Chapter 4 #2
“I’m sorry, Mr. Dresden. Mommy said that I learn things at school that are better left on the school yard.” He told her she was all right, and she looked out the window. As he was pulling out of the school parking lot, his mom called him.
“I need you to come by for a minute. I have some things that need to go to the post office, and I should have done it before now.” He said that he was on a date. “I’m sorry, son, but it has to go out tonight. Are you sure that you can’t do it for me?”
He looked at his dates tonight and wondered what they’d think about meeting his parents.
Instead of speculating on that, he told her what he needed to be doing, and they both seemed to be all right with it.
Swinging by his parents’ home, he ran in as they said they’d wait in the car to get the package that she had.
“Why didn’t you bring her in?” He explained how she had her daughter with her. “You’re dating a woman with a child? Good for you. I’d love to meet them. Go and get them.”
“Harri, her daughter has her heart set on having pizza tonight.” There was a knock at the door, and when the maid answered it, he knew that it was Anna. “Everything all right?”
“Harri needs to use the bathroom. I hope you don’t mind.
This day is turning out to be something else, isn’t it?
I mean, I thought it was going to be a good day, but it feels like it’s turning to crap.
” Harri asked where the bathroom was, and Mom took her to it.
While she was using the bathroom, he introduced Anna to his family.
His mom asked him through their link if she was his mate, and he sadly told her that she wasn’t.
“I’m sorry about this, Mrs. Dresden. I never thought that we’d be so late getting dinner. ”
“It’s quite all right. We were just going to have dinner ourselves.
” She said that was nice, and when Harri came back from the bathroom, he kissed his mom and hugged his dad.
They were getting a late start, but he was all right with that, too.
Going by the post office, laughing a little to wonder if Anna would be delivering it tomorrow, they were on their way to the pizza shop in no time.
Harri did like her pizza hot and spicy. When she ordered her side with double pepperoni, he wanted to pick her up and hug her.
Anna ordered black olives for her side, and she seemed to be all right with them ordering a large.
She told him that she would take it to work tomorrow and have it while she was walking.
While he knew she wasn’t his mate, he was still beginning to fall in love with the two of them.
Dinner was a lot better than he thought it would have been, as they both made him laugh a great deal, even at himself.
Harri ate a little less than half of her side of the pizza and was beginning to fall asleep in her chair.
Picking up the tab, he was happy to pay for all three of them since he’d barged in
After dinner, they went to get some ice cream.
He loved ice cream and had been known to eat it just for his dinner.
But tonight he was trying to be good and only ordered two scoops instead of the usual four that he normally did.
Just as they were ready to leave the ice cream shop, his brother Zeno showed up.
He introduced him to the little family and was shocked when he looked so pissed off.
~*~
Zeno thought that he’d been trapped. The woman was his mate, and he couldn’t have been more pissed off than if she had put a gun to his head.
Not only that, but she had a little girl with her that would be doubly hard to avoid.
He looked at his brother and told him that he didn’t want him dating her anymore.
“Why not? It’s not like you care if she’s your mate or not. And I’ve enjoyed myself with her tonight.” He said that he wasn’t going to be pushed into something that he didn’t want to be. “You showed up here; I didn’t invite you. So get off your high horse and be nice. You’re scaring Harri.”
“I’m not kidding you right now, Alaric. I’m not happy with you and the circumstances that you’ve put me in.
” He asked how he’d done anything and pointed out again how he’d just shown up on his date.
“You’ll not be hanging around her, and that’s final.
I’m not in the mood for you to be fucking with me. ”
Standing up, he wasn’t the least bit surprised to see the anger on his brother’s face.
He really had barged in on his date, and that was what he’d done.
After they left him sitting there with no one to talk to, he decided to head home and try to figure out what to do.
He could feel the vein pulsing at his forehead; he was so angry.
He wasn’t in a better mood when he got home and decided that he needed something to do, or he was going to explode.
After pulling out all the food from his pantry, he started looking at the dates on things.
Some of the things had expired years ago, and that pissed him off more that he’d wasted good money on things that he could no longer eat.
Sitting on his couch, Zeno tried to do some breathing exercises so that he could calm his head.
It felt like it was going to come up off his head.
He was too tense, and that bothered him as well.
He had told his family that he didn’t want a mate, and now that she was going to be hanging around with Alaric, he’d have to see her every day.
Damn it to hell and back, this wasn’t fair.
He’d made it perfectly clear that he didn’t want anything to do with finding a mate, and here they were flaunting her around like she was…
well, he didn’t know what his brother was doing, but he wasn’t going to allow it to happen like this. He didn’t want a mate.
He must have dozed off because when he woke, it was nearly ten in the evening.
As soon as he got up, he knew that he wasn’t going to sleep well when he went to bed, so he decided that he was going to finish what he’d done to the pantry and then try to get some sleep.
He had to work tomorrow, and this wasn’t helping.
Zeno ended up tossing most of what was in his pantry.
He’d started on the fridge too and found that there were things in there that had been worse than his cabinets.
He was going to have to make a list of things that he was going to need and go to the grocery store.
He didn’t have to avoid going now because he knew right where his mate was. Hanging out with his stupid brother.
After making himself a list, it was nearly two in the morning.
Going to bed, he was exhausted enough that he didn’t have any trouble falling asleep.
When his mind went back to his mate, he nearly got up again.
But since he had to work, he willed himself to sleep.
He knew he was going to have a shitty day tomorrow and was going to blame the woman and her child.
Arriving at work twenty minutes late, his mood was in no better place than it had been last night.
Trying his best not to snip at anyone, he was ready to call it a day when Aaron pulled him into his office.
He didn’t need his big brother busting his chops right now and said that almost as soon as the door was shut.
“Alaric said you were going to be in a mood. I guess she found you last night. I don’t know what to say about that, but you’d better be taking it down a notch or two before Earl sets your ass on fire.
You know better than to take your mood out on the others.
” He said that Alaric had set him up. “That’s not the way it happened, and you know it. ”
“All right, he didn’t set me up, but why is he dating anyway?
It’s not like he has time for dates. He should be looking for a house or something, not fucking around with my mate.
” Aaron asked him if he was listening to what he was saying.
“I know what the fuck I’m saying. I don’t want a mate, and there he is, thinking that he can date her or something. That’s not going to happen.”
“What do you care? You said you didn’t want her.
Why can’t he have a little bit of fun with her while you’re around?
” He growled low, and Aaron laughed. “You just proved my point that I was trying to make earlier when you said you didn’t want a mate.
That when she comes around, you’re going to be in trouble. ”
“What kind of trouble am I in? None, that I can see. I’m just pissed off at Alaric for flaunting her in my face.
Like he has a right to do that.” He told him that he has every right to do what he wants, and he was to back off.
“What are you going to do if I don’t? Nothing. This is between me and Alaric.”
“I’m going to tell mom and dad that you found your mate and that you’re pissed off about it.
” That shut him up. He knew that if they knew what he was doing, they’d be very disappointed in him.
Zeno didn’t even know why he was so angry.
Shaking his body to disperse some of his anger, he looked at Aaron. “What?”
“You are loving this, aren’t you?” He said that he was actually. “I knew it. You and the rest of you are laughing it up at my expense just because someone came into my life that I want nothing to do with.”