Knightly
I clear
my throat trying to mask the sound of my wolf trying to come out to greet his mate and maybe show her that it’s not a good idea to tell another man she loves him in front of us. It’s been a really long time since I’ve struggled with him. He went dormant eighteen months after I walked away from Phoebe and he’s lashing out hard. “Mommy, you have to put three dollars in the swear jar,” Aizen speaks up after a while. She laughs and pulls the mirror down in front of her to clean herself up before turning to face them.
“I do have to do that,” she nods.
“Potty mouth, Mommy,” Ayrie giggles.
“Where we going?” he asks.
“We are going to meet Knightly’s Mom, she answers and then turns to me for confirmation.
“Why?” Ayrie asks.
“Because she’s very excited to meet you, I answer.
“Me?” she laughs.
“Both of you,”
“Me too?” Aizen asks,
“Yes,”
“Why?” he presses. Phoebe gives me a pointed look.
“Because she’s your grandma,‘ I say. She looks back at them to see their reactions.
“We have a grandma shark?” Aizen shouts.
“So, cool!” Ayrie kicks out excitedly. “I never had one of those before, Mommy,”
“Is there a grandpa shark?” he asks. Oh, these little things are adorable.
“Yes,” I try not to laugh but they are too cute.
“Is he wrinkly with glasses?” he asks.
“I think so, but don’t tell him that. He might get upset,” I shift gears. The two of them laugh.
“It’s the first thing that’s coming out of their mouths,” Phoebe moves to sit in her seat properly
*Did you get anything for yourself?” I ask.
“It’s okay. I have my purse,” she says holding it up. “I’ll figure out the rest in the morning,”
When we arrive, she doesn’t hesitate to go around for them. I help her and reach for one of the backpacks. She takes the other one. The other cars arrive when we go around to the front. My dad approaches giving me a sympathetic look. My mom runs out of the house looking as feral as ever, but she tries to play it off. When she gets close enough. I doubt Phoebe had a chance to wind down after getting home. She’s still wearing the elegant outfit she had on earlier today.
“Here we go,” Dad says when her eyes land on us.
“Hello,” My mom waves at us excitedly.
“Hello,” Phoebe sighs and glances back at me. She crouches and sets Aizen down. I take Ayrie to her. She looks up at my mom and smiles. “This is your Grandma Shark. She’s really cool and really smart. If you think Mommy is smart, you’re going to like her,”
“Whoa,” the two of them say looking up at my mom. My dad goes over to them.
“And that right there, is Grandpa Shark, I add.
“D.A.D. he’s not wrinkly, Ayrie bursts into a fit of giggles.
“Ayrie, he said not to say that,” Aizen scolds her
“D.A.D. huh?” my mom approaches slowly. My chest warms when Ayrie backs into met and wraps her little arms around my neck
“Scared,” she buries her face in my chest. I slowly wrap my arms around her not sure
what to do.
“You don’t have to be scared of her. She’s a Mommy, just like yours. Have you ever been scared of your Mommy?”
“No,” she shakes her little head.
“Then there’s no reason for you to be scared of my either,” I reassure her. She
turns her head to look up at my mom but she doesn’t move away from me. She’s so tiny. So perfect.
“Why don’t you help her say hello?” Phoebe tells our son.
Aizen steps away from Phoebe and she lets him. He comes over to us and takes Ayrie s hand. She lets go of me and is quick to get closer to him. His eyes hold mine for a bit before he turns back to face my parents. He’s well aware of his surroundings.
“Hello,” he stops in front of my dad. My dad crouches down in front of them. “My name is Aizen,”
“It’s nice to meet you, Grandson,” he smiles at him. “My name is Fredrick. You can call me Freddy or Grandpa. Your choice.”
“Grandpa” the two of them blurt out. My mom covers her mouth as she fights the
tears in her eyes.
“Vous êtes très grande,” Ayrie asks. I look over at Phoebe.
“They speak French?” I ask.
“It’s their first language,” she clears her throat.
“Je veux être grand comme toi, grand–père,” Aizen adds.
“I have no idea what he just said, my Dad laughs.
“He said he wants to be as big as you are,” Phoebe tries to keep it together. Something tells me she lets them get away with whatever they want.
“Tu es très jolie, grand–mère, Ayrie lets go of Aizen’s hand and holds it up for my mom. My mom gets down on her knees and takes it.
“Merci. Toi aussi, ma petite princesse,” she says gently. Ayrie laughs and rushes forward to hug her almost knocking her back.
“Ayrie, be careful,” Phoebe gasps. “I am so sorry. She can be such a brute sometimes,”
“It’s a good thing Grandma is tough, huh?” my mom hugs her.
“Sorry,” Ayrie pets my Mom’s hair. “You okay?”
“I’ve never been better,” she says. “Let’s get you inside, huh? It’s chilly out here,”
“Lots of chilly,” Ayrie nods and then pretends to shiver.
“May 1?” my dad looks up at Phoebe asking if he can carry Aizen. She stiffens and glances at me before she reluctantly nods
My parents pick them up and we make our way inside. I stop her when they take the two of them into the kitchen. She looks after them anxiously.
“They’re okay” I reassure her.
“I’m not being crazy,” she says her voice thick with emotions. Her eyes are brimming with tears.
“No, you’re not,” I agree. “I just want to say how sorry I am that things got this way. I want to explain everything to you if you let me,”
“Can it wait until I can get them cleaned up and in bed?” she asks.
“Of course. You can stay with them in my room,”
“Thank you,” she nods and heads in the direction my parents took them.
“That is a whole lot of woman,” Peter comes up behind me. My wolf growls at him. Doof. Settle down, alpha. Just making an observation. That is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. That little mini clone of hers is going to have all of us eating out of her cute little pudgy hands
Im a D.A.D.,” is all I can say. The way she felt in my arms. Her instinct was to trust me
without question
“Yeah” he rubs my back. “And it looks like that alpha instinct didn’t miss her,”
“No“Lagree “No, it didn’t”
16
Freaking out? Me? I think so. I don’t know why I feel safe here. The circumstances of our arrival were not even a little bit okay. But the way Maria Blake addressed me back in my office and how she reacted to the kids, tells me she cares about them.
That was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever gone through and I used to be a military brat. There were times when my dad would wake us up in the middle of the night. because we needed to get out of the house.
I’m not sure why it surprises me when Knightly leads me to his room. It’s almost as big as my living room and kitchen put together. This place looks like a huge lodge on a very wealthy ranch.
The inside is decorated as such. There’s a massive bed framed with beautiful dark. wood. The bedding is an assortment of blues, grays, and blacks. There’s a lot of space and not a lot of furniture, yet the room doesn’t feel empty. It’s comfy if I have to put a word on it. I set their things down on the bed and take a moment to clear my head.
“Are we sleeping over?” Aizen asks.
“Yes,” I nod.
“Are we going bathtime here?” Ayrie asks. She hasn’t let go
seem to mind.
“Yes,”
“Do we have bubbles?”
of Knightly and he doesn’t
“I brought bubbles,” I nod knowing that no matter where we ended up, this would calm them. Although, now that they’re older they’re a lot more restless.
“Yes,” they both laugh.
“You have a tub, right?” I ask Knightly.
“A very big tub. It wouldn’t be safe to fill it all the way,” he confirms.
The twins gasp. Knightly sets Ayrie down and he points at the door. The two of them run over to it. Aizen gets it open and runs inside to find the light switch. Ayrie could never. Like me, she’s mildly afraid of the dark. My entire apartment is lined with neon lights that turn on when the ceiling lights are turned off.
“Whoa!” the two of them beam when the light comes on. I take their backpacks with me as I get up to see what’s going on.
“It’s like a pool,” Aizen looks back at his sister excitedly.
“The biggest–biggest cereal bowl,” Ayrie squeals and runs inside.
Knightly’s not wrong, it wouldn’t be safe for them to fill the tub all the way. Especially not with bubbles. Near the giant glass sliding doors at the end of the room is a giant tub that in fact looks like the biggest–biggest cereal bowl to ever exist. On the rim is a
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