It was Saturday, and his mother was at home, his dad had finally come home last night, and they were happily ensconced in their little bubble of eternal love.
Sometimes it annoyed Seth how in love his parents were. He was happy for them, but he’d always felt like the least important member of the family ever since he was a child. Then again, now that he’d had Leaf for a decade and Dev for a while—it seemed like years, despite only having been weeks—he understood his parents better. When he was younger, he hadn’t gotten it, but now he did.
The thought made him stop, because he realized that somewhere along the way, he’d fallen in love with Dev too.
He left their bags in the guest room and glanced back to the doorway. He flushed red when the scene from Wednesday night came back to him once again. He’d been close to subspace, at least he thought so. He suspected it had been the stress, missing Dev, and just giving in to Leaf and Dev that had almost made it happen.
He couldn’t keep the thought of the reward Dev had in mind for him from penetrating his mind. Not only was he slightly flushed, his cock was trying to take note of his thoughts. “I’m in my mother’s house, goddamn it…,” he murmured at himself as he made his way to the living room.
“All packed?” his dad asked, smiling at Seth.
His parents sat on the loveseat, his mother curled up to his dad’s side. She was sore but had good pain medication. Seth suspected she also had some quality weed for emergencies, but she’d never actually tell him that.
“Yeah, just need to get to the airport,” Seth answered, going to sit next to Leaf on the bigger couch.
Leaf noticed his light flush, and seemed amused. At least he knew Seth well enough at this point in their relationship that he didn’t tease him in any way.
“So, who is this friend of yours who is watching the dogs?” his dad asked, raising a brow at them.
“Yes, I don’t think I’ve heard the name Devin before,” Mother added, making Seth glance at Leaf, who squeezed his hand in answer to his silent question.
“Uh… he’s actually the brother of one of my mentees. We met him sort of randomly and….” Seth licked his lips, glancing away from his parents. “And he’s become important to us. Leaf and I, both.”
His dad blinked and said nothing, trying to decipher his meaning.
His mother caught on faster. “Oh…,” she said. “In a… a romantic sense?”
“Yes,” Leaf answered, noticing that Seth felt tongue-tied. “None of us expected it, but… he just feels right.”
Dad looked at them both, his expression thoughtful. “Well, if nobody is getting hurt, I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
“I agree. If you’re happy, then I’m happy for you.” Mother smiled at them, and Seth felt like a stone fell off his chest. He hadn’t thought he needed his parents’ approval, and maybe he didn’t, but it sure was good to have it.
“We are,” Seth said quietly.
Suddenly Leaf’s phone rang, and he got up to get it out of his pocket and went to answer it in the kitchen. From his tone alone and the little that he could hear, Seth could tell it was Dev. He also sensed the sudden tenseness and got to his feet immediately. His parents looked after him but said nothing.
He went to find Leaf, listening to his end of the conversation as he stepped into the kitchen.
“Yeah. The fastest way to warm it up is to put some body-temperature water into the sink and just dunk it in with the head above the water. Just make sure the water isn’t too warm, okay?”
It sounded like Dev had an animal that was cold? What the hell?
“Dev found a kitten. Or well, Grace found a kitten,” Leaf explained while they waited. “Can you call Alex and ask her if she’s at work, and if not, where to go?”
“Sure,” Seth said, and made the call to their regular vet, who by some miracle was working that day. He told her the situation, and she said to just bring the kitten in whenever it was warmed up enough to transfer.
Seth relayed the information to Leaf, who told the good news to Dev and gave him directions to Alex’s practice.
“Yeah, when you feel it can make the trip—it’s only five minutes from the house—then you go for it, okay, sweetheart? Cats are resilient. It’ll be fine. Do you want me to stay on the phone with you until you have to drive? Sure? Okay.” Leaf listened for a moment, and then he looked straight into Seth’s eyes and said to Dev, “Hey, we’ll be home soon. We love you, okay? Bye.”
Seth smiled at him. He wasn’t sure how they could be as much on the same wavelength as they were, but he was grateful in any case.
They went back to the living room, where Seth’s parents looked worried.
“So apparently, it’s been raining all night and morning, and it’s cold at home,” Leaf said as they sat back down. “Dev took the dogs for a walk anyway, because that’s just who he is. They were a couple of blocks from the house when Grace suddenly went alert and pulled Dev really hard to some bushes. And because Grace never pulls, Dev let her lead them all, and they found a tiny kitten.”
Seth’s mom gasped dramatically, already invested in the cat’s life, if Seth knew her at all.
