Chapter 17
LINCOLN
“Stop fidgeting.”
But I couldn’t stop adjusting the silverware and refilling the napkins.
My mate should have been the nervous one because he was meeting my folks today. It should have happened before I planned the proposal, but they were retired and had taken off for a month. And Dale had had exams or he’d been partying too much, so he hadn’t met my mate either.
My parents were cool with me mating a human, so why was I so jittery? This was almost as stressful as the day I met Ronnie.
That turned out well. My beast was trying to bolster my confidence.
“You’ve done a great job with the food and the table setting.”
“Have I?” I counted the plates, mugs, glassware, and cutlery, convinced I’d forgotten something.
“Shouldn’t I be the one freaking the F out?” Bronson slung an arm around me. “It’s going to be fine. Parents like me.” He was so confident, and I had to change my shirt because I was sweating buckets.
But Dale was arriving first. I figured easing Bronson into meeting the family would be less traumatic than everyone arriving at once. But it turned out, I was the one experiencing trauma and not my mate.
My shifter hearing picked up Dale’s car arriving, and I strode to the front door. My brother had been excited when I told him Bronson and I had mated, especially as he’d been with me when I texted my panther’s photo to my now mate.
“Linc! So much has happened since I last saw you.” Maybe my brother and mate could sit and chat and I could take a nap.
Dale enveloped me in a hug that almost knocked the wind out of me, and my panther complained that he couldn’t breathe. “I have a new brother.” He whooped and wrapped his arms around Bronson. “I’m Dale, the cooler one.” He nudged me, and I rolled my eyes.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Bronson told him.
Dale cackled. “All the terrible things my brother has said about me are true.”
I urged my little bro to tone down the volume, but he was bouncing around, stealing crackers and cheese and asking Bronson a million questions about how he was dealing with being adjacent to shifter life.
“Why should I whisper?” Dale tossed grapes in his mouth. “You don’t care, do you, Bronson?”
My mate shook his head and took my hand, telling me to relax. But how was I supposed to do that when Dale was pacing around the kitchen, rallying off facts about my life, and my parents were due here soon.
“Did you know I was with Linc at the bonfire and the morning after?” Dale grabbed a soda and plonked himself in an armchair.
“He might have mentioned it.”
“So, I’m the hero of the story. You two are together because of my party choice. If it hadn’t been for me, you two would never have met.”
I groaned, thinking of Dale draped over Mike. Thank gods he was in my brother’s past.
But Dale wasn’t done. He detailed how I’d had a meltdown the following morning and came up with the wildlife photographer cockamamie story.
“I didn’t have a meltdown.” And I defended my lie because what else was I supposed to have said?
Bronson laughed and side-eyed me. “You asked Dale for advice?”
Now that was funny, and I giggled along with him. Dale made a face and couldn’t understand why that was so hilarious.
“I have so many embarrassing stories about Linc if you want to hear them.”
Bronson asked me if I had any tales about Dale I wanted to share.
“So many.” I folded my arms, ready to regale my mate.
“Hey, that’s enough. I’m supposed to be giving Bronson ammunition for when you argue.”
A car pulled into the drive, and Dale bounded out of the chair and out the front door.
“Parents of mine. How are you?”
“Do you know this kid, Laurie?” That was our alpha father, George. He and Dale shared the same sense of humor.
“Never laid eyes on him before. Maybe someone left him on the doorstep.”
“Very funny, you two.”
The three of them tried to enter the front door at the same time and got stuck until Dale darted forward.
My little brother quieted as I introduced my mate to our folks.
There were hugs all around, and I didn’t know why I was so nervous.
I glanced at Bronson, hoping he wasn’t overwhelmed, but he returned my smile as my omega dad held him tight.
My father held up a bottle of champagne, and when Dale whooped, he told him he wasn’t old enough to drink. My brother protested, saying he was over twenty-one, but my dad asked for ID.
I’d compared meeting Ronnie to what was happening now, which wasn’t fair. She was protecting her son, whereas my folks were gushing over us being mated.
Father uncorked the champagne with a loud pop, and everyone ducked except Bronson until I yanked him down.
“He always does that. It’s his thing.”
“To our son and his mate, and not forgetting Linc’s panther. We wish you the happiest of lives.”
I commandeered Dale into helping us bring the food out. It was mostly cold cuts with salads, fruit, and bread, and everyone helped themselves.
“You must expand on how you met?” My dad, Laurie stabbed a tomato and popped it in his mouth. “We’ve heard a little from Dale.”
I groaned because in my brother’s version of our meeting, he was the superhero in a cape, and without him, all was lost.
“Don’t believe a word of it. Dale embellished the details.”
Bronson took up the story, saying that looking back on everything, it was pretty funny. In hindsight, I supposed it was, but I was glad that was then and this was now.
“But he did send a pic of his panther to Lenny,” Dale chimed in. “Or he thought he did.”
Dad shared a glance with Father. “Lenny?”
Way to put a damper on the conversation, Dale.
I explained I’d sent it to Bronson instead, not wanting to dwell on my ex. He was an ex for a reason.
“Not every shifter meets their fated mate, so you are very fortunate,” Dad told us.
“We know,” my mate agreed.
My parents peppered Bronson with questions about how he was adjusting to the shifter world. My mate responded that it was a mixture of exciting and amazing but also a little intimidating at first.
“His panther is stunning.”
He likes me. He really likes me, my beast chanted.
My dad insisted we go to their house for dinner next week so they could share my childhood photos. It was best we get all the embarrassing moments out of the way early so we’d never have to mention them again.
“We’re so glad you joined the family,” Father said.
Dad’s expression suggested he wanted to ask something but wasn’t sure if he should.
“Have you talked about having a family, you know, kids?”
Damn, no, we hadn’t. Bronson gave me a nudge which was a “you answer that” move.
“We haven’t, but if that changes, we’ll let you know.”
Dale cut himself a piece of pie. “After watching and listening to this conversation, I now know what will happen when I mate.”
I bit back a sarcastic remark because I hoped that one day Dale would meet the love of his life.
We made arrangements to meet up next week, and I insisted Bronson and I would clear everything away. My parents and brother hugged us, but they reserved the biggest ones for the newest member of the family.
We stood at the front gate and waved off my folks before Dale zoomed off on his motorbike.
“That went well.” My mate tucked his arm in mine as we walked into the house.
It had gone better than I expected, but my folks were pretty chill and so was Bronson.
“Your dad asked an interesting question.” There was no need to ask what he was referring to. “Maybe we should discuss it. It would be the responsible thing to do.”
“Do you want children?” We were going to be married, and we hadn’t discussed it. I often accused Dale of not acting like an adult, but we’d done the same thing.
“I do.”
“Me too.”
After we put the leftovers in the fridge and turned on the dishwasher, I collapsed on the couch, ready for a snooze. But my mate hovered over me, asking if I was tired, and when I mumbled maybe, he straddled me.
“I was thinking.” He ground himself on my crotch. “Maybe we could practice.”
“Huh?”
“You know.” He undid my zipper. “I want children and you do too, and there’s no stork bringing us babies.” He sat up. “Wait, please tell me shifter children are not delivered by a stork.”
I pulled him down on top of me and put my mouth to his ear. “No storks. But I agree we should practice by putting my cock in your hole.”
“I like the way you think.”