They were effective at reminding him the man was there, and simultaneously warning and annoying them.
“Am I meant to stay here, Mom, and to be Shaman?” he asked.
She played with his hair, like she did when he was a little kid. Running her fingers through it, she braided it for him.
“Yes. This is where you need to be. This is your next chapter, and your family is meant to be with you.”
He needed to know.
“Should I let Elizabeth go home?” he asked. “I’m afraid it will destroy our marriage if I open that door. She’s the only thing that’s never betrayed me. My heart has, my feelings have, but Elizabeth…she’s my one good moment.”
Catherine loved her son, but he overthought everything.
He got that from her.
“No. She won’t be okay without you, just like you won’t be okay without her. The ravens are bound together with love, fate, and a future.”
Well, then, he would have to stop feeling bad about it.
He trusted his mom.
She had never let him down.
“Do you like Gene and Chris? Are you upset I have sex with my brother?” he asked, needing to know. He wasn’t sure what she’d say, or if he’d change anyway.
Catherine was honest.
“Gene was always meant to be yours. You have to let him move fully into the family. He deserves to love everyone, and be loved by everyone. Your past holds him back, and while he’s willing to give you that, it’s not fair to him. Let him fall fully in love with the people you love.”
He listened.
“Christopher is a sweet man, and he loves you so much. When he watches you, it’s with adoration. How could I not love aman who looks at my baby like that? His heart is pure and filled with so much kindness. You picked another good person to fill you up.”
That was good.
Because he loved him too.
It was true that he made him feel whole. Chris brought a lot to the table.
All of his mates did.
“And as for Callen, he grew up into an amazing man. His next book is dedicated to me. He hasn’t shown you yet, but he put my name in the front, thanking me for being his mom. Don’t tell him I told you, but he wept doing it. Imagine how much he must envy having what you had, even if it was for only twelve years. He never had that. Charlene would leave him alone in a cradle, and never hold him. If anyone has a right to be angry, it’s him—not you. You were loved more than anything.”
Tears filled Ethan’s eyes.
She was right.
Honestly, he never thought about that. He’d been oblivious about how he bitched and moaned about losing Catherine, and Callen never said a word.
Yet, he’d never even had a Catherine. He’d only had pieces of what he’d been given out of pity.
That put it into perspective.
“It felt good to share you with him,” he admitted. “He loved you when he was a child. You saved him in your own way, and I never realized how he needed that.”
She smiled.
“I aways wanted more kids. Having him as my child was a gift, too, even if he wasn’t of my body. Now, as for you having sex with him…”
