Government didn’t help those that had a house, nary a bit. His buddies tried to tell him not to take the house, to sell it off. But then he’d found out that they’d take that as some money coming in, and he’d not get anything that way either. He just didn’t understand why they’d not just let him have one of them cards to get himself some steaks and shit like that.
Thinking about the girl, Wendell had wondered off and on where it had gotten to. When he’d remember that she was in the basement in a cage, he always thought that he’d get back to it. He’d only think about her when he wanted her to fetch him a beer or something. But by the time he’d think about her again, the need for her to be helping her old man out had passed. But kill her? Nah, that couldn’t be right. Could it?
Well, he thought, he supposed that he had. In an indirect way. Not that he’d meant to—no, not that. But she was just a girl, and he doubted very much that anyone was overly concerned about it. Besides, he thought she was addled too. Thinking on that, Wendell wondered whether if he’d have turned her in, the government would have given him some kind of kickback or something. Whatever, it was too late now.
Killing Mary hadn’t been an accident—he’d wanted her to shut her trap. But all she’d been talking about all day was taking her someplace. Now that he thought on that a little, he remembered her saying that she was in labor. But he was too busy watching his game when she was complaining.
Just as his team was starting to win, she’d come into the room and told him something about water. Telling her that he was busy didn’t seem to do much good. So finally, having enough of her shit, he smacked her a good one. Two minutes later he heard his car start up and she was pulling out of the drive, after he’d told her to drive herself to the hospital if she was in such a fired up need to go. But he’d not meant it. And when he saw her back into one of the trashcans on her way out, Wendell grabbed up the first thing he could touch and went out to teach her a lesson in taking things that didn’t belong to her.
He’d cut her throat right there in their yard. Without thinking about anything but getting her out of sight, he’d gone to the front porch, where she’d made her some kind of place of her own, and grabbed up the rug that was cleaner than the one in the house, he remembered thinking.
Knocking over her flowers that weren’t nothing but weeds, Wendell even managed to break a couple of her ugly assed treasures, as she’d called them. Then after wrapping her up, he put her in the backseat and took her to the next town over. Christ, it had been a mess. Now he was caught.
If they made it out to his house, he’d hang for sure. There was enough blood on the yard that he was sure it looked like he’d slaughtered a hog. Now that he had time to think on it, he should have done something about that. But it was too late now.
Having plenty of time, thinking of a reason that she was dead and for all the blood was something that he needed to work on, Wendell told himself. But as he sat there, feeling full for the first time in a while, and warm, another thing that he’d missed at home with the power off, he took himself a nap. A man like him, he deserved naps when he wanted them.
Cuddling down on the bed with the blankets that smelled fresh as the sunshine, he closed his eyes. Wendell had a son. The world could go to hell now for all he cared—he had him a son. And he was gonna name him. Wendell James Bennet, Junior would be just exactly like him.
Chapter 2
Easton got up early and drove himself to the hospital. He’d called first, of course, asking if he could come in and get to know Alex better. They told him that if he was leaving now, they’d hold his bottle for him to feed Alex. Easton had been so excited that he had to go back into the house twice—once for keys, the second time for his shoes. Christ, he was a happy mess, he thought.
Arriving at the hospital, he was happy to see that there weren’t all that many people around. A couple of babies were in the little bassinets besides his nephew, but Easton thought that Alex was the most beautiful. Laughing to himself, he knocked gently on the window, and was happy to see that they knew to let him in.
Alex was just taking his bottle, like he’d been starving, when the head nurse, Allison, came in to talk to him. He was afraid that she was going to tell him that he couldn’t take him or something, so was prepared for the bad news.
“How much do you know about babies?” He told her that he knew very little. Easton was going to be very honest with her so he could take care of the little man. “I didn’t think you did. Not that you’ve done anything wrong. But I can tell that you’re a bit nervous around him.”
“I am. When Mary had Peaches, I came home for a few days. I got to hold her daughter twice before Wendel drew a gun on me and had me leave. Everyday I’ve wondered if I had come back to get her and the baby, would they still be alive.” Allison told him that there was no point in dwelling on it. “No, I suppose not. What can I do to make me a better parent for him? I don’t want to mess up.”
“I don’t think you will anyway. But there are some classes that you can take on babies. We offer them here.” He nodded, all for whatever it took. “They take about two to three weeks, depending on how much time you want to devote to them. You could talk to Jake or Forrest about them. They both took the classes when they adopted Jenna. They’re not hard, just some things that you might not get without having children around.”
“Like changing a diaper?” She smiled and nodded at him. “I watched Jake do it to Jenna last night. He seemed to be very comfortable with it. I’m scared to death.”
“It’s not that hard once you learn how to do it, and aren’t going to be skimping on what you need to do it. By the way, there are some things that I need to talk to you about.”
As she went over the questions, he answered them as best he could. Mostly it was about his doctor, shots, and the like. After she left him to get him signed up for the classes, Easton looked down at the baby in his arms.
“I hope I do a good job in raising you, Alex. I want to make my sister proud of me and you.” Alex pursed his little lips like he was still having his bottle. “I wish I had been there for her more. I should have been, but she begged me to stay away so that Wendell wouldn’t hurt her. I don’t know why I didn’t make more of an effort to be with her. Probably because I wanted to believe her when she told me that he didn’t hurt her. I should have done a great many things to keep her safe, and I didn’t do any of them. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there more than I was for the three of you. But I’m going to make it up to you. I promise you.”
After putting him in his crib, he told the staff there that he’d be back to feed him in two hours. After watching them take him to the nursery, he stood there watching the rest of the babies. Leaving before he got all sappy again, Easton headed to the elevators.
The door opened almost as soon as he touched the button. Before he could move, even if he knew that he needed to, he was knocked on his ass by a man and a pregnant woman. She was screaming at him to slow the hell down, this wasn’t a race. It seemed to Easton that it was before the two of them disappeared behind the doors he’d just exited.
Standing up, he laughed a little. He supposed that Alex would have more company in a little while, and pushed the button to the elevator again. This time he looked, and moved out of the way for a man and a woman who were so different from the other two that he wondered if this was a trial run for them. Both of them were so calm that he felt relaxed just being there.
The man paused for a moment in helping the woman out of the elevator, pushing the wheelchair that she was in nearly all the way out. When he looked at him, Easton had a wave of something roll over him. Whether it was a good feeling or not was lost on him when the woman took Easton’s hand into hers and squeezed it like she was ready to break it off.
“Breathe, Cara.” The grip got even tighter, and Easton had to kneel down to look at her while the man continued to speak to her in soft even tones.
“Breathe like we were taught and you’ll be fine, honey.”
“You’re going to be just fine. I know it.” Easton put his hand over hers that was gripping him as he continued to speak to her. “Just do what your husband says and you’ll be all right.”
“Not. My. Husband.” She was inhaling sharply now, and he started breathing with her when the man did. “Friend. You can’t leave me. Okay?”
Easton looked up at the man. When he nodded, he told her that he’d stay with her for as long as she needed him to. As they were making their way down the hall to labor and delivery, Easton was sure that she’d let him go so that she could have her baby.
Before he knew it, Easton was dressed in scrubs right along with the other man. He’d still not caught his name—both of them seemed to be running on adrenaline by now. As they were told what was going on, the nurse called the stranger Wayne. Then the nurse left them again to tell them that it wouldn’t be long now.
“I’m sorry to intrude on this for you.” Wayne didn’t say anything, but stared at him. “I can just go. I’m sure that she didn’t mean for me to come—”
“Don’t go.” As soon as Wayne touched his hand to his arm, Easton felt a jolt to his system that he’d never felt before. It was both calming and terrifying at the same time. “You’re a wolf. I’m one too. You...please tell me that you know what this is between us. I mean, I know, but I don’t want to get the shit beat out of me before my child is born.”
“Mates.” Easton didn’t have any idea why that would have gotten Wayne beat to shit just then. But he understood what was going on when he realized that he had no idea if he was gay or not. “It’s your child?”
“Yes. I decided that the world in general was just too hard on gays, but I wanted someone to love me. Having a child was the best, but probably not the smartest way to make that happen. So that was when I’d asked Cara to be my surrogate.” Wayne looked around, then at him. “You’re here with your wife, aren’t you?”
“I’m not married. I’m gay as well.” The relief on Wayne’s face was astounding, and it made Easton smile. “My sister was murdered a few days ago. She was pregnant and had the baby afterwards. I’m here getting to know my nephew so I can take him home with me.”
The hug was unexpected, but needed. Easton hadn’t realized just how much he needed it either until he had it. Wayne held him, telling him how sorry he was for his loss, as they stood there in the room for partners with children being born.
“I want you with me.” Easton said that it was a private thing. “No. We’re mates, and you’ll be a part of her life as much as I will. Cara, she’s my best friend and the one having her. She’ll love that you’re there.”
Following him into the delivery room, Easton felt so out of place that he was sure someone was going to tell him to get the hell out. But as soon as Cara reached for his hand and took it into hers, he smiled at her. It was as if she’d been his friend as well.
“Welcome to the family.” He’d forgotten that he’d not told any of them his name, and did that now. “Welcome, Easton. I’m so glad that you were here for me. They’ve given me something for the pain, and I can see straight now.”
“I’m not really sure what I’m doing here.” She kissed him on the mouth, and told him that it was perfect that he was. It was then that he realized that Cara was a wolf as well. “What do you want me to do?”
In the end he was there for Wayne more than Cara. She was like a trooper, ordering people around to suit her. She even told the doctor once that if he so much as looked like he was going to cut the cord, she’d wrap it around his neck and play him like a harp. Easton wasn’t sure how to handle her, so he just wiped her face with the wet rag he’d been given and asked her if she was in need of more pain medication.
Wayne was freaking out at one point when the doctor told him that the baby was a big one. Easton realized that while Wayne was gay, he did love his friend Cara very much. He begged the doctor to not let a thing happen to her. She was his best friend.
When she was told she could push, a calmness went over the room like a summer rain. Cara pushed the little girl out in a couple of large pushes, and Wayne got to cut the cord. As they both stood over the little bassinet and stared at the baby, all Easton could think about was how he was so happy that he’d gotten to witness this. He was also sad for his sister and her loss.
“She’s perfect, Cara. Just beautiful.” Wayne kissed him on the mouth when he was handed his daughter. Putting her on Cara’s chest, they both touched her like he’d been touching Alex earlier. Cara pulled him closer so that he could be a part of what they were doing too.
“You have a son, Wayne told me.” Easton nodded as he touched his fingers to the baby’s fine head of hair. “I guess they’ll be about the same age too, won’t they? That’ll be wonderful for you both.”
“Cara is going to be living with us.” Wayne looked at him. “I’m sorry. I’ve already got you moving in, and we know nothing about each other. Cara is living with me so that she can be mom and nanny to our daughter. We’ve been friends since we were in grade school together.”
“I can tell. I don’t think a non-friend would go through what she just did for a stranger.” They all laughed. “I don’t know what I’m doing right now, to be honest. They’re going to release Alex on Monday, then I was going to take some classes about how to diaper him and such. Did you take them?”
“I did. They’re very helpful.” Wayne kissed Cara on the forehead, then walked around to where he was standing. “I know that we’ve sort of put this all ass backwards, but I hope that I didn’t scare you off. I hope we can be a happy family together. Let me tell you a little about myself. I’m an international real-estate agent that finds homes for people to stay in temporarily while visiting other countries. I sell homes too, mostly large estates. I have no family left. They were all killed when I was just a child. I have a checkered past, but I’m not such a bad guy now. I love trying new foods, old movies, and antiquing. When I have time.”
Nodding, Easton told him about himself. “I have a doctorate in computer software. I design games and other programs for systems that are primarily for kids. My full time job—I don’t have a boss—is working with computers for larger companies that need an update on their security, or simply systems that work with other things in their business. As of the other day I don’t have any family left except for my sister’s son, Alex, who I love to pieces.” Wayne asked him where he was from. “California. That is where the biggest industry for what I do is happening. However, I can work anyplace that I wish, so long as I have Internet and a couple of computers.”
“Same here.” Wayne looked around. “You didn’t answer me. Did I frighten you off by being so forward? You’re going to get this sooner or later, but I’m not the most secure person in the world.”
Easton told Wayne that he wasn’t so much either. He wasn’t sure why he thought this would work, but he knew that it would. Never in his life would he have imagined that he’d meet his mate in a hospital delivery room.
Cara was taken to her room to clean up and then rest. Easton took Wayne down to the nursery to meet Alex, and so that he could feed him again. Things were going fast, he knew that, but he also knew that things were going to be fine from now on. He and Wayne went to get lunch so that they could get to know each other more.
~*~
Wayne was feeling slightly overwhelmed. He could only imagine what Easton was feeling. As they were seated in a booth, he ordered a drink before thinking to ask Easton what he wanted. Telling him he was sorry, they both laughed.
“We should just start at the beginning. Hello. My name is Easton Hunter. I was made a wolf instead of being born one. I’m in town to make arrangements to take my nephew home, and to bury my sister and her daughter.” Putting out his hand, Wayne took it like a lifeline. “Also, if I can manage it, to kill the bastard that harmed them b
oth.”
“I’m Wayne Carey. I’m here with my roommate and best friend, Cara Holloway, to have a baby. We’re not married, but we’ve been living in the same house for so long it’s more like we’re sister and brother than anything else. I’m a wolf as well.” After shaking his hand and making the connection more solid, he felt better. “Cara told me that you’d be here. Not today—I mean around, so that I could meet you. She’s been my rock for so long that I’m not sure I can think without running it by her first. I mean, I really don’t, but—”
“It’s all right, Wayne. I know that you’re friends. I’d never want to come between the two of you. She sort of pulled me into the family too, in case you didn’t notice.” Wayne said that she was like that. “Wendell, he’s my brother-in-law, murdered them both. If not for the doctor being on the scene when she was found, Alex might well have died at his hand too.”
“What happened? Do you know yet?” He told him what he knew. “I’m so sorry about that. My heart breaks for what you’ve been put through. I don’t have any family left. Cara and I— Cara again. My dad was pack master when this bigger and younger guy came to take over. If not for Cara and me hiding away when he went to kill my family, I would never have made it. As it was, this guy killed not just my parents and sister, but Cara’s family too. They knew I was around and figured that her family was harboring me. So when they didn’t know where we were, he killed her parents. We’ve been friends since then.”
“I would imagine that you’ve trimmed the story down a great deal.” He said that this was their first date, and he didn’t want to scare him off. “Is it? A date, I mean? I have to tell you that I don’t know much about mates. The wolf that changed me, we weren’t mates and we knew it. But one day while he was out taking a walk, some homophobes came around and murdered him. I was just thinking that I needed to get my life in order when I got the call about my sister.”
Easton: Forbidden: Paranormal Romance Page 2
