Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
Corbin felt like shit.
He was trying to make oatmeal for breakfast, but the smell of it was making him a little bit queasy.
Out of the three of them, the triplets, he was the one who was a little picky about his food, because generally he liked to eat plants.
But he had thrown some butter in the oatmeal in the crockpot, so Evander would have a little bit of fat and dairy.
But now it just didn’t smell good. In fact, it kinda smelled like crap. His nose wrinkled up and his stomach tried to rebel a little bit. That was no fun. Maybe he would just make himself some plain rice.
That sounded pretty good.
He started some rice, then fixed Evander’s bowl to take to the bedroom. He left it beside the bed. “Here’s your breakfast; I’m going to get my rice.”
He had to get away from that smell, or he was going to lose it.
Just blorp.
He made himself a glass of juice. The orange scent was good, strong—absolutely what he wanted right now.
Maybe he would just eat in here and Evander could understand—or not.
Goddess, he was being bitchy. He didn’t get what was going on with him.
Hopefully, it was simply stress. He had been going through a lot of stuff, and this thing with mother was an irritation, especially given he really didn’t want to think about her all that much.
Now that she wasn’t talking to him, somehow he had to think about her all the time.
He had so many questions. Honestly, he wanted to meet Evander’s people. He wanted to know if they were all as cool as Evander, because if they were even a fraction so, he thought they would have a blast together.
He knew Evander had living parents, and a sister who was some kind of a priestess. He supposed he was meant to be worried about meeting her, but he wasn’t.
In fact, he had a million questions for her. His mother had never really let them talk to the higher-ups in the various nature religions. So he wanted to know everything. Then he could tell Cullen and Cosmo all the tall tales.
The rice smelled okay, which was good. Thank the goddess Ev wasn’t a coffee drinker, because coffee sounded awful.
He did heat up water, though, in the kettle for tea. He had a lovely herbal tea that smelled vaguely of strawberries, and it suited him to the bone.
By the time his breakfast was ready, Evander came out, holding his oatmeal. “Is everything alright, lethean?”
“Fine. I just didn’t like the way that the butter smelled, so I decided I wanted rice instead. Less slimy. I’m making tea. Do you want some?”
“No. I will get myself a juice. Thank you.” Evander stole a couple of glances at him like he was crazy, which kind of made him frown.
“Stop it. I’m fine. I’m just… I didn’t want oatmeal this morning.”
Maybe he’d never want oatmeal again. Maybe he hated oatmeal.
He didn’t hate oatmeal. He just didn’t want it right now.
“Damn it!”
Evander set everything down and came to wrap both arms around him. “What’s wrong, lethean? You seem very out of sorts.”
“Do I? I feel… I don’t feel very well, if I’m honest.” He felt completely off-center and off-balance. “I feel a little queasy.”
Evander came up to him and sniffed and put one hand on his belly, the touch warm and deep, and it settled him immediately. “Ah, I understand now.”
“Do you?” he grumbled. “Well, you want to explain it to me?” He didn’t like feeling out of the loop.
“Of course, lethean. I think that you are with child. There’s an energy here. New energy. Fresh energy.”
Corbin frowned deeply and shook his head.
No.
No way.
He was the person who grew things. He was supposed to know stuff before anybody else. He would know if something was growing inside of him.
He would know it, wouldn’t he?
“Do you think so?”
“I do, and I think you haven’t noticed it because… Perhaps it’s because you’re fighting with your mother.”
“What?” Corbin shook his head. “No way. I make it a point never to have to deal with my mother.”
“I’m aware, my love, but at the same time, you get much of your growing energy from her, and it’s not good for you two to be out of sorts.
Why don’t you invite her to some sort of a high tea or a luncheon here at the house, and she and I will get to know one another.
” Evander kissed the back of his neck, making him shiver.
He scowled at Evander. “She hit me. Did you forget that part? The one where she hit me and didn’t apologize?”
He hadn’t forgotten it yet. In fact, it was making him a little grumpy. He didn’t want to have to be the one to extend the olive branch.
Of course maybe Evander didn’t want to get stuck in the house forever. Maybe he wanted to be able to get out.
“We’ll just step outside, go see her, and tell her she can forgive me even though I didn’t do anything wrong. She could get over her fucking self.”
He was a little grumpy, wasn’t he?
“Not at all.” Evander’s horns grew out on the top of his head. His face hardened into lines that told Corbin nothing was forgotten. “But I can tell it’s making you worried, Corbin. So we must give her a chance to apologize. Thank you.”
“No, I don’t want to give her a chance to come here and apologize. She has to send me a message or she has to try to apologize from her side.” He wasn’t just being stubborn; he was establishing boundaries because he had to. If he was going to have babies with Evander, she had to suck it up.
He blinked up at Evander. “We’re going to have a baby. A baby that’s going to be three-quarters fae.”
Evander nodded to him, his expression unworried, unbothered. “Our babies will be amazing, strong and sure. And they’ll be able to grow anything.”
Evander reached for him, and for a second, he couldn’t figure out whether to pull back or push in. He just didn’t know what to do. His universe was changing again.
But the universe did, didn’t it?
It changed all the time. Change was the only constant.
So he stepped in and took a kiss and held on tight.
“I love you,” he whispered. “I don’t know if I’m ready to have a baby.”
“Fortunately, you have many months to decide if you are.”
He opened his mouth to argue, but Evander had a point. He did have time to figure this out with his mate. “Okay, that’s fair.”
He was going to have to tell his brothers soon.
Evander smiled at him and bent to take another kiss as horns were seating a little bit. “I love you too. Perhaps I don’t say that enough. You have become my whole world, Corbin, and now there’s going to be a baby to prove our love to the world. I couldn’t ask for more than that.”
Evander’s sweet sentiment went a long way to relaxing his shoulders down from around his ears. “I’m not afraid of being pregnant. I’m just a little afraid of everything else.”
“Are you frightened that the vampires will come back here? I know Cullen says that they have come many times to this house.” Evander stroked his belly as if soothing both of them.
“The idea does scare me. That’s why there are roses out front everywhere.
I’m propagating them out there, so it would be hard to get in.
” He knew all sorts of things were drawn to this house because it was a portal.
It was a magical place, and then there were the three of them: him, Cullen, and Cosmo.
They were not like any other creatures in any of the lands that their people came from.
“I understand. They are terrifying. So are many of the other things that would like to find their way through the portal.” Evander chuckled lightly. “You and I, we’re warriors, both of us, and we need to raise our children to be just as strong and fierce.”
“We do. Do you mind if I call my brothers down for supper tonight? We could tell them together.” Maybe that would make it seem less overwhelming.
Evander was wonderful, incredibly supportive, and happy to help him in any way, but he was used to immediately sharing things with his brothers, always, and if they didn’t know, it felt strange.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea. We’ll make food and we’ll talk to them about it. Ask your brothers, who have both been pregnant, what to do about your upset stomach.” Gorgeous eyes glowed for him, happiness in every line of Evander’s face and body.
“Cool.” He closed his eyes, searching for his brothers with his mind. Cosmo? Cullen? Do you guys want to come down for dinner tonight? Evander and I need to talk to you. He’s willing to cook.
With or without the spouses and the kids? Cosmo asked.
Oh, with, definitely. We’ll make something everybody will like.
I’m in. Cullen was laughing about something that his kids were doing that came through in his mental voice. The bubbles that popped up around Evander’s head made him laugh because they were clearly part of Cullen’s happiness, even from a distance.
And we’ll see you tonight about six.
You got it, bro. Cullen disengaged from the mental call, and Cosmo chuckled.
He has his hands full. We’ll see you tonight.
You will.
Soon it would be him who had his hands full, and that was exciting, fascinating, even. He wanted to be a father with Evander, to see what their baby looked like, what he or she could do. He wanted to love them both like he did his plants. To grow his child with such care.
Hopefully, he could do it.
Surely he could, right?
Evander held him tighter, and he fought the urge to cry.
“Shhh. All is well, lethean. You’re just full of new hormones. I love you so.”
He took a deep breath. “Hormones and surprise. What if—”
“Not yet. No what-ifs right now. This time is for joy.”
“I’m all over experiencing those emotions.” He glanced up at his mate. “You give me immense joy.”
“It’s my entire job.” Evander waggled his eyebrows. “Being an immense joy.”
He pinched Evander just the slightest bit—not too hard, just enough to make one nipple tight.
“See? You enjoyed that far too much.” Evander winked, his eyes heating.
Because he simply had to. Evander was simply— It was so hard to be in a bad mood around him, so Corbin pinched again, this time letting his fingers linger, maybe doing a little tweak, not enough to hurt, but enough to arouse.
“Mmmm.” That dark, deep, throaty sound was incredibly sexual. “Careful, love. I might not be able to hold back if you keep that up.”
“It wouldn’t be a disaster. We have until dinnertime before we have to be public…”
And they had plenty of time.
Plenty of time to make each other very happy.
To give each other immense joy.
“Well, when you put it that way…” Evander reeled him right in and took his mouth by storm.
He opened up, and his world dissolved around him.