Epilogue #2
Finally, I broke out in a fit of giggles.
“Your father is also charming and beautiful. He could sweep you off your feet with a single haiku. His love for teaching was inspiring. He is the ultimate protector, and I have never felt safer since I let myself trust your father. I love him with all that I am. That does not mean he doesn’t have faults.
That doesn’t mean there are things that irritate me and send me into a rage about him. ”
“Like when he changes around everything on the kitchen counter without telling you? Or swaps all the drawers in the bathroom?” Caleb offered, and I nodded.
“Exactly.”
Kayla broke out in sobs. “But…I have nothing I hate about him!”
Getting up from my lean, I held out my arms to her.
She tentatively stepped into them, resting her head on my shoulder.
She got her height from Marcus, and it was damn infuriating that all my kids turned out with his height.
I was passed up usually by middle school or, at the latest, sophomore year of high school.
“How could you ask that of me, Dad?”
“Because I’m making a point, sweetheart.”
She sniffled. “What point?”
“That Caesar has been putting his best foot forward for you. He wants you to like him, and so he’s stepping up and putting all his good qualities out in front for you to fall in love with.”
She scoffed. “That’s a bad thing?”
I shook my head. “It’s not. But what if one morning, Caesar tried to be romantic and brought you flowers at six in the morning? You didn’t know and answered the door in your PJs without your makeup on. How would you feel?”
“Mortified! He’s never seen me without makeup! And in the morning? With my hair all gross and my night mask on? Horror.”
It took everything not to laugh at her. “So you’re putting your best foot forward for him as well. That is perfectly okay. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing; it’s good because it means the both of you want to be liked and even loved.”
“But?” Kayla knew me well.
“You haven’t known each other long enough to let that relationship grow past that yet. Where you see their everything. Things that may annoy you or infuriate you. Things that you still end up loving about them in the long run.”
“Why does it need to get there? Why can’t I figure it out after we mate?”
I lifted her head, cupping her cheeks. “Maybe it’s only something silly like he picks his nose while driving.”
The boys chuckled, and Kayla fake-gagged.
“You have brothers. Caesar is just another boy, Kayla. He’s not exempt from doing boy shit.”
“Still though!”
Kissing her forehead, looked her in the eyes. “What happens if that thing is a deal-breaker?” I let my tone drop more seriously.
“What do you mean?”
Taking a deep breath, I held Kayla steady. “Like not planning on you becoming integrated into the flight. Or he refuses to allow you to work, only wanting you to be a wife to pump out hatchlings.”
“He wouldn’t…!” I put my finger to her mouth.
“What if he feels like he wants an Omega too? What if he isn’t faithful to the mark? What if he already has a family, or kids with another shifter? What if he quits school because being an Alpha is just better than struggling through finals?”
My lips pursed into a thin line because I knew that one of the things I mentioned was actually true. One of them I had overheard by mistake on campus. I’d hoped he’d come clean by now, so Kayla could choose if she wanted to stay with him, but he hadn’t yet.
“Dad, I…Caesar wouldn’t. He wouldn’t be any of those. He’s not like that.”
“I’m not saying he is, sweetheart, but it’s important to reach that stage in the relationship.
It’s easier when you start out as friends or even enemies because you end up showing your cards far sooner.
But when you start off by putting your best foot forward, then you don’t really know them until the ice breaks. ”
Micah snorted. “Do you truly know someone until you’ve farted in front of them and not apologized?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “Not that far, boys, you guys smell. You’ll scare all the potential mates away like that.
” I focused back on Kayla. “This deal will stay valid. When you can come to me and tell me something you hate about him, I’ll speak to your father.
Until then, if you want to broach the subject, you are on your own. ”
Turning, I gathered up the papers off my desk and slipped them into my bag. Shouldering it, I grabbed my keys. Micah got up, Caleb behind him, and opened the door for me. I stood in the doorway and smiled.
“Come on, Kayla, we don’t want to be late. Your father is cooking tonight, and you know how he gets. We can’t be late.”
“You’re not driving, Dad. We are.”
I hit Micah with the back of my hand. “Hush. Otherwise, I’ll let Kayla drive.”
Caleb snorted. “Not my car, you don’t. Same reason I don’t let Aunt Beau touch my car.”
“What are you talking about? I’m a great driver.”
Micah barked out a laugh. “How many cars have you totaled in the past three years?”
“Shut up!”
“Now, you two.” I chastised the twins. “Don’t make fun of your sister or your aunt because they can’t drive.”
Caleb and Micah laughed while Kayla stormed behind us. We climbed into Caleb’s car, and I opted to sit in the back with Kayla. She was still fuming and giving me the silent treatment.
“Kayla?”
She snapped back at me. “What?”
“Maybe we can invite Caesar’s parents over soon. We have the annual picnic soon and maybe they would fly in for it.”
“You think? Father would be okay with that?”
I smiled. “He would have to be. Go ahead and invite them. I think it would be good to get to know them.”
Kayla leaned forward and kissed my cheek.
It didn’t feel good that I was setting her up for what was inevitably Caesar’s worst moment, but I’d let Kayla decide how she wanted to proceed.
Plus, her family would be there for her if she fell.
We always would be. I rolled down the window a bit, getting some fresh air.
“We can turn the air on if it’s too hot.”
I shook my head. “Just feeling a bit nauseous is all.”
I could hear all three of them turn in their seats.
“Dad, you’re not pregnant again, are you?”
Taking a deep breath of the air outside, I shrugged. “Dunno. It’s just been today.”
“What did you have for breakfast today?”
I hummed. “Your father.”
In perfect synchronicity, my three kids made gagging sounds. It just fueled my laughter.
“See, now we are all nauseous.”