Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
EPILOGUE: TEN YEARS LATER
ULY
“Happy anniversary, Uly!”
I turned to find Amelia coming into the room, a small slice of cake with a candle on it glowing faintly. She was all smiles as she swept in and set the plate down in front of me.
“Thank you,” I said.
Why I was so choked up, I don’t know. She’d been warm and welcoming since the day I moved into the mansion, and not one thing had changed in the last ten years.
After Brent and I married, she’d been nothing but sweet and friendly.
She’d also been very affectionate, constantly hugging me, telling me she’s glad I’m here, and showering me with compliments.
She pulled up a chair and sat with me, her eyes glinting mischievously.
“So, what are you and Mr. Lockhart doing tonight?”
“He’s taking me to dinner at Chaim’s, who told Brent he had a very special menu for the two of us. Once we’ve eaten, we’re going to go for a ride.”
“That sounds romantic.”
And it did. Brent had his moments, and I always loved being on the receiving end of them. I opened my mouth to say something when the back door swung wide, smacking against the doorstop Brent had installed to keep everything in one piece.
“Momma, we’re home!” Jack called as he and Eddie crashed into the house, dropping their backpacks with a loud thunk. “Bring on the snacks!”
“I’ve got this,” Amelia said as she got up and hustled into the kitchen.
“Ooh, cake,” Jack said with a chuckle, then swiped his finger through the frosting and brought it to his mouth. “And chocolate! Score. What’s the occasion?”
“It’s our wedding anniversary, you twits.”
“We knew that.” He faced Eddie. “Didn’t we know that?”
“We did,” he agreed, then used my fork to cut a piece of my cake that he popped into his mouth.
I sighed, but not for the reason they thought.
It had been ten years since either of them had called me Momma, and though I would never tell anyone, I missed it.
They’d both grown up so much in the last decade, each of them only fifteen, but already nearing six feet tall.
Their once tiny bodies were now long and lanky, with muscles earned by playing sports and working out with Brent.
They were several inches taller than me, but still a few shorter than Brent. They were continuing to grow, though.
“Love you, Momma,” Eddie said, brushing our cheeks together.
“Love you too,” I replied honestly. “Both of you.”
They smiled at me, and my heart warmed. In all the years we’d spent together, their love for me had never wavered.
Even the realization I wasn’t Momma didn’t stop them from loving me fiercely.
They were steadfast in their adoration for Brent, and always, without fail, treated me as their other father.
“Four bags of pizza rolls will be out in a few. So tell me, how was school? Did you guys do okay on your test?”
Jack rolled his eyes and he licked the plate to get the last of the frosting, a habit he’d picked up from Brent. “We both aced it, and you know that.”
I did. They were Brent’s kids after all, and his work ethic rubbed off on them.
They drilled each other on the material every free moment.
Many days over the breakfast table, the questions flew fast and furious as they scarfed down a triple stack of pancakes each, with about a dozen strips of bacon and an equal amount of sausage.
Amelia never skimped on their portions, and judging by how strapping both guys were, she knew exactly what she was doing.
Eddie chuckled and came over to me, giving me a kiss on the cheek. “Hey, Pop. How was your day?”
“It was fine.”
He squinted. “C’mon, you gotta give us more than that,” he complained.
“When we come home from school or karate or whatever else we’re doing, you expect an itinerary of what we did, who we saw, what we ate at Uncle Chaim’s place for first and second lunch, and stuff like that. So, give with the details.”
No one else I knew had kids that were actually interested in their parent’s lives. It was so damned sweet, knowing that they truly cared.
“Well, I’m spearheading the fundraiser for the new school over in Wharton.”
Two sets of eyebrows rose. “The wolf school?”
“That’s the one.” I waited to see if they’d make any comments.
Though tensions had thawed significantly between the pack and the sleuth, there were still tempers that flared on occasion, especially with the older townspeople.
Part of the problem with both sides being all macho and stuff.
The fact that Gavin had spread poison throughout his tenure didn’t help matters.
Brent was trying to move the people beyond that animosity, but it wasn’t always easy.
“Can I tell you something?” Eddie pleaded, his voice a hoarse whisper.
“Of course. You can always talk to me about anything. Are you okay?”
“I’m gonna head upstairs,” Jack stated, snatching his bag again.
“Don’t you want to hear this?” I asked.
“Already have. Who do you think told him to talk to you?” He turned to Eddie. “I’m gonna grab the pizza bites, then set up in our study.” He winked. “If there are any left, I’ll share.” He gripped his brother’s hand, leaned in close, and stared into his eyes. “It’ll be okay, I promise you.”
Now I was nervous. “What’s going on?”
Eddie took a seat and shrank in his chair as Jack flew up the stairs. As soon as the door slammed, Eddie leaned in and spoke softly. “I wanted to talk to you before Dad, because I don’t know how he’s going to handle this.”
“He loves both of you so much. Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it as a family.”
“Do you swear?” he asked, his voice quaking. “Please, promise me you won’t stop loving me.”
His expression was one I’d never seen before. So fearful and hopeless. I rushed over and pulled him into a hug. “There is nothing you can say to me that will ever make that happen. You’ve been mine since the day we met, and I have loved you more and more as time went on. Please, trust me.”
He reached for my hand and gripped it tightly. “I found my mate a few weeks ago. At least I think I did.”
“That’s great!” But the tears in his eyes spoke a different story. “Isn’t it?”
Eddie shook his head. “I mean, for me it might be, but I’m afraid Dad is going to throw a fit.”
And then I understood. “Your mate. It’s a wolf, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “I don’t know what to do. I mean, he’s nothing like I expected him to be. He’s gentle and kind and—” His eyes went wide. “I mean….”
I reached out and gave his hand a squeeze. “So your mate is a guy? Cool. You know, my mate is a guy too.”
He sighed. “I know that, but Dad will hate the fact he’s a wolf.”
“You know that’s not true,” came a rumble from the doorway. I turned as Brent strode into the room, his workout shirt drenched with sweat. I wanted to peel it off him and rush upstairs to jack off while holding it to my nose. “Why would you think that?”
“Because he’s a wolf, and the sleuth doesn’t like them.”
“That was a long time ago. Things have been better since then. I will admit, thanks to the stuff I was taught as I grew up, I was willfully ignorant of the facts when you were still kids, but I’d like to think I’ve—we’ve—changed.
Since I met their Alpha, Yara, the two of us have become really good friends.
We run on the mountains together, play around in the snow.
Their whole pack is welcome and we have a great time.
I believe I’ve learned a lot and stopped being such a dick. ” He frowned. “Haven’t I?”
A soft sigh as Eddie stared at Brent, pain evident in his expression. “Cole heard whispers of the stories from the elders, Dad. Despite everything you’ve done to work with everyone, he’s been told you hate all wolves and that you’ll make me reject him.”
Brent wrapped Eddie in an embrace, which had him groaning about how much his dad stunk, but then Eddie squeezed harder, like he was desperate for a lifeline.
“I know I was loud and obnoxious about wolves. I learned that from my father, and it took Uly and Chaim to get me to pop my head out of my butt. We can fix this, but I’ll need you to help me out.
We’ll have to work harder to set the record straight.
Invite him to dinner, and then we can all go out fishing or just on a run.
Nothing hard, but it’ll give him a chance to know your family. Is that okay with you, Uly?”
“Of course it is. I can’t wait to meet him.” I smiled at Eddie. “So? Tell me about him.”
The returning grin was brilliant. He had it bad.
“He’s big. I mean, really big. You think me and Jack have muscles?
This guy is popped everywhere. And he’s at least four inches taller than us.
He has this thick, dark hair and these insane eyebrows that shake when he laughs.
His eyes are the golden hue of all wolves, but they’ve got this black, black ring around them.
It makes it look like a self-contained universe exists in there. ”
There was no doubt in my mind that Eddie was in love with this Cole guy, and from the sound of it, he treated our son right. Who couldn’t want that for their child?
“Why don’t you and me take a walk?” Brent suggested to Eddie. “And you can tell me more about the wolf that’ll be joining our family.”
He peered at Brent with so much hope in his eyes. “You mean it?”
“I do.”
They got up and headed for the door, then Eddie said, ‘oh!’ and rushed back over to kiss my cheek.
“See you later, Momma. Love you.”
He grinned and gave me a wink. He had no idea how badly I needed to hear that.
Then the two of them walked out, closing the door gently behind them.
I headed for the office computer. Even though Amelia would have it covered, I wanted to look up recipes for teenage wolf shifters so that Cole would enjoy his meal with us.
As I sat down, my phone rang. I saw the caller ID and smiled as I answered.
“What’s up?”