33. Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

Shay

"Daddy, come onnnn," Lucas urged from his spot in front of the picture window in our living room. He was dancing from one foot to the other, watching Asher's house like a hawk. Turning to give me an exasperated look, he informed me, "People are going to start showing up."

"We don't need to be the first people to arrive at your cousin's birthday party." Giving up on the tissue paper that refused to become anything resembling the way I saw other people's gift bags look, I wadded it into a ball and stuck it on top of the presents.

Bennett came over to observe my more than dubious gift bag skills, snorting loudly. "Uh, no."

Tossing my perfectly wadded tissue ball in the trash, he took another sheet and magically wrapped it around his fist. Pulling his hand out, he turned the paper over and placed it in the bag. Fanning it out so that it filled more of the open space, I watched in fascination as he did it two more times.

"You're like magic," I sighed wistfully.

He gave me a look like he thought I had lost my mind, then handed me one of the birthday cards. "Sign. Lucas, you come sign the cards too."

Lucas practically ran over, his impatience with us bubbling over. "I can't write."

Bennett raised one brow at him. "Yes, you can. You know how to write your name, and this is good practice."

He handed him the pen, and I watched as my mate and son had a silent stare off, before Lucas sighed loudly and took the pen.

"Magic," I mouthed at him, loving the smile he gave me.

It had been exactly one week since Edward had shown up. My nephew's birthdays were in a week, but their party had been planned for today for over a month. Asher had asked me if they should move it and I had told him no. I refused to let the shadow of Edward hang over us any longer. I had cried my tears, grieved for many things the day he had died, but I wasn't sorry it was over.

And, Goddess help me, I wasn't sorry that he was dead. Maybe that made me a horrible person, and I had probably just added to the amount of time I would need to stay in therapy to hash all my feelings out about it, but it was the truth.

Bennett and I had spent every free minute of the last week together. We had even finally gone on our first date the night before. Bennett had insisted that we include Lucas, which made me love the man more than I already did. The way he cared for my child made me go all soft inside, my heart full .

Lucas and I had picked out a bouquet of hothouse grown tulips in fall colors of yellows and oranges and walked next door to Bennett's house to pick him up. Even though the man had spent every night in my arms, he had insisted on waking up early and going back home before Lucas woke up. When I had insisted Lucas would be more than fine to see his face over the breakfast table, Bennett had stood firm on this. I thought it might have something to do with Bennett's omega father–from the few things he had shared with me–and didn't push the issue.

Besides I thought it was kind of cute the way he wanted us to date before we moved in together. As if he wasn't already pregnant. But if this was how my mate wanted to do things, I wasn't going to argue. Bennett could be hella stubborn when he set his mind to something. And I would never tell him, but I kinda found sneaking him out of my bedroom every morning hot.

We had gone to dinner at the Main Street Diner, since they served breakfast all day and Bennett had been craving pancakes. The restaurant had quickly turned into one of Lucas's and my favorite places to eat, because as I had discovered, my culinary skills were not great. And no matter how many different recipes I tried–even the easiest ones–cooking was never going to be something I was good at.

After dinner, we had gone to the movies, with Bennett suggesting the latest kid friendly one. I marveled at the easy way he engaged Lucas in conversation, though I shouldn't have. Bennett had proven from the very first day how much he adored and cared for my child.

The night had been a success, and I had loved feeling his small hand in mine as we had watched the movie and shared popcorn. I was sure Lucas hadn't missed us holding hands, by the way I caught him smiling at us.

"Someone's here, Daddy," Lucas announced, leaning his face towards the glass of the front window he was peering out again. He was watching people arrive at Asher's and still trying to hurry us along.

"Hmm," I mumbled, making sure the correct card was in the correct gift bag, but not paying that much attention to what he was saying.

"It's Grandpa and Granddad!"

My head shot up, and I raced around the kitchen bar, managing to get in front of Lucas before he could get the door open. "Let me."

Looking over my shoulder, Bennett was standing in the kitchen, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "Should I?"

He indicated going out the garage door, and I shook my head, as a brisk, familiar knock sounded. "No, you have every right to be here. They don't."

Squaring my shoulders, I took a calming breath, before opening the door to face Edward's parents.

"Graham, Russell," I greeted coldly, "what are you doing here?"

"Shay," Graham Clark offered me a tentative smile, "you look well."

Russell Clark cleared his throat. "May we come in?"

My brain screamed no, even as I knew I needed to let them in. They were still Lucas's grandparents, the only ones he had. Moving out of the way, I waved my arm, indicating for them to enter .

"Lucas!" Graham held out his hands for a hug and Lucas happily gave him one. They had always been good to Lucas, if a bit standoffish and stiff.

"Grandpa!" Lucas chattered excitedly, "You have to see my new room. It's so cool!"

Graham seemed taken aback by Lucas's enthusiasm, before he straightened. He was a tall omega, reed thin, with a slightly frail quality to him. He had always been perfectly pleasant, but meek. He glanced at Russell, who gave a brief nod of his head. "I'd like that."

Lucas held his hand out and led the older man down the hallway. When they were out of earshot, I repeated, "What are you doing here?"

Russell's eyes stared at Bennett, his face impassive and impossible to read. But he looked older than the last time I had seen him, not even six months ago, his shoulders stooped.

"We came to collect Edward's–" his voice choked up, "body and take him home. Back to Texas, where he belongs. Lucas belongs there too."

"That's never going to happen." My voice was icy with barely concealed rage. How dare these people just show up, out of the blue.

Russell indicated my living room area with a hand. "May I sit?"

Shrugging, I watched as he looked around, then finally picked a spot he decided was good enough for him to sit. My furniture might have been hand offs from Asher and Gabe, but it was all high-quality furniture, so he could take his snobbish attitude and fuck off.

Holding my hand out to Bennett, he hesitated a brief second before taking it, and we walked over and sat on the opposite sofa. Russell's eyes were glued to Bennett, and he nodded his head towards his belly. "You're expecting."

Bennett smiled softly, his hand coming to rest on the slight curve of his belly, which I swear had popped out in the last week. Like the baby knew Bennett wasn't trying to hide his pregnancy anymore and had decided to make his presence known to the world. "I am."

Turning a cold eye to me, Russell sneered, "You didn't waste any time after leaving my son, did you?"

Bennett's other hand smoothed over my tense thigh, squeezing lightly. "Your son was never faithful to me. Not even from the first. I'm not going to apologize or explain myself to you."

Graham and Lucas returned then, and he took a seat next to his husband. "What's going on?"

"Shay knocked this…omega up," Russell growled, "and by the looks of him he did it fairly soon after leaving Edward."

Bennett gasped, ducking his head, and I pursed my lips together in a tight line.

"First of all, Bennett and I are fated mates. You should know what that means." He and Graham were fated, according to Edward. "While the timing wasn't ideal, I don't regret anything that has happened between Bennett and me. I especially don't regret this baby. At least I know this one is mine."

Russell looked like he'd been slapped, and Graham's hand covered his mouth in shock.

"Lucas," Bennett said quietly, "why don't you go to your room for a little bit. We'll go to the party after your grandparents leave."

"Bennett, are you having a baby?" Lucas asked, staring wide-eyed at Bennett's stomach. "Is that why your tummy is getting…bigger."

Goddess bless my son for not calling him fat. Because he wasn't by any means, but his belly was definitely growing round.

"Yes," Bennett smiled softly, "now go to your room, please. We need to talk about grown up things, and then you can ask all the questions I see floating around that brain of yours."

Lucas nodded, giving his grandparents a funny look, before retreating to his room. Where I had no doubt he was probably going to use his shifter ears to eavesdrop.

Pulling out my phone, I shot off a quick text to Asher to let him know we were running late and why, with a simple, Edward's parents here .

Now that Lucas was out of earshot, I couldn't seem to hold myself back.

"Do you think I don't know the first one wasn't mine? I didn't for a long time. I thought that baby was mine and Edward's, and I was so happy. Because I loved him. And I was wrapped up in the fairy tale he spun. Of us living this enchanted life, with our little family. And I grieved when he lost that baby."

Russell started to say something, but I wouldn't let him get the words out. "But Edward let me know later, in one of his drunken, drug fueled tantrums, that baby hadn't been mine. And that he hadn't miscarried." At Graham's strangled cry, I arched a brow at him.

"Did you not know that? Your son got rid of it. Just like the next three. Which given the timing, and his disappearing acts, probably weren't mine either. But I know Lucas is mine; I made sure, because I honestly wasn't sure at first. But then Edward told me he had to carry that pregnancy to term because you had demanded he produce an heir. Meaning you were going to cut him off. He had been gone for a month before showing back up, and then he…" Closing my eyes tightly, I pushed the ghost of the memory away. I wasn't going to share certain things with them.

"He did everything in his power to get pregnant, before he pulled another vanishing act. Only this time, I didn't go out of my mind with worry, searching for him in all his usual haunts. Because I was done. I didn't care if he ever came back. I was leaving him. But I had to…heal first, from what he did."

His parents had the good grace to look away and not meet my gaze. They may not have known what Edward had done to me that specific time–and I wasn't going to share it with them–but they knew enough things to know something bad had happened.

"Then he showed back up, announcing he was pregnant. And I stayed, just in case that baby was mine. And to make sure he actually carried this one to term. He didn't try to get rid of it."

"If it was so bad, why didn't you leave after Edward had the baby?" Russell sneered. "I saw the date of the paternity report. It wasn't done until two years ago."

"Because I had to protect that baby from your son! It didn't matter if he was biologically mine or not."

Graham gasped, clutching at invisible pearls, but Russell had the audacity to roll his eyes at me. Bennett squeezed my thigh, and I grasped his hand in mine tightly. A lifeline that gave me courage.

"Do you know what your son did? Of course you don't. He tossed that four-week-old baby, carrier and all, into his crib because he was crying. He was halfway across the nursery, and he threw him! Right in front of me. It's only by the grace of the Goddess that somehow his carrier landed upright in his crib, and he wasn't hurt. There was no way I was going to leave without that baby, and Edward refused to let me take him. He constantly told me he wasn't mine, and if I left with him, he would have me brought up on kidnapping charges. Someone had to protect Lucas from your son."

"So don't you dare come into my house and act indignant about anything I have done since leaving Edward. You have no right. You turned a blind eye to how he was. You threw money at the problems he made until they disappeared. You tried to control him with threats and ultimatums. And you knew what he was like, and you did nothing."

Russell had the decency to look away, no longer able to meet my angry eyes.

"Edward was…troubled," Graham said so softly I barely heard him. "He would be so cheerful one minute, just over the moon excited about something. But then something would happen, and his mood would just turn. And he was so…"

"Dangerous," I supplied. "Evil. You have no idea what he did to me! But you knew some of it, didn't you? You saw the bruises. The broken nose. The broken arm. And you ignored it. You helped create the monster he became, just as much as the alcohol and drugs did."

"Shay," Bennett's quiet voice broke the silence that had fallen over the room. Russell's throat moved convulsively, but he didn't speak. Graham's face was pale, his blue eyes shimmering with tears, while my chest heaved with my anger. "He was their child."

The softly spoken words might as well have been a fist to my stomach, they hit just the same, and I gasped.

Bennett squeezed my hand, his eyes sad. "He was their child."

Blinking, I shook my head, ashamed of my outburst, even though it had felt amazing to get all of those feelings out. "I'm…I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. "

"No," Russell finally said, his voice small, "you're right."

"Russell!"

He turned to his mate, taking his hand, and frowned. "He's right. We knew. We kept thinking we could fix Edward, but we went about it the wrong way. We should have gotten him proper help. Instead, we tried to make him behave how we wanted him to behave, that looked the best to our friends and the world. We thought if we got him mated, settled down with a pup, and a house, he would calm his…wild ways. We did him a disservice, and I can't help but think if we had done something…anything differently, maybe he would still be here." He swallowed hard. "We did see Shay's bruises and we both ignored them. If we didn't talk about it, we could pretend it wasn't happening, and we could wash our hands of any responsibility."

Graham sobbed softly, burying his head in his mate's neck. Russell rubbed his back soothingly, then said to me, "We have the funeral arrangement information. We expect you and Lucas to be there."

"You can expect whatever you want," I said cooly, "Lucas and I won't be at the funeral."

"What will people think if neither of you is there?" Graham cried, "Lucas is his son!"

"Lucas is my son," I hissed, "mine! I am the one that took care of him, not Edward. From the minute he was born, I have taken care of him. Every bottle, diaper, colic, earache, all of it, was me. I raised him, and he won't be there!"

"Stop fighting!" Lucas shouted, standing in the hallway, little fists clenched at his side. Stamping his foot, he repeated, "Stop fighting! I don't want to go!"

Asher stepped into the house, not even bothering to knock, and stood surveying the room. Giving me a flash of his smile, he told me, "Just came to see if you needed any help, big little brother."

Nodding, I entwined my fingers with Bennett's tightly. "I think I'm good. But thanks."

Asher angled his head in Lucas's direction, "Want me to take him with me?"

Shaking my head, I looked at my determined son. "I think he has something he wants to say." Indicating that he should go ahead, Lucas came and stood by Bennett, facing his grandparents.

"Daddy told me it was my choice if I wanted to go to the funeral," Lucas's little voice was strong, and I was amazed at the way he stared his domineering grandfather down. "And I thought about it. For a whole day I thought about it," he sighed, shaking his head. "I don't want to go. Papa Edward didn't like me. He didn't like my daddy, and he was mean to him."

"He loved you," Graham interjected, and Lucas cut him off with another stamp of his foot.

"He didn't! He told me he didn't. Anytime he came home, he shouted it. He told Daddy how he didn't want a kid ruining his fun, and he wished he would have just gotten rid of me like the others."

Bennett gasped, his hand covering his mouth, his shocked eyes catching and holding mine. Shaking my head, I didn't know what to say. I hadn't known Lucas had heard Edward say those things, had tried my best to shield him from the worst of it.

"I didn't know exactly what that meant, but I know he didn't love me. And I don't think I loved him." Lucas looked so sad, I wanted to snatch him up in a huge hug and tell him I wished this wasn't our life. That I had never meant any of this to be our lives. "He was mean, and he hit Daddy and hurt him. He scared me. I love my Daddy, and I love Bennett, and I love my uncles and my cousins. But I didn't love Papa Edward. I'm not going to his funeral, and you can't make me."

"I think it's time for you to leave," I told them, not unkindly, but we'd all been through enough.

Asher gave me an approving look and a small smile. "I'll see you over there."

Nodding, I stood the same time Graham and Russell did. Graham held out his arms to Lucas, and Lucas hugged him. He gave me a watery smile, "We would like to see Lucas if you are willing."

"Supervised visits," I said firmly, ignoring his crestfallen look. "My lawyer will be in touch. I'm sorry, that's non-negotiable until he is much older."

Russell nodded, guiding his mate to the door, and it hadn't escaped me that he hadn't hugged Lucas once since they had arrived. "We'll see ourselves out."

When they were gone, I took a steadying breath. Bennett slipped his arm around my waist, squeezing me tightly. He didn't speak; we didn't need to. We just stood there, letting it all wash over us.

"Come on, Daddy!" Lucas urged from the doorway. "Our family is waiting for us."

"Let me grab the presents." Wiping my eyes so Lucas wouldn't see, I took the handle of one of the gift bags, and Bennett took the other one. "I don't know how he got so brave."

Bennett gave me a smile, reaching up on tiptoes, and I bent to meet his upturned face, brushing my lips lightly over his. "He learned it from you, Shay. He learned it from you. Now come on, our family is waiting for us. "

"I love the sound of that," I told him, as I closed the door behind us and stepped into the cool Fall air.

"Me too."