“Can I have coffee, too?” she asks.
“Only if you chase it with some protein water,” Walker says from the table.
“Seconded,” Eli says with his mouth full.
I guide Lia to the table and take her order: a mug of coffee and a protein water with scrambled eggs, no cheese in hers, and two pieces of heavily buttered toast. It takes me no time to whip up her order, and then the four of us are sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying our first meal together as a bonded family.
There’s two others missing that would make this even more perfect. And it doesn’t shock me when the door slams open a few minutes later.
“Dad!” Amber exclaims.
“Well, there’s my princess,” Eli says as he wipes off his mouth and holds out his arms.
Her voice cuts through the house like a firecracker, bright and loud and full of energy. She runs into the house with Pickles’ leash in her hand, but she drops it when she takes off at a full-tilt run toward her father. Pickles’ paws skid across the floor as he rushes into the house, tail wagging as he bolts for Lia.
I watch Eli hug his daughter while Pickles jumps up onto Lia so she can hug his neck.
“See?” a familiar woman’s voice says as she walks through the opened front door of Eli’s home. “I told you we wouldn’t get here in time to cook them breakfast. They’re already eating.”
“Hey, it was good to let Amber and Pickles sleep,” Eli’s father says as he makes his way into the house behind Eli’s mother.
It doesn’t shock me that Walker’s parents are right behind them.
“Oh, there’s dishes,” Eli’s mother says as she makes her way into the kitchen. “Don’t worry about these. I’ll get them cleaned.”
“You clean, I dry?” Walker’s mother says. “I don’t think Eli’s got a dishwasher in his place.”
“Who cooked the sunny side up eggs?” Eli’s father says as he pats Walker’s shoulder. “They look nice.”
I lift my hand as I take a bite of my toast.
Eli’s father points at me. “Atta boy. Cooking and fixing. That’s a prime Alpha right there.”
I beam with pride at his words. “Good to see you, as always, Mr. Black.”
“Nonsense,” he says as he walks over to Lia and pats her shoulder in a silent greeting. “You’re family now. No formalities.”
“We got any dishes that we’re done with over here?” Walker’s father asks as he walks over to the table. “I can refill coffee mugs, too.”
Walker just holds his mug up in silence, still chewing on a piece of toast.
“Miss Lia!” Amber exclaims.
Lia unravels from Pickles just in time to brace herself for the massive tackle hug that Amber has for her. My Omega perks up instantly, a smile breaking across her face as she holds the little girl against her.
Amber climbs straight into Lia’s lap like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Like she’s a lapdog and not an early-emerging nine-year-old.
I can’t help but watch as Amber lays her head on Lia’s shoulder. “I missed you, Lia. Did Daddy take care of you? Gammie and Papaw said you weren’t feeling well.”
Lia kisses the top of her head. “I’m feeling much better, thank you. Your dad, Walker, and Knox took good care of me, I promise.”
“Good,” Amber murmurs, “because I’ll beat ’em up if they don’t.”
That makes all of us chuckle as the sounds of dishes being washed emanates from the kitchen. Eli’s parents and Walker’s parents fall into a rhythm of cleaning up behind us and refilling our coffee mugs while we all sit there and… take everything in.
Walker keeps stealing glances over at Lia like he can’t quite believe what’s happening. Eli keeps his gaze trained on his daughter like he’s trying to figure out how to tell her what’s happened between all of us.
And me? I reach over and tuck a strand of loose hair behind my Omega’s ear. Maybe one of these days, we’ll have another little one running around our home somewhere. A little one I can chase behind and teach things to, like how to fix a bike wheel and how to change the oil in a car.
