They were celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary soon, and he’d already picked out the perfect gift for her.They were going on a cruise without the boys.He didn’t like leaving them with his family while they were gone, but he couldn’t think of a better bunch of babysitters around than his brothers and their wives.
The meeting for his pack was going to be telling them about the new jobs that were coming into town and how many of the pack they’d be hiring.So far, they’d had four businesses come to town, and all of them had made it so that his pack grew larger by the day.And there were a lot of young people in his pack, ten times as many as were in there before.
He took care of his people better than the previous leader did.And he and Brandy, his alpha bitch usually went to all the meetings together, even when it was one on one, like they had through the week.
When he was nudged in the ribs, he looked at Brandy.She was staring, more like glaring at him with a raised brow.Looking out over the pack, he saw David Plant standing and groaned.The man could and would make any meeting go over by hours simply by asking so many questions that they could get out on a decent hour.He asked him what he had to say.
“I was just telling the bitch here that there aren’t any jobs for us old people.”David hadn’t meant anything when he called Brandy the bitch.That’s what she was called.However, there were times when he’d swear he did it on purpose.“I can’t be doing what the younger people are doing and not be in traction all the time.I need a job for my age group.”
“You’re only fifty-two, David, not like some of the elders who have found work that are in their eighties.And I have offered you jobs.Several of them, as a matter of fact.What happened to the job at the hardware store?You seemed to be liking it all right.”He said they wanted him to work weekends, and that’s when he got to play with his kids.“I don’t think they were asking you to work every weekend, but every once in a while.Mr.Potter told me that you up and quit because he’d mentioned you working on a Saturday morning so he could go to his daughter’s wedding, and you had a fit and walked out.”
“I already had me some plans to go fishing with my oldest.”Brandy mentioned the job he’d had at the diner where he was doing dishes for the place.“That job was beneath me.That’s another job for them young kids to be doing.I was hoping for something in management.”
“You have to work your way up through management to have a job like that.”He said that he was more fit than some of the people who worked the grounds.“I tried to get you to work there, too, and you said you have hay fever.I even offered to buy you a mask that you could wear when you’re working the grounds.Nothing seems to suit you, David.”
“I’d like a management job.”He asked him doing what.“I don’t know.You tell me what you have open, and I’ll tell you what I want to do.”
One of the others in the group told him he should be managing his own yard, and that got the two of them fighting.David also wanted someone to come along and mow his lawn like they did for the elders.The man was fit enough for that work, but he just didn’t want to be doing it.Lica was at his wits’ end with David.He still didn’t have a job that he wanted to work by the end of the meeting, so he told him that he was going to work at the hardware store for the next month without complaint.He could order him to do any job that he wanted him to do, but didn’t want to have to be a hard ass.But he would if he kept this up.
On their way home, holding hands as they went, he and Brandy talked about what they were going to do on their next weekend.They usually reserved those for family and the kids, but this weekend was special.There was a festival going on, and he promised his boys that he’d take them.Brandy was going to go out with the women to organize the thing, and he’d be able to see her there.
Lica always took to his office when he returned from a meeting.Today was no different.He wanted to make sure that he wrote down everything that had happened and what was said so that he could answer questions about the meetings if anyone had any questions.Usually, one or two people would see him on the streets and ask him about something at the meeting, and he was fine with that.Sometimes things would be lost when there was so much to talk about, like there had been this time.Between the new jobs coming to the area and the new medical clinic that was about finished, there was a lot to remember, and he didn’t mind talking to the people about it as much as they needed.He liked that they were proud of the things going on around the pack.
They had several buses running a day now, mostly for the elderly, so that they could go into town and do their banking and shopping.It was the biggest thing that he could have done for the older group in his pack as the alpha before him was charging them nearly half their check to get it cashed and a percentage of their grocery bill to do the shopping for them.
He’d found that out from a ghost of all things.Belinda had also told him of other things that had been going on around two, and he was glad to have them taken care of.Both the grocer and the bank manager had been dealt with harshly, as had their families.He’d never been one to kill people before, especially someone from his own pack, but they needed to be dealt with in the most severe way possible, and he did it with the help of Brandy.The love of his life.
After getting his paperwork squared away, he joined his family in the living room.It had become the most important time in his day as well as the most loved part of the house.He could sit with the family for hours and not say a word, only to hang out with them in his special place and enjoy the antics of his kids.They reminded him so much of when his brothers were younger and his parents were in jail, that he would be taken back to a time when he would be happy to have them in his life.
His parents had spent a great deal of time in the local jail.A couple of times, one or both of them would be in prison.Not for long enough, but it would be nice to be able to only have to watch out for one of them instead of both.He could remember times when they were both gone that they almost seemed normal in their life.No beatings, no starving, and especially a time for telling one another that they loved each other.They could never do that as children, not where their parents could hear them, but it was a good thing they had their links when they’d been in trouble.Which seemed like most of the time.
His mom was in prison now and would be for life.They never visited her, nor did they think of her overly much.At least he didn’t.The only time he would think about the two of them was when he was having a terrible day.But those were far and few between since he’d had children of his own.It was amazing to him that the children of his own had changed his life so much that he rarely thought of his childhood anymore.And that was the way that he liked it.
Lica did think of one day in his childhood more than others.He’d been alone in the house with his mother, and that was something that you didn’t want to be.Especially him.Mother hated him with a passion, and he never understood why.But they were alone that day, and he had been trying to avoidher.But she caught him unawares and had struck him with an axe.
He’d been lucky in that it only grazed his shoulder before he was able to move out of the way.Fighting her off had nearly cost him his life.When Edmond came in and saw what was happening, he knocked her unconscious with a frying pan, and they were both able to get away.Had he killed her, they both would have been in prison, but lucky for them, he’d only been able to knock her away while they hid.
It had taken him nearly a month to heal.Since their parents had no idea that they could shift, he’d had to heal like a human.A bit faster, but not enough for him to be able to be left alone with her again.And he tried his best not to be caught like that again.From then on, it was two or more around the two of them so that they’d not be caught again.However, it didn’t keep her from trying to kill the six of them.Every time mother was around them, she would take a knife to them or even the frying pan that had saved his life.Violence was never anything that he was away from throughout his entire childhood.It wasn’t until his father was killed and his mother sent to prison that he was able to shift when he was hurt and live a life of normalcy.
When his children had started to arrive, he and Brandy decided to raise them with the awareness that they weren’t going to get anything that they wanted.They did spoil them on birthdays and the holidays, but not throughout the year.They were good kids, a little young to realize how wealthy they were, but they were his, and he was going to make sure that they knew that they were loved all the time.And he told them that he loved them as many times a day as he saw them.Brandy did the same thing.
“Tomorrow night you’re to have dinner with your brothers.The women and I have decided that we’re going to meet a little earlier than you do simply because we like to get our gossip in before we eat.”He laughed, and she smiled at him.“I love you, Lica.So very much.I can’t believe that after all these years with you, I find that I love you more every day.”
“And I love you more daily.Hourly.”He kissed the back of her hand while he held her.“There’s an auction tomorrow.Would you like to hit it?I don’t know if any of the others are going to be going, but the house is to be sold at noon, so I was thinking we would go and see if we can get it.The rentals that we have now are making us a bit of money, and I like the extra income.”
“Not that we need it, but sure, I’d love to go.Are we taking the kids?”He said that they were spending the day with Edmond for sure and playing with his kids.“That’s good.Edmond would have fifty kids by now if it were possible.I’ve never seen a man so obsessed with children before.It’s like he wants to be the greatest father and the best uncle around.I think he might have that in the box.”
“He never wanted children when we were younger and talked about how we’d raise any if we had any.I don’t believe any of us ever thought that we’d have anyone in our lives that would stay with us, much less have children with them.I never dreamed I’d have a mate and she’d be any different than my parents were to us.”She said that she was glad she’d been able to change his mind.“I am as well.It’s wonderful having you in my life.”
“Same with me to you.”They watched a bit more television with the kids until it was bedtime.Getting them ready for bed was always a chore, but a fun one.Each of them would want a story to be read to them, and they’d do that.Never could they turn down having time to spend with them.As soon as they were tucked in and sleeping, the two of them went back to the living room to watch some more television.There usually wasn’t anything on, but it was background noise for the conversations that they’d have with each other.
They would talk about their day and what they’d done before getting together.Even going as far as talking about the time they spent together.He’d never know what they talked about when they went to bed, but he knew that they were good for each other.He never wanted to go to bed without talking to Brandy so that they’d know that they loved one another.And he did too.Loved his mate so much at times he didn’t think it was real.
~*~
Edmond was looking forward to having the children over today.There would be a lot of crafts goingon and a great deal of time spent outside.He never turned down the opportunity to spend time with them all together.He loved the kids more than he thought he did his brothers at times.They were miniature them when they’d been little, and he loved hanging out with them.
“Uncle Edmond, how come you only have one child?Momma said you’d have ten if you could.”He thought about what he could say about the reason that they’d only stopped at one, but told Lica’s oldest that it was because he wanted to be the favorite uncle, and that would have taken away from that.“Oh.Good.I love you.”
