Seven
Micah
We returned to my dads' place for dinner after spending the day visiting our friends. We'd gone to see Neel and Paxton first, since I was pretty close to Neel and they were the only one of the 'kids' we hadn't talked to since our return. There were a few other kids, but we weren't very close to them because of the age gap, so we'd figured we'd see them at Noel's party. After all, the get-together was to welcome us back and so we could see everyone.
"God, why am I so tired?" Cam groaned as we climbed the stairs to my room, and I chuckled as I glanced over at him.
"Maybe because you flew across the continent with me on your back and then haven't stopped moving around since? We need to have a lazy day."
Cam grinned. It was a term I'd coined when I realized Cam had a tendency of rushing around until he was running on fumes and then crashing hard . So instead, I'd started doing 'lazy days' where we stayed in our room all day and lounged. It was hard to get Cam to sit still for any amount of time, but I knew a few tricks.
"That sounds good. Maybe we can scar your dads now that we've scarred DD," he joked, and I rolled my eyes at him. The memory of Raiden blaring pop songs in his ears and singing at the top of his voice made me crack up, though, and I chuckled as I pushed him away.
"You're a menace."
"Yeah, but I'm your menace."
"That you are." I pulled him close at the top of the stairs so I could kiss him.
"Ugh, do we really have to be subjected to all this sappiness? When are you moving out?" Mateo demanded, and I pulled back to scowl at my brother.
"Shut up, Mateo." While Miles and Mateo were identical twins, their personalities were wildly different, and unless they were quiet or asleep, I could usually tell which one of them it was simply by the way they spoke. Or if they spoke at all.
Mateo stuck his tongue out at me, then glanced at Cam. "We're trying to see how far one of us can throw the other in their owl form. Wanna come and take a shot?"
I wasn't even offended he hadn't asked me, since I knew I threw like I'd never held a ball in my life. Like I'd told him before, Cam was a big brother to Mateo and Miles, and he'd taught them all he knew about causing mischief, which was a lot. If Dad didn't love him so much, he'd have set him on fire many times over the years.
Cam's eyes sparkled at the idea, and he glanced at me, giving me his big pleading eyes. How it still worked on me after all these years, I didn't know, but I found myself rolling my eyes and waving him off.
Grinning, he leaned forward and smacked a kiss on my lips before racing down the stairs after Miles. He did things like that, then asked me why he was so tired.
Shaking my head wryly, I walked back down the stairs in search of my dads. I hadn't had the chance to catch up with my dads on my own, and this was as good a time as any. Not that there was anything we wouldn't say in front of Cam. He was as much a part of this family as me, but he had a tendency of dominating any conversation he was a part of. While I didn't mind that at all—especially when I wasn't feeling particularly social and he carried the conversation so I wouldn't have to—I did want to talk to my dads, to see how they were doing.
"Hey, Micah! Dinner's almost ready," Papa said as he shot me a grin, his twin fangs peeking out.
My stomach rumbled happily as I hopped onto a barstool across the counter, watching with a soft smile as my dads moved around the kitchen in a dance they'd been doing for years. They were so in tune with each other, and I hoped Cam and I—and our other mates—would be just like them someday.
"How are you, kiddo?" Dad asked, walking around the counter to throw his big arm around my shoulders as he pulled me into his side. Raphael called my dad Cassybear, and I thought the name fit him perfectly. With his big, cuddly body, red beard, and his long-ish red hair, my dad was a bear. But he was also the sweetest, kindest man I knew, and he was a lot closer to a teddy bear than a grizzly. He also gave the best hugs in the world.
"I'm good. I'm really happy to be back home," I said with a grin, and Papa frowned at me from across the counter.
"You didn't enjoy your trip?" he asked, immediately on alert. While Dad was a teddy bear, Papa was more like a papa bear, extremely protective of his kids, and ready to throw hands—or rip into throats—at a moment's notice if he felt one of his kids had been harmed.
"No, no. I did. We had a lot of fun, and we made a ton of great memories. But I missed everyone." I gave him a smile so he'd know I meant it, and he relaxed, putting down the spatula he'd unconsciously picked up and wiping down the sauce that had dripped down his arm.
Dad rumbled a soft laugh, tousling my hair before returning to his mate's side and pulling him into a hug. Dad pressed a kiss into Papa's hair, his lips curved in a smile. "Calm down, Tay. He's okay."
"Yeah, yeah," Papa grumbled under his breath, then narrowed his eyes. "Where are your brothers? Are they with Cam?"
I gave him a sheepish smile and he groaned loudly, smacking his head against Dad's chest. "Those two are a hundred times worse when he's around, always trying to impress him."
"Shhh," Dad said, rubbing his arm. "April's watching them, but if you want, I can go make sure they don't cause too much trouble and bring them back in for dinner."
Papa pursed his lips, then shook his head and pulled out of Dad's arms. "Nuh-uh, they'll just drag you into their antics because you can't say no."
"That's not—"
"Remember the time you let them braid your hair and we had to cut it off because they used glue at the ends instead of rubber bands?"
Dad clamped his mouth shut, and took the spatula Papa handed to him as he untied his apron. "I'll go. You and Micah can set the table."
I chuckled under my breath, and Dad shot me a look, which just made me grin wider. God, I loved them so much.
Cam
"And go!" I shouted as I threw Mateo into the sky, his wings tucked in tight to reduce resistance as he sailed through the air. We'd decided to throw high instead of away since we didn't want to disturb the neighbors, and Mateo rose up up up in the air before he paused for a moment. Then, he started plummeting down, and April gave a shrill squawk, worried for her charge. Even though they were in their twenties now, April still watched over the twins like they were kids.
"Are you having fun tossing my sons into the sky, Cam?" Gus's voice right behind me made me jump, and I whirled around as Mateo spread his wings right before he crashed into the ground and sailed off into the trees.
Miles, realizing we were busted, took off after his brother, leaving me alone to face their vampire dad.
"Um, hey Gus."
Purple eyes narrowed at me. "Don't 'Hey, Gus' me, Cam. Was this your idea?"
My eyes widened, and I shook my head quickly. "It was the twins, I swear. You can ask Micah. They asked me if I'd throw them into the air so we could see how far they can go."
"And you agreed?" His tone implied I should've known, but that couldn't be right. Why in the world would he ever expect me to act my age?
"Yeah." I shrugged, then added, "Sorry."
Sighing, Gus shook his head, then turned to April. "Can you get them please?"
She gave an eager hoot and took off into the trees, appearing a few moments later with one barn owl clutched in each of her talons. The twins hung there, completely at ease since this wasn't the first time the eagle owl had carried them around like that. She was practically their mom, or maybe more like a governess from those British shows.
"Come on, dinner's ready." Gus turned his back on his sons and stalked back into the house.
I shot a wide-eyed look at Mateo and Miles before following after him.
Micah, Gus scares the shit out of me , I told my mate through our link when I reached him, and he chuckled under his breath.
But Papa's a sweetheart . Even without hearing his voice, I could sense the dryness of his comment, and it made me smile despite myself.
April flew the twins directly to their room so they could get dressed, and within a few minutes their footsteps thundered down the stairs.
"Hey, Dad. Hey, Papa," they greeted as if they hadn't just been outside causing trouble.
"Ooh, that smells good," Miles commented as he took a seat at the table, and after a hesitant look at Gus, I did the same.
Cassian started serving everyone while Gus quickly cleaned up the kitchen before joining us at the table. He didn't eat, but he always sat at the table so he could keep everyone company and chat with us.
All through dinner, I could tell Mateo and Miles were waiting to be reprimanded, but neither Cass nor Gus said anything, and after a while, they relaxed as they continued eating.
For a guy who didn't eat, Gus was a pretty great cook, and I ate until I felt stuffed.
"Thank you for the great meal, Gus," I said, and he smiled at me, no longer angry. The great thing about Gus was that he never held on to his negative feelings. He was actually pretty cheerful for a vampire. He was just a little overprotective of his sons.
"Where are you going?" Gus asked when Miles and Mateo deposited their dishes in the sink and started heading toward the stairs.
"Uh, to our room," Mateo answered hesitantly, sharing a wary look with his twin.
Shaking his head, Gus waved them back and pointed toward the kitchen. "You're on clean-up duty."
They were both smart enough to not argue, and quietly walked into the kitchen and started working on the dinner dishes.
Gus's eyes slid to me, one brow going up, and I shot to my feet. Joining them in the kitchen, I started on the counter, handing them the last of the dishes, packing up the leftovers, and then wiping down the counter.
I didn't mind doing my part, especially because I knew I should've stopped them instead of going along. I needed to do better, be better, if I wanted to be a good older brother. I was so glad I had Micah because I knew he'd stop me from truly fucking anything up.
After dinner, everyone sat in the living room for a while, just chatting and hanging out as a movie played in the background, and I enjoyed every moment. I didn't always need adventures or pranks to appreciate life. Sometimes, quiet moments like these could be just as fun too. I'd remember to teach that to my new siblings.
It was close to midnight when everyone finally started heading off to bed, and I grabbed Micah's hand, leading him to his room.
We undressed quietly, which didn't happen for me often, but I was a bit tired. Once we were in our underwear—we'd mostly slept naked while on our trip, but Mateo had a tendency of bursting into rooms without knocking, so we decided not to—we crawled into bed, and I immediately wrapped my arms and legs around Micah, pulling him close. Then, I traced the mark on his right shoulder, a four-pointed star shape with only two of the points—up and down—colored in, while the other two were mere shadows. It was how we'd discovered we had two more mates, and then DD had checked to make sure. The mark told everyone that Micah was mine, and I had a similar mark on my right hip marking me as his. Not all supes had a mate mark like this, but since Micah was a type of mage, he and I—and our other mates—got the mark because of it.
"Tomorrow, we're going to talk to Dad and DD about the house thing." As much as I loved being around family, I also wanted to be out of their earshot so I could have some proper fun with my mate. He was way too sexy and beautiful for me to be satisfied with some stolen moments.
"All right," Micah said, a smile in his voice. Sighing happily, I closed my eyes, pressed my face against his chest, and breathed in deep, letting his familiar scent seep through me as sleep dragged me under.