Chapter 25
Chapter twenty-five
Camelia
Camelia clutched tighter to James' hand as she strolled up the front walk of Evan's family estate, sandwiched between her Alphas. Her heart was thudding hard in her throat, and she couldn't stop herself from looking at the house in front of her with awe.
Calling it a house was a bit of a stretch, if she was being honest. It was just shy of a mansion, an enormous property in the colonial style, with red brick and green ivy and white pillars everywhere that she looked.
The doorknobs were shiny brass, the door knocker ornate, and Evan and James both walked up to the front of the property as if it wasn't one of the most magnificent things that they had ever seen in their lives.
When you grow up around it, Camelia supposed that you got used to this sort of grandeur. But God damn.
"Wait." Camelia stopped in her tracks as they drew near the door, anxiety pooling in her belly as she looked at the building. She swallowed, and Evan looked back at her with raised eyebrows.
"What is it, baby?"
Camelia tightened her grip on James' hand, and the returning squeeze settled her a little. "Your...we're coming to meet your parents, right?"
A slight smile quirked at Evan's lips. "They're home, yes."
"And...have you told them? About me? About what we are.
..to each other?" Camelia gestured between the three of them, her stomach twisting.
She may have decided that she was okay with people knowing that she was an Omega, but that didn't make it any less nerve wracking to walk into someone's home and not know how they felt, what they knew.
If they were going to give her the same judging looks that she had experienced for her entire life when people realized what she was.
Evan's expression softened. "No, I haven't. I didn't want to before you gave me your permission, baby."
The thoughtfulness was sweet, but it only made Camelia that much more nervous about what they were walking into. She glanced up at James, who was staring at the building with an expression of mixed longing and apprehension.
At least she wasn't the only one nervous, here. Though Camelia wasn't sure what it was that James had to be nervous about.
"Come on. It'll be fine. I promise." Evan took her other hand and lifted it to his lips, pressing a tender kiss to her knuckles before turning back to the house and opening the door, dragging Camelia and James into the building behind him.
"Mom!" Evan's voice echoed a little off the walls of the expansive space, and Camelia barely had the time to look around and ogle at the inside of the house as she followed Evan.
It was a classic colonial, clearly updated for modern day, with traditional touches everywhere that she looked.
The furniture and walls were soft shades of creams and browns and grays, a soothing color combination that helped Camelia to calm, just a little, as Evan released her hand and started walking towards the kitchen.
James followed, tugging her along. "The kitchen," he explained. A small smile touched his lips. "Evan's mom likes to cook. She's usually there when I come around."
There was something softer about him here, something that seemed to have relaxed from the tension that he had been carrying before, and Camelia couldn't stop herself from smiling at little at the sight.
The fear and anxiety and tension that he had been carrying around since she and Evan found him in the student center had bothered her more than she wanted to admit, even in light of the revelations of their feelings for each other, and it made her happy to see some of that drain away.
None of that made her nerves any better as they approached the kitchen, though. Camelia swallowed as they paused outside the door, then James gently tugged her hand and pulled her the rest of the way into a large, well-lit kitchen.
Evan was standing near the stove with a woman who was a full head shorter than him, their hair the same dark shade.
She was brandishing her spatula at him as she spoke quietly, whatever she was cooking on the stove sizzling comfortingly, and James released Camelia's hand to walk over to the woman as well.
"Stop giving him a hard time, Adriana," James said, wrapping his arms around her waist and giving her a backwards hug before she could startle. "He doesn't tell me when he's coming home either."
The woman – Adriana – turned to James, her expression softening from motherly irritation to something softer, and she reached up to cup one of James' cheeks as she smiled at him. "James. You haven't come around in too long."
James shook his head, a grin spreading across his face as the rest of the tension that was lingering in his shoulders drained away. Camelia felt the difference in him in her very bones, relaxing as well, despite the nerves that she still felt.
Then Adriana turned to Camelia, a curious spark lighting in her eyes. They were hazel, and she crossed the room quickly, pushing both men out of the way in her effort to get to Camelia. "You must be Camelia."
"Yeah, hi..." Camelia stuck her hand out for a shake, but Adriana bypassed the gesture and gently wrapped Camelia in a hug, pressing her face to her shoulder.
"It is so lovely to meet you, dear. My son has told me so much about you."
The motherly gesture was so profound, so foreign, and tears immediately burned in Camelia's eyes.
She swallowed them down, not without effort, and hesitantly hugged Adriana back.
Over Adriana's shoulder, she saw Evan watching the two of them with a soft smile on his face, and her clenching stomach relaxed, just a little.
"It's nice to meet you too," Camelia said.
Her voice was a little tight with the tears that she was holding back, but neither of her Alphas or Adriana commented.
Instead, Adriana smiled gently at her before turning back to the stove, playfully shoving James out of the way so that she could reach her cooking.
"So to what do we owe the pleasure?" Adriana shot another reproachful look towards Evan before continuing, "I'm sure it must be important if you didn't even think to warn me that you were coming over, dear."
Camelia swallowed, the temporary peace that she had felt from Adriana's hug fading away. She glanced at James, whose expression was somber again, and she walked over to him, slipping her hand into his once more.
Evan looked at him, but didn't speak. Something unspoken passed between the two of them as Camelia watched. James' eyes pleaded, Evan shook his head in a tiny movement that Camelia barely caught.
James had to be the one to say this. Camelia wasn't sure how coming to Evan's house was meant to rectify the situation as a whole, but they couldn't take the burden of the situation away from him, no matter how much they might want to.
"My dad cut me off. Officially." James' voice was quiet and defeated, his hand slack in Camelia's grip, and she grimaced as she squeezed his hand comfortingly.
"That son of a bitch." A new voice, a male one, startled Camelia, and she turned her head to see an older man with gray-streaked dark hair and bright blue eyes walking through another door into the kitchen.
There was a fire of anger in his eyes, and his eyes flicked to Camelia as he came to a stop next to Evan.
"Is this..." He raised an eyebrow at Evan, who had the grace to look a little sheepish – though Camelia wasn't sure why – then he shook his head, focusing back on Evan.
"Never mind. Questions later. James." He walked over and grasped James by the shoulders, his expression open and concerned. "Are you okay? How can we help?"
Camelia's mouth dropped at the open acceptance from this man, who could only be Evan's father. Evan was clearly cut from the same cloth as his dad, and Camelia's stomach did a little flip. If that's what he's going to look like in twenty years...
James looked at the ground, shame written all over his face. "I'm not okay, no. And I don't know. I don't know what to do."
Camelia squeezed his hand again, but she dropped it in surprise when Adriana turned and looked at James with an exasperated expression.
"Darling, the fund I set up for you has been waiting, remember?
We talked about this." She shot Evan a playful glare, and the sheepish expression on his face grew stronger. "Evan never got me your details."
"I forgot," Evan mumbled. He glanced at Camelia. "Been...a little preoccupied."
Camelia's cheeks burned at the insinuation, but neither of his parents seemed to pick up on it. His father squeezed James' shoulders, who was now looking up at him with wide eyes. "We always told you that we would help you, son. I wish that you weren't so damn stubborn."
As Camelia watched, Evan's father pulled James into a hug, and her stomach swooped when James returned the hug after a moment.
It was a firm, fatherly embrace, and Camelia swallowed against a lump in her throat when she noticed a lone tear track down James' cheek. That was twice in one hour that she’d seen her Alpha cry.
"I…I didn’t want…” James swallowed, then finally said, quietly, “Thank you, Chris.” He pulled away, then went over to Adriana, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Thanks, mom. I wish…I wish I didn’t have to ask this."
It was an even quieter statement, and Camelia scrubbed her hand across her cheeks to wipe away the tears as Adriana nodded at him, very no-nonsense despite the soft look on her face.
"Chris will bring you the paperwork. We still need your social, and I'm sure that Chris can fix whatever your father fucked up with your admission at Ridgeview.
We would have done this for you a long time ago, James. All you needed to do was ask."
The fact that she didn't need to ask exactly what had happened to know made a spark of respect kindle in Camelia's stomach for Evan's mom, and Chris turned to face her fully, a warm expression on his face.
"Of course. And now that that's finally out of the way, you must be Camelia." He reached out and grasped Camelia's hand between both of his big ones, warmth seeping from his grip and settling deep in her belly. "It's lovely to meet you. I hope my son hasn't been giving you too hard of a time."
He winked, and Camelia couldn't stop herself from smiling back at him, glancing first at Evan, and then at James, who were both watching her. "I can handle them, sir, don't you worry about that."
Chris tossed back his head and laughed. "I would expect nothing less." He released her hand, then turned to James with a stern expression. "Come on, James. Let’s get you sorted, hmm?"
James practically crumpled before Camelia's gaze, and he trailed after Chris as he turned and left the kitchen. "Okay," he mumbled.
Camelia watched him go, a spark of something terrifying kindling in her chest: hope. Hope that things were going to work out. Hope that the three of them would be able to make this work.
Hope for the future.