Mated in the Stars (Starscale Mates #6)

Chapter Thirty-One

Fred

Once the first quilt was sewn, I headed back to Starscale 2 alone. I was uneasy leaving my mates with the children on their own. Seq and Dal had only come to an uneasy truce. Duke spent a lot of time calling his mate, Syre, and giving him what he thought was coded updates about what his siblings were up to. Teal fluttered between everyone trying to ensure they all got along. Syre and some of the others would come over for the party, thankfully. I wanted to see my newest grandkids and hoped they could convince Duchess, their eldest child, to come and bring her kids too. That last one was probably a long shot since none of them knew me well and I had a lot of time to make up for.

If Sunny was surprised to open the door and find me holding a quilt sewn from Lotus’s old dresses to my chest, he didn’t say anything. He merely gestured to where Teddy was still conked out on his sofa. Laken lounged in a recliner nearby, both of the babies held to his chest for a feeding.

“Hey, Fred. Think we were freezing him out?” Laken chuckled.

“Not exactly,” I said and explained where the quilt had come from as I spread it over Teddy’s back and legs.

Then I waited. I sat there a long time wondering if it would be enough. Would I have to go out and find his true-mate and drag the poor guy back here to wake him up? He’d never forgive himself if he slept through this party. So, with the others still there, I told him about everything that had happened on Earthside in the time since he fell asleep.

“My house is furnished. Dal can live there if she needs to,” he yawned, but didn’t open his eyes. “Tell her not to break my stuff.”

“She has her own house, kiddo. I was telling you, so you’d know how crazy they are now. So much for them being the less dramatic ones, huh?” I laughed.

“They’ve always been like that. Sometimes they just think silence is more dramatic than making a scene,” he rolled onto his back, burritoing himself up in the blanket. “They thought being composed made them better than anyone else. Dad, I’d kill for them. I’d die for them but they’re snobs. They’re our snobs, but still.”

I laughed. The last time we’d all been on Earthside Teddy would’ve taken up for both of his siblings. Sure, in a real altercation he still would but it was refreshing to hear him mutter about how uptight they were sometimes.

“But Nelum wants to have this party thing your mom wanted, and I think it’s probably a good idea. I’ve gotten Medwin and Aunt Zoey to help plan things too. Elio and Nelum have ideas but no clue who to call. Hell, I feel like I’m out of the loop too. Dal says they’ll put the wedding off until after the party since they haven’t even chosen a venue. I’m trying to get them to go for Glitter Bomb. I think I might’ve convinced Rosemary with the whole glitter aspect of things.”

“How is Rosemary in person? Is she as bad as Seq thinks?”

“I don’t think Seq hates her, kiddo. I think he wants his space back and that he’s lonely.”

“I should bring him to the purple district. He keeps saying how he made people meet their true-mates. Maybe he’d work like that here too,” Teddy said, his eyes drifting closed.

“I have food from Mama Dragon’s in my backpack. In a pinch, I could grab coffee from Bad Wolf Cakes 2.0 but it would all melt by the time I got it back here,” I said, unshouldering the bag.

Teddy sat up and I handed him the bag of take out. He ate with his eyes closed, gradually coming out of his sleep.

“I got a few things to grab from the house. If you’re able to stay awake on your own for a bit.”

“Yeah. I need a shower. I need to let Selt know I’m not dead.”

“He knows,” Sunny laughed. “He keeps coming by to check on you. Brings the baby too.”

“Sorry, I think I left a lasting impression on your sofa,” Teddy frowned.

“It’ll fluff out,” Laken shrugged.

“Get ready while I’m gone. Do you need anything from your house for a few days over on Earthside?” I asked Teddy. “I don’t like being away from the babies and them long while Nelum’s with egg.”

“Eh, get me some clothes. I don’t want to have to go shopping over there. I’ll meet you there after I’m ready. That way, if I think of anything else I need I can grab it then. Besides, the door’s on 1.”

“Thank you for waking up, kiddo,” I said and kissed his forehead.

“Anything for mama,” Teddy shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich.