3. Grayson
Grayson
The kitchen has settled into the comfortable mess after dinner.
Plates crowd the counter, a pot soaking beside the sink, and the children’s voices carrying in from the living room while Maceo dries each dish I hand him.
We’re close enough that our arms brush every few minutes, neither of us bothering to make more space as his scent overwhelms me.
I snort as he easily places one of the dishes away without asking me where it goes.
Luca has a bad habit with rearranging parts of the house, especially when the outside world makes him antsy.
One of those parts includes the kitchen, though he hasn’t touched it in almost a year.
Maceo reaches past me for the serving-spoon drawer, nudges it shut with his hip, and takes the next plate from the rack before I can pass it to him.
I rinse another dish and glance toward him. “You missed a spot.”
Maceo inspects the clean plate, then dips one corner of the towel into the sink and draws it across my wrist. Water seeps beneath my cuff before I can pull away.
He catches my hand when I flick the suds back at him, holding my wrist while the beginning of a smile softens his mouth. “You’re holding a wet plate. Think this through.”
“You’re the one who put soap on me, Gamma.”
“You told me there was a spot.”
His thumb brushes over my pulse before he releases me.
I lean against his shoulder as I return the plate to the water, and he presses a kiss to my temple while we finish the last few dishes.
The exchange is easy, the kind of small moment I used to watch the others share while Maceo stood near the edge of the room.
His purr starts up in his chest as he continues and I have to smile at the soft chaos spreading through the house.
Behind us, the children have turned most of the living room into a castle.
James has arranged the couch cushions into two uneven walls, Rosalie sitting between them with her plastic crown tilted over one eye, and Samuel holding Blake’s cane upright as the gate.
Blake is stretched along the couch with Luca tucked against his side, one of Blake’s hands resting beneath the back of Luca’s shirt while Luca kisses the edge of his jaw between quiet pieces of conversation.
They’ve been attached since dinner, shifting only enough to let the children pull cushions from around them.
Maceo sets the final plate in the cabinet and follows my gaze as Samuel crawls beneath the cane with a toy dragon clutched in one hand, moving carefully so he doesn’t knock it from James’s grip.
“Don’t hit it,” James warns. “Papa needs it.”
“I know. I’m going slow.”
Rosalie points toward the gap between the cushion walls. “Put my door by my chair.”
Samuel reaches the other side and places the dragon beside her before crawling back the same way. I suppress a chuckle as James then moves toward Blake and sets it down beside him.
“I’m done, Papa.”
“Thank you for taking care of it.” Blake draws him close long enough to kiss his hair before Samuel returns to the castle.
Luca turns and presses his mouth to Blake’s cheek, pulling the Delta back into the moment. Blake’s fingers curl more firmly beneath Luca’s shirt as Luca settles against him again without saying anything.
I dry my hands while Maceo folds the towel over the oven handle. “We should stop this before Rosalie decides the cane needs a crown too.”
Maceo moves behind me and slides an arm around my waist. “She’d ask Blake first.”
“You have far more faith in her restraint than I do.”
His quiet laugh warms the back of my neck. He rests his chin on my shoulder while we watch Samuel and James repair one of the walls Rosalie has knocked down to make room for her throne.
“They’re happy,” he says.
I cover the hand resting over my stomach. “So are you.”
Maceo is silent for a moment, but he doesn’t retreat from the question or loosen his hold. “I am.”
I turn in his arms and kiss him, first at the corner of his mouth and then fully when he follows me. His hand slips beneath the hem of my shirt, his palm warm against my side as he draws me closer.
“Ah! The castle is tired!” Rosalie screams before her small whine tapers off into a sigh. The kind of sigh that tells me it’s bedtime.
I rest my forehead against Maceo’s for another second before we separate and begin the slow process of getting everyone to bed.
James gathers the cushions while Samuel carries the toys back to their bin.
Rosalie raises both arms toward Maceo, and he lifts her without being asked.
Her crown slips into his hand, but she catches his collar before he can set it aside.
“It sleeps by me.”
“I’ll put it next to your bed, sweetie.”
She settles against his shoulder, satisfied, while I collect the cups and abandoned socks scattered across the room. Luca slides off the couch, no doubt moving to the dresser in our room for pajamas, but not before he presses another kiss to Blake’s forehead.
He sits up a little, his eyes darkening lightly before they land on me, remembering the promise he made to all of us. That he wouldn’t work any harder than he needs to, that he’s not worthless if he can’t do everything for us.
“I think a few someones forgot to say goodnight to their Papa.”
Rosalie squeals from Maceo’s arms before pushing out of his embrace and rushing back over to Blake. Samuel and James look back at each other before hopping onto the couch as well, each of them wrapping their arms around whatever they can reach.
Luca returns with a tangle of clothes, grinning at the mess, the rest of us watching as Blake’s smile widens across his entire face.
Our Omega approaches, handing Blake Rosalie’s tutu pjs as the twins plop into Luca’s lap.
Luther moves in behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist as Maceo presses against my side, trying to hold our laughter.
“Papa, that’s where my leg goes.”
“Rosie, please stop squirming.”
“James, that’s Samuel’s. See? It has the engines on it.”
“But I want to wear engines!”
“I hate yellow. Why did you pick yellow, Daddy?”
Blake gets Rosalie dressed first before stealing Samuel from Luca, our baby girl racing to Maceo.
I narrowly manage to catch James while Luther takes Samuel from Blake a moment later.
A few steps down the hallway, Blake drags Luca close, his lips slotting over the Omega’s like the whole nighttime routine didn’t just happen.
By the time we get the kids down, Luther stays back to take a call, and I return to the living room, sitting a few cushions over from Blake and Luca.
Luca’s almost fully across Blake now, one knee tucked between his legs and his face beneath Blake’s chin.
Blake’s glasses are resting on the side table while he kisses along Luca’s temple, pausing whenever Luca tilts his face up for another kiss.
Maceo sits beside me in the nearby chair, close enough that his thigh presses against mine. I take his hand again and run my thumb over his knuckles while we watch the two of them disappear into each other.
Luther enters a few minutes later, pulling his tie free as he looks from the couch to where Maceo and I are sitting. “I’m feeling left out. Someone come here and give me kisses because I’m not sure I’ll be able to pry our Omegas apart.”
Luca raises one hand from Blake’s chest but makes no effort to move, and Blake catches his palm to kiss it. Their refusal draws laughter from the rest of us.
Luther comes to me instead, stepping behind the couch and sliding one hand beneath my jaw. He tilts my head back against him and kisses the side of my neck while his other arm settles across my chest. I lean into the warmth of him, keeping one hand linked with Maceo’s.
Maceo watches Luther’s mouth move beneath my ear, his expression softening. “I’m good with this.”
Luther laughs against my skin and kisses me again, slower this time. When I open my eyes, Blake and Luca are both looking over at us. Luca rests his chin on the cushion while Blake peers beside him, his curls flattened where Luca has been lying against them.
“I don’t think this night is going to be as quiet as we planned,” I say.
Luca’s smile spreads. “Nope. Knot, please.”
Blake plants both hands on the back of the couch and starts to climb over it. I leave Luther’s arms before Blake can get one knee onto the cushions, reaching him just as his balance begins to shift.
I slide one arm behind his back and the other beneath his knees, lifting him before he can argue himself onto the floor. Blake wraps his arms around my neck and kisses me instead, his fingers moving into my hair as I hold him closer.
Across the couch, Luca reaches for Maceo. Maceo bends and lifts him, and Luca hooks his legs around Maceo’s waist before burying his face against his neck. His laughter turns warm and muffled against Maceo’s skin while Maceo carries him toward the hall.
Luther falls into step behind us, one hand resting at the center of my back while the other brushes over Blake’s leg where it hangs across my arm. Blake reaches past my shoulder to catch Luther by the loosened tie and pulls him close enough for a kiss.
“You ready to let us take care of you, baby?” I whisper into Blake’s hair.
He grins up at me. “Me, a pillow princess? As long as Luca’s not the only one getting a knot. Sold.”