Chapter 27
Was this how Charlotte felt all the time? I was so relaxed, I didn’t even want to move to start the day. How did she pry herself out of her nest?
Leo was pressed against the length of my back, purring softly in his sleep, with his arm draped over my waist and up my chest to cradle my cheek.
Nathan and Jude were in a similar position, but both awake and watching something quietly on Jude’s phone.
Alve was awake, too, tapping away on his laptop on the edge of the nest.
“Good morning,” I whispered.
Jude’s phone dropped immediately and he rolled closer to kiss me. “How are you feeling?”
“Weirdly good. Feels like all my stress took a temporary vacation.”
“Let’s work on it taking a permanent vacation,” Nathan said with a sleepy smile.
“Why are you so far away?” I asked Alve.
“I didn’t want to disturb you with my work.”
“But how are you supposed to kiss me if you’re all the way over there?”
He was too fucking cute with how pink his cheeks got. Jude and Nathan wiggled over to give him space, since Leo was still dead to the world. Alve set his laptop aside and gingerly lay between Jude and I.
Alve brushed his knuckles over my jaw and I lifted my head to meet his as he descended. He tasted minty. Apparently, he had slipped away to wash up for the day already. Before I could worry about my own condition, he eliminated the concern with a soft moan.
Leo’s cock rose to life beneath my ass and he joined us in the waking world. “What’s happening?”
“Just Alve helping our girl greet the day,” Nathan said with a grin.
Did I officially qualify as their girl now? Being bonded to Leo meant there was no going back, and some part of me expected to be panicked by that, but Leo was so warm in my chest, I couldn’t be bothered.
If things stayed this way, this pack would be the opposite of the family I grew up with.
They would be safe, stable. They could give a child a home they deserved.
I knew it wasn’t a guarantee. People could change and down the road, things might be different, but this was far better than having concerns from the start.
“What if I wanted to be a mom?” I asked quietly, bracing for derision.
Leo’s purr roared at full volume. He traced his lips over the bite mark he’d given me, cozy delight flowing through the bond to untangle my anxiety.
“Then I guess I can admit out loud I’ve been a bit jealous over my sister’s life,” Nathan announced. “I love having a niece, but I’d also love a kid of our own.”
“I’m attuned to chaos,” said Alve gently.
“When I was young, it felt like too much, but I’ve been realizing more and more how much I’ve missed having a houseful.
I always expected fatherhood to be in the cards for me, and I think now that the option is in front of me, it’s less expectation and closer to anticipation. ”
I looked to Jude for his answer and was met with the same sweet smile he always gave me. “However many kids you want to have is how many I’ll raise and love with you. Not like I’ve been imagining that a hundred times over the years or anything.”
“Does that mean if you got pregnant during the heat flare we’ll be parents this year?” Leo asked. “I wouldn’t fault you if you wanted to wait, but I’m absolutely not telling you to do that.”
Nathan let out a laugh. “We can’t even bet on who the father is. Leo hogged all the knotting.”
Leo’s pride flooded the bond. “I won’t apologize for being jazzed our first kid would be mine. I mean, obviously I’d love a kid by any of you, but I’m definitely going to be a bit smug.”
“Yeah, I feel that.” I burrowed deeper into his arms. Maybe I had sidestepped getting pregnant in the heat flare, but if I hadn’t, I liked knowing they would all be happy about it.
I couldn’t get rid of all of my anxiety about the future, but it was hard to work up too much of a fuss with Leo in the bond.
“Are you planning on coming to the office with me today?” Alve asked. “It’s fine if you would prefer to rest.”
“Can she go somewhere without Leo?” Nathan asked.
“Probably not for long.” Jude tucked my hair behind my ear. “It’ll take the bond a while to settle. You might have to be an arena girl for a while.”
“I assumed Leo would be taking omega leave,” confessed Alve. “Is that not the case?”
“I can’t skip time at Night of Knights with Chico and his pack off work,” Leo explained. “I’m not sure how the shows will go if I can’t leave Madison’s side, but I can come to the office in the morning.”
Alve mused, his brow furrowed. “If there’s a place at the arena for us to work, I could temporarily relocate. We can arrange things so that if Madison wants to continue working while the bond settles, we can ensure she’s never away from Leo for long.”
“You can use the office,” Leo told me. “I’m pretty sure we have another desk in storage somewhere.”
“I’ll let you guys figure out the logistics.” I dragged Alve closer so I was completely sandwiched between him and Leo. “I don’t want to leave the omegas high and dry with unfinished suites.”
“Everyone give me your schedules for the week.” Nathan passed his phone to Jude, then over to Alve.
I got to watch Leo fill in his shifts, glancing over everyone’s intersecting hours.
When Nathan got the phone back, he looked it over.
“Okay, I’m going to put this all into a proper calendar and share it with everyone so no one is wondering where anyone is.
If we’re giving this whole family thing a proper go, we’d better get organized sooner rather than later.
There’s probably an app that would work better, but this’ll be fine in the meantime. ”
He didn’t know it, but I cherished that Nathan wanted to keep everyone in the loop.
Half the time, I’d find out Tyler was going on a business trip while he was packing for it.
A family calendar had been out of the question—he said it felt intrusive—so I’d often have to drop things last minute to pivot around schedule changes.
When the ping of the calendar invite hit my phone, it came with a sense of relief I couldn’t quite put into words.
“Maddie”—Nathan turned to me—“can you add anything we should be aware of? Even if it’s a tentative plan, like when you think you’ll be up to working on the OHI stuff, and whatnot.
Oh, everyone put in events—birthdays, family stuff, holidays.
We’ll probably have some crossover, but we can figure out how to accommodate everything even if that means having five Christmases. ”
I groaned playfully. “I think I might perish if I have to go to five family events in a row.”
Secretly, I loved the concept. I’d had nothing but a perfunctory once-a-year holiday at a restaurant with Tyler’s family for the last decade.
The idea of family gathering together, spending time for the sake of it, sharing homemade meals, and falling asleep with a house full of people was something I had never dared hope for.
Even a pack without all of their accompanying family was more than I’d ever had.
While I technically had a family growing up, it felt nothing like this, offered no safety, no real acceptance.
These men wanting me at all felt like a miracle.
I was grateful to have them now, but it would’ve been nice if fate had intervened a little earlier.
We slowly got ready for the day and I filled in a few things I could think of on the calendar.
While I sipped a smoothie on Leo’s lap, I took a look at the life awaiting me if this all didn’t fall apart.
Everything was color-coded, which made it much easier to tell what belonged to whom with the dozens of birthdays and anniversaries sprinkled throughout family members.
“Ava and Charlotte are both going to have their hands full soon,” I pointed out. “I’d love to help when the time comes. Is anyone up for some baby practice?”
“I’d been planning on an extended sleepover with Lucy when Ava goes into labor,” Nathan replied. “Assuming everyone else is cool with that, otherwise I can keep my apartment for that.”
“I’d love a Lucy sleepover.”
Nathan had been so cute with her the day we met, and I wasn’t going to turn up my nose at another opportunity to see him be that precious.
“Why do I feel like I should buy a house now?” Alve said with an indulgent smile. “Maybe we should start our own hotel or bed-and-breakfast.”
The pack certainly had enough family to fill the rooms.
“I wouldn’t say no to that.” Jude smiled, laying his hand on Alve’s shoulder.
I kissed Jude and Nathan before they departed for their respective jobs, then Alve, Leo, and I went over to the arena to see what we could set up.
Alve drove so I could sit squished next to Leo in the backseat.
If we were touching, my worries were quiet.
His mulberry and lavender scent was a constant in my nose, a grounding force that soothed my instincts.
The arena was relatively quiet when we arrived, only a couple of staff there to feed and water the horses. Jax was one of them.
He greeted us warmly. “Welcome back. Another lesson today?”
“Not today,” Leo replied. “We’re also going to have to hire more staff.”
Jax blinked. “What do you mean? Why?”
“It occurred to me we’re going to be completely fucked if anyone else has to take extended time off. Our numbers were just fine when Chico and the others were working, but we can’t expect everyone to not have life events while they’re off work.”
Jax tipped his head, examining Leo. “Did something specific bring this on?”
“I should be on omega leave right now, but we both know I can’t do that.”
“Omega leave?” Jax’s gaze swept over me, landing on the fresh bite that was partially visible above my shirt collar. “Oh, shit. Or, I guess, congrats. Did Jude freak out over that? He hasn’t texted me, but I feel like that would be something he’d freak out over.”
“He was right there when it happened,” I told Jax. “He didn’t seem particularly freaked out.”
“Cool. We love personal growth.” Jax beamed.
“Okay, I’ll get rolling on recruiting some new folks to fill the gaps.
You don’t worry about any of that. Should I cancel your lessons for the next few weeks?
I can take a few of your students, but between your people and the ones Dylan was teaching, I’m pushing capacity. ”
Leo glanced over to me. “Do you want to work while I teach, or should we cancel altogether?”
“I’m flexible. Why don’t we see how easy it’ll be for me to work from here before we make a decision?”
“Sure thing,” Jax said with a nod. “I’ll help you get set up.”
He and Leo made quick work of locating the desks in storage and rearranged the main office so Alve and I had some space. Leo went about some tasks, returning every few minutes to wrap his arms around me and inhale deeply. I wasn’t going to complain about that.
By the time other people started to arrive at work, Alve and I were fully set up and I was busy going through the previous designer’s notes. Word spread quickly about Leo’s new bond with me, a dozen different heads poking through the open door to congratulate me over the afternoon.
“What do you think?” I asked Alve.
“We can work from here for a while and figure out a solution when it comes time to pick up orders and do the actual physical design portion.”
It wasn’t perfect, but we could make it work, and everyone being willing to put in the effort was all I needed right now.