Chapter 19
Maxwell
“Ican’t believe he’s almost a week old already,” Papochka said as he gushed over Merlin before smiling at my One. “You look amazing, Camden. The ability to bounce back that fast is a wonderful thing, is it not?”
Camden snorted. “It really is. Especially since our little man was in such a weird position.”
I handed Camden his cup of tea I’d brought him. “Thank you, sweetie. You didn’t have to do that.”
Camden looked at Papochka. “It helps when you have a mate to do such things for you.” Papochka stared at Camden a moment before he nodded in agreement. “I appreciate all of the nice things he does for me. He doesn’t have to do them, and I never ask. He just does,” Camden said.
“Winston is the same. I ask for nothing; he just does things to make my life easier, more fulfilling.”
I shared a smile with my One. I did try to do everything I could for him and it was good to know that he recognized that. I wanted him to have everything he needed. I desired for him to want for nothing and to be completely and totally spoiled. Hopefully, I was fulfilling those wishes.
“We wished to discuss something with you, Maxwell,” Father said. “And you as well, Camden, as you are part of this family now.”
I sat beside Camden after he moved his feet. “Is something wrong?” I asked. “I would guess it’s because you’re going to be heading home to Ibiza?”
“No, actually,” Papochka said. He moved Merlin from the crook of his arm up onto his shoulder.
“No?” I looked from Papochka to Father.
Father cleared his throat. “Master Edison has hooked me to join his committee. I do not wish to intrude on you or your young family, but we would very much like to have the opportunity to spend time with the three of you at least once a month. We know you’re newly mated, and we would never expect or demand your time. ”
I looked at Camden in disbelief. “He’s not serious, right?” Camden asked.
I shrugged. “I struggle at times when it comes to figuring out if he’s being serious or not.” I looked back at Father. “Really? You’re asking to spend time with us in that way?” I moved my gaze from Father to Papochka. “Do either of you feel as if I don’t wish to be around either of you?”
“You didn’t want to move to Ibiza with us,” Papochka said. “We thought that perhaps you were ready to have your own life.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. It wasn’t something I did often, but it was warranted in this instance. “I have never said or implied that I didn’t wish to be around either of you. I love having you near.”
“Me too,” Camden said. He set his tea on the end table and sat up more. “My parents are toxic, and I would love nothing more than for Merlin to have grandparents around who would love him.”
Papochka looked down at the baby, who was low on his shoulder. “How could anyone not love such a sweetheart?”
Camden groaned. “They love,” he said. “Just in their own way that isn’t actually love.
It’s control and manipulation. My parents will never meet any of our children.
My father enables my mother because he doesn’t want to deal with her.
My mother can’t separate herself from her children.
Here entire existence is being a parent.
Nothing more. She’s not a woman or a mate.
Just a parent. I’m surprised that any of us turned out normal, but I think all of us are. ”
I looked back at Father. “Do you really feel as if I would not wish for the two of you to be here?”
“I remember what it is like to be newly mated. Yes, it was three and a half centuries ago, but I still remember. We don’t wish to overstep and be the parents that are always interrupting things.”
Camden snorted. “Yeah, so that’s not going to happen unless you show up first thing in the morning,” he told them. I looked at Camden in shock. “What? Your papochka is holding our son. They know we have sex, Maxwell. And if your father is anything like you, they have lots of sex as well.”
I turned back to my fathers and blinked. Papochka was trying his best to hide his laughter, while Father was biting his lower lip to most likely do the same.
“So now you know that Camden and I tend to be morning people.”
Papochka chuckled. “Morning is a good time. It has certain morning advantages since you are already going to shower to start the day.”
“Right?” Camden said.
I stared at Father. Was this really happening? Were our Ones talking about morning and morning…sex? Wood? I was a doctor, and I absolutely did not have any issues with discussing sex. I simply did not wish to talk about it with my fathers.
“Anyway,” Father said. “Getting back to the original subject. I have accepted a position with the council to join Master Edison’s committee. I will be starting on the first of July.”
“That’s wonderful news,” I told them. “I’m happy that the two of you will be in the area. Not that the distance was an issue, because it’s not for us. But the time difference could make things difficult.”
“And I won’t intrude on you or the baby,” Papochka said. “But please let me know if it is all right if I come and spend time with him every so often.”
Camden cleared his throat, and we all looked at him. “What? I felt like I had a little something in there.” His eyes widened at me. “You need to tell him he’s welcome to see Merlin whenever.”
“You aren’t intruding, Papochka. You aren’t overstepping. We want the two of you to be involved in Merlin’s life. We know you already love him. It’s not difficult to see.”
“I said it just a little bit ago. How could you not?” Papochka looked up at me. “He’s just the sweetest.”
“He really is,” Camden replied. “He’s not quite sleeping through the night, but we’re already getting almost five-hour stretches between feedings, and that’s pretty much through the night when you’re a doctor on call.”
“Are you going to be moving to Treasure Ridge? Or will you live off of the mountain?” I asked.
“We’ve been given a tour of a few different places, and we really liked the house in Council Estates,” Father said.
“Where’s that?” Camden asked.
“It’s the neighborhood you were in,” I told him.
“What? Really?”
I nodded.
“So you’re going to live maybe a fifteen-minute walk from us?” Camden asked.
“Yes. Which is why we want to convey to you that we aren’t trying to overstep. We won’t be dropping in unless invited,” Father said.
I shook my head. “You’re welcome, Father,” I told them.
“I’m in agreement with Camden. We’re happy to have the two of you here and in Merlin’s life.
We might be newly mated, but we still want family around.
” I knew Camden was missing his. Well, his brothers.
Specifically, Cameron. They were close. But he’d come to the realization that his parents weren’t good for him.
My fathers shared a look. I had no doubt with the look that passed between them that they were talking through their bond. It was okay. There were things that I said to Camden that I didn’t wish for others to hear either.
“Is there something here that has grabbed your interest, Lukyan?” Camden asked.
Merlin started to fuss, and Papochka got up and brought our son over to me. “I’m not sure,” Papochka said. “I’ve never lived in the area, and although I will miss the tropical climate in Ibiza, we aren’t completely leaving the island either.”
“How so?” I asked. Merlin, I discovered, had wet his diaper and needed to be changed. I used magic, and nobody knew what I’d done. I could feel Camden’s yearning through our bond, so I carefully passed our son over to his omega daddy.
“We’re not selling our house on Ibiza,” Father said. “We’ll use it as a vacation house and visit often because we have made some really good friends there.”
“So they’re paranormals as well?” I asked.
“Yes,” Father said. “How else could we have the same friends for the past two and a half decades and not age a single day?”
“Botox?” Camden suggested. We all laughed.
“True,” Papochka said. “I think that can only do so much though.”
“Your father is going to bring my kiln and wheel here though, so I will be able to continue with my pottery, and I’ll have something to fill my days while he is busy at the council.”
“Would it not be better to just get a second set?” Camden asked.
Merlin seemed to still be a bit fussy, even with the recent diaper change. “Does he need a bottle?” I asked my One.
“Maybe. It’s been a few hours since he ate last.”
I held out a perfectly heated and mixed bottle, and Camden smiled at me as he took it.
The noise that our son made when the bottle got closer told us all that yes, he’d decided he was hungry, and he needed to be fed.
I stood from where I’d been sitting on the oversized lounger with Camden and offered a burp cloth for his shoulder.
“Here,” I told him. Camden smiled at me and leaned forward enough to allow me to tuck it behind his shoulder some.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “What type of pottery do you do, Lukyan? Maxwell mentioned before that you did pottery. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who throws pots or cups or whatever.”
“You had it right the first time. It’s mostly pots. I do a lot of different sizes. Some are overly large, some are smaller, and you can fit a couple dozen on a standard bookshelf. It’s something I picked up on Ibiza, actually.”
“They’ve truly embraced some of the hippy lifestyle there,” I told Camden with a smile.
“Hey now,” Lukyan said. “We’re not really hippies.”
“Love, we’ve all lived through the hippy era,” Winston said. “Lukyan had hair down to his waist in the early seventies.”
I looked at Camden. “He really did. I personally went for the feathered Robert Redford look myself.”
Camden laughed. “That’s probably better than mine was. Living in Bangor, and of course, never actually surfing because the water is never warm there, I still had the surfer look going. I was so stylish,” Camden teased by throwing first one shoulder forward and then the other.