Rowan #4
“I want us to talk more,” Rowan said, and his hawk gave a triumphant shriek. “I really appreciated talking to you about Milo and, uh…intimacy. It helped a lot, actually.”
Ruben took his turn looking out the window and, seemingly satisfied that his fated mate was okay for the moment, he reached for the pitcher of lemonade someone, probably Riley, had put on a tray and poured them both a glass. “Things going well, then?”
Rowan accepted the drink and found himself telling his older brother everything.
Well, not everything, but he did vaguely mention how thoroughly he’d put Ruben’s advice to good use.
“Damn, and you’ve already gotten the I love you’s out of the way? You’re pretty much set now,” Ruben said, swallowing the last of his lemonade.
“Well, I don’t know about set, but it does feel like we’re in a good place.”
“I swear, I already love Ray—” Ruben held up his hand to stave off Rowan’s reply.
“I know it’s too soon for that. We agreed we would do normal boyfriend stuff when I get back, but he has a lot of trauma from past guys, and I don’t mind getting mating out of the way first. As far as I’m concerned, it’s him or no one.
He seems sweet, but he’s wicked sharp and brutally funny when he opens up.
On top of that, he doesn’t stand for my shit.
He’s already told me off twice for stepping on your toes with the group chat and this weekend.
He’s… amazing. I’m seriously so fucking happy. ”
For not the first time during their talk, Rowan’s eyes drifted back out to where their fated mates were still laughing with Raina. “I can’t wait to get to know him better.”
“You will. I’m sure we’ll all be seeing a lot of each other.” Rowan nodded, and Ruben reached for the pitcher, placing it back onto the tray with his glass. “Well, if you’re done stalling, should we head back out there? With the lemonade you promised.”
Rowan had forgotten about the lemonade. “I still need to find a way to tell everyone the news.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I have a plan,” Ruben said, trooping out the back door.
Oh. Gods.
Rowan hurried after him, but he’d always been fast on his feet.
“Everyone! I have an announcement!” Ruben called, before Rowan had even reached his side.
“Is it that you had to make the lemonade from scratch?” Riley asked at the same time their mom clapped her hands together.
“You’ve already said you’re going to mate this week. Are you thinking of having kids soon?”
“Oh, if you are, our kids would be right around the same age!” Raina said, and their mom and Riley gasped.
“Are you pregnant?”
“No, but we’re trying,” Raina said, her hand coming to rest on her flat belly.
There was a lot of happy tittering from their mom, meanwhile Ray looked a little like he wanted to sink into the ground. “I would love kids, but maybe not for a while?”
Voices mixed together, as everyone spoke over one another, and Rowan was reminded of a random night when he was probably around five or six.
His mom had been off on some adventure or another, and he was in the kitchen, baking cookies with Ma.
They had just finished rolling out the cookie dough when Raina came careening into the kitchen, shouting about her art project.
She held the finished canvas above her head, as paint dripped down into her auburn hair.
Before either Rowan or his Ma could react, Riley began shouting that she needed help with an advanced chemistry problem, and Ruben started practicing his new cello—badly and loudly—in the other room.
Ma had left Rowan at the counter so she could tend to the other kids, and Rowan had just stood there for close to an hour, staring down at the cookies he had no idea how to finish making.
“Anyways!” Ruben shouted, pulling Rowan out of his thoughts and silencing the rest of the family. “I’ve already messed this up twice now, and I’m not going to mess it up a third time. My announcement is that Rowan has an announcement.”
All eyes turned to him, but Rowan only cared about one pair. Soft, sparkling gray stared up at him, with all the patience and understanding he’d ever wanted. They could run away together, and he would be content spending the rest of his life being seen and understood by one person.
Or he could stay here and fight to find the words to bridge the distance with his family.
On the drive back from visiting Ethel, Milo had told Rowan about this chasm they felt in their heart and in their head.
They described how it felt nearly impossible to look across it, let alone actually get across it to the other side.
Instead, they’d gone down into it, deep into the depths of their grief.
Rowan didn’t have a chasm to cross. There was just two feet of space between him and Milo.
His hawk lifted one wing, and Rowan followed suit, lifting his hand and stepping forward. He didn’t need words, not that he could find them anyway. His family would understand, even if Milo might not.
Staring deep into the eyes of his best friend, his fated mate, and the love of his life, he ran his wrist down Milo’s neck, stopping to press against their scent gland.
Milo held completely still, as if they actually did understand.
Their eyes flashed green, and their mouth parted around a soft sigh.
His moms and sisters erupted into questions and excitement, but just to be absolutely sure the message got across, Rowan bent down and pressed a soft kiss to Milo’s lips.
“I think he’s trying to tell you all that Milo is his fated mate,” Ruben said, and Ray giggled.
Milo hummed against his lips, murmuring, “I love you, sweetheart,” in between breaths.
“I love you, too, baby. Thank you for being patient with me. Today and every day.”
Raina was close enough to hear them, but to Rowan’s surprise, she didn’t clap or shriek with excitement. She waited until Rowan pulled away from Milo before swooping in and capturing them in a huge hug.
“Welcome to the family!” she said, and okay, yes, her voice was pretty close to a shriek, but it was also warm, and Rowan could see the way it caused Milo to melt into her arms.
“Thank you,” they said. “I’m so excited to get to know you all.”
The rest of the family took their turns coming over to hug Milo, welcoming them to the family and inundating them with questions.
Rowan received an exasperated smirk from Riley and an excited grin from his mom, but his ma surprised him the most. While Riley and their mom herded everyone else over to the patio tables to get ready for dinner, their ma nodded her head towards the forest. Rowan followed obediently behind her, noting all the new grays that had sprouted at the base of her hair.
Hawk shifters tended to gray from the bottom of their hair up, like their hawk’s feathers were the first thing to show signs of age.
“Have you known for weeks that Milo was your fated mate?” Ma asked.