This time it was she who took off like a shot, and I wandered into the room to see Beau buck naked, his poopy explosion everywhere.
“Oh, Beau.” What more was there to say? “Did you not like waking up stinky?” I mean, who would?
“Bath.” He plopped down on his bed, my initial reaction to get him off there before he made it messier, but the damage had already been done.
“Yes. Bath time.” I scooped him up and carried him to the bathroom, planting him on the potty seat mostly to keep him from wandering as I filled his tub.
“See? ’Mergency.” Penny spoke from the door. “Can I color?”
“Sure.” I gave her the okay as I poured in a bit of bubble bath. He was going to need so much more than a bubble bath. “Ready, little man?”
“Bath.” He held out his arms.
It took two tub fillings, but he came out the other side clean as a whistle and happy as could be. Sadly, in that time, the room did not clean itself, so I settled him coloring with his sister at the small table we had recently added to the family room and went to work restoring his room to a semi-pristine state—semi because a real lived-in children’s room could never aspire to more.
It didn’t take long before I had the linens stripped, the diaper mess cleaned up, and the entire room disinfected. All that remained was laundry and new sheets and things would be good as new—better even.
I bundled the laundry and headed down the stairs, stopping dead in my tracks as I saw the brand new mural Beau and Penney were creating on the wall. Of course, they were. And like any great father, I ignored it as I completed my journey to the laundry room where I proceeded to break down in tears.
I sucked at this stay-at-home parent thing. I simply sucked at it.
“Adam?” A soft knock came at the door. “Are you there?” Pace was home much earlier than I’d expected.
“Yes.” It came out as more of a squeak, and he opened the door, no longer pretending to wait for an invite.
“The sheets made you cry?” He took them from me and placed them in the washer. “I mean, the smelly sheets.” He added a bunch of things I didn’t even know we had and turned on the washer, leaving the lid open. I must’ve had a confused look on my face because he quickly added, “To prevent it from spinning. It needs to soak with the pre-treatment I added.”
“Pre-treatment?” It came out as a sob. “I didn’t even know— I can’t do this. Not well, anyway. How do you do this?”
His arms wrapped around me even though he had seen me clutching the disgusting sheets.
“How do I do what? Laundry?” He kissed the top of my head, his hand rubbing small circles in my back.
“The stay-at-home parent thing.” I gasped at my choice of words. “The manny thing,” I corrected.
“The same way you do—the best I can.” His lips graced my head again, and I leaned fully into his hug.
“I just want to be such a good parent and look at the mess.”
“It can be cleaned up. Childhood is messy.” He made it sound so logical. Nothing felt logical.
“You haven’t seen the mural.” I forced a chuckle.
“The mural can be removed with those fancy sponges, and the subject of the artwork shows exactly what a good parent you are.”
“Maybe if I was trying to raise a vandal.” It was a horrible attempt at humor, and I cringed at my words.
“When I walked in, Penny was teaching beau when to call 9-1-1 using those pictures, and every few words she kept referring to things you said. So, I call it being a great dad.” I pulled back slightly, needing to see his face. Penny was drawing on the walls to teach her brother to be safe. It was in no way ideal, but I had a bit of pride building up within me over her attempt to be an amazing big sister. Maybe Pace was right, and I didn’t totally suck at this parent thing.
“She is still drawing on walls.” I shrugged.
“And one day, she might make her living doing just that.” He was going to have a response to all of it, so I dropped it and gave him another hug, whispering my thanks and heading out to end the mural-slash-teaching extravaganza.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lincoln
I’d checked in on Pace’s dad a few times during the night. He was recovering, but the road ahead would be hard for him.
Pace would have to either hire someone to care for his dad full-time or he would have to stop being a manny.
Hopefully, that option was off the table.
While I worked, my mates were in the back of my mind, always. I loved Adam, but sleeping without both of my mates would be a problem from then on.
I chuckled to myself as I grabbed my bag from my locker after my shift was finally over as the sun crept out of the early morning sky. I hoped they would still be in bed, keeping it warm for me, but I knew better. Penny was an early bird and a bit chatty in the wee hours before she went to school.
I decided to stop through the coffee shop and pick my mates up some fuel along with a treat or two. The scent of scones and muffins made me want to stop along the side of the road and partake even before I got home.
Home to my mates—both of my omegas.
What a lucky fucking duck I was.
“I’m home,” I announced, flailing around miserably, teetering coffees and a bag tucked into my teeth. I shut the door harder than I’d expected, but that was what happened when you do so with your butt poked out.
“It’s Monday for sure,” Adam said, dishrag draped over his shoulder, already looking disheveled and tired. “How was your night?” He took the bag from my teeth and kissed me slow, sweet, and long.
“Pretty good. I figured we could use some caffeine.”
I held up the cardboard drink holder and waggled my eyebrows.
“Thank the gods for coffee. Pace is wrangling Beau, and Penny is throwing a fit about not wanting to go to school.” Adam turned his wrist to look at his watch and smiled. “And it’s not even six yet. Yay!”
“Why is she not wanting to go to school?” I asked as we walked together into the kitchen.
“Ask her. She is currently not speaking to me.”
Not like Penny at all.
She sat at the table, frozen waffles, her favorite, still sitting on her plate, dripping with peanut butter and honey, just like she liked them.
Something was going on.
“Penny, my girl, talk to me, little love.” I pulled a chair next to hers and hooked my finger under her chin so she turned her attention to me.
A shrug was the only answer I got.
“Daddy can’t help you if you don’t tell us the problem. Baby, come on, what’s going on?”
Finally, she turned her gaze to me. “Humans are meanies.”
Oh, gods, she was too young to know or learn that fact.
“Baby, who is being mean to you?”
She shrugged. “Other girls. They won’t let me play with them.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. “They said I’m bossy. I can’t help it if they do everything wrong.”
Adam snorted behind us in the kitchen and tried to play it off as a cough/sneeze combo move.
I sighed. “Penny, you have such a strong sense of leadership. But good leaders have to be open to other people’s opinions and ideas. You just keep being yourself, and the right friends will come along.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “You think so, Daddy?”
I tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “I know so. You’re an amazing, smart, funny girl. Anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend. I’m just gonna take these waffles off your hands since you’re obviously not eating today.”
My hand on her plate kicked her right into gear as I’d hoped it would.
“Hands off my waffles, Daddy.”
“Yes, ma’am. Get a move on. I love you, baby girl.” I kissed her forehead as she pushed a huge bite into her mouth.
She nodded and kept chewing.
When I turned around, Adam and Pace stood shoulder
to shoulder, looking at me, Beau on Pace’s hip. “What?” I asked.
“You’re an amazing dad,” Pace said and kissed the side of my face.
“I want kissy, too!” Beau bucked in Pace’s hold.
The three of us smothered him with kisses until he giggled and told us to stop. I took him from Pace and put him in his high chair.
“I signed him up for Parents’ Day Out today. I’ll drive them to school,” Pace said after Penny had gobbled her waffles and Beau still had his dry waffle in his hand, backpack on, ready to go.
“You did?”
Pace nodded. “I found it last week and forgot to tell you two. So much has been going on.”
“Okay. What should we do with ourselves without the kids?” I asked, popping a scone into my mouth.
“Um, I’ll be back,” Pace answered and took the kids, but before he shut the door, he looked back and gave us the biggest smile.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Pace
Of course, I stopped by the hospital after dropping Beau off for his fun day. He didn’t have a lot of experience away from home with strangers, so far as I knew, but instead of clinging to me and begging to leave, he flung himself into a group of kids at a sand play table, babbling away as if they were old friends who’d known each other since before they were born. Heck, what did I know of such things? Perhaps they had been pre-birth buddies up on a cloud somewhere.
And the sting of his betrayal was eased by the thought of what waited for me at home. That also helped when I wasn’t able to see Dad who was down having tests and wouldn’t be back in his room until late afternoon. I was assured he was stable, and the nurse would let him know I had been there.
The fact they thought he might even be aware enough for tests eased a little of my worry. The odds of him being okay ever were almost zero, but I’d decided to take this one day at a time. So, I zoomed home with anticipation tingling inside me. I’d kept mostly to myself since the big breakup that sent me overseas, not interested in one-night stands and terrified of being hurt again, but those days were past. My years of training and generally maturing had helped me learn to read people in a way I had not been able to before. My ex had been an alpha who thought with his dick, who only wanted to appear to be a big stud. Why I’d mourned the loss of the relationship or thought of myself as less as a result escaped me now.
I drove past a sandwich shop I’d loved long before moving away and hadn’t visited since returning then made a U-turn and a quick stop. They had the best subs in three states, at least, and I had an inkling we would be too busy to make lunch. I couldn’t resist nibbling a little something along the way.
Arriving home, I sat in the car for a minute or two, trying to gather myself enough to make walking possible. If I got any harder, my dick was going to break right off. Amazing how I could have thought sex optional for so long, totally on the back burner, and now I had a divining rod in my pants.
I tried to think of non-sexy things but none came to mind, so I limped into the house and found the living room empty. “Anyone home?” I carried my bag of Italian specials into the kitchen, the nine-inch versions, in honor of the occasion. As I bent over to put it in the fridge, I heard their voices on the back patio. They weren’t talking about anything special, just what to make for dinner and whether it was time for a new car since Adam’s had so many miles on it.
Just home stuff, and for a second, I hesitated. Manny training was strong, and interrupting a couple a huge no-no. But they’d made it very clear they didn’t want me as just a manny anymore, and they were clearly not pushing me. So I opened the door and stepped out into the fresh hair. “I’m home.”
They sat comfortably lounging in the chairs out there, but both faces tipped toward me, and their smiles lit up their expressions.
“Yes, you’re home,” Lincoln said in his very alpha tone that held much more meaning than just the fact I’d driven up and parked and entered the house.
“Everything go okay?” Adam asked, while Lincoln patted the bottom of his lounger.
I sat down and told them all about the fantastic place where Beau probably would never want to come away from and about my dad and they showed me the pictures on Lincoln’s phone of the car they were considering, and we talked like in a slow ease for a good fifteen or twenty minutes while I rested against Lincoln’s bent legs. Then the elephant in the room just couldn’t be ignored anymore, and while it was the alpha’s job to take lead, I wanted them to know I was glad to let him lead.
“We have a couple of hours before anyone gets home,” I said, trying to ride the line between let’s have sex and not being pushy here, alpha. “Uh, want to…take a nap?” So subtle. Not.
Lincoln reached down and cupped my cheek, making strong eye contact. “Do you want to nap, or do you want us to make love to you, omega?
“The second one.” Because my dick had calmed just a little during the car shopping and sand table talk, but now it was once again pointing to the sky and if I didn’t do something with it soon, it would either explode or snap off.
“Then come here.” Lincoln pulled me on top of him on the lounger and kissed me. “We don’t want you to feel pressured if you’re not ready.”
“If I get any readier, it will be too late.” And wouldn’t that be embarrassing.
“All right, then, because you asked so nicely.” He stood, scooping me up with him, and headed inside. “Coming, Adam?”
“No, I think I’ll just lie out here and admire the sunshine.” But he was right there behind us kissing me over Lincoln’s shoulder. “Mmm. Did you eat a pepperoncini?”
I giggled. “I brought us some lunch from Luigi’s.”
Lincoln gave a big sigh. “I told you he was a keeper, Adam.”
“I thought I said that.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Adam
Kissing Pace and Linc on the patio might have been hot as hell, but nothing compared to the way Pace looked at Linc and licked his lips as my husband pulled his shirt over his head as I fished through the nightstand drawer for a condom.
“Look at him, Pace. He isn’t even focusing.” Linc’s voice deepened with each word, his amusement not shared by me as my memory caught up to me. “Looking for a toy, love?”
There were toys in there. Quite a few of them. But what was missing…well what was missing was what slammed into me like a brick wall. “I forgot. W-we threw them out.” I stammered. Looked like an afternoon of hands or mouths was the best we could hope for. Oh well, that in and of itself was going to be fan-freakin-tastic. “I can stop at the drugstore tomorrow.”
As I shut the drawer, dawning crossed Linc’s face, yet Pace stood there, confusion clouding his desire. It just simply would not do.
“Have no worries, omega.” Linc closed the short distance between the two of them and settled his hand on our manny’s hip. “It had just slipped my mate’s mind that our stash of condoms was thrown away when he went back on suppressants after Beau was weaned. There is still plenty we can do to help with this.” He lowered his hand until it covered Pace’s bulge and gave it some pressure resulting in a moan from Pace. I so wanted in on that.
“I agree.” I stepped around and behind him, pressing my front to his back. “I can think of so many ways we can relax together without risking pregnancy.”
The air in the room changed and Pace tensed up. Fuck. In my trying to make things better, I made them worse. So much worse that he stepped out from between us and padded over to the end of the bed and sat down. Double fuck.
“I’m so sorry.” I looked to the spot on the bed beside him, trying to figure out if I should join him, should wrap my arm around him the way I wanted to, to offer him comfort. Comfort for my own words, though for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
“Did you want our young?” Linc said quizzically as he dropped to his knees in front of the man who shared our hearts. “Because that is a conversation we can have in the future. Pace we…we weren
’t rejecting that part of you.”
When Pace’s tears began to flow, and that empty seat became instantly mine, my ability to let him cry without comfort non-existent.
“We want any and all things you want to share with us.” I gently rubbed small circles on his lower back feeling all but helpless.
“It’s not…” He wiped his eyes. “It’s just…” He picked Linc’s shirt up from the corner of the bed and so very un-elegantly blew his nose. I hated seeing him like this. “I…the reason I am a manny or at least the reason I became one—I’m broken.”
He blew his nose again and flopped onto the bed, holding onto Linc’s shirt like a lifeline.
I fell back beside him, and Linc joined us from his spot on the floor.
“I’m…I can’t have children. Like ever. With anyone. I…” He sucked in his snot, tears dripping onto the bed now. My heart was so completely smashed seeing him like this, and Linc’s erratic breathing told me he felt the same. “They said there is no hope.”
“Oh, sweet omega ours, don’t you see?” Linc kissed Pace’s face everyplace there had been tears. “We want you for who you are, not for who you can birth for us.”
“I had a mate once.”
My stomach roiled. Of course, he’d not spent his entire life single and celibate, but mates are for life, and yet he came to us quite single. Hearing him mention mate with such hurt in his tone—it was too much and my eyes started to pool. I needed to be stronger than this. He needed me stronger. He needed us stronger.
“He wanted kids. I couldn’t give him any.” He didn’t fill in the blanks. He didn’t need to. His ex-mate was a piece of shit not worthy of the man between my husband and me.
“And you are a manny to fill the void of not bearing young.” Linc reached across him and took my hand. “We have a beautiful family—one we would be honored for you to become part of when you are ready, and if you want the family bigger, there are options as well.” I knew he didn’t just mean me, although now that I finally got my priorities in line, that wasn’t off of the table.
A Bundle of Mannies Page 53
