"Seems reasonable," Bea agreed, following suit and trying the creation that she and her niece made.
I took a bite and it blew me away. If she can cook everything this well, I’ll definitely be spending more time in the gym.
The rest of the meal was a comfortable discussion about music, movies, and sports. Phoenix was enjoying her school but complained that some of the homework load was too much.
All the frustration and worry that had made me a mess for weeks slowly shed off of me like a second skin, leaving only contentment behind. This felt right. They were already ours.
Once everyone had their fill, I nodded to the guys and we began to clear the table and started the sink for dishes.
"Oh, you guys don't have to do that," Bea started.
"You worked and then made us a feast, it's the least we can do," Apollo said. "You two head to the living room and we will join you once we have this mess cleaned."
"Are they for real?" Phoenix asked Bea as they headed to the couch.
"God, I hope so," she laughed.
My chest warmed at the words and I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face as I washed up the plates.
The guys and I worked like a well-oiled machine and it didn't take us long to finish the chores. We were used to working together like this.
"I could get used to this," Phoenix teased when we sat down with them.
"Don't get too used to it. Maybe we need a chore wheel," Bea said firmly. "Once we figure all of this out." I liked that our strong omega wanted us taken care of just as much.
"You let us know what you need, but just don't ask us to step away again. We will give you all the space that you need but I want contact everyday. Even if it's just a text hello," I said, hating to turn the tone serious, but this needed to be said.
"I can do that. There’s a lot that I'm working through that doesn't have to do with you three or Phoenix, but having her here has helped me realize that I don't have to be alone and I don’t want to be," she admitted.
That had the wheels spinning in my mind. Like, where did we go from here?
"Do you guys know about the Knuckleball Knockouts?" Phoenix asked as she turned on the TV. A game was just starting.
"Yeah, we aren't major fans or anything," Apollo answered. “It’s hard when the games are constantly interrupted by our job.”
"Well, Bea and I are going to the game this weekend. I bet we can get tickets for you, too," Phoenix said eagerly. Was she matchmaking for Bea’s sake, or did she like having us around? I hoped it was a bit of both.
"My friend Dani, the redhead, and her pack plays for that team," Bea explained. "It's very entertaining. Would you like me to ask about tickets?"
"Sounds like a fun time," Ezra said. Though, in truth, we would go just to be by her side.
Plus, we weren’t on call this weekend. It was finally time for the rookies to step up. They’d been through plenty of training and I was eager to have a little breathing room.
"Great,” Bea said, letting out a breath. “But, Phoenix, can you head up and get ready for bed? We have some things to discuss.”
She started to disagree but Bea gave her that ‘mom’ look and she just nodded and got up. Phoenix stopped just short of the hall and said, "I'm just a shout away if they’re being mean to you."
This time Bea laughed. "Thanks for the backup."
We sat in silence until we heard a door close.
"So, let us down easy?" Apollo asked, shifting nervously in his seat. I felt the same sense of dread washing over me.
"What? no," she started, wincing at the look on our faces. "I was serious about giving this a try. For us and our baby, but I won’t hurt Phoenix, either."
"Like I said outside, your family is ours. If Phoenix is your daughter, she is ours." I reminded her. "We aren't perfect by any means, but we are hard workers. We’ll do whatever it takes to make this work."
"Yeah, so when do we move in?" Ezra asked, shocking all of us.
