Chapter 18

“Wake up, macushla !” Kieran shouted, bouncing on Logan’s stomach. “We gotta go!”

“Oof” Logan grunted, grabbing Kieran’s hips and holding him still. “Babe, stop bouncing…you’re shaking Squirt and gonna wake him up.”

Leaning down, Kieran gave his mate a kiss, then said, “He’s already awake…wanna feel how strong his kicks are?” Without giving Logan a chance to reply, Kieran placed one of his mate’s hands on his belly. “See? Squirt wants to go too!”

“Oh wow!” Logan murmured, smiling at Kieran. “He’s strong.”

“He’s showing you how eager he is.”

Remembering what his mate said when he woke him up, Logan asked, “Babe, where do you want to go?”

“Scotland! C’mon, chop, chop!” Kieran exclaimed, climbing off his mate. “Brian’s waiting for us.”

Confused, Logan asked, “What are you talking about? Is he expecting us?”

“The eggs!” Kieran shouted from the closet. Then dragging a big trunk out from it, he noticed Logan hadn’t moved. Stopping, he put his hands on his hips while tapping his foot. “ Macushla, what are you waiting for?”

Sitting up, Logan rubbed the sleep out of his eyes while trying to make sense of what his mate was talking about. But it was no use; nothing Kieran had said made any sense. Looking at his sexy mate, Logan’s cock twitched, giving him a much better idea of what they should be doing. Reaching down, he gripped his hardening shaft and said, in a deep and seductive voice, “ Mo anan cara, come back to bed…”

“No! No! No!” Kieran shook his head for added emphasis. “Brian is waiting and so are the eggs. We need to go right away…there’s no time for hanky-panky.” Turning around, he grasped the trunk handle with both hands and pulled, grunting when it barely moved.

“Hey! Stop, babe,” Logan said, jumping out of bed after seeing Kieran struggle. Brushing aside Kieran’s hands, Logan grabbed the handles and lifted the trunk. “Fuck…what the hell did you put in here?”

“Stuff I have for Brian’s five little Nessies,” Kieran muttered, looking around the room and then pointing to the bedroom door. “You can put it over there so it’ll be easy to take downstairs.”

Logan carried the trunk over to the door, setting it down with a thump. Then sitting on the top of it, he asked, “It seems like an awful lot of stuff…you know we gave them a baby shower.”

Rolling his eyes, Kieran said, “That was then, this is now. We can’t possibly show up without some gifts for the little Nessies.”

“I guess not,” Logan muttered.

“Now…chop, chop! I’ll pack for us while you go tell Jackson.”

Shaking his head, Logan asked, “I’d be glad to but what exactly am I supposed to say?”

Leaning out of the closet, Kieran stared at his mate for a moment before asking worriedly, “ Macushla, are you okay?” Then hurrying over to him, Kieran felt his forehead. “You don’t have a fever…but maybe I should call Mac…”

Grabbing hold of Kieran’s hand, Logan kissed the back of it before saying, “Babe, I’m fine…I just don’t understand why you want to go to Scotland to see Brian. If you want to talk to him, Zane can set it up using FaceTime .”

Plopping down on his mate’s lap, Kieran hooked his arms around Logan’s neck and said, “ Macushla , remember when Brian and Reif asked me to be present when their eggs hatched? And I said yes? Well, my spirit woke me up—well, actually he woke up Squirt, and Squirt woke me up, so I guess I shouldn’t say Spirit woke me up cuz Squirt might be upset because I was ignoring his first big achievement and didn’t expect him to understand our spirit until he was born. But it appears I was wrong because he did understand what our Spirit was telling him to do…come to think about it, I should put that in his baby book right away.”

Logan tightened his hold on his mate before Kieran could leave. “Babe, I agree our Squirt is amazing but I still don’t understand why you want to go to Scotland.”

“Oh. Well, you see it’s very simple…I promised Brian and Reif I would be there when their Nessies were born so we have to go right away.”

Logan blinked, then blinked again before asking, “You know for sure the eggs are about to hatch?”

“Yes…well, not me exactly, but our spirit does. I asked him to let me know when it was time for them to be born and…”

“It’s now, right? ”

Nodding vigorously, Kieran said, “Yup…that’s why we have to go, or I won’t be able to keep my promise and I always keep my promises. You can ask Theo and Norm…I promised I wouldn’t leave them at Arald’s…even though I could have escaped…because we were friends and they needed to believe in something just so they could survive and it gave them hope, especially Theo because he was so sad his parents didn’t love him anymore. And I also gave them love, and that’s why we have to go… so I can make sure the Nessies are filled with love when they enter our world.”

“And so you shall,” Logan replied, kissing his mate on his forehead. “You go pack and I’ll see Jackson. Did our spirit tell you how soon the eggs will hatch?”

“Not an exact time but he said it would be soon,” Kieran replied, wringing his hands. “I’m just so afraid we won’t make it in time.”

“Don’t think about that right now,” Logan murmured, kissing his mate again before letting Kieran get up. “Just go pack. Does anyone else have to go with us?”

“No…just us.”

“That should make this easy,” Logan said, giving Kieran a love tap on his butt before heading to the door. “I’ll be right back.”

“Uhm…don’t you think you should put on some pants?” Kieran asked, giggling at his naked mate.

~/~/~/~/~

“Mmmm…” Burying his nose in Theo’s hair, Smokey inhaled deeply, remembering the moment his mate bit him last night. It ranked right up there along with Norm biting him at the same time. His hole clenched at the memory of both his mates’ cocks buried inside him and, th ough that had never happened before, he knew he easily could become addicted to it.

Smokey’s mind relived last night, which had been magical from the unexpected proposal to the delicious meal to completing their claiming. Holding up his left hand, Smokey stared at the ring Norm had slipped on his finger, grinning at it like a fool. I never thought it would mean so much to me . But he couldn’t put it into words why the ring held so much meaning.

“It’s because you have a family again,” Norm whispered, putting his mate’s feelings into words.

Glancing over Theo’s shoulder, Smokey smiled, realizing Norm was right.

“We’re a tribe,” Theo murmured sleepily. “A family and a tribe.”

“The Tomkin tribe,” Smokey said solemnly. “My ancestors are pleased.”

“I’m glad,” Theo whispered before falling asleep again.

“It’s the pregnancy making him so tired,” Norm whispered, after seeing the concern on Smokey’s face.

Shrugging, Smokey replied, “I figured that, but I still can’t help worrying about our mate and our cub.”

Chuckling softly, Norm said, “Welcome to fatherhood.”

Quirking an eyebrow, Smokey asked, “Why are you so calm about it while I’m holding on by the skin of my teeth?”

“You’re wrong,” Norm whispered. “I’m scared shitless something will happen to Theo, the cub, or both”

Shaking his head, Smokey replied, “I don’t believe you. ”

“It’s true…the only thing keeping me from going crazy is knowing Theo needs both me and you to be strong because he’s filled with doubts.”

“I’m trying,” Smokey muttered under his breath.

“The same as me,” Norm said, softly. “I figure between the two of us, we’ll be able to give Theo the support he needs as it gets closer to his due date.”

“What about the wedding ceremony?” Smokey asked. “Does Theo want to postpone it until our cub is born?”

“How do you know about the wedding?”

“Oracle told me.”

“Then you should know that after we claimed Theo, he asked me to speak with Jackson to get his approval for the three of us to get married instead of just Theo and me.”

Smokey’s eyebrows shot up. “You and Theo want to marry me?”

“Ahh…yeah. That’s why we proposed to you last night. Theo was determined to give you a proposal that would show you how much you mean to us.”

“He did a fucking fantastic job!” Smokey growled softly, touched beyond words at his mate’s plan.

“He really did,” Norm agreed. “As to the wedding…I don’t know what Theo wants since we haven’t had a chance to talk about it since finding out about the pregnancy and then realizing you were our mate and then the whole Josiah shitstorm…”

“That was a bit too close for comfort.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Norm whispered. “But getting back to the wedding…my suggestion is we follow Th eo’s lead. If he wants to wait until the cub is born, it’s okay with me. What about you?”

“I’m good with that, too. Whatever he wants.”

“Great…now when are we gonna talk about what Ghost told you about Theo’s parents?”

~/~/~/~/~

Feeling slightly sore after his morning in bed with Jackson, Steel pushed open the door to the kitchen, stopping when he saw Dakota standing at the island. “Hey…shouldn’t you be with Max? What are you doing here?”

Turning around, Dakota said, “I’m saving your brother’s life.”

Raising an eyebrow, Steel asked, “How?”

“By being here,” Dakota replied, before returning to cracking eggs into a big mixing bowl. “Mind you, not that I want to be here but your brother didn’t give me much of a choice.”

Exhaling slowly, Steel asked, “What’s going on, Kota?”

“Nothing.”

“Okay.” Steel headed to the refrigerator and took out several packages of bacon. Setting them down next to the stove, he asked, “What do you want me to do?”

Looking up, Dakota snapped, “Maybe you can kill your brother for me? That would be a good start. Otherwise, my son is gonna have to grow up knowing his father killed his other parent.”

“Whoa…I meant breakfast…like, should I cook the bacon? ”

When Steel’s response finally sunk in, Dakota dropped the egg in his hand into the bowl and sat down heavily on a stool. Wiping the tears on his cheek away, he murmured, “I’m sorry…it’s just…I don’t know what to…oh hell.” Getting up, he headed for the door, throwing another ‘I’m sorry’ over his shoulder.

Steel caught up to Dakota before he got to the door and gently led him back to the kitchen island. “Sit,” he ordered quietly, then sat down next to him. “Hey, Kota…please look at me.”

Wiping away several tears, it took Dakota a few moments before he raised his face, looking at Steel with watery eyes.

“Now, tell me what my stupid brother did to make you so mad.”

Choking out a chuckle, Dakota murmured, “Slate isn’t stupid.”

“He is if he upsets you,” Steel replied. “I should know because I grew up with him and he is fully capable of doing stupid things. So tell me what happened.”

Shaking his head, Dakota murmured, “He thinks I don’t know what I’m doing with Max. All he does is criticize me: I’m not supporting Max’s head right…I’m not burping him right…I’m not holding the bottle right because Max is sucking in too much air…I’m not…”

“You can stop…I got the picture,” Steel said. “My brother is doing his usual crap.”

Brushing away another tear, Dakota asked, “You mean he was always like this?”

“No…What I meant was once my brother became interested in a project…he would read everything he could get his hands on and then proceed to tell everyone what they were doing wrong because only he knew the right way.”

“I am not a project, nor is Maxwell James!” Dakota exclaimed angrily.

“I know that,” Steel said gently. “My brother used to drive me up the wall with his know-it-all attitude until I finally figured out why he was doing it.”

“Because he’s a jackass,” Dakota muttered.

“Well…that too, but no, it was because he was afraid he would fuck up. And trust me, my brother is scared shitless that he’s gonna fuck up with Max. That’s why he read every baby book he could get his hands on…because he didn’t want to fail you or Max.”

“He won’t…all he has to do is love our son,” Dakota murmured. “The rest will take care of itself.”

“The trouble is he loves Max too much.”

Shaking his head, Dakota said, “There is no such thing as too much love. A child needs as much as possible.”

“I agree, but my brother has the mistaken belief that how he does something…like burping his son or feeding him…is just as important as giving Max all of his love.”

“It’s not,” Dakota whispered. “Those things are necessary because a parent doesn’t want to hurt his child, but whether our son sucks in a little more air isn’t important in the long run.”

“You know that…but Slate doesn’t.”

Thinking for a moment, Dakota said, “That’s why he didn’t want to put Max down…he was afraid. ”

“Yes…as long as Max was in his arms, he could protect him…keep him safe from all the imagined harm he felt could befall him.”

“But that’s impossible…he can’t be with Max every moment of the day…and besides, even if he could, that isn’t good for our son to be so protected he can’t learn how to make decisions on his own. Learning is part of childhood.”

“I finally figured that out, babe,” Slate said, suddenly appearing in the kitchen doorway. “After your mother and mine read me the riot act about my behavior.”

Staring at his mate, Dakota was stunned when he realized his son wasn’t with Slate. “Where’s Max?”

Walking slowly into the kitchen, Slate stopped in front of his mate. “He’s with your mother for the morning and then my mother is taking care of him this afternoon. And I was told I could not return until after dinner.”

Steel rose and offered his seat to his brother. “As usual, mothers are lifesavers…in more ways than one.” Shifting his gaze to Dakota, he added, “I’ll take care of the meals today. You go and have that talk with my stupid brother.”

“Hey, I’m not stupid…maybe a little misguided…but not stupid.”

“As I said…that remains to be seen. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes and expect to see both of you gone.” Grinning, Steel walked out of the kitchen, deciding to spend some time with his mate before tackling the breakfast routine.