“Griffith, Dad just called to say he’s going to stop by.” Falkan poked his head into the kitchen where I was working on dinner. “Just wanted to let you know.”
Falkan’s dad was everything mine was not. And it wasn’t just his sense of style, his elegance, or his success at business. It was always a pleasure to see what he wore, and he had taught Falkan so much about running the family business. When he learned I planned to become a consultant, he’d made himself available to me as well, as a mentor.
“Did he say why?” I wiped my hands on my apron and slid the roast for dinner into the oven. “I hope everything is all right.”
“No, but he sounded cheerful.”
“That’s good.” Falkan’s dad loved tea, as in good loose tea steeped just so and served with some sort of little bite of tastiness, so I got the pot out and put water on to boil. “What do I have to serve with it?” I looked in the cookie jar and the pantry and refrigerator before I remembered the balls of frozen cookie dough I’d put away just for this sort of thing. Feeling proud, I got out the zip-top bag, pulled a dozen balls out, and put them on a cookie sheet in the oven. “It’s always nice to see him.”
“Children?” I heard the voice from the front door. “Are you decent?”
“Dad!” Falkan moved out of the kitchen. “What a thing to ask.”
“Well, you know how you newly mateds are.” He kissed Falkan’s cheek and held out his arms to me. “How is the consulting coming?”
“Great, Dad.” He refused to let Kyle and I call him anything else. “I love your skirt.”
“Do you?” He turned in a circle, causing the bottom few inches to flare out. “I do too.”
“Can you stay for tea and cookies?”
“Always.” He followed me into the kitchen while Falkan went to see if Kyle wanted to join us. He, of course, did. “I have something for you, I think.”
“Yes?” The kettle whistled at that moment, and I prepared the tea. “You don’t have to do that.”
“It’s a new client.” He peeked in the oven and grabbed a hot pad. “These look tasty. Snickerdoodles?”
“That’s right. Your favorites.”
“It’s amazing I don’t come over every day. Here.” He reached in his shoulder bag and pulled out a card. “Call this man and youcan set an appointment to meet with him. I think it’s a match made in heaven.”
Before I could thank him, the others joined us, and we all enjoyed tea and cookies together—especially our omega who put away a half dozen all on his own. Dad asked him all about his symptoms and commiserated with him on the difficulties of pregnancy. “Are those alphas of yours taking good care of you?”
“Yes, Dad. They are awesome.”
“Well, don’t let them get away with anything. You know how to reach me if they need a reminder that you’re carrying their eggs.”
He could have just emailed me about the client, but I didn’t kid myself that was why he visited us. Like my grandparents, Falkan’s dads were all about love. They loved each other and they loved him and, by extension, us. More enthusiastic grandparents-to-be would never be found. Most times, they brought little toys or trinkets or tiny socks…
After his dad left, insisting he couldn’t stay for dinner and “be in your way,” I cleared away the tea things and set the table, something else I’d never seen myself doing. When it was just me, even though I’d been pretty good about cooking for myself, I’d never laid out plates and silverware. But it was such a pleasure to do it for my mates. Falkan had beautiful dishes, gleaming white with blue and gold borders probably intended for only banquets, but I liked them so much, I used them nearly every night. And we ate dinner together at the table. Like a family because we were a family.
After dinner, we moved into the living room to watch a movie on the big-screen TV mounted over the fireplace. Kyle’s turn to pick, we were watching a Korean drama, with subtitles, his latest passion, which he blamed on pregnancy. But we all secretly loved them. And what we loved even more?
Cuddling together on the sofa while we watched. We all had our places, and they never varied. Kyle in the middle, me on the right of him, and Falkan to his left. We left no space between us, curling close together no matter what we watched. Their scents wrapped around me while we watched a female doctor fend off the advances of an amorous nurse. Soon, my eyes grew heavy and my head fell on Kyle’s shoulder. How had I ever fallen asleep without my mates to hold me?
“Come on, sleepy bear,” intoned Kyle. “Let us help you up to bed. You slept through most of the movie.”
“I did? But I am sure I saw it. The doctor married a pig farmer and lived happily ever after. That’s what happened, right?”
“Absolutely.” Falkan took my arm and assisted me to stand. “Right to bed for you.”
I wanted to argue that I wasn’t sleepy and I wanted to know what the doctor did end up doing about the nurse on the show, but I also didn’t want to admit I really had been asleep. So, I allowed my mates to help me upstairs and into bed. Tucked the covers up to my chin before undressing and joining me. Turned out, I did have a little energy left—energy I put to good use making love with my mates.
Our new house was the best.
Chapter Twenty-One
Falkan
