Chapter 14
Deejay
This is so wrong. I know it’s wrong. I also know I’m dreaming, so I release my inhibitions into the dream-ether and let the dream take me where it will.
I open my eyes, staring up at the vaulted ceiling of the master suite. There’s a cooling wet spot in my pajamas that makes me throw off the covers before my heart rate has the chance to calm down. I stalk to my bathroom and strip off my pants, staring at myself in the mirror. I have never had a wet dream in my life until today. I don’t even have the decency to be embarrassed about it because fuck, it was good.
Whatever kind of non-human he is, it is clear looking at him that he’s reached the age of majority for his species. In that way, it’s fine to be attracted to him; I don’t have to bear a guilty conscience over that aspect, and in a few short days the State of Texas will legally recognize that he’s reached adulthood. No guilt there either. He’s not technically related to me; I don’t even have legal guardianship over him. There isn’t anything illegal with my having a sex dream about Matt, but that doesn’t ease the dread making me queasy.
Dread or butterflies—it could go both ways. It’s because of that stupid accident. And maybe because despite having a house full of boys, I might be a teensy, tiny bit lonely and Matt ticks the list for me.
Physically, I have always been attracted to people stronger than me. I don’t like feeling like I might break my lovers, not that there have been many. I prefer my partners to be able to toss me around a bit. I’ve had two lovers since I reached sexual maturity. Davis when I was fourteen and he was seventeen. When I got stronger than him, I ended it because I couldn’t trust myself not to hurt him. And then there was a vampiress with a delicate bite and a streak of dominatrix. She enjoyed playing with me on occasion before I got Colt. I can’t believe it’s been ten non-fucking years.
I suppose it’s no wonder that the first person to come into my life with a body that could handle mine attracts my attention. Never mind the fact that he’s so good with kids, has protective instincts to the max, is super fucking smart, and is a genuinely thoughtful guy. He really ticks all the boxes.
I just need to remind myself that it’s not real or at least, it can’t turn into anything real; it’s just loneliness. If I really need a warm body, I can buy one for a reasonable price. Not that I would.
Shudder. Nope. I can’t even imagine paying for sex.
After that depressing mental pep-talk, I shower and dress. It’s still early enough the house is completely silent as I make my way to the coffee pot, which hasn’t yet started the auto-brew, so I hit the start button on it and pull out the planner I use to keep track of everything that happens on a day-to-day basis. I scan the happenings, which include parent teacher conferences today and a teacher development day/no school tomorrow. I have a tentative trip to the zoo tomorrow, so I start making a grocery list for a picnic lunch. I don’t know that everyone will want to go, but I know the younger ones will, and if Cary goes, so will Matt. Kendall will want to go, but Colt sometimes chooses to skip family outings. Robbie I don’t know about, but I hope so.
Thinking about Robbie reminds me to write on today’s schedule the need to get him an appointment to see our family doctor and to schedule a meeting with the therapist. Once I put that in the planner, I write out the rest of the day’s schedule to include a grocery trip, and a meal plan for the next week since I’ll be shopping anyway. The coffee maker finishes its brew cycle, so I grab a to-go cup and fill it with coffee and coconut flavored creamer, lidding it before taking that first, perfect sip.
I finish writing up the meal plan, check the refrigerator and pantry as I make the grocery list, then gather up the ingredients for breakfast. Since I got up early and I have the time, I make a breakfast cake with a variety of nuts, seeds, and dried fruits. While that bakes, I hear from the baby-monitor on my hip one of the twins start to rustle in his crib, so I head back upstairs. Alex sits up when I enter the nursery, so I grab him and take him over to the changing table. While I change his diaper, whispering playfully at him, Eren starts to wake up as well, so I put Alex on the floor when I finish and go through the same process with Eren. Once I have them both dressed and dry, I take them downstairs, setting them in their highchairs while I get their bottles ready.
Matt lumbers into the kitchen as I put the nipples onto the bottles. He takes over one of the bottles, shaking it up before grabbing Alex from his highchair and cradling him to feed him. I pick up Eren and do the same, smiling at the sight Matt presents.
Ticking all my fucking boxes.
I try and fail to smother the explosion of my manveries.
Yawning, Matt shifts Alex in his arms to free up a hand, holding the bottle with his chin. He grabs another to-go cup and pours himself a cup of black coffee, sipping it before putting the lid on. Coffee in hand, he knocks his head toward the breakfast nook, where I have a more comfortable set of chairs than the ones at the dinner table, inviting me to join him, which, of course, I do.
“Figured it out,”
he murmurs, his voice deep with sleepiness.
I look at him surprised. “Already?”
“I only got to the Ts, but I’m pretty sure I won’t find a better match. Obsidites can see auras without an aid or an extra expenditure of power.”
“Oh,”
I intone as all the information clicks into place. Obsidites are elementals made of rock and earth. They are rarely seen, though not a rare species. They prefer to live underground in places too hot for most creatures to survive. The Elder Council of the Obsidites has office space in the building that houses the Hub, but those are the only pure Obsidites regularly seen, and they aren’t all there at the same time unless something important comes up.
Knowing what he suspects makes me look at him with an eye for seeing the hybrid elements. Of course, they’re obvious now. Big, strong, muscled, smart, protective, compassionate; the wide set eyes and the sharp square jaw, even the color of his hair and eyes: black as the obsidian that his species takes their name from—all aspects common in his parent species. What is uncommon—unheard of—is an Obsidite breeding with a human. They are made of rock. It would take a careful Obsidite and an extremely stalwart human to make a baby. The human would have likely died just carrying the rock monster to term. Being able to create a hybrid and being able to bring the hybrid into the world are two sometimes mutually exclusive things when it comes to hybrids; in the case of an Obsidite and human pairing, almost impossible, which makes me suspect something more has happened with these two.
“Cary doesn’t carry the normal Obsidite traits. Does he take after his mother?”
Matt snorts a laugh. “That blond haired, blue-eyed angel came into existence telling both his parents to fuck off. His mom was a bitch that hung out at the gym and didn’t give a rat’s ass about what happened to him. There was a paternity test, so I know he’s my father’s kid, but no, he doesn’t really take after either parent.”
I hum thoughtfully for a moment before addressing the issue. “It’s highly unlikely that a pure Obsidite bred with a human. It’s just not physically feasible. It’s far more likely that Cary has taken on the traits of another type of non-human that an Obsidite did breed with. That hybrid likely passed on his or her traits through a human and that child chose another human and so on until you and Cary were born. For hybrids, they fall under the rule of their presenting genetics whenever possible. So, you would fall under Obsidite law, but Cary, not primarily presenting Obsidite traits would fall under the law of whatever species he does present. We will be able to figure it out when he matures and do a species typing for him; for now, he just falls under the non-human child protection laws. You on the other hand have already reached Obsidite age of majority. They consider their fourteen-year-olds adults, and then they reach the age of majority at sixteen. According to non-human laws, you’re an adult. The Obsidites have a permanent presence here. You’re mine, and live in my demesne, but I encourage you to find out about your species from the Elder Council. Obsidites are known as a morally incorruptible species, and they will definitely want to know you.”
Matt nods. I’m probably spouting information he already has, but he doesn’t seem irritated by the repetition. “Schedule the species typing. I don’t want to put it off unnecessarily.”
He lifts Alex up to his shoulder, setting the bottle on the table before patting the baby’s back.
I look down to find Eren finishing his bottle as well, impressed that Matt divided his focus to pay attention to my son while I was completely distracted by our conversation. I put Eren on my shoulder as well and pat him. “It’s on my to-do list for tonight. I am planning a trip to the zoo tomorrow since it’s a day off school. Do you want to come?”
“Yeah, I’ll come. Cary will be excited. We’ve never been to a zoo.”
He looks down at the table with a wistful smile.
The oven timer goes off, so I stand up, handing Eren to Matt. “Breakfast cake today. Jazz’s teacher will love me for it, but sometimes a guy needs cake for breakfast,”
I chuckle as I grab the oven mitts and pull the cake out; Jasper and sugar equals rowdy boy, but his teacher can handle him even if I am sort of sabotaging their morning with cake for breakfast.
I shove it into the freezer while I gather the sugar and lemon juice for icing, whisking them together. I add a small pinch of salt to help with the bitters, then when it's ready, I set it aside until the cake isn’t piping hot. I refill both of our coffee cups, setting Matt’s in front of him before taking Alex from him. “Maybe I should scramble some eggs too,”
I mutter mostly to myself.
“Do you want to go drink your coffee in the living room with the babies? Let them have some tummy-time. I can scramble eggs for everyone,”
he offers as he gets up.
I check the time on my watch and tickle Alex under the chin. “We have time for tummy-time, don’t we?”
I coo at him before smiling up at Matt. “The others won’t be up for another twenty minutes; we can let the twins play on the floor and drink our coffee.”
Matt follows me to the living room where we put down a couple of crawl mats for the twins, who are well on their way to crawling, maybe in the next month. They’re just getting the whole sitting thing and sometimes Eren will push up on his hands and knees. With the twins on the floor, Matt and I take up seats on the futon, maybe sitting closer than necessary. Not even I can explain why I’m not sitting in one of the armchairs instead of next to Matt; I just maybe want to be near him for slightly taboo reasons.
I’ll give myself this morning and then I’ll force myself to get over it.