Chapter 2

Riley

Carmen grilled me harder than the ethics committee at Crowe Corp had, and that was a good thing. When I was forced to articulate what decisions I’d made and why, it helped me feel more secure in what we were proposing. But the interrogation had to end at some point, so Lily signed the intake forms for the trial and then she grabbed Evie as they left. I turned to my computer, ready to continue the work to make sure the trial was as safe as it was effective when a call came through.

“Your mother-in-law is on the phone,” Janet, our receptionist, let me know through the intercom. “Do you want me to say you’re out, or…?”

I smiled and said, “No, it's fine. I’ll take her call.”

There was a click and then the familiar sweet tones of Omega Vanguard, no, Eloise, came down the line.

“Riley!”

“Hi, Eloise, how’s things on your end?” I asked politely.

“Boring!” I heard her huff of breath down the other end of the phone line.

“No one ever told me how pointless retirement is, but let’s not talk about me. How about you, darling girl? How’re you and my grandsons going? Are my boys looking after you?”

As if summoned by her, my door clicked open and the lack of noisy entrance made clear it wasn’t Candy sneaking in. Ryan slid through the gap, peeking in to see if I was with patients, then smirked when he saw my office was empty. He had a big bowl of something that smelled absolutely amazing, the aroma having my stomach rumbling alarmingly.

“One of them is, Eloise.” Ryan froze then, staring at me in alarm. “Ryan’s just come in with lunch.” He waved his free hand frantically, as if to stop me from telling his mum anything more. “I’ll put us on speaker phone.”

That earned me a dark look, but I smirked as I tapped the button on the phone, then put the receiver down.

“Hello, darling!” Eloise said. “You’re feeding Riley every couple of hours like I told you.”

“Hi, Mum.” Did she hear the note of resignation in his voice? “And yes, we’re bringing her food regularly, and sometimes she even eats it.”

I pulled the bowl towards me, grabbing the spoon, and then swallowing down a mouthful of whatever it was. Damn, that was good stew. I made a happy little noise.

“Riley, you have to eat. This isn’t the same as bearing a beta’s child.” Her tone was one part concern, one part lecture, and it had both Ryan and I sighing. Mine contained more than a little sting, because it brought up our shared past. She’d done her damnedest to try and keep me away from her sons because she thought I wasn’t their fated mate, but more importantly, not capable of bearing them sons. “You’ve got five babies there that need nourishing.”

Ryan sucked in a breath, ready to read his mum the riot act, but I knew what would defuse her.

“Five very healthy babies,” I replied. “I had another scan this week, and the team here is very happy with their development.”

“Scans…” Omegas didn’t tend to need a lot of medical intervention, so there was quite a lot of mistrust of the scientific community. “We didn’t do them in my day.”

“So you don’t want to see the 3D scans then?” Ryan said. I grinned at him, the two of us feeling like co-conspirators. “OK, we won’t send?—”

“No, I want to see them.” Her reply was immediate, but with the tumble of her words came a few more. “Maybe you could show them to us in person?”

Ryan stiffened, his hands clenching into fists, forcing me to reach across and stroke the back of one to try to get him to relax.

“Mum, we talked about this?—”

They loved me, my mates. I hadn’t doubted it for a moment since we were mated, and every day after that, they proved it in different ways. Managing their mother’s intense scrutiny was one of those ways and I loved him for it, but for some reason, I felt differently about Eloise’s plea that we come for a visit. In my mind’s eye, I saw Carmen and Evie, the way the woman was a tireless advocate for her granddaughter, prepared to go toe-to-toe with any specialist, any principal, to make sure Evie was cared for properly.

Could…? The thought began and was quickly discarded, but I couldn’t help but come back to it. Could Eloise do the same for our children? Could John, Malcolm, and the rest of the guys’ fathers step up for the kids, be that same protective, wise, presence? Hormones might have me doing weird things, but right now, they were about to have me doing something really out of character.

“Maybe we could,” I said. Ryan stopped cold and stared at me. “I mean maybe. I need to look at my calendar, but?—”

“Please do.” The naked need in Eloise’s voice was hard to hear because now I processed it not as a meddling adult, but as a fellow mother. “Please. It would be so lovely to see you all.”

They could come to the city. We’d made clear that if they respected our boundaries that they could come and stay at our house, but they rarely did so. The trip, the distance, the city, they were all proposed as insurmountable obstacles and we just accepted that as their reality.

“Mum, Riley needs to check her schedule before she can commit to anything, and so do we,” Ryan told her.

“You’re alphas,” she spluttered. “Surely you just tell them what you’re going to do?”

“The children we work with?” His reply was sharp, decisive. “Their parents?” Her silence spoke volumes. “We always honour our commitments, something each one of you taught us to do.”

“Fine.” That felt like it was dragged forcibly from his mother. “But if you could let me know, I’d really appreciate it. I’ll get everything ready, make the house perfect for your omega.”

“OK, I’ll get back to you, Mum. Love you.”

At that, Ryan ended the call, then leaned across the desk, taking my face in his hands as he pressed the softest, sweetest kiss to my lips.

“What the hell did you sign us up for, Riley?” He asked in a husky voice, his eyes gleaming silver as he pulled back slightly. “Going home?”

“Maybe…” His brows creased as he caught the waver in my voice. “Maybe I’ve been thinking.”

“Always dangerous,” he said, but nodded for me to continue.

“Like it or not, we’re going to be a family soon. Our kids are going to know their grandparents, so maybe…” I let out a shuddering sigh. “I have all the medical advice I could possibly want here, but I don’t have a lot of access to omegas that have been through this before. We see the ones experiencing some sort of fertility issues.” I stroked his cheek, feeling the stubble there. “Not the ones who successfully raised five of the people I love most in the world.”

“You love me?”

This was asked in a teasing voice, his smile stealing a weight from my heart that I didn’t realise rested there.

“More than anything. Ryan?—”

“Shh…” He silenced me with a kiss, because we both knew it didn’t need to be said. What beat between us, that bond, it had survived everything that had happened before and anything that would be thrown at us going forward.

Even a visit to my mother-in-law.

“Mm… I like this.” Haze strolled in, taking the two of us in with a sardonic smile before reaching across the table to tilt my chin his way. “Well, I do if I can get in amongst it? Got some of that sugar for me?”

I kissed him as well, and when I pulled back, my lips stung from their attention. The temptation to lock the door and claim omega privilege and reaquaint myself with my mates’ charms was pretty strong, but instead, I stared into his eyes.

“So, what’s going on?”

Haze was suddenly serious, every muscle locking down as he regarded me, then his brother.

“We’re going to drive down to Bordertown and see your family.”