Chapter 38
Clover
“We can pay someone to do this,” Parker offered, though his tone was probably closer to begging than his pride would’ve liked.
“Pay?” Dad looked at him like he’d sprouted a second head, and I couldn’t help but giggle. “Why on earth would we pay someone to do something we’re perfectly able to do ourselves?”
That was a question Parker looked incapable of answering.
He probably paid people for as many tasks as possible.
I could see points on both sides. Being self-sufficient and having practical skills was important, but on the same hand, people like Parker being helpless with those things were how people like my dads made their living.
“I don’t know how to do this,” Parker insisted.
“You’ll learn.” Dad stared him down. Parker wasn’t going to win this particular battle of wills. “Are you too afraid to get your hands dirty? You want your pregnant omega building furniture because you’re being fussy? Come on over here, peanut. Show him how it’s done.”
I unsuccessfully tried to hide my smile. “Coming, Daddy.”
Parker stopped me with a gentle hand on my shoulder and a frown on his face. “No. I’ll do it…”
“The cavalry has arrived!” Avery bounded into the room. Hunter, Logan, and my other dads followed in at a more reasonable pace.
My dads had taken one look at the nursery Parker had commissioned and decided to fix it. With a time limit on Baby’s arrival, my dads had demanded we start immediately. After looking over what Parker and I ordered, they made a plan to bring the space up to snuff and picked up their own supplies.
My pack settled Pappa on a chair next to me, and Poppy got Hunter and Logan set up to remove the wallpaper.
I had learned plenty of skills by my dads’ sides growing up.
Every time I wanted my room repainted or a new bookshelf, they involved me in the whole process.
I might be a princess, but dammit, I was a princess who could take care of herself.
While Parker faced down his personal nightmare, I sorted the screws and wood plugs so Pappa could put together the drawers from the flat-pack furniture. He was still recovering, but he was also stubborn, and the tiny drawers were easy enough to manage while sitting.
Avery was our gopher for the day. If something was out of reach, he grabbed it. If there was trash to be disposed of, he handled it. If we were missing any supplies, he ran out to get them. He seemed happy as a clam to do all of it and get verbal head pats from my dads for his efforts.
I wasn’t entirely certain how I felt about the men who had given me the sweetest childhood being in the same room as the men who promised me an equally sweet future.
That was probably because I was still working on believing that future was possible.
Some of them made it easy to believe, but others…
Parker cursed, his face as red as his hair. Dad had him sanding dowels, one of my least favorite tasks, especially when they had bulbous curves so you couldn’t get by with slacking.
Pappa grabbed Avery’s arm as he passed by us. “How did you all meet and form a pack? You seem so…different from each other.”
I squawked as Avery lifted me and took over my seat with me on his lap, apparently ready for story time.
“Logan and I grew up across the street from each other in an absolute shit neighborhood when we were kids. He was the resident protector. Cleaned quite a few clocks when bullies were fucking with the younger kids, and I had a serious case of hero worship. We were really good friends until my family won the lottery.”
“Why would that stop you?” I asked.
“My parents had personality transplants overnight once that money hit their account. I still considered Logan and I friends over the years we were apart, but it was a lot harder to hang out when neither of us could drive and my parents didn’t want me going back there.”
“And the others?” Pappa prompted.
“I met Parker at our fancy-pants private high school. If you think Parker is pretentious, you should’ve met our classmates,” Avery said with a laugh.
“Too much money makes people lose touch, but I like to think Logan and I keep Parker from floating too far away. He and I became friends and went to college together too. Logan and Hunter became friends at their high school, and when Hunter got his record deal and first big paycheck, he kept Logan on as his bodyguard. It wasn’t fully that role, since Logan wasn’t formally trained or anything, but the ex-military guys aren’t cheap, and it wasn’t until later that Hunter was really rolling in the dough.
We all reunited after Hunter started winding down his career, deciding he would much rather be on the producing side of things versus on the stage.
We came from different directions, but I think we all found where we were supposed to be. ”
Pappa didn’t look particularly sentimental from the outside, but he was, and I could tell he was impressed. He’d been looking for stable connections within my pack, an assurance that they would stay together to support me, and he’d found it.
“What do you do for work?” Pappa asked eventually.
Avery adjusted me on his lap, his hand curling on my waist. “Okay, don’t take this in a bad way, but I’m a landlord.
The city doesn’t provide enough subsidized housing, so I try to make up for some of the shortfall.
Omegas get reduced rent, and ones with kids or relatives they have to look after get an even bigger discount, depending on how many people are relying on them. ”
“That’s so sweet,” I said, snuggling in. “I didn’t know that.”
“It’s not perfect, but I think it helps. Hunter runs a record label, Parker runs a medical airline, and Logan keeps us from all falling apart.”
That finally got a smile out of Pappa. “That’s what Pete does in our house.”
“Avery,” Logan barked, “get off your ass and quit hogging our girl.”
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Avery replaced me on the chair and kissed my cheek before returning to his duties.
“I like that one,” Pappa whispered to me.
“Me too.”
“That one…”—Pappa pointed to Parker, whose fingertips had achieved the same level of red as his face and hair—“…I don’t know about.”
“He’s trying,” I replied quietly. “Not sure it’s enough, but I promised them a month, so I’m going to be open-minded.”
“You’re not helping,” Parker growled at Dad. “Why am I doing all the work when you wanted to do it this way?”
“I’m teaching you how. Did your teacher in school sit next to you and do your math problems for you?”
Parker growled again and set the dowel he was working on aside. “We could buy a cradle. This hurts.”
“Buy it, then. Take no pride in your work and throw your dollars at everything, including your child. Show us all what kind of man you are.”
I was pretty sure Parker didn’t expect Dad to get to his feet and leave him there on the floor while we all stared at him. Parker gaped, but no actual words came out until he got to his feet himself. “There’s nothing wrong with buying things. I need to leave.”
I sighed and stood as well. “Go, then.”
He hesitated, his pride obviously getting in the way of his storming off, but he only managed a few seconds more.
I could have been mistaken, but I swore I saw regret on his face.
I gave him a few minutes to find a hiding place before I went in search of Dad and found him in the backyard, perched on a pool lounge chair.
“I don’t understand him, peanut. Isn’t he excited to be able to make something for his baby? Time is love. Babies deserve to sleep surrounded by that.”
I slipped my hand into his and leaned against his arm.
“Parker isn’t like you. I don’t think he’s struggled financially a day in his life.
His parents didn’t do things with him the way you did with me.
He missed out on a lot, and he doesn’t understand because he’s never known.
When do you think was the last time someone in his family hand made a cradle or knit a baby blanket?
Not every family loves the way ours does. ”
“You want me to give him a chance?”
I shrugged. “That’s not for me to decide. I would never expect you to do something if Parker isn’t willing to do the same.”
“He doesn’t deserve you.”
“Do you think anyone does?”
“No,” Dad said with a smile. “Those other boys are making me optimistic that could change, though.”
I sat with him until Poppy and Pappa decided it was time for a lunch break.
Parker didn’t join us. He skipped the afternoon work session and dinner too. If he was trying to make a terrible impression on my dads, he was certainly succeeding. All the goodwill he’d garnered with his “surprise” visit had melted away.
Too restless to sleep after we stopped work for the day, I stayed up watching TV in one of the living rooms, Logan, Avery, and Hunter slowly dropping off around me. I got to my feet silently, determined not to let Parker off the hook.
I crept up the stairs, but before I could turn toward his bedroom, I noticed a dim light coming from beneath the nursery door. Peeking in as quietly as I could, I found Parker sitting on the floor with the dowels from earlier, growling softly.
“Everything okay?” I asked gently.
Parker jolted, looking up from his work. “You scared me.”
I slipped inside the room, padding over to him and sinking to my knees. “What are you doing?”
He sighed, offering up the sanded wood for my inspection, his cheeks visibly flushed even in the low light. Each dowel was smooth and perfect. “I don’t know what the next step is.”
“I thought you wanted to buy something?”
“I—I thought so too, but I’ve been thinking about it all day because I didn’t understand what your father wanted. I don’t like not understanding.”
“So I’ve noticed.” I offered him a gentle smile, giving him a chance to turn things around. “Did you figure it out?”
“Maybe. It’s about effort, right? I got so used to money being the way my family showed love that I didn’t consider alternatives.
My birthday cakes were from award-winning bakeries, not made by my mom.
I didn’t go hiking or fishing or play catch with my dads.
I haven’t had a handmade gift in my entire life, but I had a sports car at sixteen, free use of a yacht at eighteen, trips on every school break. ”
“Do you wish it had been different?” I tipped my head, examining him, and when he reached to pull me closer, I let him. His musk rose scent was gentle in the late hours, his touch warm on my waist.
“I always wanted more of their time growing up. Is that close enough to the same?”
“Close as we can get, I suppose,” I agreed and laid my head on his shoulder.
“My own nursery was done by an interior designer, same for Magnolia’s.
I should’ve let you handle it from the start, but I thought I was helping.
I still don’t think there’s anything wrong with buying things, but I can see how it could be considered thoughtless, even when there is thought behind it.
” Parker brushed his nose against my temple.
“I’m sorry. I’ll apologize to your family in the morning as well. ”
“Thank you,” I said, turning to kiss his cheek.
“Do you know how to finish this thing?”
I smiled, picking up one of the dowels. “Indeed, I do.”
“Will you show me? Can we finish it tonight, so I don’t look like a failure in the morning?”
“You’re never a failure as long as you’re trying, but yes, I can show you.”
He melted with relief and drew me between his spread knees so I could show him how all the pieces went together, then let him try himself. I liked him surrendering to my expertise, and he was a willing, if not particularly adept, student.
“You did good,” I praised, rewarding him with another kiss on his cheek, and he puffed up like a peacock over the completed frame of the cradle.
“Never knew three words could hit me like a shot of whiskey,” Parker said with a shaky laugh. “Can you forgive me?”
“I don’t want to hold a grudge against one of the fathers of my child. I think we can work past it, but I’m going to need a few more days of this introspective Parker before I’m ready to let it go.”
He got to his feet and pulled me with him. “Fair enough. You’ve stayed up too late helping me with this, and you need to rest.”
I laid my palm on his chest, feeling the beat of his heart. “Good night.”
He looked like he wanted to say a thousand different things to me, but instead, he settled on, “Good night.”
He was too complicated and I was too tired to give him any more thought when my bed was calling. I gave him a little wave before departing, heading to my nest and Logan’s waiting arms.