up on a pillow to help ease her breathing.

He turned reluctantly to his father and said quietly, “You’ll call me if there’s any problems?”

“Yes, I promise.” Allen pulled him into a brief hug. “Now go to work, and try not to worry. She’ll be fine. It’s just a dose of grumps. You had exactly the same at her age. I swear you coughed solidly for two days and looked like you’d swallowed two eggs. I think I’ve still got the photos somewhere…”

Becker rolled his eyes and beat a hasty retreat.

* * * * *

Allen watched from the window as his son flung a kit bag into the back of his car and prepared to brave the morning traffic to wherever it was that he worked. More years than he cared to remember of living with a military alpha meant that asking no questions came second nature to him. He knew that Becker and his alpha, fellow Special Forces captain, Tom Ryan, worked on some form of top secret government operation, surrounded by a motley crew of both soldiers and civilians, who all seemed – without exception – to dote on the three pups his omega son had given birth to.

Three. Allen sighed and looked down at the smallest of the litter, the one that had, without knowing it, raised the ire of his formidable wife. The Colonel despised weakness, without exception, and from the minute she’d known that Becker had given birth to three puppies she’d been determined to convince them to get rid of ‘it’ as she persisted in referring to Kay. The beautiful brown bundle of fur that was Allen’s granddaughter.

Allen reached out and gently stroked the soft fur on Kay’s brown head, the only part of her that wasn’t swaddled in a clearly much-beloved blanket, chewed around the edges and a little grubby, but there was no way Kay would agree to be parted from it when she was feeling as poorly as this.

Kay shivered and spat out a harsh cough, wheezing miserably. Most pups got a dose of grumps at some stage or another and there wasn’t much that could be done about it except keep them warm, make sure they took plenty of fluids and got lots of rest. It normally lasted no longer than a week, but during that period, the poor little mite would feel pretty miserable.

He sat down and smoothed her fur until she stopped coughing. Kay obediently took a few laps of milk from her favourite bowl and then snuggled down again, wheezing quietly. After about five minutes, the wheezing turned to gentle, snuffly snores. When Allen was certain she was asleep again, he went through to the kitchen to make himself a mug of coffee.

The kitchen was messier than he’d ever seen it before. It was clear that neither Becker nor Ryan had had much time for housework over the last few days. The dishwasher was full but they’d forgotten to turn it on. A frying pan had been left in the sink and there were dirty mugs on the table. With one ear out for any noises from the living room, Allen rolled up his sleeves and started to return the kitchen to a semblance of order.

By lunchtime, the kitchen was clean, a casserole was simmering gently in the oven in case either Becker or Ryan did make it home tonight, Kay was still sleeping, and Alex and Marcus were playing quietly in the living room. The two boys adored their clever, bossy, little sister, and were proving themselves to be very helpful when it came to keeping an eye on her. At the slightest hint of a cough or any other signs of distress, one of them would let out a sharp bark to attract his attention and come scampering to fetch him, while the other stood guard over her. Teamwork. Allen just wished that his wife was the sort of person he could ring to tell her how well the boys were behaving.

The sound of a mobile phone ringing took Allen by surprise. He muttered a curse. The damn thing was on the coffee table in the middle of the living room, but before it had a chance to wake Kay, Marcus picked it up and came flying into the kitchen, dropping it at Allen’s feet and looking up at him, his pink tongue contrasting sharply with his jet black fur. The pup looked so much like Becker had done at that age that Allen felt tears prick at his eyes.

He grabbed the phone, thinking that it was almost certainly Becker, ringing to check up on his daughter. But the number on the display was an unfamiliar one.

“Allen Becker,” he said cautiously.

“David Owen, Mr Becker. I work with your son. We’ve met.” An image of a brown-haired alpha with a calm, competent manner came to mind. The man was a medic and had been present when the triplets had been born. A sudden flare of hot anxiety shot through him but before he had a chance to ask why Owen was calling him, the man said, “There’s nothing to worry about, sir. Becker and Ryan are a bit busy at the moment, so I just thought I’d check how Kay’s getting on.”

“Still coughing,” Allen said. “But she’s not getting any worse, from what I can see. Both of my two had it at her age, and this seems about par for the course. I was going to put a few drops of honey in her milk to soothe her throat.”

“Good idea,” Owen said approvingly. “If there’s anything at all you’re worried about, just give me a ring.”

“Are either of them likely to be home today?” Allen asked.

“Hard to tell at the moment, sir,” Owen admitted. “Is that a problem?”

“No,” Allen said quickly. “I can stay as long as they need me. Just tell them not to worry.”

“I will do, thank you, sir.”

Allen smiled down at Marcus, who was still busily wagging his tail. “You’ve got some good uncles.”

Marcus wagged his tail even harder and let out a sharp bark of obvious agreement. The pups were growing quickly into bright, intelligent children, sharing a bond that reminded Allen of how his two sons had been at that age, before the Colonel had contrived to drive a wedge between them. On impulse, he scooped Marcus up in his arms and buried his face in the soft black fur. There was nothing quite like the smell of clean, warm puppy to drive away unwelcome memories.

A sharp, authoritative bark from the living room alerted him to the fact that Kay needed attention. Allen grabbed the bottle of warm, honeyed milk he’d made up in readiness and dashed back to Kay’s side. The hacking coughs still sounded dreadful, but she obediently took the milk he offered to her and then snuggled up against him while he wiped the milk from around her mouth with a soft cloth. A pair of big brown eyes looked sleepily up at him and Kay mewled softly.

“Do you want a story, princess?” he asked, knowing perfectly well what the response would be. Allen settled down on the sofa next to her, plumped up her pillow and made sure she was still well wrapped up in her blanket. The two boys hopped up next to him. If there was going to be a story, they wanted one too. Marcus plonked himself down in Allen’s lap, Alex turned around in circles several times next to him and then settled down with a thud and a sigh. Allen laid his hand on the thick blond fur. He’d bet anything that when the pups Changed, Alex was going to be the image of Ryan, while Marcus clearly took after Allen’s son. And Kay? She’d do just fine, he was certain of that, despite what the Colonel thought.

“Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a young, feisty pup. No one knew her name, but whenever danger threatened, she would be there, ready to help. One day, when one puppy had strayed too far from the village…”

* * * * *

Ryan turned his key quietly in the lock, not wanting to disturb the pups if they were asleep.

There had been times he hadn’t expected to get home at all that night, let alone manage to make it back by 7.30pm, but Blade had made it perfectly plain that he was capable of writing up the report on their pursuit of a giant, prehistoric capybara, that had sent Connor into transports of delight, right up until the moment it had disappeared into a hole in the ground. The creature had seemed perfectly at home in a little known part of London’s vast network of rivers and sewers, and at that point in the pursuit, several people had found good reasons to stay on the surface. After they’d finally run their quarry to a standstill, Becker had accompanied one of the lads to hospital. A slip in the muck underfoot had resulted in a badly-broken arm. Becker had insisted on accompanying him as it had happened on his watch, but Ryan hoped it wouldn’t be long before Ditzy succeeded in dispatching him home.

The first thing that he noticed was the warm, almost unbelievably enticing smell coming from the kitchen that made his nose twitch appreciatively and his mouth water and the second was the low voice of Becker’s father, obviously very firmly in story-telling mode.

“… and so by the time her parents got home, the masked pup was safely tucked up in bed, and no one was any the wiser that she’d been the one to have saved so many people that day.” Allen’s voice tailed off, and in a very low, almost inaudible voice, he said, “Sleep well, my darlings. Your daddies will be home soon.”

The wealth of love in the older man’s voice brought a lump to Ryan’s throat and, not for the first time, he was thankful for the impulse that had made him push past Becker’s resistance to getting in contact again with his parents. The Colonel might be able to hold master classes in coldness, but her husband was a very different matter indeed.

Ryan let the door fall closed just loudly enough to alert Allen to his presence. The sight that met his eyes as he pushed open the living room door did absolutely nothing to help him preserve his tough-guy alpha persona. Allen Becker was sitting in the middle of the sofa with Kay on one side, snuggled in a mass of cushions, her head still propped up by her Pretty Princess pillow, and on the other, the two boys curled up together in their big basket, balanced half on the sofa and half on the coffee table that Allen had obviously relocated. Around them, on the floor, were piles of other cushions and pillows that their grandfather had obviously relocated just in case either of them made a hasty exit from the basket for any reason. If they did, at least they’d have a soft landing.

Allen looked up slightly sheepishly. “Sorry, I’ve made a bit of a mess. I’ll put it all back where it came from now you’re home.”

No doubt the Colonel prized neatness before anything.

Ryan didn’t. He prized his pups and his mate, this man’s son. “I couldn’t give a flying fuck about cushions on the floor,” he said quietly. “You’ve looked after my kids all day, cooked dinner by the smell of it, and probably cleared up the bloody awful mess we’d left in the kitchen. You’re a good man, Allen Becker, and you’re welcome here any time. Hopefully next time you won’t have to clear up after us as well.”

Allen’s eyes shone with tears. “You’ll never know how much that means to be,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper. “I missed too much of Hilary’s childhood because I couldn’t stand up to my alpha. I’m just glad to have spent any time with these three. They’re wonderful children, Tom, and Hilary is lucky to have found an alpha like you.”

Ryan didn’t bother to hide the fact that he had tears in his own eyes as well. “And I’m lucky to have found a man like him.”

A slight cough from Kay brought Ryan to her side in an instant. She opened her eyes and mewled happily.

Ryan stroked her gently. He was home with his children and Becker would soon be back.

Difficult days didn’t end much better than that.