Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Marissa
I woke up to the smell of bacon.
Honestly, Sunday mornings were delightfully relaxed and comfortable around my house, and bacon often featured. But…waking up to it?
Slowly, I sat up, pulling off my eye mask. I was the one who made bacon, usually to get Patrick to wake up. I couldn’t recall a time that he’d ever woken before me and cooked. And considering we’d gotten home at two in the morning…
I glanced at the clock and winced. Almost noon? Well I guess it was time for some food, huh?
I was pulling my hair into a messy bun as I stepped out of my room and rocked to a stop. Simbel . Simbel was standing in my kitchen, hip propped against the counter, cradling a steaming mug. He was giving pointers to Trick, who was standing in front of the stove, tending the bacon.
The male was teaching my kid to make bacon?
Be still my heart .
On the other hand, I can’t believe that I had forgotten, until that moment, that Simbel had spent the night.
He’d cared for me, calmed me during my freak-out, said exactly what I needed to hear…then he’d blown my mind with three consecutive orgasms, and told me we were—what? Destined to be together?
There is a knowing .
I couldn’t deny it was the truth.
He and Patrick and Patrick’s friends had worked together to get our boat off the sandbar, then we’d returned to the marina at a moderate speed. I’d made certain the boys all checked in with their parents right away, then we’d dropped them—and their various bikes and scooters—off at their homes. Except for Brian, who was spending the night with Ethan, since his mom was partying on the mainland.
Only then had we returned home, and I’d been near asleep. Simbel had been the one to ensure teeth got brushed and doors were locked…and then he’d tucked me into bed.
“Stay with me,” I whispered, and he’d kissed my forehead and gathered me in his arms.
Had he slept beside me? Or…my gaze darted to the rumpled couch. Had he slept out here, out of some attempt to spare Patrick some awkwardness ?
My son was talking about last night’s adventure, waving the spatula for emphasis, going on about how well his friends had worked together. As terrified as I’d been to realize he was crossing open water at night, on the way home I had admitted the truth to myself:
Patrick had done everything correctly.
He and his friends had been wearing life jackets, they were familiar with the vessel, they’d known where we were, and they followed through with their plan. They’d had no way of knowing we’d just been beached, and if something serious had gone wrong, I would’ve been damned happy to have their help.
As it was, I gave him a mild lecture on how easy it was to call the police to handle such things, and Simbel backed me up. Still, he’d reached over and ruffled Patrick’s hair. “Next time, call for backup before you run off half-cocked to save the day, huh?”
“How about there won’t be a next time?” Patrick had shot right back. “Pay better attention to the tide, huh?”
“Fair enough.” Simbel had smirked at the teen. “But seriously, the cops are trained to be heroes. You don’t have to take that on yourself.”
I’d seen Patrick thinking quietly after that, eyeing Simbel…and for the first time, I wondered if he’d ever considered a career in law enforcement. It seemed as if he was going to have a role model.
Assuming Simbel stuck around.
What? Weren’t you listening to all that Mate stuff last night ?
I shifted, hating this uncertainty .
There is a knowing .
Well, there was one thing I was certain of. I loved Simbel.
Patrick stopped talking, and Simbel shot me a smile from behind his mug. Of course he’d known I was there; he’d probably smelled me or something. “Good morning,” he offered. “The coffee is hot.”
“Thank God,” I mumbled, stumbling toward him, as he put down his own mug to pour me some.
“Hi Mom,” Patrick beamed. “I’m making bacon. The French toast is in the oven since we weren’t sure when you’d wake up.”
I hummed as I took that first strong sip. “You should have woken me.”
“No,” Simbel corrected gently as he looped one arm around me and pulled me against his side. “You needed your rest, and Patrick and I needed to talk.”
My stomach flip-flopped, and I lowered my mug. “About what?”
The two males exchanged knowing looks. “Oh, following up on a conversation from last week.”
I straightened and put on my best Mom Voice. “About what? ”
“Do you have a middle name, Simbel?” Patrick asked, turning back to the bacon. “’Cause she’s about to use it.”
Simbel was smiling when he caught my hand. “Do you really want to know before your coffee? We could have breakfast— ”
“Oh, I’m awake now, trust me.” My heart was hammering. I glared up at him. “Tell me.”
“A week ago, I asked Patrick if he would be okay with me dating you, and he told me he’d be okay if I married you.”
I glanced, shocked, at my son, whose cheeks were pinkening from something besides the heat.
Simbel squeezed my hand, drawing my attention again. “He said that I brought out the best in you, that you were happy around me, and I knew I was happy when I was with you. But since then, I’ve realized for certain that you are my Mate.”
“There is a knowing,” I whispered.
“Right.” He tugged me to him slowly, until his arms were around my back, and I had to tip my head back to meet his gaze. “So, Rissa…” He took a deep breath and held it. “Do you feel it? Do you agree?”
My answer was immediate. “I do. I love you.”
“But…” He slowly exhaled. “You don’t fully trust that that’s going to be enough, do you?”
“What?” I frowned.
“You’re still afraid that I’m going to walk out, because you’re…I dunno, being too adventurous or something, despite me telling you I love that about you.”
He was right. I dropped my gaze to his chin. “Maybe.”
“ Dkaar .” When I didn’t lift my eyes, he tugged on my hair just slightly, and I frowned up at him. Simbel grinned. “ Dkaar , I can understand how difficult it must be to believe that I’m not going to leave you, so I’m going to ask you to do something.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What?”
“Trust in me. Trust in us . And…” He flicked his gaze toward Patrick and back again. “Trust in your son. Trust that you’ve raised him to be a good kid.”
I twisted in his arms to glance at Patrick. “I do. He— you’re a good person, Patrick, you know that.”
My son wasn’t looking at me, but he shrugged as he turned down the burner. “Then trust me to know what’s right and wrong. When it comes to my friends…” He finally met my eyes with a serious look. “And when it comes to you. Simbel isn’t going to desert us.”
“You’re my Mate, Rissa.” Simbel said softly. “That’s like…”
“It’s bigger than marriage, Mom,” Patrick offered. “I told him that he should still propose, in case you’re into that sort of thing. But to orcs—Simbel was telling me this—to orcs, a Mate bond, is like…cement. They don’t get divorced because it’s like, impossible to consider splitting up from your Mate once you find one another.”
I glanced at Simbel to see him grinning. “He’s a quick learner. All that is true, Rissa. I love you, yes, and I love Trick…but the Mate bond…” He captured my hand and pressed it to his chest. “You’re stuck with me, I’m afraid to say.”
And just like that, a weight—a weight I hadn’t realized I was carrying—lifted from my shoulders, and I exhaled. You’re stuck with me . “Forever, Simbel? ”
His smile was a beautiful thing. “Forever, Dkaar . Even when we’re mad at one another, or even when I’m being too immature, or when you’re being too uptight, we’re a team. I’m going to be here for you and Trick for the rest of our lives, and I hope you’ll let me help you.”
After sixteen years of doing it all myself… I breathed a sigh of relief. Or maybe surrender.
“Wait.” I narrowed my eyes up at him. “I’m not too uptight.”
Behind me, Trick snorted. “You’re more uptight than a giraffe in a bowtie.”
It took me a moment to get it, but I snorted at the same time Simbel barked a laugh. “Not bad!” His twinkling dark eyes met mine, and I could see the spark of green deep inside them once more. “Our son is smart.”
Our son .
Emotion clogged my throat. Our son . I gave up on hearing those words over sixteen years ago, and now… “You mean that?”
Simbel released me with one arm, and then Patrick was at my side. Simbel wrapped both of us in his arms, and I snaked one arm around my son’s waist. Now all three of us were pressed together in a hug.
“Trick already holds a big piece of my heart, Rissa. If you and I are Mated, then he’s mine as well.” Simbel kissed my head. “I want to help him grow. I want to help you mold him into the amazing young man I know he can be. ”
“I don’t know,” I mumbled, my voice thick with emotion. “He’s already pretty awesome.”
“Mom,” Patrick mumbled, his cheeks pink again. I leaned over and planted a kiss on his jaw.
Simbel squeezed us both. “He is. He’s strong and smart and adventurous, just like his mother. He has a strong sense of right and wrong, and he is single-handedly saving the other young men of Eastshore Isle.”
Until last night, until I heard what Simbel had said about Patrick and his friends, I hadn’t thought of it like that. I’d been so worried about their influence on my son, that I’d never stopped to think how a good kid like Patrick might influence them .
He’d rallied them, and they’d all been heroes last night, no matter how terrifying it had been. I squeezed my son— our son.
“I’m proud of you, honeybear,” I whispered, throat tight.
Patrick was smiling. Not just at me, but at Simbel too. “Thanks, bro.”
Simbel cleared his throat. “And as my first act as a responsible parental figure, and in reward for his mature actions and influence on his friends, and in an effort to give him something to do to keep him busy…” He winked at me. “I suggest you allow me to buy Trick a drum set.”
As Patrick sucked in a breath, I raised a brow. Well…why not? Simbel’s reasoning was good, and it was something I’d already agreed to. If he really was going to be a part of our lives, he’d be contributing to the bills, wouldn’t he? This gift seemed minor in comparison .
“Okay,” I agreed, and Patrick let out a little whoop as Simbel exhaled.
“Good, because I’ve found one on the mainland, and I told the guy we would be by this afternoon to pick it up. I thought we could grab dinner over there too. Sort of a celebration.”
Patrick whooped again, and I felt him bounce on his toes, so I squeezed him. “After we clean up the boat from last night’s adventure.”
“Absolutely,” both my males said together.
Well then, I guess there were no other objections. “That’s nice of Simbel, isn’t it, Patrick?”
The boy didn’t quite roll his eyes. “Yeah, it is. Thanks, Dad.”
It was kinda cute the way Simbel stiffened; eyes wide as his lips formed the word Dad . I grinned. “I think you broke him.”
“I was just getting used to being bro .” Simbel shook his head. “Up until we moved here, Memnon was my other half, but I’ve been lost without him. Then you two were there, filling me up…” He blinked, then slowly grinned, his arm looping around Patrick’s shoulders. “If you want me to be Dad , I can do that.”
I poked him. “Even if you’re Dad , he’s still going to call you bro .”
“Yeah, bro,” Patrick agreed.
“To be fair,” I whispered to Simbel, “I used to call everyone and every thing ‘dude’, so I get it. ”
“Dude?” Patrick groaned. “Mom, that is so old school.”
“I know, bro .” I grinned at him. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
Simbel dropped a kiss on my head again. “I love you.” He cupped the back of Patrick’s head and pulled him close enough to drop his forehead against the kid’s.
It was…a benediction, almost. Something sacred in that moment.
“And I love you, Trick,” he whispered to our son .
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. For sixteen years, I’d been Patrick’s sole support. I’d been the one to teach him how to be a good human…but now he had a better role model. Simbel was going to be there for the rest of our lives, teaching Patrick not only how to be a good human, but a good male. I’d seen it that very first day in the office, and I saw it now.
To my surprise, Patrick’s free arm wrapped around Simbel. His eyes were closed, and in a raspy voice, he whispered, “I love you too, bro.”
I grinned.
When Simbel straightened, he was smiling as well, although there were tears in his eyes. “You’re mine, and I’m yours,” he announced to both of us.
“Mate,” I agreed quietly.
“Mate.” He bent down to brush a soft kiss across my lips.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, Mate ,” Patrick agreed. “Now, who wants bacon?”