“Yeah. So, is he gonna stay here now and, I don’t know, be your mate?”
“Kiddo, it’s a little soon for us to be thinking about that, don’t you think? Let’s just hang out with Simon and be his friend, and we’ll see what happens. The rest is grown-up stuff between me and Simon.”
Garon sighed. “Well, I want him to stay, and I don’t care if you kiss him or anything. It would be cool for you to have a mate like Mom and my friends’ parents.”
“Yeah, buddy, that would be cool.”
Simon decided it was time to rescue Gray and went back into the kitchen. “My work here is done,” he announced. “Can we eat yet?”
Garon snickered and held up a handful of raw hamburger. “Sure,” he said with a giggle, “here you go.”
“Blech. That looks gross.”
“Yeah, it has anchovies.”
“What?”
Gray laughed and pointed to the bottle of Worcestershire sauce. “It has anchovies in it.”
“Oh, well, that’s not so bad then.” Simon took the bottle from Gray and read the ingredients. “You know, Garon, we could probably come up with some sort of secret recipe of our own using my herbs. What do you think?”
“Cool! Can Dad help?”
“Sure, if he wants to.”
Gray met Simon’s eyes, and they shared a secret smile.
“Yeah, he wants to,” Gray murmured, and Simon knew he wasn’t talking about herbs.
“Ugh,” Garon complained. “You guys are acting like girls. Are you gonna kiss now?”
“Yes,” Gray said and ran around the counter to grab Simon. He dipped him backward and placed a loud, smacking kiss on his forehead. When he stood Simon upright, he turned to Garon and wiggled his eyebrows. “You’re next.”
Simon and Gray both rounded the counter slowly, stalking Garon as he squealed and tried to get away without making a mess of the hamburger patties. “That’s not fair! If I make a mess, Aunt Maggie will make me clean it up!”
“You should have thought of that,” Gray said as he scooped Garon up in his arms. “You’re mine now. Mwa-ha-ha!” He placed kisses all over Garon’s head as Garon laughed and struggled to get away. Simon grabbed him from the other side, making a Garon sandwich, and they both kissed and tickled him until he was breathless.
After they put him down, Garon made faces at them and washed his hands. Simon cleaned up the little bit of mess on the floor. He felt a tingle of magic and looked up at Gray, who seemed to be listening to someone through his mind-link.
20
Simon held his breath, his anxiety spiking at the expression on Gray’s face. Gray looked down at him and frowned when he saw Simon kneeling on the floor.
“Calm down, baby. It’s just the guards letting me know Cormac and Liam are here.”
Simon blew out a huff of air, and Gray pulled him to his feet.
“Everything is going to be okay, Simon.”
“I hope so.”
“It will be. Now let’s go greet Grandpa Cormac.” They left the kitchen and went through the living room to the front door. “Do you think he’ll let you call him Papa? What about Pee Paw?” Gray’s teasing worked, and Simon burst out laughing.
“You can call him that. I’m not going to.”
“Oh, come on! I double-dog dare you.”
“No way.”
