15. Frederick

Chapter 15

Frederick

“ W hat do you mean my parents are here?” I asked Uncle Rainier. “I just talk to them yesterday, and they didn’t mention anything at all about coming for a visit.” Why hadn’t they said anything? It would have been the perfect time for them to let me know they were planning on coming to Montana.

Dominic and I had discussed my family visiting after the baby was born. But things shifted between us after we both admitted that we were very much in love with one another. Since then, Dominic finally felt comfortable enough and voiced what I had known for some time: he did not want to meet my parents for the first time right after giving birth. I completely understood that, and supported it fully. But I had not mentioned that to my parents, and the last I had heard, they were still very much planning on visiting after the baby was born in late spring.

“I mentioned to Edmund when I talk to him last that it probably wasn’t the most acceptable time for him and Dorthea to visit you right after Dominic gives birth. The last thing Dominic is going to want is to be forced to play host when he has a new baby to spend time with.” Rainier patted me on the shoulder. “When the two of you become new parents, the only thing you are going to want to do for those first couple of weeks is spend time with your new baby. That is how it should be, and that is what I told Edmund. He seemed to agree fully, because he and Dorthea have decided that now is the time to come and meet Dominic. They showed up first thing this morning.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t want my parents to meet Dominic. In fact, I very much was looking forward to introducing him to the family. I simply hadn’t been expecting them to show up unannounced without notice.

“Where are they staying?”

Rainier chuckled while shaking his head. “There is no need to worry because they are staying at my place. I was under the impression that they were going to be here for no more than a week, and then they will return to Madrid and be there to help Emmet and Sofia. She is expecting again, and I believe that has changed everyone’s timeline.”

“Sofia is pregnant again?”

Uncle Rainier nodded.

When had that happened? When had my family stopped sharing news with me? This new baby would make number five for my brother and his One, and it hurt a little that nobody thought to share that news with me. Granted, I had a lot going on in my own life, but still. When someone’s one was expecting, you shared that news with the rest of the family.

“Is this a family dinner situation?” I asked. “Or are they planning on meeting Dominic in a more private setting? Did they say?” I was a bit irritated, and Uncle Rainier did not deserve my ire. He had done nothing wrong, and was simply the messenger. Even that was more than he needed to do for me.

“I would assume that the hope is to have a meeting with just the two of you, but I cannot say.”

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. I took several more before I finally felt a sense of calmness replace my frustration.

“Thank you for letting me know. I do not mean to be short with you, and for that I apologize. I am a bit irritated that they are here and yet still have not reach out to let me know they were here to visit.”

Rainier winced. “Probably not the most acceptable thing they have done. Might I suggest you get in contact with your father, and ask him when he was going to let you know they were arriving? Although, I will say that it did seem as if this was a very spur of the moment type of trip.”

I nodded. That wasn’t how they usually were, but it was obvious that they had a lot going on and they decided they needed to visit now rather than later. I was in agreement that I certainly needed to reach out to my parents. They weren’t bad people, but they obviously hadn’t thought this trip completely through. But first, I needed to let Dominic know that my parents had decided that now was the time for them to come meet him.

I waved in farewell as I left Rainer’s office. It was unusual for him to request that I come by for a meeting, but I was thankful he had. While walking the halls, I noticed the council appeared to be unusually busy, but that wasn’t necessarily unexpected considering everything going on with Marco. He and Malorie were still missing, and at this point nobody knew whether or not she was actually there of her own free will. If it turned out that Marco had simply used magic to bespell her, I had to wonder if Malorie would recover from the deception?

It wasn’t my biggest concern, although I did want Marco found in the worst way. I had so many questions regarding him. Was he in the area because he had sensed his One? Was he able to somehow locate his cousin and was here in order to free him? Had he been able to track Dominic and was now after him? These were questions that were constantly racing through my mind.

I knew if I went to my office, I would not have any privacy to have the conversation with Dominic that I needed to. There was no way I could get around this conversation in the very near future, despite how difficult I felt it was going to be. Deciding it was probably better to go home and talk to him face-to-face, I went to the board that had recently been added to the main entryway and move myself from “in house” to “working from home” for the day. The board made sense, and it helped everyone in the council. No longer did we need to track someone down, only to find out they were on assignment or working from home after we’d spent several minutes to an hour searching for them.

After I moved my status on the board, I checked out with Slater and then left the building. It was the last day of February, and of course, the month had to leave with a bang. Outside, heavy snow was falling, and the winds were whistling through the trees. None of that was even noticed when we were inside the council building, but at times it could be heard at home, and I had discovered that the wind was especially an issue for Dominic.

I felt bad for my One, because not only did he have to deal with howling winds at the moment— I was about to give him news that I wasn’t entirely certain he was going to be happy to hear. Sure, he was eager to meet my parents, but I believe that he, like me, had hoped to have a little more heads up than them simply showing up.

Not wanting to walk home in a snowstorm, I use magic and with a thought I went from standing outside the council building to standing on the front porch of the house I shared with Dominic. I could pop in inside the house, but after I had done that once and happened to appeared directly next to him by accident, I hadn’t ever done it again because I did not like the ball of magic that Dominic had thrown at me in defense after I startled him. I was incredibly proud of my One in that moment, even if I was in pain from the impact. But it was apparent that he certainly could take care of himself. Thankfully, he hadn’t thrown a deadly ball of magic at me and had only stunned me.

“Dominic?” I called out from the doorway as I entered the house. He was here somewhere, and it wouldn’t take much for me to locate him with a little push of magic. But I wanted him to know that I was in the house, so as not to surprise him once again.

Dominic came walking from the back of the house, and I when I took in his appearance, it looked as if he had possibly been taking a nap.

“Did I wake you?”

“No. I was probably close to dozing off though. Is everything all right? You are home before the midday meal. Not that I’m not happy to see you.”

He was right; this was not my usual time to return home. But with the news that I had to share I didn’t feel that it was beneficial to wait to let him know he was about to meet my parents.

“I’ve decided I will work from home today because I need to let you know something.” I reached for Dominic’s hands and when he placed his in mind, I pulled him closer while I moved toward him. “Rainier let me know just a bit ago that my parents showed up first thing this morning. I didn’t know they were coming to visit, and if I had, I would’ve giving you warning. But my father didn’t say a word to me about them visiting when I talked to him last night.”

Dominic’s eyes went wide “They’re here? As in here in Montana?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I just talked to Father yesterday, and he didn’t mention a thing. But apparently, they finally listened to Rainier and decided that it probably would be better for everyone involved if they met you before the baby was born. I can send them away if that’s what you want.” I would, in a blink. Dominic’s comfort was my only priority.

“No, I don’t think that’s what we should do.” Dominic looked at me with a bit of panic in his expression, which wasn’t unwarranted. “I don’t know anything about hosting the in-laws though. I’m happy that they’re here, and I’m not exhausted from night feedings and trying to figure out how to change messy diapers. But what do I do? Should I make a meal? Are we going to go out with them somewhere?”

I smiled at Dominic before I leaned in and kissed him. “We don’t have to do anything if that is what you wish. I can meet them without you having to do so. But they’re really not here to see me. They’re here to meet you.”

“Isn’t that the entire point of their trip?”

“Yes. I haven’t talked to them yet, because I wanted to discuss things with you before I did.”

“I’m all for meeting with them. We knew this was going to happen eventually, and I really feel that it is better that they are here now rather than after the baby is born in the spring. Are they coming here? Or do we need to go to them? No wait, you already said you didn’t know.”

I chuckled at Dominic’s little bit of panic. I felt bad because I wouldn’t ever get to meet his parents, and he wouldn’t be on the other end of things with me meeting the in-laws. But he truly had nothing to worry about when it came to meeting my parents.

“We will do whatever it is that you feel most comfortable with,” I told him. “Rainier let it slip that Sofia is expecting again, and that was one of the reasons why they decided to come visit now rather than later. I don’t know when she is due, but they already have four children, and fox shifters have very short gestations. It’s possible that she is going to give birth before you do.”

Dominic smiled. “So you are getting another niece or nephew around the same time you will be having your first son.”

“Something like that. I can call them whenever it is that you are ready to go meet them. If you feel most comfortable with them coming here to us, they are clear to be on treasure Ridge, and that won’t be an issue. I just will need to pick them up from the transport building because they don’t know which house is ours.”

Dominic looked as if he were arguing with himself a bit, but he eventually nodded in agreement. “It’s not as if the house is a complete mess, or that neither of us knows how to entertain guests. If you want to call them and see when they would like to actually visit us, I am open for it. They’ve come all this way, so it would be rude of us to just decide not to see them.”

Rude? Yes, but warranted after what they had done. I chuckled because Dominic was implying that very thing and that technically we had every right to deny them the meeting that they sought. He was right. They were being a bit rude by simply dropping in unannounced. Luckily, they had not shown up at the door unexpectedly without notice. But then again, they didn’t know where we lived. Sure, father could use magic to locate my aura, but that would bring about new issues.

“I say call them. I’m going to go shower and get cleaned up while you do that.”

I kissed Dominic, but he pulled away before I could take it deeper. He shook his head at me, and then left. I took a deep breath and pulled out my phone to call my father. It was unusual for me to talk to him twice in the same week, but it also was unusual for him to show up like he had.

I watched as Dominic disappeared up the stairs. It took a moment for me to collect my thoughts, because I truly hadn’t expected my parents to show up like they had. I would certainly be implementing boundaries with them going forward, but since Dominic was understanding and willing to visit with them, I wasn’t going to deny them the meeting that they obviously were here for.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and after locating my father’s contact. I connected the call, wondering how long it would take him to answer. It rang only once before he answered telling me that quite possibly, he had been expecting my call.

“Hello my son. You surprise me with a call so soon after your last one.”

I rolled my eyes. “Your attempt at humor is falling flat Father. I know that you and Mother are here, and I am calling to request that the two of you come and join us for a visit and possibly a midday meal.”

“Did Rainier tell on us?”

“Did you expect that he wouldn’t? You are staying with him and étienne, therefore he feels that it is his responsibility to warn me that you and mother decided to show up unannounced. I will warn you now that going forward, that is a boundary that Dominic and I will have. You are welcome to visit, but we asked that you schedule the visits rather than simply show up. What if we were off on holiday somewhere?”

“That does not sound like a very warm welcome,” Father said.

I rolled my eyes again. “Do you wish to meet him or not?”

“Ach, you do not need to be so grumpy about it. Yes, your mother and I would very much like to meet Dominic. We only came now because we realize that meeting him for the first time shortly after he gives birth would probably add more stress to him, and that is not what we wish.” There was a bit of a pause before Father continued. “When would be a good time for us to come up?”

“Dominic is currently in the shower getting ready for your visit. I will meet the two of you at the transport building in say, fifteen minutes. Does that work for you?”

“That works perfectly. We will see you then.”

The call ended before I could pull my phone away from my ear. This was so unlike them that I was honestly beginning to become a bit concerned. What truly was happening?

I heard Dominic coming down the stairs, and wondered just how long I had been talking to father. It couldn’t have been more than a couple of minutes, which told me that my one hadn’t actually showered. Instead, he had used magic to freshen up. He was in a different outfit, and I was curious if he thought that it was a requirement that he be dressed as he was to meet my parents.

“Are they coming?”

I nodded. “I’m going to meet them at the transport building in ten to fifteen minutes. Did you wish to go with me?” I looked at Dominic’s slacks and button down again. He had taken to wearing jeans most of the time, so this was a bit unexpected.

Dominic shook his head. “I’ll wait here. You will only be gone for seconds really and there’s no need for me to tag along.”

He was once again correct. I would be gone a minute at the most.

Five excruciating long minutes passed when my phone vibrated in my pocket. My parents let me know that they had arrived early and we’re ready for me to retrieve them whenever I saw fit. I thought about making them wait the additional ten more minutes, but that also added to Dominic’s stress, and that was the last thing I wanted.

I kissed my One, and then popped into the little building that was just in front of the council. I found my parents alone inside, and wondered where Timothy had gone. It didn’t matter; he wasn’t required to stay in the tiny building. It was there to keep people from suddenly appearing on the mountain in inclement weather.

“Frederick, look at you,” Mother said. “Mated life certainly seems to agrees with you. I don’t think I’ve seen you this happy in a very long time. Dominic must have been what was missing.” Mother gave me a hug and when I wrapped my arms around her small frame, my irritation with them was suddenly gone. They hadn’t show up to be malicious. They simply didn’t think everything through. But in the end, it was better that they were here now rather than later.

“And where is Dominic?” Father asked.

“At the house. There was no need for him to come with me when we were going to be back in just a moment. Are you ready to meet the love of my life?” I asked. The smiles on their faces told me their answer.

All it took was a little more magic, and we were all three instantly standing inside the house that Dominic and I called home. Dominic was there waiting, and I could not only feel his nerves through our bond, simply looking at him showed how he felt.

“Dominic, my love,” I said as I pulled him to me. “These are my parents, Edmund and Dorthea,” I told him. I attempted to wrap a supporting arm around Dominic, but mother had other ideas.

“Oh, isn’t he absolutely glowing,” she said. “Pregnancy certainly agrees with him,” Mother added. “Welcome to the family,” she told him as she pulled my One into a tight hug. In that moment, all nerves I’d felt through our bond disappeared. In their place was nothing but relief and happiness. It was going to be all right.