Adored by the Alpha

Chapter 65

You're gonna hate the ending of this chapter - or so I hope. 

***

As a kid, I always enjoyed getting my picture taken. Even at the annual HSA identification photos, I'd given as wide of a smile as what was allowed – mainly because you always receive a copy of the photo, and each of them had gone on my parent's wall.

The family pictures with Allen's family were a little different.

We'd driven out to a small photography studio in the middle of the little town. From the looks of their waiting room, holiday cards of all kinds were their specialty. And, of course; wedding photos, maternity photo shoots, baby pictures, and passport photos. The photographer, Mel, they/them, asked us all politely to sit our massive group in the waiting room, whilst they got the backgrounds set up.

I looked at Allen with concern. "Backgrounds?"

He smiled sheepishly. "My mom goes all in with this stuff."

His mother snorted, two seats from us. "Oh, what a terrible person I am; for making sure that my family has wonderful Christmas photos that makes all our friends look at their own families and consider putting their children up for adoption." She rolled her eyes.

Lila clicked her tongue. "You literally once dropped me off in front of an orphanage."

Cladia's cheeks became red. "You were being impossible, and I was trying to teach you a lesson. You were there for less than 15 minutes! Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was that you walked in there?"

Lila's head rolled back as she laughed and looked at me. "We had to wait two hours for CPS to show up. Dad had to call his lawyer!"

Lyxander snorted next to Claudia. "It cost 4,000$ to get him out there and help us out."

"Wait, you dropped her off at an orphanage?!" Austen stared with wide eyes between his mother and his sister.

"Uhuh, so you'd better reconsider your behavior, Aussy." Lila grinned at her little brother. Claudia reached over, slapped Lila's knee with the back of her hand, before looking to Austin.

She shook her head. "Don't worry baby, I'd never do that!"

Austin's face twisted in disgust at the endearment, and he outright shuddered. "Ew mom, don't call me that." he looked back down at his phone, moving down in his seat. He was practically laying down in the chair.

Next to me, Allen leaned his head on top of mine, his fingers interlacing with mine. I leaned into him. "-anyway, yeah, mom goes all in. So backgrounds, lights, and coordinated outfits. The works. All so that our descendants can glance at our photos and talk about how awful the quality is."

I grinned at him, looking around the room. Allen's parents and siblings, as well as his grandparents were loitered about the modest waiting room, taking up all the chairs and the majority of the floor. My family was collected in a group off in the corner to my left. All of us were wearing some mix of white, forest green and warm brown.

My mother had nearly cried when Allen had offered to take pictures of her and her sister and parents. We'd only been able to convince my father to come because pops had said that it would be the first, last and only proper professional family photo they'd ever get taken. My father's face had gone blank for a moment, before he'd hurried up to change into an outfit that matches what the rest of us had already been wearing.

Mel poked their head out of the photo room. "Alright folks, I'd like to get the Parkers and all attached mates in here first for the grand family photo. The rest of you feel free to get a warm drink from the dispenser," they pointed to the coffeemaker in the corner, a note on the front informing us that it wasn't working. "Don't worry about the sign, I just keep it there for the holiday season so I don't have to refill it every two days."