Chapter 11
Monroe
Iwas nervous. I knew I had every right to be, and I definitely was.
Anxious as well. I’d been mated for almost two weeks now.
It had been an incredible two weeks. It truly had.
The first day was, of course, life-changing.
I had thought I would have to wait for some time for Oscar to agree to our claiming one another, but he hadn’t. I was, of course, grateful for that.
Shortly after that first amazing night together, Oscar woke me groaning.
He was burning up and covered in sweat—he was in heat.
His heats, I’d discovered, would rival those of a fae.
Intense didn’t really describe it well. It was five very long, tiring days and nights of intense need from him.
I did all I could to meet his every need: physical, sexual, mental, and emotional.
After his heat finally broke, we spent close to two days recovering.
Oscar was incredibly weak, and although I recovered much quicker than he did, I wasn’t going to leave my mate when he still needed me.
I never would. When he finally felt strong enough to leave our bed, we simply moved from the bedroom to the living room.
I often started a fire in the fireplace, and we would spend time cuddling on the couch.
I could and did spend hours holding Oscar while watching the flames dance on the logs or the snow falling outside.
But we’d claimed each other twelve days ago.
Oscar and I had spent as much time in our little bubble as we could.
Not only was I starting to feel guilty about being away from Maelie and Mason for so long, but I also knew they were quite a handful, and I’d basically up and left them with strangers.
I knew they would be well cared for, but I was really starting to miss them.
Oscar picked up on it, and he, too, had voiced concerns about leaving his sister with Alpha Forest for so long.
He wasn’t worried about his brother since Joseph hadn’t shown any signs of rebellion at all.
Which brought us to the present. We were going through a mental checklist of all of the things we felt needed to be covered before we picked up our siblings.
It was going to be an interesting day. We had to introduce the older ones to the younger ones as well as get everyone settled.
I wasn’t overly worried about Mason or Maelie.
They were young and were quite adaptable.
Oscar was anxious about Hailey though, and in turn, that made me nervous.
“We should just go, shouldn’t we?” Oscar asked suddenly.
He was so incredibly on edge. I closed the distance between us, but instead of just pulling him into my arms, I reached down and picked my mate up.
His legs immediately wrapped around my waist, and I held on while burying my face in his neck.
I gave it a few quick kisses before I sighed.
“It’ll be all right, you know. We’re a team, and I’d say that over the past several days, we have done an amazing job at working together on things.”
I felt Oscar relax, which was exactly what I wanted. I didn’t like that he was stressing about what was about to happen. Sure, I wasn’t exactly unconcerned, but it would do no good to stress to the point of making himself sick.
“We’ll work things out, Oscar. We have others to help, and it’ll be all right. I know I keep telling you that, but that’s because I truly believe it will be.”
I felt Oscar nod his head against my shoulder. He had his arms wrapped around my neck and shoulders, but his face was buried in my neck now.
“Hey, look at me, please?” Oscar moved, and when his eyes met mine, I pulled him in for a quick kiss. “It’ll be all right. Don’t worry so much. The stress isn’t good for anyone, but especially not you right now.”
That brought a smile to my mate’s face. It was incredibly fast, but I’d used a bit of magic yesterday morning, and, well, Oscar would make both of us daddies come April sometime.
We were excited, of course, but there was certainly some worry.
We were already busy. Whereas I honestly wasn’t overly worried about taking care of a newborn again, I knew Oscar didn’t have any experience with it.
I would be there for my mate as much as possible though.
Even if I happened to be at work, I would still be there for him.
“How about we go collect our siblings and bring them home? We’ll see about getting everyone settled and go from there. Sound good?”
Oscar nodded again, then dropped his legs. He gave me a quick hug before stepping back and looking up at me.
“I’m ready. I really hope your siblings like me. I know Joseph will love you, but Hailey…”
I stopped his train of thought with a finger on his lips.
“It’s all right. I’ll tell you now that with the way Mason and Maelie came up to you right away, they’re going to accept you immediately.
As for Hailey, I’m not worried about her liking me or not.
It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t have to because you are my mate—not her.
Sure, it would make life easier, but I’m not going to be too overly concerned about it. ”
Oscar nodded slowly. “You’re right, of course. I’ve spent what’s felt like forever trying to make her happy, and I just…I want to be greedy and worry about making myself happy for a change.”
“As you should. You’ve more than earned the privilege of being selfish in this case. Let me spoil you, let my siblings love you, and we’ll make a family together.”
Oscar sighed as he leaned his head against my chest. “That sounds amazing and wonderful, but I’m afraid that it’ll never happen.”
I raised his face to look at me with a finger under his chin. “Only if you don’t allow it. But it will happen. Trust me on that.”
Oscar nodded again.
“Good. Now, let’s go collect Mason and Maelie. We’ll have to figure out the older two later since they’re in school.”
“I texted Joseph last night and gave him the new address. He’s going to come up here with the others after school. He said he’d bring Hailey with him.”
“Did he say anything else?” Why hadn’t Oscar told me this?
“No. He said it was best if I talked to her in person because although she’s not as bad as she was, she’s still not her old self.”
I was trying not to be frustrated. I didn’t want to argue with my mate, especially over small things. “If you want me to talk to them, I’m willing. I know I’m not really a father figure to most, but I’ll be the best I can.”
Oscar tugged on my waist, pulling me toward the front door.
“I know you will. And I’ve seen your memories of you with Mason and Mae.
You are an amazing father figure, and you’re going to continue being one.
They’re young; they need us. My brother and sister though, they need good, strong, older brothers to guide them these last few years until they go off to college or wherever. ”
We were at the front door now. “I can agree with that. Are you ready? I thought I’d just poof us down to the alpha’s house.”
“Oh, that’s even better. You can poof us back here with their things, right?”
I nodded while raising an eyebrow at my mate. “You mean like I did for all of your things? Yes, I can magick them back here.”
Oscar groaned. “Sorry. I’m really nervous. I want this to work, you know?”
“Oscar, my sweet, adorable mate,” I said, pulling him in for a hug.
“It’ll work. If it wasn’t going to work, the fates wouldn’t have paired you with me.
I understand how much stress you’ve been under.
I’ve seen the memories, seen what you were going through.
That all stops here and now. It’ll be all right.
If there are issues, we have a community that will be helpful. ”
I’d had a couple of quick conversations with Alpha Forest with regards to Hailey.
We both had, actually. She’d spent a few days with Alpha Forest and his mate but then had been taken by the fates elsewhere.
She was back now though, and I wasn’t sure what happened, but it would be interesting to see how things were going to go.
“It’s just been stressful, you know. And now that we have each other, but it’s a lot all at once. Most couples have just them and then their baby, but we have our siblings.”
“It’ll be all right. I’m just appreciative that you’re willing to help with mine. You don’t have to, you know. They have spots in the daycare waiting for them.”
Oscar glared. He and I had discussed it several times in the past few days.
He would not be going back to work. Instead, he would focus on getting back into his art, and he would be jumping in with Maelie and Mason full-time while I was at work.
He knew they could be taken to the daycare if needed, but he wanted to truly become their other dad if at all possible.
I was certain that wasn’t going to be an issue at all.
“We are not having that discussion again. Not now. Let’s go get them and spend the day with them, trying to get at least the two younger ones settled before my brother and sister are here.”
“I am on board with that,” I told him. Since I already had my arms wrapped around him, I simply teleported us to the side door of Alpha Forest’s place. I knew it was secluded enough that we wouldn’t be seen from the street, and after Oscar got his bearings, he looked up at me in surprise.
“That’s really convenient.”
“Always,” I told him. I’d used magic more in the past two weeks than I had in the last several months.
But I had discovered that it truly was the easiest way to move things from off the mountain to it and to take care of my mate.
It was a known fact that fae used magic when dealing with heats.
I knew it could be done without, but I honestly wouldn’t have wanted to try.
I pulled Oscar closer and moved the final few steps to the door and knocked. It opened seconds later, and although I didn’t know who was standing there, Oscar apparently did.