16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Maltin worried over Jack when he was out of sight. Jack was the love of his life, even besides being his mate. He went to the window over and over, trying to catch a glimpse of Jack on his way home, but that only showed the road.

Outside, he paced, and when Jack finally did pull into the yard, Maltin wanted to yell at him for making him worry. He didn’t, of course. Coming to his senses before Jack emerged from the Thunderbird.

“Were you worried about me?” Jack said as he laughed, feet scraping on the gravel.

“No, I was getting some air.”

“Sure,” he said, then kissed Maltin sweetly. “I just had to get out for a while. You know, if I feel threatened, I shift. I’m pretty much the safest person in this town.”

“Shift and fight with the babies?”

“Maybe they’d come out and help me fight.”

Maltin was ready to strangle him. “Go upstairs and get your feet up. Mother will be by soon, and if she sees you tired, she’ll throttle me.”

“Sure, for your mom, I will go rest.”

Jack’s hand was taken, his fingers threading through Maltin’s as they entered the warehouse and walked past the center row of cars. “Jack, when they come, we won’t have a lot of time together. I hate to admit it, I’m already jealous.”

“You won’t have time for jealousy after, so I’ll let you have that now.”

“You…I’ll miss you terribly.”

Jack stopped and turned to Maltin, obviously seeing his worry. He never could hide his emotions well. “Maltin, we have forever. I’ll be here with you when the children are grown and searching for their own fated mates. They’ll sleep sometimes, and we have a few people that wouldn’t mind babysitting, I’m sure.”

“We do have a couple of grandmothers that are chomping at the bit to get their hands on these kids.”

“Exactly. I’m yours. Always, Maltin.”

That afternoon, the couple left the warehouse to meet with Trudy and Rodney at the first of the three houses they were thinking of buying. Jack saw the place, at the end of a peaceful block, big oak trees in front providing shade. It was a two-story Craftsman with a wide front porch where Maltin had pictured them sitting and playing with the babies. It was his favorite, and that was likely why he’d brought them to that particular house first.

Jack’s bright face showed he loved it too. He knelt on the grass in front, starting at the yellow-painted door. “Maltin, it’s beautiful here.”

“The house needs a little work, but that won’t be a problem for us at all. The backyard is big enough for a pool or a big jungle gym. Whatever we want. Three main bedrooms upstairs and a small one on the main level.”

Jack heard the excitement in his voice and turned to him. “You love this one.”

His mother had other ideas. “Never go with the first one you see, boys. This is rather small!”

“Mother, it’s perfect. We don’t need a stale, cold mansion or a chateau in France. We want to be here, with others like us. So the kids don’t think themselves so different and have to hide themselves.”

After a resigned sigh, Trudy whispered, “Fine. Then, I guess it’s fine. But we must see the others, so Jack has a choice!”

“Yes, Mother.”

They did look at the other homes, but Jack insisted the first was his choice. Maltin called the realtor to make an offer, and while he was doing that, Rodney was waving his hands around wildly.

“Rodney, no! Don’t…put spells on them to accept. We should get this fair and square. If fate wants us here,” Jack pled.

“It wouldn’t hurt to help fate along a little!”

Maltin laughed and said, “No, Rodney. As Jack said, we want this done right.”

“Fine. You two are entirely no fun now that you’re parents. It will be up to me, as the children’s favorite uncle?”

“The children’s only uncle,” Maltin pointed out.

“As their favorite relative, then, to inject some fun into their lives.”

Maltin didn’t want to think about the kind of fun Rodney would get them into. He suddenly saw all the walls of their home colored with fingerpaints and the constant racket of noisy toys breaking through their morning routines.

Jack was already laying down the law. “Fun is great, Rodney, but don’t get them into mischief or you’ll be in trouble like they are.”

Trudy whispered to her brother, “We’ll spoil them silly, Rodney, don’t worry.”

The offer was accepted that very day, and Rodney swore he had no hand in it. They moved the following week after paying cash for the place, and just as the last coat of paint was on the walls of the nursery, Jack went into labor.

Maltin was setting the paintbrush down as Rodney complained for the tenth time about how much he hated paint fumes. “Rodney, we can’t have Jack up here. The fumes aren’t good for him or the babies!”

“Why must we smell them at all? With the wave of one hand?”

“Jack sees this as a love letter to our children. Doing things by hand, putting sweat into it. He’s washed and ironed all their wardrobes four times just since we moved in. It’s part nesting and part of that love letter. This is our part, and you’re not getting out of it.”

“Trudy is shopping. Why can’t I shop?”

“My children don’t need diamond studded cufflinks or Prada loafers, Rodney, especially in size ten.”

“I want to look my best for them when they first see me! How would I ever explain wearing last year's trousers?”

Maltin was about to give up when they heard Jack screaming from downstairs, and both used magic in lieu of running to get to him instantly. “It’s…it’s time! Gods, Maltin, it’s time,” he said as his face grew redder by the second.

Finding he couldn’t move his feet, or breathe, Rodney sprang into action. He snapped his fingers to produce a limo outside the big picture window, and he then took Jack’s arm to help him walk to the door, calling for Maltin, “Dad, get in gear!”

Maltin was shaking, his breath caught in his throat, choking him. Once Jack and Rodney were out the door, Maltin felt his chest moving, getting around that block of pure air, and he felt his feet moving with it.

He was out the door, walking as if in a dream, and the faster he ran, the further away the car got from him. The world was spinning, the trees whispering laughter in the summer breeze, and Maltin felt like screaming.

Before he could, however, his mother was there. She had hold of him, leading him to the car. “This is a frightening thing, son, but you have to be there. You’d never forgive yourself if you fell apart when Jack needed you most.”

“M-M-Mother, I can’t. I…he doesn’t need me! I’ll faint. I’ll…”

She got in front of him and snapped her fingers right in his face. “Maltin Theodore Graves, don’t you dare fall apart and let that poor boy do this alone, or worse! With your Uncle Rodney!”

That was what he’d needed. He came out of his shock and kissed his mother’s forehead. “Thank you,” he told her and then ran to the limo, closing the door before she could get in behind him. Rodney reopened it for her and together, the three surrounded Jack, holding his hands, soothing him with loving words.

Maltin saw the pain his mate was in and felt it all the way through himself. Jack was bringing their children into the world, he was strong, sure, but Maltin feared for all of them.

Neither minded when Rodney grew impatient with the traffic near Valleywood Bridge and snapped them to the hospital. Rodney ran for a wheelchair and Maltin held Jack while they waited. “You’re doing splendidly.”

“This feels like I’m being torn apart from the inside!”

Maltin kissed his temple and said, “We’re here. The doctors can help you now.”

“Don’t leave me. Not for a second, please?”

Jack, the man who had come into his life to fix a hole in the roof, had also fixed the one in his heart and in his life. Maltin was overcome with emotion, but he refused to let Jack see any weakness in him. Jack needed his mate to be strong and stand beside him, and that was the only place he wanted to be.

Once Rodney came with a group of nurses and orderlies, Jack was whisked into the hospital, up an elevator, and to the end of the hall where the labor and delivery rooms were located.

It was in that room for the next four hours that Maltin had to watch the love of his life in excruciating pain.

He held Jack’s hand and talked him through the breathing, the contractions making him scream. He washed his face with cool cloths, gave him ice chips, and waited.

Rodney poked his head in now and then, but seeing Jack in pain was hard on him as well. Jack had grown on them all, bringing new light into the dark lives of the old family—love. Jack had brought love.

Yes, their family had loved one another, but it took Jack to remind him of how good it could feel to be a family.

When the babies started coming, Maltin watched with his heart bursting wide open, seeing his children’s faces as they came into the world.

Maltin clipped each umbilical cord and watched as the nurses took each of them to the tables to clean and weigh them. Jack was laughing, tears streaming down his beautiful face, as he held Maltin’s hand tightly. “Maltin, did you see? Did you see?”

“They’re so beautiful, Jack. Just like you.”

The kiss they shared the second before the two of them were being handed the babies was a vow that Maltin gave his new family. He’d do anything for them. He’d protect them, love them, and always be there, no matter what.

He was given the little girl while Jack was holding both of their sons. Maltin gazed into his daughter's bright gray eyes and dripped tears all over her face. “You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he whispered. “Daddy loves you dearly.”

“Maltin, look at our sons.”

Maltin looked over the head of his daughter to the two boys, one lying in each of Jack’s arms. One looked red, getting ready to start wailing, while the other gazed peacefully at Jack. “I see the one that’s going to be trouble.”

Jack laughed as the little boy screamed his tiny lungs off. “We’ll call him Rodney.”

“Oh, that is perfect.”

Rodney and his mother soon came into the room, and Trudy kissed the faces of all three before she took the little girl from Maltin and walked off with her. “Grandmother will buy you lace and silks, ribbons for your hair, ponies, kittens, and whatever you want, my darling.”

Jack laughed at Maltin’s frustration. “Maltin, she’s waited for two hundred years for this. Leave her alone.”

“They’re going to be spoiled rotten, Jack.”

“Yes, they are.”