Chapter 1 #2
I didn’t mind my job. It was one I’d had since I was sixteen, only now I was in a management position. It paid a decent wage, and although we would never be one of the more prominent families in the village, my siblings and I didn’t want for anything.
Thinking about the mundane task of doing inventory on all of our new stock, I was finally able to get my mind to shut down enough to feel myself dozing off.
It had been a long day, and tomorrow would be no different, so sleep was certainly the goal at the moment.
I took a few calming breaths, and finally, there was that wonderful feeling of sleep.
I woke to the sounds of Mason making silly noises and Mae giggling.
I smiled and once again tossed the blankets aside before I hurried off to the bathroom.
I took care of my morning needs and then went to check on my siblings.
I knew Mason had most likely already been to the bathroom, but Mae would need to be changed before I got her dressed.
“Good morning, you two,” I said, entering their room. Mason grinned at me, but Mae grabbed my attention.
“Da-da. Da-da,” she said, reaching for me. I felt terrible about her calling me that because I wasn’t technically her father—I was her brother. I was the only parent she had, though, and the only one she had ever known.
“Come here, little one,” I said, reaching for her. I picked her up to take her to my room to get her changed. “Mason, I put your clothes on your dresser for you last night. Would you get dressed for me?”
“Okay.”
I left the room and went across the hallway to my room and placed Mae on the changing table. “Good morning, little miss. How are you this morning? Did you sleep well after your middle-of-the-night bath?”
She was all smiles and her normal squirmy self. I wasn’t sure how she could be completely unaffected by her midnight adventures, but I was thankful. She didn’t seem to be fussy this morning, which was always a bonus.
“Da-da.”
“Yes, little miss?” I asked as I removed her sleeper and then went about changing her diaper.
It was something I’d done hundreds of times for younger siblings in my life, and at this point, I considered myself to be a pro at it.
Maelie just continued to babble, and when I had her changed and dressed, I picked her up and grabbed the wet diaper.
Mason was standing in the doorway when I turned, and I offered him a huge smile.
“Monroe?”
“Hmm?”
“If Maelie gets to call you dad, can I as well?”
I wasn’t at all surprised by his question.
In fact, I’d been expecting it. He had only been three when our parents had died, and really, they hadn’t done much for him up until that point.
Sadly, Mary-Sara had been doing a lot of the care, as had Martin.
I would go to work and then bring them something to eat that wasn’t basic bread and cheese.
I did what I could to take the responsibility off them and watched after Mason in the afternoons and evenings.
It might be cruel, but our parents honestly weren’t more than breeders.
They popped out child after child, and that was it.
They expected the older ones to take care of the younger ones and pretty much didn’t do much of anything except spend time in their bedroom behind a closed door.
“Sure, Mason,” I told him. I ruffled his hair on our way down the short hallway—it was only four steps long—and set Mae in her high chair. “What would you like for breakfast?”
“Can we have porridge?”
I nodded. It wasn’t my favorite, but it had been a staple when growing up in our parents’ house.
They had a lot of kids. Fifteen including me.
We often were provided for by the goodness of our fellow villagers.
It wasn’t surprising that all of my siblings who had found their mates had been quick to leave the village.
I went to the small icebox and pulled out a cup for Mae with some fruit juice in it.
After I poured Mason some as well, I got started on making porridge for my siblings.
I had just pulled out the ingredients when there was a knock on the door.
That wasn’t usual, and although it was a little later than normal, I wasn’t late for work.
We’d been quiet all morning as far as I knew, so the fact that someone was here before breakfast had me worried.
I glanced at Mason and Mae as I walked toward the door. Mason, too, seemed worried about the intrusion. I had no clue as to who it could be, but when I answered the door, the absolute last person I expected to see was standing there.
“Hello, Monroe. Might we come in?”
I looked beyond the tall, slender fate Thomas and saw his much more muscular Chosen, Canyon.