“Did you bite him?” Big and scaly roared, and he snorted.
“Why would I bite him?”
“NO BITING!” croaked the gargoyle.
“I’m not a vampire.” He frowned at the little one and bared his not-sharp teeth. “See?”
The little monster rushed him, and he went into a defensive mode.
Don’t hurt him! He’s my nephew!
“There are no vampires here.” Two more people rushed in—the purple brother, that was Cullen, the other one, who was Cullen’s mate and a unicorn, to whom he owed a show of gratitude—and Cullen scooped up the gargoyle. “Elliot. Stop.He’s Uncle Corbin’s. Hawk, get your mate. He’s foaming. Evander, hi!” He got a sparkly wave. “Hi! I’m Cullen and?—”
The little black flying horse pushed into his arms, nuzzling him hard.
“Oh, I know you!”
“This is Tisi. And you saved him. We owe you gratitude, Evander.”
“You saved me. I think we’re even.” Evander grinned at the brothers while he let Tisi love all over him. “It’s very good to meet all of you finally, actually meet you and not just hear you in my dreams.”
Corbin came thundering in like a herd of water buffalo. “Is everything okay? Everything’s all right? Yes?” He looked back and forth from Evander to his brothers. “No one is vampiric, guys, I promise.”
“I think Tisi solved that problem once and for all.” Cullen grinned. “He just threw himself at Evander, and nobody could argue with that.”
“Hold you?” Elliot grunted his little rock on granite voice across everybody’s ears.
“Absolutely.” Evander handed Tisi off to Cullen and took Elliot in his arms. “Hello, little one. I promise I’m not here to hurt anyone.” Elliot had to be the heaviest baby he’d ever lifted in his entire life. This little guy was like a gargoyle, literally, even though he could tell he was a dragon and fae mixed together.
“No hurting,” Elliot said very seriously, grabbing his cheeks and staring into his eyes.
“I promise. None. Your Uncle Corbin and I are learning how to be mates. That’s all.”
“Like papas?” Elliot looked back and forth between his two dads.
“Exactly like that, my little gargoyle baby,” Corbin said, grabbing Elliot and tossing him in the air.
Elliot grunted out this hysterically funny little laugh, and wiggled and giggled, happy to be flying through the air like his cousins, Evander thought.
He was a pretty good judge of character, and he usually made his impressions quickly. Evander decided then and there that he liked both Cosmo and Cullen. Orion he already had a sense of because he had a bit of the man’s blood. Hawk was still a mystery. He thought if the man had learned how to handle this household, then he had to be a good dragon.
“Evander, here’s your food.” A box of food was handed over, and Evander had to admit he loved how it all came in little boxes and bags all on its own.
“And the Amazon order came, so there’s all sorts of stuff in there too.” Cosmo grinned over at his brother. “That’s what started this whole rigmarole. I came to deliver goodies.”
“Shame on you!” Corbin chuckled and shook his head. “Well, since we’re all here, we should all have a sit and get to know each other. There’s plenty of room.”
So he was sitting there on the sofa with four babies crawling all over him, fascinated to get to know their new uncle.
Corbin was making up snack trays, he thought, for everyone, and Cosmo was helping while Hawk stared at him. Cullen and Orion just sort of teased and played and made terrible jokes.
The whole… what was the human term for it? Vibe? Was of family, and warmth, and love. Something he had sadly missed out on most of his life.
But he would soak it in now.
Little Serena, who was a unicorn, dragon, fae butterfly baby, pressed her iridescent nose to his and stared into his eyes. Bubbles appeared in the air around them, her magic incredibly strong.
“Luff.”
