I unsuccessfully tried to hide my smile. “Coming, Daddy.”
Parker stopped me with a gentle hand on my shoulder and a frown on his face. “No. I’ll do it…”
“The cavalry has arrived!” Avery bounded into the room. Hunter, Logan, and my other dads followed in at a more reasonable pace.
My dads had taken one look at the nursery Parker had commissioned and decided to fix it. With a time limit on Baby’s arrival, my dads had demanded we start immediately. After looking over what Parker and I ordered, they made a plan to bring the space up to snuff and picked up their own supplies.
My pack settled Pappa on a chair next to me, and Poppy got Hunter and Logan set up to remove the wallpaper. I had learned plenty of skills by my dads’ sides growing up. Every time I wanted my room repainted or a new bookshelf, they involved me in the whole process. I might be a princess, but dammit, I was a princess who could take care of herself.
While Parker faced down his personal nightmare, I sorted the screws and wood plugs so Pappa could put together the drawers from the flat-pack furniture. He was still recovering, but he was also stubborn, and the tiny drawers were easy enough to manage while sitting.
Avery was our gopher for the day. If something was out of reach, he grabbed it. If there was trash to be disposed of, he handled it. If we were missing any supplies, he ran out to get them. He seemed happy as a clam to do all of it and get verbal head pats from my dads for his efforts.
I wasn’t entirely certain how I felt about the men who had given me the sweetest childhood being in the same room as the men who promised me an equally sweet future. That was probably because I was still working onbelievingthat future was possible. Some of them made it easy to believe, but others…
Parker cursed, his face as red as his hair. Dad had him sanding dowels, one of my least favorite tasks, especially when they had bulbous curves so you couldn’t get by with slacking.
Pappa grabbed Avery’s arm as he passed by us. “How did you all meet and form a pack? You seem so…different from each other.”
I squawked as Avery lifted me and took over my seat with me on his lap, apparently ready for story time.
“Logan and I grew up across the street from each other in an absolute shit neighborhood when we were kids. He was the resident protector. Cleaned quite a few clocks when bullies were fucking with the younger kids, and I had a serious case of hero worship. We were really good friends until my family won the lottery.”
“Why would that stop you?” I asked.
“My parents had personality transplants overnight once that money hit their account. I still considered Logan and I friends over the years we were apart, but it was a lot harder to hang out when neither of us could drive and my parents didn’t want me going back there.”
“And the others?” Pappa prompted.
“I met Parker at our fancy-pants private high school. If you think Parker is pretentious, you should’ve met our classmates,” Avery said with a laugh. “Too much money makes people lose touch, but I like to think Logan and I keep Parker from floating too far away. He and I became friends and went to college together too. Logan and Hunter became friends at their high school, and when Hunter got his record deal and first big paycheck, he kept Logan on as his bodyguard. It wasn’t fully that role, since Logan wasn’t formally trained or anything, but the ex-military guys aren’t cheap, and it wasn’t until later that Hunter was really rolling in the dough. We all reunited after Hunter started winding down his career, deciding he would much rather be on the producing side of things versus on the stage. We came from different directions, but I think we all found where we were supposed to be.”
Pappa didn’t look particularly sentimental from the outside, but he was, and I could tell he was impressed. He’d been looking for stable connections within my pack, an assurance that they would stay together to support me, and he’d found it.
“What do you do for work?” Pappa asked eventually.
Avery adjusted me on his lap, his hand curling on my waist. “Okay, don’t take this in a bad way, but I’m a landlord. The city doesn’t provide enough subsidized housing, so I try to make up for some of the shortfall. Omegas get reduced rent, and ones with kids or relatives they have to look after get an even bigger discount, depending on how many people are relying on them.”
“That’s so sweet,” I said, snuggling in. “I didn’t know that.”
“It’s not perfect, but I think it helps. Hunter runs a record label, Parker runs a medical airline, and Logan keeps us from all falling apart.”
That finally got a smile out of Pappa. “That’s what Pete does in our house.”
“Avery,” Logan barked, “get off your ass and quit hogging our girl.”
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Avery replaced me on the chair and kissed my cheek before returning to his duties.
“I like that one,” Pappa whispered to me.
“Me too.”
“That one…”—Pappa pointed to Parker, whose fingertips had achieved the same level of red as his face and hair—“…I don’t know about.”
“He’s trying,” I replied quietly. “Not sure it’s enough, but I promised them a month, so I’m going to be open-minded.”
“You’re nothelping,” Parker growled at Dad. “Why am I doing all the work when you wanted to do it this way?”
“I’m teaching you how. Did your teacher in school sit next to you and do your math problems for you?”
