Chapter Forty-One
Bowie
“No, Daddy, you need to sit at the table,” he groaned in frustration. He pointed to the seat while he used the other hand to clutch at the laptop bag he’d gone to get from the bedroom.
It was difficult to contain all his feelings.
The main one was excitement, though the nerves were coming in a close second when time was ticking and Kari was giving him that look.
The one that said his patience might be wearing a little thin at Bowie acting nothing like himself.
He knew it, but he’d never done anything like this before, and it was nerve-wracking keeping secrets.
“Babycakes—”
“Please, Daddy?” Bowie had learned that a begging voice could pretty much get him anything he wanted. Not that he used it—often.
Kari shook his head and said no more, returning to the table behind the couch.
Bowie had worked it all out in his head once Hollis had confirmed the date and time.
Using the laptop on the table sat in front of the couch would give a perfect view of the table if he used the flip mode that turned it into more like an iPad on a stand.
It had taken an hour to play with different positions during a late meeting Kari had attended earlier in the week, which hadn’t required Bowie’s presence.
Bowie hadn’t considered Silas coming into the office and telling Kari about tonight.
Not that Silas, thankfully, had gone into the details.
They weren’t going out, but that had still given Bowie a moment of worry about how to explain without explaining.
He couldn’t lie, so he’d used the only other thing that made sure he didn’t have to spoil what he planned.
A surprise. It worked, but then they’d gotten delayed finishing up, meaning Bowie was rushing and now in fear of spilling the surprise because he wasn’t good at keeping anything from Kari.
Lounging in a seat, glass in hand, Kari arched his brows. “Is this okay?”
He didn’t answer right away. Taking the laptop out of the bag, which he shoved under the table, he kneeled in front of the table to set up the laptop the way he wanted it. He glanced over his shoulder. He would need to sit on the floor, that way his head didn’t obstruct the view of Kari.
“That’s great Daddy, now don’t move.”
“If we’re watching a movie on your laptop, I won’t see it from here if you sit like that.”
Bowie giggled to himself. “We aren’t watching a movie.”
Chimes from the laptop got his nerves dancing so badly his hand shook as he pressed the green circle on the screen to accept the call. For a second, there was silence, then four faces popped onto the screen, all talking at once.
“Isn’t this exciting,” Frey announced, holding his glass up.
“Hey, where’s Emmy?” Monty demanded, squinting at them from a cozy looking room.
“Are Kendrick and Rue there with you?” Lennon asked excitedly.
Isley swung his glass up to the screen. “Has everyone got a drink?”
Hollis, Ziggy and Wilder appeared next. The screen split as the new faces peered out at him.
Bowie didn’t like looking at himself. He also caught Kari’s expression in the background and wasn’t sure what emotion he was displaying, so he pressed the button to hide their faces.
And his friends had yet to notice there was someone else in the room with him.
Was this a bad idea?
Too late now.
“I’ve got mine,” Bowie said when there was a break in the chatter, holding up his glass for everyone to see, then taking a big sip to help with the jumping jacks his stomach was doing.
As if Frey had picked up his thought, he asked, “What… who is behind you?” Frey came so close to his screen, his face filled the small square.
“Behind who?” Wilder questioned, looking over his shoulder, then back at them frowning.
“Is Taylin home with you, Hollis?” Ziggy took a sip from a glass holding pink liquid.
Hollis shook his head. “He’s out with Silas and his other brothers. They’ve gone for beer and burgers at Ren’s.”
“Not all the brothers.” Frey jabbed at the screen. “Is that Kari I see sitting behind you, Bowie?” His voice was more of a screech, and it brought silence from the others.
“Hi,” Kari replied, before Bowie got a chance to answer. He sounded so causal, Bowie dared a look over his shoulder. Kari had his glass up as if toasting everyone, the gleam in his eye—one Bowie hoped the others couldn’t see—causing him to clench his thighs to stem the reaction.
“Bowie, are you and Kari dating?” Frey was the first to recover.
He looked at his friends, his chosen family, and let out a shuddery breath.
“Kari is my mate.” If he’d wanted to cause a stir, this was most definitely the way to do it.
“Oh my god!” Frey flipped out. “I knew something was going on.”
“Why, you sly dog,” laughed Ziggy.
Monty pointed at Bowie. “Now who’s stealing my thunder.”
He was grinning, so Bowie had no time to worry.
“This explains everything,” Hollis announced and drained the glass he held. “I think I need another cocktail.”
While he disappeared from the screen, Wilder bounced up and down. “Mated, mated? I didn’t notice any mark on your neck. When did it happen?”
Kari made a choking noise before smothering his laughter. “Let’s see how you explain this.”
“Daddy,” he grumbled with embarrassment, forgetting himself.
Oh…
It took all his courage not to look away from the three startled gazes. Ziggy, Lennon and Isley, already aware of his secret, didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow.
“What did you say?” Wilder asked, eyes narrowing.
“There’s nothing wrong with Bowie having a Daddy, my brother is one,” Lennon jumped in and Bowie sniffed back the tears at the show of support.
“I never said there was,” Wilder responded vehemently. “Ziggy is dominant with Silas. So what difference is this? It’s just a different kink, right, Kari?”
Bowie hadn’t realized Kari had moved until a hand touched his shoulder. “Exactly.” He sat on the couch and gently ran a reassuring hand up and down his arm. “If you have any questions, then I’ll be happy to answer them.”
“Nooo, Daddy, they’ll have all the questions! And then Wilder will start talking about not getting any peen, and then where will we be?” Bowie groaned, knowing that was exactly what was going to happen.
“Please, no talk of peen,” Hollis, who had returned with a full glass, begged.
“I have two!” Monty declared, and Bowie although understood what Monty was doing, he didn’t need him to deflect this conversation.
His family—not the biological one, no, the one sat in their own homes giggling and not judging him for lacking in some way—loved him without restriction.
The same as Kari. He gave that a moment to sink in, because although he’d always known deep down, his fear had gotten a little in his way and obscured his view.
Then he gave a cheeky smirk at the screen. “That maybe so, but my Daddy’s peen has—”
Kari placed a hand over his mouth, stopping him from saying more. The others burst out laughing, even Hollis when Kari muttered, “And that’s enough talk about my peen.”
Bowie darted back, freeing his mouth to announce boldly, “Teeth marks on it!”
“Oh, gods, I’ve created a monster,” Kari groaned, adding to the hilarity.
“Let’s see,” Wilder demanded unashamedly.
Isley snorted. “Yeah, come on Kari.”
The man in question stuttered, “N-Not on y-your life.”
Hollis, who had drained his second glass and sounded a little tipsy with the way he was giggling uncontrollably, suggested, “Maybe we need a brother peen competition?”
Stunned silence followed the suggestion, and then everyone was falling about laughing.
“Kendrick isn’t one of the brothers, but can we add him to cause his is a monster peen.”
“Is it always like this?” Kari asked in alarm.
“No, sometimes we’re worse,” Wilder replied as he righted himself, “much worse.”
Bowie rested his head on Kari’s knee and grinned up at him. “Isn’t this great?”
“We’ll have no sappy stuff,” Lennon giggled. “Tonight is for cutting loose of our alphas.”
Bowie blinked and thought it was an odd choice of words when Lennon didn’t have an alpha. His lips parted to ask what Lennon meant, but Frey changed the topic back to Bowie’s mating. “Have you told Lane and Derick?”
“No, but we will be sharing with the rest of our family tomorrow. Isn’t that right Babycakes?” questioned Kari.
Turning, Bowie puckered up his lips, nodding. The kiss was swift and tasted sweet, and before his lips could part to deepen it, Frey called out, “Enough of that! Let's get back to Monty. Have you done the double peen?”
“Fuck, that’s my brother you’re talking about.”
Lips morphing into a big grin, Bowie went back to resting his head on Kari’s knee, not letting him escape.
“It’s always best to drink on occasions like this,” supplied Hollis. “It’s the only way to survive.”
“There isn’t enough liquor in the apartment for this!” Kari’s response brought more laughter and did nothing to stop the conversation, though he stayed right where he was.
Cast aside by two families and accepted by two. Balance. Bowie could see it now; the universe always knew how to find it. Love—it made all the difference to the world.