Rue chewed his lip between his teeth as got up and paced in front of the large screen TV, his mind whirring. Dad and Popi had always worked, even when they’d had children. Bessie was the linchpin that made it all run smoothly, for sure.
He tripped over his own feet as he lurched at the obvious. Could Kendrick be that for them?
Pulse hopping around like he only had one leg, he stared unseeingly at the room. Rue hadn’t considered having a family of his own. Was it possible now? The past barriers to happiness were smashed by love.
He sucked in an unsteady breath and shut his eyes. Could he have it all? He could if he went with what his heart wanted.
Shaking out his hands, his gaze travelled in the direction the noise was coming from. He was moving before it fully registered as something else struck him. Monty hadn’t had a heat. He calculated the time they’d been working together. Was he taking heat blockers? If he were, did that mean he didn’t want children?
Compelled to find out, Rue went stomping to the kitchen. “God Monty, have you been having a baking duel with the invisible man?” Laughter boomed out of him at the frightful mess that would have given Kendrick a heart attack.
Monty at least looked embarrassed as he eyed the counters covered with dirty pots, goo and some substances Rue wasn’t willing to guess at. “I’m making several batches of cookies. Different flavors for the omegas,” he answered, sniffing indignantly. “What do you want?”
The demand, said in a petulant tone, made Rue wary about his reasons for coming into the kitchen. Then his brain went on the fritz. Why else would he blurt out, “When’s your heat due?”
“My heat?” Monty pushed back his bangs, seemingly missing that his hands were covered in goop. “Erm… sometime in December, why? Are you planning a work trip?”
He was frowning as he shifted two bowls of cookie batter to one side, making room for Rue had no clue what, with the sheer number of tubs scattered about.
“No… just curious as I couldn’t remember you requesting time off.”
Monty shrugged that off, concentrating on what he was doing. “I only have two heats a year and they’re December and January, mating season for otters. It’s a little inconvenient having them so close together, but then I get ten months in between without worrying about it. Anyway, it’s on the heat calendar,” he pointed out distractedly, eyeing the bowls.
“Yeah,” Rue replied awkwardly at not thinking about checking that first before starting this conversation. Yet he couldn’t seem to leave it be when he wanted to know if Monty wanted children. He was endearing with Emmy. “Do you… have you…”
Monty glanced at him, his brows tugging together. “Have I what?”
“Wanted a family of your own?” he blurted out, blushing under the scrutiny of Monty’s stare. He was never good at this kind of conversation, so why had he thought this was a good idea?
Monty grabbed a cloth and wiped his hands before tucking it into his sweats pocket, much the same as Kendrick did when he was cooking.
“My kit was quite large, and I was the youngest, so I was pretty much left to my own devices with my parents running the grocery store they own.” He came to a halt in front of Rue. “I was lonely often. Not neglected as such, just wasn’t anyone's focus unless I was working in the shop. No playtime, no fun stuff, just tired parents always too busy for me. I don’t want thatfor my children… I love my work, and it would be selfish to have a child and not put them first. So, having children hasn’t been something I’ve considered will be in my future.”
Rue hadn’t realized just how lonely Monty must have felt for this to be the reason not to have children. His parents had been selfish. Selfish. The word struck Rue’s heart.
“You don’t want children?” Rue pushed to clarify, his stomach knotting that with his own past issues, he’d somehow missed this vital part of Monty’s past. They’d all talked about their families, but Monty clearly hadn’t burdened them with how he truly felt as a child, left to his own devices.
“I never said that.” Monty’s head tilted, holding Rue’s stare. “What’s this about?”
“If someone was there while you were at work, taking care to make sure our—thechild wasn’t lonely, showing they were loved every day, would that make a difference? Like Frey and Booker have with Emmy.”
Monty left teeth impressions on his lower lip, his expression full of so many emotions. “I’m not sure. Emmy comes to work with Frey and Booker, so they can see her anytime they want.”
Rue exhaled gustily. “Okay, consider this, though it is a more nebulous concept. Just hear me out. Popi and Dad have always worked, and I’ve never felt neglected, and I’d say my brothers would say the same. They found a balance, which your parents don’t seem to have done or considered they needed. Maybe after having so many children by the time you came along, they didn’t consider the age gap between you and your siblings and that you were alone.” He was trying to be reasonable in his thinking, despite thinking Monty’s parents were selfish assholes.
“You could say that Bessie was in a throuple with my parents, being at home with us, loving us as a parent would.” Monty’s look of morphing alarm had Rue add quickly, “Not a traditional throuple in any genuine sense. My parents love Bessie, she isa part of the family, taking care of the home while my parents worked. Even now that my parents are retired, she’s there taking care of us.”
“In this scenario in your head, who do you see as Bessie? Kendrick, because he takes care of us like Bessie?”
Rue was nodding before Monty finished speaking.
“Would it not offend Kendrick to even suggest that he quit work and look after us… a baby full time? A househusband?”
The latter was whispered with hope, and Rue’s heart trembled in his chest at hearing it. “A husband. Two husbands,” Rue murmured, leaping off the cliff edge without a safety net.
“Are you proposing,” gasped Monty, staggering back, eyes wide.
“It wasn’t on today’s agenda, and I’d like something a little more romantic than doing it in this mess.” He went for humor; it was that or blubber when he couldn’t figure if the alarmed expression Monty wore was good or bad.
