9. Toby

9

TOBY

O ne month later…

Our home is filled with Gentoo penguin shifters.

Technically, we're in Louisa's part of the house. Our two rooms and living area are downstairs, like when we lived with Eli and Max. Felix likes that. It reminds him of our first few months together as a couple.

Louisa flits around the kitchen, like a traditional Gentoo omega. Except for her lipstick and chic hair, of course. Marigold tries to help her, but her kids are keeping her busy. Anita and Jan are bringing plates of cheese and fruit to the table to replace the ones already picked over by the guests. Their little ones aren't here, which is hard. Jan doesn't feel comfortable with that yet. But Anita promised me she'd keep trying.

I'm just thankful she's here.

Felix chats with Miss Tatro by the food, while Marigold's oldest kids run around his legs. She took a big risk coming here to celebrate with us, and I'm thankful for that too. I don't think Felix and I would be here without her warning.

Heller's flirting with a pair of alphas in the corner, as usual. Francis has been moving around the room, chatting with all the hired hearts. Meanwhile, I'm sitting with our eggs cradled in my lap. People intermittently sit down next to me and tell me how beautiful they are. That's what this party is for. We're a little late throwing it because of the move and everything else we had to do in order to apply for college in the fall. But we made it just in time.

The eggs are due to hatch tomorrow.

There's another knock at the door. Felix goes to answer it. His body stiffens when he opens the door. I hold my breath as he steps back to let the new guest in.

Several people we invited haven't shown up yet, but there's only one person who would make Felix react like that.

My omega mother steps into the house. I can't believe she's here, especially since my alpha mom couldn't come. After the things my alpha mom said the last time we spoke, I didn't think it was safe to invite her. I worried she'd cause a scene or say something that would ruin our happy day, so the invitation we sent was for my omega mom alone.

Felix walks over to sit beside me. He knows me well enough to understand how stressful this moment is for me. Mom approaches me too, but more slowly. She has a wrapped package in her right hand.

"Hello, Toby," she says. She smiles stiffly. I feel guilty that she had to come without my alpha mom. Maybe that was unfair of me.

"Hi, Mom."

She looks at the eggs in my lap. "Wow. Three is a lot to lay all at once."

I could explain that I only carried two of the eggs, but I don't. Only Felix and I need to know which of our children is genetically related to who.

"Thank you for coming," I say instead. "How are you doing?"

She looks away from me. "Oh, you know. It's been a hard time." She glances at Marigold, and then Anita. I'm not sure what they said to her or if she knew they were coming. It makes me wonder if she regrets keeping in touch with Louisa. She can't blame her own children for doing the same with me.

This must be so hard for her. I wish it didn't have to be like this.

"Marigold told me that you're still going to church," Mom says. "That's nice."

"Um, yeah. It's a nondenominational penguin shifter church a few blocks from here."

An awkward silence stretches between us. She hasn't said a single word to Felix. I suppose that's to be expected.

"I just thought I'd stop by. I should probably go. It looks like Louisa's friends are here, and I never know what to say to them. You know how it is."

As I scan the room, I understand what she means. Most of Louisa's friends are wearing their polar bear shifter wigs and wearing clothing that would be considered scandalous in the Gentoo community. I wish I wasn't ashamed of them right now, but it's hard to let Mom see this part of my life. It makes me feel vulnerable and dirty.

She sets her gift down next to me.

"I wish you well, Toby. I really do. Your alpha mom does too."

With that, my omega mom leaves. She didn't say anything awful, but all the happiness I was feeling from showing off our eggs to our friends has left me completely.

Heller plops down next to me. "What a bitch."

"What? My mom? She didn't… She was polite. She brought a gift."

Heller picks up the gift and tosses it over the side of the couch.

"Heller!"

"That woman made you feel small, Toby. This is your day to celebrate, and she didn't lift you up, she tore you down. So I'm going to call her a bitch, because she is one. I don't care if you can't hate her yet. I'll hate her for you. I'm very good at hating my friends' parents. It's a talent, really."

That shouldn't make me feel better, but it does.

"Am I allowed to hate her?" Felix asks.

I shake my head. "She's not a bad person."

Heller sighs. "Agree to disagree. But I would like to remind you that my hate is seething and lasting."

Travis wanders over with a slice of deli turkey in each hand. "Who are we hating?"

"No one," I tell him.

"Toby's omega mom," Heller says. "Well, actually, we hate both of his mothers."

"Oh, okay. Good to know."

"You can't go around hating people. It isn't fair," I try to explain.

Heller leans in and whispers, "Let me tell you a little secret. Your mom will never know I hate her. I have no reason to tell her. My hate is for your benefit. Someone needs to be angry at her. Plenty of my friends have been angry at my parents for me. It's part of how we take care of each other." He gives me an awkward side hug. "I love you, Toby."

Felix scooches closer to me. "I love you too. Way more than Heller, though."

"Very funny. It isn't a competition."

Travis grins. "But if it was, I would watch that competition in a heartbeat. Especially if y'all were naked."

Just like that, the weight on my heart lifts. Not completely, but mostly. These men truly want me in their lives. So does Louisa. I'm safe here. Our chicks will be too.

"We should probably practice cutting down on the sex jokes before the chicks hatch," Felix suggests.

Travis winces. "Sorry."

"Yeah. I need to get better about that anyway for Lark. Where is Lark?"

There's another knock on the door. This time, the person doesn't wait to be let in. Max and Eli walk inside with Lark. Behind them is a fashionable man wearing all white to match his hair. He has a chick on each hip, and several kids trailing behind him.

"Like I said before, this isn't an egg-hatching party," Eli tells the man.

"The chicks are due to hatch tomorrow. It's close enough." The man turns in our direction, and his face lights up. "Those eggs are gorgeous. I'm Ansel, and this is my mate Daniel." He gestures to an older man at his side.

Daniel holds out his hand to us. "It's nice to meet another penguin shifter omega/omega couple. Eli was telling us about you the other week, and we wanted to meet you. Sorry for crashing your party." He looks over his shoulder at a small child with gray hair. "Armani, stay with us, okay?"

The door is still open, and another couple who I don't know walks in. It's an older alpha with white hair and a younger omega with bright?-?blue hair. He must be a fairy penguin shifter.

"You invited Kade?" Eli asks Ansel.

He shrugs. "He loves egg-hatching parties."

"This isn't an egg-hatching party," Eli reminds him.

Ansel doesn't seem worried about this.

Another omega walks in. He holds his arms up when he sees Ansel. "We made it! Where are the eggs?!"

"You invited Ben too?" Eli asks, then turns to us. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to bring our entire friend group."

People keep coming in. Ben apparently has two mates, and both of them are polar bear shifters. He also has several children. Everyone in their group seems to.

It's a little like being at home in the Gentoo community. There are lots of kids there too.

Two men named Todd and Lewis introduce themselves next, and at the end of the train of people are a couple named Lu and Sam. The house is overcrowded now, which is nice. Egg celebrations were always like this growing up. Daniel and Ansel start bringing in food, which helps, because we're almost out again.

With all the noise and fuss, I almost miss the pecking from the eggs in my arms. It's Felix who points to the egg on my right, which has started wiggling back and forth.

Ansel grins in triumph. "See!? It's an egg-hatching party!"

"Oh my God, Ansel. You're shameless," Todd says.

Their voices fade into the background as the miracle of our little chicks pecking around comes into focus. Heller is hugging Ansel and chatting amiably with Daniel, but I have no idea what they're saying.

"Should we take the eggs downstairs?" Felix asks.

"Yes."

As much as I love this party, there are some things I'll never want to do in a crowd.