Laura is the one who took them to the station. Both men considered taking the bus to the station as Jaime did before, however the prying eyes of the townsfolk would mean gossip for the two men. They found it in the best interest to lay a low profile as much as they could. Luckily, Henry and Pappy have gone on a business run taking them out of town for a couple of days. With some bitter goodbyes and Florence watching the girls, Laura drove them to their destination. Though, Ronsel complained about his back from lying low in the car.

They arrived at the train station at around noon. Their tickets are scheduled for the one thirty train to Los Angeles. Jaime unloaded the luggage. They stopped a few meters away from the drop off point. They couldn't look like they were traveling together.

"You got everything?" Laura asked.

"That would be the last of it.", Jaime replied as he hauled the last luggage case out. 

"I suppose this is goodbye." Laura began. Her eyes flickered between Jaime and Ronsel. "To all three of you."

Laura wrapped both men in squeezing hugs and gave baby Dennis a kiss on his hand. "Bye bye darling." She cooed.

"My dearest sister in law…" Jaime took her hand and pressed a kiss to it. "Thank you."

Laura smiled and nodded. She climbed back into the small car and drove down the dusty road. The two men walked a few meters to the station. Just before they got into the crowd, Ronsel stopped the older male. The male turned around in confusion.

"You take him." Ronsel said simply. He placed the small child into the arms of the alpha. Jaime opened his mouth to protest but Ronsel silenced him. "Them colored passenger cars are no place for a young child. He be comfortable with you." 

"It's gonna be a couple of hours until we reach Los Angeles. He gonna need feeding and changing." Jaime replied.

Ronsel shifted the bag he had over his shoulder and eased it over to Jaime. "Managed to get some powdered milk from Tricklebank's. Momma said it will be fine for now. Put some new cloths too." Ronsel leveled his look at Jaime. "You scared of a baby Captain?" he teased.

"Scared isn't the word I would use." Jaime admitted.

Ronsel gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You'll be just fine."

The couple made their separate ways onto the train. Ronsel over to the colored car while Jaime to the other. As Jaime settled into his seat, he could feel the prying eyes on him. He wasn't surprised. Most people are surprised to see an alpha walking around with a newborn child. Especially with not an omega in sight.

Dennis doesn't seem to have noticed the large change in environment just yet. Clearly sedated with a large lunch from Ronsel during the car ride over here. Jaime knew that it would not last forever. Either his stomach will grumble or the cloth will fill. 

The train sounded its whistle. The loud creak of its wheels as it turned signaled the beginning of their long journey. Jaime leaned his head back in the seat. He couldn't rest. Not when his son was in his arms surrounded by strange men and women. About twenty minutes have passed. The trolley man came and went with the refreshments. Jaime simply took some water and crackers. Dennis was wide awake now and Jaime breathed a sigh of relief that his boy hadn't brought the cart down with his screaming. Instead, the boy snuggled close to his father and looked up at him with his big brown eyes. Eyes that reminded Jaime so much of his future mate.

"Excuse me…" A light voice said.

Jaime lifted his gaze from his son to the unfamiliar voice. A lady, around the same age as him, called to him from the booth across from him. She was seated next to two other women around similar ages. They all looked the same despite them not seeming related. 

"We just wanted to say, you just have such a calm and beautiful baby sir." She said.  The other women nod along in agreement. 

"Thank you." Jaime replied simply. Just from a simple sniff, Jaime could tell that they were betas. 

"You are sitting alone. Isn't your mate with you?" another lady with a purple hat chimed in.

Jaime bit his tongue. "No…he uh she died. Complications from the birth." He said.

The woman made the usual look of sympathy at the story. "That's such a shame. Leaving you to raise a baby on your own." The initial lady commented.

"I get by." Jaime wanted nothing more than for this conversation to end. 

Sadly the ladies didn't stop talking. They talked from a range of why he is heading to Los Angeles to if he plans on finding a mate again. The latter question would be offensive if he indeed had a dead wife. After ten minutes, Dennis had enough of being talked over and began to throw a fit.

"Oh don't be like that love. I got you." Jaime cooed. He sent a silent thanks to his son for giving him the perfect reason to end the bombardment of questions. Jaime rocked his son gently on his shoulder while searching the bag with the other. There were two bottles. One filled with water while the other filled with what Jaime could assume was breastmilk. A much darker yellow color that Jaime knew no regular milk to have. He doesn't think Dennis will drink the whole bottle and he doesn't.  But, the young baby suckled down his fill greedily. Taking a quarter of the bottle down before he became full. At least the ladies waited until he was burping his son to  continue their conversation.

"You do that so well. I don't think my husband even knows how to hold our child for feeding. Let alone what you are doing." The last lady with large earrings commented. 

"Dead wife, remember?" Jaime said. It came out much harsher than he wanted it too but what is he to do? His 'wife' is 'dead'. Not that he has grown annoyed at the ladies' urge of keeping the  conversation with him.

That shuts her up for a while.

A few more hours and a diaper change or two later, Dennis was asleep once again. The trip is going to take a good two days until they arrive in Los Angeles. Two days of not being able to see Ronsel. It hit hard for both him and his son. Dennis was becoming restless. Clearly, missing the scent of his other father. He cried. Oh how he cried. He cried until Jaime found the baby blanket Ronsel was using to burp him. The baby lulled instantly to the stray scent of his bearer. 

The shift from seats to the sleeper bed wasn't as bad as Jaime thought it would be. He fixed a tight cocoon of blankets around the baby just like Florence had shown him and made sure he was placed on the inside. Best thing about being in the sleeper part is that there were no talkative ladies around. There were some men but they mainly ignored the alpha and son. Jaimie's mind ran on Ronsel again for the evening. 

"You daddy should be fine little one." He whispered. Reassurance for him and not his son.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across the two day journey, Ronsel has not known peace. Every night he laid his head down on the hard hay pillow, his thoughts remain preoccupied. So well accustomed Ronsel was to having his son with him it felt so foreign to being a part of him. He wished he could have stayed with him but he knew that it was for the best. It didn't stop his omegan instincts from screaming at him to go look for his son. It doesn’t matter. As the train came to a screeching stop, their reunion was soon to come.

Colored folk are the last to leave the carts. Taking his luggage in hand he searched through the crowd of bodies. He hadn't the desire to look at the new surroundings. Coming out of the crowds, he spots Jaime standing on the sidelines. Dennis laid secured in his hold as he moved the infant closer to him.

“Ronsel!” He called out when his gaze met his own.

Ronsel held back the urge to wrap his arms around him. They were already getting enough looks as it is. Instead, Ronsel gives him a warm smile. He looks down at Dennis. The same sleepy look he left him with.

“C'mon, I got the car parked in the car lot.” Jamie explained. 

Once the car wasa found, the two men and baby made their journey to their new life. Los Angeles was nothing like little Marietta. Tall buildings, loads of people and much to Ronsel's intrigue, trolleys.

They drove for about two hours. Ronsel couldn't resist the urge to duck down when a car drove too close. Jaime couldn't blame him. However, the further they drove, the more colored people they saw. Jaime pulled them into a modest two story home. Just  like Jaime described, there was a large yard and what looks to be a shed as well. 

“This is ours?” Ronsel questioned.

Jaime smiled. “All ours.” He leaned in close and pressed a kiss to his mouth. Ronsel flinches a moment. “Don't worry…look out your window.”

Ronsel looked puzzled but looked nevertheless. Some families were outside. Young children biking down the sidewalk. Most of them were colored.

“See anything to worry about?” Jaime continued.

Ronsel looked at him. “Why are you so nice to me?”

Jaime pressed a longer kiss to his lips.

 “Because I love you.”