Chapter 3
“I just heard about Gravestone. How are you taking it?” Mac told Aaron that she didn’t know what to think right now. “Understandable. He keeps claiming that she’s been kidnapped and that the president is at fault for his being in jail. He’s also blaming you for his being arrested.”
“What did I do?” He told her what he’d heard about her just being a woman. “I see. I guess I can understand his way of thinking. He thinks that women are beneath him on such a low level that they shouldn’t have the right to vote.”
Aaron laughed, and she smiled. “I just wanted to make sure that you heard about it before it hit the papers. I don’t know what they’re going to say about it, but he really only hit her the one time, and that’s all it took.
” Mac told Aaron that she wasn’t surprised by his attitude towards women.
He’d been saying the same thing to her since she’d been hired into his department.
“He’ll be in prison for a long time. John is going to make sure that he’s punished to the limit. ”
“John MacInyre, the president, called you to let you know? You must really be a good friend with him if he went out of his way to notify you.” He told her that they were good friends and cats together.
“I must say I’m impressed. I had no idea…
well, I figured that you knew him, but just not where he’d call you up about something like this. ”
“He knew that he’d been harassing you, so that’s partly it.
I think he wanted me to let you know so that you’d know that he’s not bothering you anymore.
They won’t allow him to make calls like the ones he’s been doing at the house.
” She said that would be a relief. “I thought as much. I talked to Zeno, too. We’ve made up. ”
He told her what they’d talked about and how it had ended. When he said that they were having dinner with his family tonight, she’d forgotten all about it. Aaron told her that they usually eat at six when the grandparents were coming over because they went to bed at nine.
“I’ll have to get ready.” She asked about the boot. “I don’t have to wear it when they’re all around, do I? I mean, they all know that we’re mates and that you’ve healed me.”
“No, you’ll be fine. We don’t have to go anywhere, so no one will see you but us.
” She said that was wonderful, she hated wearing it in the first place.
“It won’t be too much longer, and you can stop wearing it altogether Dad said.
He thinks another couple of weeks, and you’ll be fine to not wear it at all. ”
She’d broken her ankle when she’d been walking along the sidewalk when Aaron had come out of his office.
It was actually the second break, as when she’d fallen the first time, the doctor had told her that it was only a sprain.
Falling into Aaron’s lap when she’d fallen the second time, she knew that she’d hurt herself worse than before.
The pain had been nearly too much for her.
Now she was healed because of being mated to Aaron, and she was thrilled.
But she had to keep faking it because even though the town knew what they were, tigers, she wasn’t going to flaunt that his magic had healed her within days of meeting her.
After getting off the phone with Aaron, she decided to see if she could help with dinner.
She knew that when they all got together, LouCinda would do the cooking, and perhaps she could peel some potatoes or something.
Anything to stay busy. When she entered the kitchen, she found her crying and rushed to see what had happened.
“It’s nothing really. I just get to thinking about my age, and I get sad.
I really wanted to have a grandbaby by now, but I can wait a bit longer.
No pressure on you, my dear. I have these fits every once in a while.
Especially when the boys are coming over.
I’m so glad that you’re a part of the family now.
It’s so nice to have someone to talk to.
” She asked her if she could wait a couple more months.
“Are you trying to have a baby now? I didn’t know that. ”
“Yes. Aaron said he’d tell me when I was ovulating and then he’d ask me again.
But I want to hold his child so bad, I know just how you feel.
” They hugged. She couldn’t believe how much she loved the older woman and got along with her.
“I’m to understand that Frank and Milly, Aaron’s grandparents, are coming over tonight as well. You’re going to have a full house.”
“We’re used to it. I never thought to ask you what you thought about them coming over. I’ll have to be more careful from now on.” Mac asked her why she had to do that. “It’s your home, too. I don’t want to step on your toes. What if you’d had plans for this evening? I would have messed them up.”
“You have the family over anytime you want. I know too that Saturday night is the night that you hold dinners on, so I’d never make plans on that night.
It’s our house, not just mine and Aaron’s.
You have to do what you want without thinking that you’re going to bother me.
We are going to be living together for a long time, and I don’t want any tension between us.
” Getting another hug, she sat down to peel potatoes.
“I was going to make baked potatoes, but Zeno asked for mashed, and I can’t turn down a request from them.
You’ll understand when you have your own kids. ”
“I can’t turn down Aaron, so I’m getting a glimpse into what it might be like.” The two of them laughed. “I know nothing about babies. Especially not cubs. I think that’s what Aaron said they’d be called.”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s not so different than having a regular baby.
Except, of course, they do change into kittens when they hit about ten.
Some go earlier and some a little later.
Aaron changed the first time when he was seven.
It scared him badly enough that he didn’t shift again until he was eleven.
He didn’t expect it happen, so he was afraid that he’d done something wrong when he had.
” She said that Aaron was going to change her after talking to their leap leader.
“Yes, he will have to approve it. I don’t know why he’d turn him down.
Aaron and this whole family has been a part of the leap since he started out being the leader.
Aaron could be one if he wanted, and I think that’s what the leap lead is going to try to talk him into it one day.
But for now, we follow the rules and pay our dues so that there is no trouble from any of us. ”
“Good.” She was about halfway through the potatoes when Milly showed up.
Milly and Frank were the boys’ grandparents, and they loved Aaron so much that he was spoiled from them.
Frank would get himself into trouble once in a while, and Aaron would have to come over to fix whatever he’d done to get it back to working order.
But they loved him, so they didn’t have too much to get him to fix things around the house.
Just before dinner was ready to be put on the table, the men showed up.
They not only set the table for their mom, but they also brought the bowls of food into the dining room.
There was going to be plenty to eat, and she was glad for it.
The smells alone were enough to have her salivating at the mouth for some of it.
By the time they were all seated, she thought that she could eat everything on the table and not feel the least bit bad about it.
They never talked business at the table, she noticed.
They did talk loudly and without restraint.
It seemed to her that they would argue for the sake of arguing, and it was fun.
It was also something that she was going to have to get used to.
She loved this family so much that she wondered how she’d made it for so long without them in her life. Especially Aaron.
Clean up was done by the men. Even Franklin and Frank pitched in where they could because she’d been helping cook.
They not only put the few leftovers away, but they also loaded the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen.
It was as pristine as it usually was when there was no one around but the four of them.
Mac was so full that she wanted to take a nap.
“Your brother Shawn is in town.” That perked her up, and she looked at Aaron to see if he’d known.
“He’s staying at the local hotel. I’m running a check on the card he used.
Someone by the name of Clair Baker. He said that she’d given it to him to use, looking for his sister and brother.
He also had a long visit with Benjamin while he was at the stationhouse, too. ”
“Did he say what he wanted?” Zeno said that he’d not spoken to him but knew that he’d been upset with his brother.
“I can imagine. When Benjamin told me that he was going to be on the straight and narrow, I wondered what Shawn or Dad would have to say about that. He’s not bothered me since he apologized to us. ”
“Is Shawn any meaner than your other brother? Before I forget, your dad will be released soon. I’m to understand that he’s been in prison for stealing cars and selling them on the open market.
Stupid move if you were to ask me. He was stealing them right off the street in front of his house and selling them to people in the same town.
” Mac told Alaric that her dad had always been lazy about things and was certainly stupid about everything else.
“This will be his third conviction if he causes any trouble around here. We don’t take kindly to strangers messing with our town. ”