Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Malik
“For the sake of all things holy.” I couldn’t help the dramatic groan that accompanied my low curse as Alton snickered. “You’re not going to think this is funny in about five seconds.”
“Malik! Is that you, sweetheart?” The loud singsong voice had an over-the-top innocent sound that made me groan again. “What are you doing out here so late?”
Late?
It was seven in the evening and the sun hadn’t even gone down completely.
“Who is that?” Alton hadn’t gotten his giggles under control but he whispered as we walked along the trail pretending not to hear the insistent voice calling through the woods.
“My mother.”
And that stopped the giggles.
His eyes also went wide as he tripped over his own foot, but I caught him and kept him upright as I tried to help him walk faster. “Your mother?”
Well, at least I knew he was processing what I’d said.
“Yes. She’s… persistent and nosy and I’m supposed to say well-meaning according to my father.” I disagreed with that assessment but I’d promised to include it. “I’d say run but somehow I think she’s tracking us.”
Alton swallowed hard and walked slightly faster. “Um, is that a skill your people are good at?”
“No.” I knew he meant magically good at, but I shook my head.
“Our species is good at blending into our surroundings and something about our magic effects how humans see us. Most of the time it gives us a more animalistic look that is supposed to have been a combination of magical and evolutionary adaptation.”
Magic was fascinating but generally unpredictable.
My mother on the other hand was very predictable.
“What are you up to?” She must’ve been running because the crazy woman was nearly out of breath as she came power walking around a curve and caught up to us on the trail. “Oh, you have company. That’s nice.”
And not a surprise at all based on how she was studying Alton.
She pretended otherwise, though, as she smoothed down her bathrobe of all things and smiled widely at Alton. “I’m Ramina. It’s nice to meet you…?”
She was as subtle as a bull as she turned the statement into a question to get his name.
Alton must’ve been shocked by the nearly seven-foot female charging at him in her bathrobe, but he didn’t show it. It was probably the ridiculousness of the situation but he managed to hold out his hand and smile as he blinked at her. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Did he know she’d been hinting for his name?
“Mom. Are you alright?” She looked ridiculous as she shook his hand like they were meeting over tea. “Are you lost?”
Where was my father?
She rolled her eyes like I was being silly. “Oh you. I was just out for a walk.”
In her bathrobe and my father’s shoes?
How had she found us?
“It’s a lovely evening for that.” Alton looked like he’d fallen back on customer service manners and I couldn’t help picturing him asking her if she’d found everything she’d been looking for. “It seems easy to get turned around, though.”
Exactly.
“Do you need help getting pointed in the right direction?” Because she couldn’t have thought tracking me down was a good idea. “Is Dad out with you?”
She’d clearly slipped her keeper.
Before she could figure out a way to answer that, my father decided to help, running up behind her. “For fuck’s sake, woman. Those are my shoes.”
Great.
My father was at least wearing real clothes to go with my mother’s slippers. Alton was just blinking at them like he’d never seen a Bigfoot in a flowered bathrobe or bunny slippers before.
It really was amazing we didn’t make the news more.
“I found Malik.” She said it like it was a surprise. “He’s out for a walk too. With a… friend?”
Alton was still just blinking, so I decided it was my problem to solve since they were my crazy. “I’m sure you’ll understand that we can’t stay around and talk. Have a nice walk, but you might want to do something about your shoes or you’re both going to end up with blisters.”
Sometimes I wondered how I was related to either of them.
I wasn’t sure if Alton would move on his own, but I was grateful when all it took was stepping back from them for his legs to start working.
He managed to wave in their direction but he didn’t seem sure what to say because he was very quiet…
quiet enough for us to hear what she said as we walked away.
“I told you that trail cam was a good idea.”
Of all the—
They’d—
I had no words.
“Am I a really bad person for finding it funny that a Bigfoot put a trail cam up to catch you?” As we got space from them, Alton blinked a few more times before he shook his head and came back to life. “I’m sorry. That was probably inappropriate.”
“They’re inappropriate… and it’s impossible to miss the irony in that, so don’t worry about it.
” Everything they did was ridiculous. “I’m.
No. I’m not going to apologize for them because I didn’t do anything wrong.
I will, however, explain that they are a side effect of having a relationship with me.
Like those weird lists of problems medications cause. ”
They were basically verbal diarrhea, so the analogy fit.
Alton snickered as we finally got back to the clearing where we’d first met. “I… I think she liked me?”
“She was wearing my father’s shoes after spying on us with some kind of trail cam.” I was going to have to keep an eye out for that. “But yes, she was definitely excited to meet you and that was her excited face, so you made a good impression.”
He seemed to be trying not to laugh as he shook his head in disbelief. “We need to remember not to do anything questionable outside of the house.”
I wasn’t sure what was cuter… his assumption that we’d do questionable things in the woods or the way he’d worded it.
The house.
It wasn’t quiet our house but it felt like a step in that direction.
“I agree.” I wasn’t much for outdoor shenanigans anyway. I appreciated my creature comforts too much for that. “I’ll see if I can find it, though.”
Alton frowned as we walked over to his car. “I don’t know any magic for that. I have a basic skillset of spells I can use for everyday stuff because one of my grandparents was a mage but that’s the extent of my knowledge for that kind of magic.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Somehow. “Thank you for being nice and not showing how ridiculous they were.”
That got a smile out of him as he dug his keys out from his pocket. “They were funny.”
And a handful.
“They were unexpected too.” Rolling my eyes got a laugh from Alton. “They bugged the trail to keep an eye on me.”
He shrugged, trying to get his delight under control. “Maybe they were looking for deer or other wildlife?”
“There is no way they’re doing something that reasonable, even if I want it to be true.” They were just ridiculous. “Last year my mother decided to explore being wiccan. The human version with naked moon worship and things I couldn’t follow.”
Alton’s eyes got wide as we stopped at the front of his car. “Naked?”
“She was found outside like that so many times the local council had to come to her and explain that people were complaining.” The council. “They weren’t telling her that she had to cover up but she had to stay in her own yard if she was going to do it.”
Pressing his lips together, Alton took a moment to comment. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to commiserate or laugh.”
“No one else could either. That’s part of the reason it went on so long.
” They were the definition of inappropriate and always had been.
“They explored being poly when I was a teenager but they didn’t want to sleep with anyone else.
So they found an asexual and aromantic guy to move in for a year.
He was basically a roommate that they dated on a regular basis. ”
Blinking, Alton cocked his head. “Is that dating? I mean, wouldn’t it be just going out with a friend? He didn’t want to have a romantic relationship?”
“I have no idea and all three of them explained it differently, and just badly in general, so I still don’t know what they were doing or what the traditional rules are for that kind of relationship.” Ralph had been nice, though, and I still got Christmas cards from him.
“I’m starting to understand why you called them your side effect.” When he stopped, his eyes went wide. “I’m sorry. That’s rude.”
“Agreeing with me isn’t rude. You’re supposed to agree with me on everything because that’s what being a Daddy is. Always right.” My response had him trying not to giggle and his stress popped like a bubble. “I’m glad to see you understand I’m right about that too. It’ll make life easier.”
As a snicker escaped, Alton shook his head. “You’re going to get me in trouble with your parents. I can’t say anything like that. You’re a bad influence.”
I shrugged. “I guess I’ll just have to punish you if you’re naughty.”
He couldn’t seem to decide if he was going to blush, hide, or grab his cock because he did all three as he wiggled and finally rubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t know what to say.”
He was adorable.
“What were you thinking?” Making sure to put a bit of Daddy in my tone had him squirming and a sigh escaped.
“That’s cheating.” We could both agree on that, but it got me the results I was looking for as words spilled out.
“I was trying not to ask what kind of punishment because I pictured being spanked and that was a turn-on and then I realized what you’d said and I decided it was probably an inappropriate reaction. ”
Maybe but I’d started it.
“My mother was naked around town so often the local version of the state legislature had to come tell her to do it on her own property.” My dry response got a giggle from him. “They’ve completely reset my views on what is or is not appropriate.”
I wasn’t sure how I’d survived being a teenager around them.
Alton’s cheeks were pink as he stopped scrubbing his face, but he was smiling as well. “Just keep reminding me about that when I start to worry.”