“Yeah. And though Analise is a Fox, like her mother, Emmalyn is a Bear shifter — a huge one, like her dad,” Ronan said.
“And just so you know, you’re not the only human in the family. Daisy’s husband is human, and Bane’s mate is human, and Avaleigh, she’s human, and even if they weren’t and you and the boys were the only ones, you’d still belong here. Honestly, we’re all as human as you, just with a little extra umph,” Maverik said.
Giada smiled at Maverik. “I like that. But believe it or not, after all I’ve lived through, and all I’ve seen here, I’m more concerned when I have to deal with humans out in the world, than with — the other options I’ve recently learned exist. I have no problem believing that the human race is the more cruel of any of the others. Humans can be brutal, and callous. There’svery little empathy left in the world. It doesn’t matter to me where anyone came from or what category they fall under in a literal sense so much as I care about their heart and the way they treat those they come in contact with every day, as well as those less fortunate than they are. It only takes a moment to show respect, empathy and kindness toward other living things, no matter what species or race they belong to. Every living creature matters. Every heart deserves a chance at happiness.”
“They do indeed, sweetheart,” Valerie said. “I couldn’t agree more, and I’m glad you found yours here with us.”
“Me, too,” she said, turning to look at Ronan. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“I love you,” Ronan said. “There wasn’t a chance of me giving up on you — at any point.”
Giada smiled at him while she fought tears again. “I love you, too. I really do.”
“Puppy! We want to go outside,” Matteo shouted as he ran back down the hall toward the kitchen.
“Our Val said that we have to eat first,” Leo explained as he climbed up and perched on one of the stools at the kitchen island. “I already told you that.”
“Vaaalll,” Matteo begged making the one syllable name three or four syllables.
“Oh, no, sir. We have to eat so we have some energy for the day,and so we grow big and strong,” Valerie said.
“We got energy,” Matteo said.
“But we gotta be strong, too,” Leo said.
Matteo huffed a very beleaguered sigh, then he climbed up on a stool beside Leo. “Okay, Val. Feed me.”
“That’s a young man after my heart,” Maverik said with a chuckle.
Valerie laughed.“Your Val is always going to feed you,” she said to Matteo, leaning over the island to ruffle his hair.
“Can we go outside and play after we eat, Dad?” Matteo asked, as though it was the most natural thing as he spun his stool in a circle and waited for breakfast.
Ronan’s gaze shot to the child and he grinned, then looked at Giada who smiled at him, too. “Yeah, we can. We can definitely do that.”
“And just like that, all the pieces fall into place. We’re a family,” Maverik said.
Chapter 25
Four days later — Valentine’s Day
Matteo grabbed the hand-holds as he climbed up the side of the play set/fort/swing set Brandt had had delivered to the house, then built for the kids the day before. “This is the best thing in the whole wide world!” Matteo yelled.
“It’s the best, best!” Leo declared as he ran at the tire swing hanging from the end of it, and launched himself at it, shrieking as it swung back and forth while spinning him in a circle at the same time.
“It was very thoughtful of him to do this,” Giada said.
“That’s Brandt for you. He never misses anything, even if it seems he’s sitting back letting you handle your own set of problems. He’ll step in when or if he sees you going off the rails, or sometimes like this, he just decides to surprise you with something you least expect,” Ronan said.
“It’s only been a couple of days and I’m as amazed as I was the first day with the support and attention your whole family gives instinctively,” Giada said, smiling as she sat on the back patio sipping her coffee as she watched her kids play.
“Our family. And I have to admit I was a little surprised to wake up and find Brandt and Barron in the backyard hammering and drilling at 6:30 in the morning yesterday,” Ronan said.
“They’re good people.”
“They certainly are,” Ronan said. He sat beside her, enjoying his own coffee while his mate sat beside him in her robe, facing him with her toes tucked under his leg. He watched her watching her children, he listened to their happy shouts and their laughter as they played, and felt the same peace that hadsuffused not only his entire being, but theirs as well. Within just a few days, they’d all found the missing elements that were needed for happiness, and like his dad had said, the pieces fell into place and just like that they were family.
“So, it is Valentine’s Day today,” Ronan said.
