Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
brENT
This had bad idea written all over it.
I was awake before my alarm went off at five, having done little but toss and turn.
I got up, a deep sigh sliding out of me, and went to the kitchen to talk with Amelia, letting her know we’d all be sitting down to dinner, but that I was going out with Chaim, Benjy, and their family for a few hours of fishing, and Uly would be watching the boys.
She smiled at me, said she’d pack us a lunch, but then seemed to understand we’d be eating what we caught.
The boys woke up when I checked on them.
Still groggy, they asked where Momma was.
Uly came in from the bathroom, his eyes bleary and his hair standing up in tufts, and sat by the bed.
When I said the staff could watch the boys while I went out with Chaim for a while, they threw the biggest fit I’ve ever seen.
They weren’t perfect kids, goodness knows, but this was a level I’d never seen.
They’d freak out if anyone came near them.
Screaming, crying, barfing—still. They didn’t want the people who they’d known for years.
Instead, they wanted the person they saw as their mother.
They wanted Momma. Well, they wanted Uly, who they snuggled against with their heads on his lap.
I didn’t understand where this was coming from.
It made absolutely no sense, but they were determined to call him Momma, and nothing I could say would dissuade them in their beliefs.
I tried to explain that Uly wasn’t their mother, but they were steadfast in their insistence.
Chaim came into the bedroom, took me by the arm, and pulled me into the corner of the great room.
“Let them stay with him, cub.”
“But he’s not their mother!” I said softly, despite the fact I wanted to scream it.
“And they’ll learn that, but right now they need him to play that part.”
It made sense, even though I hated it. Uly was as attached as the kids were, and he couldn’t stay in town. Asking him to watch the boys felt like I was using him. Still, I sucked it up and went to where he sat, the boys asleep on his lap.
“Uly, I—”
He smiled at me, then looked down at the precious cargo he was caring for. “Go. I’ve got this.” He gently rubbed their heads. “I can be Momma for a while.”
“Are you absolutely sure? I don’t want to use you.”
“Can’t use me if I volunteer. Go. You’ve needed to talk with Chaim for years, and now you have that chance. Don’t lose out on it, because you never know if it’ll come around again.”
He wasn’t wrong. Chaim and Benjy would go back to their lives and who knew if we’d be able to do this again. I wanted to, but life has a way of plotting its own course, and we’re just along for the ride.
“Okay, I’ll only be a couple of hours. I owe you big time for this. I spoke with Janelle, and she’ll check in on you to see if you need anything. And I mean anything. Food, beverage, whatever you need, you tell her and she’ll ensure you get it.”
“We’ll be fine, I promise. Now go.”
I kissed the boys on their foreheads. They were still so warm.
If they weren’t better by tomorrow, the doctor would be getting another call, that was for certain.
As I leaned over, I caught a whiff of something that niggled in the back of my mind.
I’d smelled it before, but wasn’t sure where. It was oddly comforting.
“I’ll have my phone. Call if you need anything.”
“Yes, Dad. Now get out of here.”
Chaim took my arm and led me from the room. All I wanted was to go back to my boys, to ensure they were healthy. I knew they were. I understood it, but that didn’t mean my mind and heart were in sync with the decision.
As we climbed into the modified Kia Telluride Chaim put a hand on my arm. “Tell me something, cub. What do you know about mates?”
“Mates? I know they’re a myth. Something parents told their children to get them to fall in line.”
“Hm.”
“You disagree?”
“We do,” Benjy replied. He leaned forward and tousled Chaim’s hair. “Chaim is my mate.”
That wasn’t possible. “Are you screwing with me now?”
“Nope. I knew Benjy was mine when we met. Tell me something. What attracted you to your wife?”
I smiled as I recalled meeting her. She was funny and considerate, but she was also a total badass.
Some guy was teasing her friend and pinned her against the wall.
By then I was much bigger and able to protect those around me.
I stormed toward them, intent on getting him away from her.
Jenna turned the corner and I swear steam was coming out of her ears as she rushed over to where they stood and drove her knee into the guy’s balls from behind.
He went down like a sack of potatoes, clutching at the jewels and moaning in agony.
I was already in love with her.
“She was calm, strong, protective of people around her.”
“Think, cub. Was there anything else?”
When I got to where they were standing, Jenna bent down and punched the man in the face, telling him if she ever heard of him pulling his crap again, she wouldn’t be so nice. Then she got him on his feet and pushed him away. He stumbled off down the hall, still covering his goods.
“No, not really.”
“Close your eyes and try again. I want you to picture her, see everything about her.”
This discussion was bordering on uncomfortable. “We should get going. We don’t have a lot of—”
“Do as he says, Brent,” Benjy exclaimed. “It’s important.”
It was Chaim. Of course I would do what he said. I closed my eyes and images of Jenna and our lives together flitted through my memory. As it all unfolded, I recalled something.
“She always smelled of wildflowers,” I said softly. “It didn’t matter how much she sweated, how much she ran, how much she swam. There were always notes of wildflowers around her.”
“That’s the mate scent, cub. Every mate has one. It’s as distinct as a fingerprint.”
But this made no sense. Why was this the first I was hearing about it? “I don’t get it,” I admitted.
Chaim smiled. “The day I met Benjy, I was overwhelmed by the scent of redwoods. I’d never even seen a redwood, but I knew that’s what it was. It was Benjy’s scent, and I’d never smelled anything like it in my life. I wanted to draw it into my lungs and hold it there forever.”
“Ew, Dad,” whined Jake. “Bad enough when you and Pop get all kissy face, but we have to hear about it too?”
“Suffer, brat,” Benjy cajoled. “Be glad the two of us are in love.”
Emily smiled. “I like it.”
Jake snorted. “You would.” Then he smirked. “It is pretty cool, though. Dad always knows how Pop is feeling, so they never have to hide it. It’s like… what’s the word? Instinctual.”
Yes, that was how I felt with Jenna. She knew me balls to bones. It was the weapon she had that allowed her to penetrate the thick skull I’d developed.
“I don’t understand what this has to do with anything.”
“If you read the books, they’ll tell you that you will only ever have one mate.
That isn’t true. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel as to give you something, then take it away to make you suffer for the rest of your life.
Of course, Fate will make you work for it.
If your mate dies, another person takes their place.
Not in your life, because you still need to find them, but they’re out there. ”
My head was spinning. Was he trying to tell me I had another mate somewhere? And did I even want one? Me and the boys were fine. Yes, it was lonely at times, but we got through it okay.
“Now I want you to think again. Have you ever met someone else who smells like wildflowers to you? Anyone at all?”
Well, that was easy. “No, most definitely not.”
“Are you sure?”
What the hell was he getting at? “I think I’d know if someone near me smelled like wildflowers.”
“See, I don’t think so.”
“What are you talking about?”
Benjy reached out and put a hand on Chaim’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Chaim, let it go. Maybe he’s not ready yet.”
A deep sigh slid out of him. “You’re right. Sorry, cub. Let’s just go. We can discuss it later, if you want.”
You just don’t know how much I hate it when people do that.
ULY
“Momma, we’re hungry,” the twins whined.
“I can have someone make you something light.”
“Nooooo! We want you to make it for us. Like you used to do.”
This was getting us nowhere. I’d tried dropping some subtle—and a few not so subtle—hints, letting them know I couldn’t be their mother because I was a guy. Even though they seemed to understand it, they still refused to believe I wasn’t her.
“What do you want?”
“Chicken soup!” Eddie called out.
“Yeah!” Jack agreed. “You make the best soup.”
But the thing was, when I was down with a bug, I didn’t get anything chunky. I got dry Saltines and a can of 7-Up. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea.
“How about some broth? Just something light for now, okay?”
“No! Your soup always makes us feel better, Momma,” Eddie complained.
I sighed. I had no idea how sicknesses were handled in Brent’s house. Maybe this was normal for them. “Okay, you lay down and I’ll go make you some soup.”
“No, don’t leave. Please.”
The tenor of Jack’s voice broke me. He’d lived through losing his mother already, and now he’d somehow imprinted on me and it showed. If I twitched, they were on me, touching my face, asking if I was okay.
“I have to go into the kitchen if you want soup,” I reminded him. “And you’re still sick, so you need your rest.”
“Then we don’t want soup. We want you to stay with us.”
“If you’re hungry you need to eat. I’ll make something fast, okay?”
The two boys exchanged looks. “You’ll come right back. You promise?”
“I’ll be back as soon as I can find all the ingredients and put together your food. Sleep for a while, okay?”
They nodded, and I put them down on the enormous couch, then covered them with blankets we’d brought from their room because they were cold. I turned to leave, but Eddie whispered something to me.
“What did you say?”