“Hey, Mac,” Bru called to him. Kit was also putting up a big fuss. Cranky in a matter of moments? Check. “Time to go, man. I got some fruit for them to eat on the way. This stand is so cool! They’ve got homemade applesauce and stewed peaches in a little cooler, with spoons and everything.”
“Yeah, sure, B,” Mac shifted and bounced the increasingly fussy Kyla on his hip, then turned back to the clearing. The angel, the light, the mist, Kensie, and the pups…it was all gone. Mac grinned. “I’ll miss you, Pretty Princess,” he said to the air. Then he headed for the truck.
“Okay, little lady,” Mac said, as he settled in the back of the extended cab with the babies. Bru drove and he volunteered to feed the now ravenous and fussy babies on the way back. He didn’t care about all the noise, all that mattered was they were back home and safe. As he made airplane noises while feeding Kit, he heard the dull sound of “The Flight of the Bumblebees” playing from the glovebox.
“What is th— Oh, OH!” Bru exclaimed. He reached and flipped open the glovebox and rummaged around. Random papers fell to the floor as he finally seized his prize. “My phone!”
“Crap,” Mac said. His naughty word filter was firmly back in place. “I guess I need to get another one of those.”
“It’s Trevor! Mac, what do I do?” Bru looked at him in the rearview mirror.
“Just answer the phone. We’ve got the babies now, so we’re good.” Mac fed Kyla a spoonful of stewed peaches, then swiped the excess fruit with the spoon from her lower lip as he had seen Ella do. Kyla grinned. Oh yeah, he could do this daddy thing. He glanced over at Kit. He was full as a tick and was starting to fall asleep. He was pretty sure Kyla would follow suit soon, too.
Bru cleared his throat and shifted in the driver’s seat. He casually draped a hand over the steering wheel then thought better of it when he realized he couldn’t do that, drive, and talk on the phone with his other hand at the same time. He shrugged and gave up, then answered the phone.
“Oh hey, Trevor…whazz up?” He said, super casual. Acting natural, indeed.
Mac chuckled in the backseat as he wiped the babies’ faces with a powder-scented baby wipe. Good thing Rogue made him keep a pack of wipes in the car. They were good for just about everything, even stuff not baby related. Rogue. Man, he loved that woman. He couldn’t wait to get home and talk to her.
“Yeah, Trev, we’re on the way to the house now. We’ll see you in a bit.” Bru sighed, as he disconnected the call. “I don’t think he suspected anything. Whew! Nobody has to die today! Awesome.” Bru slumped a little bit in the driver’s seat. “Whoo doggie, I sure am tired. I need some pie. This is cherry pie ala mode kind of day. Apple pie just won’t do. Apple pie is not enough for all I’ve been through.”
Mac chuckled and shook his head. “Appetite of a pre-teen, I tell you.”
Bru stopped at Mac’s house to change the babies and grab their stuff. Apparently, where they went, they had no desire to eat, sleep, OR poop. And boy, did they ever make up for that last one. Mac was ready to declare his house a biohazard zone until Bru shook his head at him and left, heading to Trevor’s. The babies were safe and sound and on their way home. All was right in the world.
Well, maybe not quite yet.
When Rogue got home later that afternoon, Mac was sitting on the couch watching TV. As she tossed her keys in the bowl on the table behind the couch, he looked up at her. When he stood up and opened his arms, she launched herself into him. When she wrapped her arms and legs around him and hugged him tight, he felt his heart swell and damn near pop out his chest. He buried his nose in her hair and smelled her citrus and sunshine scent with a hint of honey. She must have been outside with Willow and her bees earlier that day.
“I am so sorry, baby,” he said into her hair. He sank back onto the couch with her still wrapped around him.
“Sorry for what?” she asked, turning her face into his neck. The little minx wasn’t going to make this easy at all. Because Rogue.
Mac sighed. “I…when I snapped at you yesterday and said I didn’t want kids, it–,” he paused.
Rogue rested her head on his shoulder. “I thought you said that because you just didn’t want to have them with me,” she said, her voice soft and quiet.
“Oh, baby, no.” Mac hugged her tighter in his arms. “That was never even a thought in my mind.”
He felt her smile against his shoulder. “I don’t know much about kids and I never really wanted them before. But then I met you and after seeing Ella and Heather with their kids…I could see our babies in my mind, you know? I have this dream sometimes. One of them has dark brown hair, almost like chocolate. Another has like this pretty—”
“Honey-blonde hair?” Mac finished for her.
“Yeah. Have you had that dream, too?” Rogue asked. She shifted on his lap and sat up facing him.
“Yeah,” he said. “I think I did.” He reached, slid his hands lower and squeezed her butt. She grinned.
“So… are we ready to have kids, you think?” She wrapped her arms around his neck.
Mac cleared his throat. “Maybe I should tell you why I didn’t want them in the first place…”
Rogue gave him a small smile. “I think I know why, Mac. I just wanted you to be honest with yourself about it. Sometimes I hear you talking in your sleep. Sometimes you talk to Kensie.” Rogue rubbed a spot on his chest over his heart. It soothed the small ache he suddenly felt there.
“Then you know why,” he said.
“Yes. It wasn’t your fault. There was nothing you could do. I know that wherever she is, if there is a Heaven, she is there and she doesn’t blame you at all, Mac. Neither her or your mom.” Rogue tipped her head down and kissed Mac gently on the lips. He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss.
He felt so much love for her in that moment. And it felt like everything Kensie had said in the dream all fell into place. He would be the best damn father on the planet. Damn straight.
“Yeah,” he said. Rogue ran feather-light kisses down the side of his neck, then sucked the skin hard at the base of his throat. Shit, he was already half hard when she walked in the door but, now, he was on flag pole status. She looked at him and grinned wickedly.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m ready now,” he said.
“Ready for sex? Always,” Rogue said, as she whipped her shirt up over her head. Mac chuckled, then groaned as he noticed she wasn’t wearing a bra. Damn, he loved it when she did that. He reached up and tweaked one of her nipples.
“Well, yeah, I’m always ready for that. But if you want to try for kids, I’m ready for that, too,” Mac said. As if on cue, a diaper commercial played on the TV screen. “But I’m not changing any diapers. That’s on you. I’m good,” he joked.
Rogue growled at him. “What? Oh, no, you are SO changing diapers, mister. All of the diapers! Especially the really stinky ones.” Rogue hopped up from his lap and took off for their bedroom. Before she disappeared, she striped off her jeans, took off her panties and whipped them in his direction. A fucking minx, that woman was. And he loved it.
As Mac stood to follow Rogue, out of habit he stuck a hand into his pocket for his phone. Shit, he forgot. He’d buy another one tomorrow. He frowned a bit when he felt something weird but familiar there. When he pulled it out, he squinted and raised it to the light. It was a pink feather. A little pink feather, just like one you’d find on a feather boa. Mac raised an eyebrow, then he smiled and set the feather on the coffee table. He nodded his head and stood up tall, shoulders back, and followed his mate to their bedroom.
Hell yeah. He’d be the best damn father there ever was.
*
“Whew!” Selina said, as she slumped on the bench next to the viewing pool. “I’m exhausted.”
Rhyann rolled her eyes. She waved her hand over the viewing pool and watched the scenes change. The twins were back with Trevor and Ella, safe and snug, bellies full and fast asleep in their beds. Willow and Bru were sharing a slice of
cherry pie a la mode, and Mac and Rogue were…Rhyann quickly waved her hand again. Yeah, she didn’t need to see any of that.
“I am so tired. I need a vacation,” Selina said as she loudly snapped her gum.
“Really? You do realize that if you hadn’t told the babies about their powers, none of this would have happened.” Rhyann looked at Selina like she had lost her mind.
“Yeah, but it wasn’t all my fault really, Rhyann. Those babies love Mac and they could tell he was hurting. Somehow, they figured out where Kensie was and then they got it in their little heads that that’s what he needed, to talk to her. I don’t even know how they got ahold of that pendant,” Selina said, as she shifted on the bench and fluttered her wings around her.
“I mean, I know Rogue has a collection of them, but how that particular one ended up between the couch cushions for Kit to find, I’ll never know,” Selina said. “And then there was no way I could have known that it would give them a way to return to the Mitera. I mean, sure, I knew they were powerful, and, as twins, they’re destined to travel together. And, yeah, sure, I told them they could come here whenever they wanted, but I meant when they were older and had their Citlali guide training, not right now!”
“Really, Selina?” Rhyann stared at her. “Really? They are babies. Babies! You really expected them to be all, ‘with much power comes great responsibility’, and everything, with that kind of ability, when they barely even have teeth? You need to lower your expectations, at least until they are potty-trained.” Rhyann shook her head. “You’re killing me, woman.”
Selina ignored her and waved her hand over the viewing pool. “I need to find Rogue’s angel. I have no idea whose pendant that was. But whoever it belongs to must be someone really special.”
“Yeah, that is weird.” Rhyann said. She looked at Selina. She knew whose pendant it was, but she wasn’t telling. In fact, she could never tell Selina who the pendant belonged to. If she did, it would cause utter chaos in both Heaven and on Earth, as well as put her best friend in danger. No, that was a risk that Rhyann just couldn’t take. Not now. Not ever.
“Hey, you good over there?” Selina looked at Rhyann and tilted her head. Rhyann winked at her.
“Yep, I’m great. Now give me some of that delicious gum your keep snapping in my ear and let’s get to planning that ‘well-earned’ vacation,” Rhyann smiled at her.
THE END
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Thank you so very much for reading my story, Shifter’s Lullaby! Mac and Bru are two of my favorite characters and will always have a place in my heart, but Mac is my absolute favorite! I’ve always been a sucker for a badass with a good heart. Once again, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
If you enjoyed Selina and Rhyann, their Angel Series is in the works. Keep your eyes peeled for it!
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Love,
Savan Robbins
One True Mate: Shifter's Lullaby (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 6
