CHAPTER 31 JARED #8
The sounds are coming from the adjoining room, the one Silvio designated as Tommy’s.
I look inside uncertainly, but I already know who I’m going to find.
It’s Mauro.
Wow.
Seeing him is like being struck by lightning.
My beautiful fated mate is kneeling on the carpet. A toolbox sits beside him, and he himself is… diligently assembling furniture. Most of it is already put together, actually, and he’s just fastening some shelves.
I stand there for a moment, staring, unable to believe what I’m seeing. My presence doesn’t go unnoticed.
Mauro must have been working for hours to put together the entire set of furniture for Tommy! Maybe most of the night, because there’s so much of it, and the pieces are all different shapes, with so many parts!
My heart speeds up.
His dark hazel eyes slowly lift to me, and if I couldn’t read his energy, his face would look completely calm and almost impossible to decipher.
I shiver slightly, as if his gaze were a wind blowing over me. I want to feel it on me, stirring up all my already-tense nerves.
For the third time since I entered this house, I repeat the obvious.
"I’m back, Mauro. I’m so deeply sorry, for all the anger I dumped on you.
" My teeth are literally chattering because I desperately want him to know the truth. "Believe me, if it were only about me, I would have stayed, but I was so damn scared for Tommy. I… I’m not just an omega. I’m a dad.
I’m not alone… I come as a package deal with Tommy.
" I close my eyes because saying the next words almost hurts.
"And with all my heart, I want you to… accept us as a package deal. "
But if I had been expecting accusations, resentment, anger, there is none.
With one swift movement of his lithe body, Mauro gets to his feet, comes toward me, wraps his arms around me, and pulls me tightly against him.
In that moment, I feel all the tension, fear, stress, all those emotions simply pour out of me, and I burst into tears.
They run down my cheeks as I clutch desperately at his arms with my fingers… as if I were drowning and he were the one keeping me above the surface. "I’m sorry, so sorry, Mauro. I missed you, so much!"
Suddenly, I feel his arms tense slightly as he pulls me away from him so he can look into my face.
His expression changes, becoming somewhat tense, full of seriousness, and then Mauro does something I have never heard him do before, and I suspect no one has experienced in the past nineteen years.
He speaks.
"Jared… I love you."
I’m speechless. His voice is low and rough, almost as if he has laryngitis, as though his throat hurts, and maybe it does… He struggles with it, swallows, and then slowly continues.
"For six years, I dreamed of you every day. For six years, I believed… that one day we would stand face-to-face like we are today, when nothing could separate us anymore. And yes, I want all of you, the whole package, Tommy included."
Instead of answering, I throw myself back into his arms and sob, melting against him as I hold him tightly. Happiness washes over me in such a huge wave that I almost lose my balance.
This moment is everything I have ever wanted and everything I have been waiting for. It is happiness made flesh, and it feels like a dam has finally burst, leaving me trembling with joy, relief, and the feeling of being free from fear at last.
"Papa…?"
A small, quiet voice reaches me from near the doorway.
I turn and see Tommy is standing in the doorway, so small, sleepy, and a little uncertain, with his tousled golden curls and a little wooden beaver figurine in his hand.
His gaze is shifting back and forth between me and Mauro.
Papa… that was what Tommy used to call Mark.
"Yes," I say firmly. "This is your new papa. From now until forever."
Tommy looks at me and then at Mauro again, and I know he still doesn’t understand any of it, but then Mauro lets me go.
He slowly approaches Tommy and crouches down in front of him.
From his pocket, he pulls out… a present, a clear sphere with a tiny forest elf figurine suspended inside, surrounded by colorful flowers.
Then he does something I can only call a magic trick. He runs his hand over the surface of the sphere, and when he pulls it away, the inside of the sphere lights up, the little elf begins to dance, and tiny butterflies start fluttering around him.
Tommy watches in fascination, then reaches out his hands, and Mauro gives him the sphere. I see the moment when Tommy’s eyes cautiously dart toward Mauro’s face, and Mauro gives him a warm, knowing smile, which Tommy shyly returns.
And then I feel almost choked with happiness and peace, because Tommy is still so young, and it will simply be easier for him…
his child’s heart, still free of bitterness and resentment toward his biological father, will be able to make room for someone new, someone who can give him what every child needs: a father’s love.
And I know it, I can feel it in every cell of my body, that Mauro will love my son. He’s my fated mate, and Fate chose him perfectly.