Lily slowly creeps up behind him, looking over his shoulder at my pack—and doesn’t that feel strange. Her hands are both on the handle of Mr. Shaggbutt’s carrier so she doesn’t feel like she needs to offer them to anyone. She looks from Paul to Spence, and finally settles her gaze on Al before her nostrils flare and she ducks behind her bonded mate. Her voice is quiet as she whispers in his ear, and he chuckles.
All of our eyes turn to them, but he doesn’t notice at first, staring raptly at the love of his life. When he finally turns back, he addresses Sarah, still perched in Spence’s arms. “She says they don’t look scary, and she’s happy for you.” His eyes turn to Al, all humor leaving them. “But you…you smell different. Not quite right, there’s something…nutty in the way. But close. It doesn’t matter, anyway. I’m glad that Sarah found you. Congratulations.”
Al looks affronted; he flicks up the collar of his shirt, sniffing at it once before dropping it with a sour look on his face. “Ugh, Ben. Sorry, my brothers are assholes. He’s never been able to wear my clothes, but that hasn’t stopped him from trying. Remind me to check for popped seams when we get home. Like his arms would ever fit into anything I own.” This last part is directed at Paul, who nods thoughtfully.
They don’t hug. Even after being around omegas for this long, I still wonder about their lack of affection towards anyone but their mates. Sarah slaps Adam on the back—hard if his grunt is any indication—and pulls Lily down to kiss her on the forehead, causing the other woman to smile raptly up at her. Sarah told me she doesn’t have any family but Adam, and I rarely think about how that means she’s probably lacked a lot of affection in herlife. The fact that my girl tries to show it, even in small ways, makes me smile.
We head towards the front office, ready to turn everything in and get on the road when Sarah asks Spence to put her down. She takes my hand, walking backwards so she can look at her alphas. “None of you want to be pack-lead, right? You should just put me down for it.”
Paul shrugs in agreement while Spence just keeps smiling like all is right with the world. Al looks petulant for a moment. Before giving in. “Yeah, that’s sounds fine. But if this is just a ploy to get out of the name change paperwork, forget it. I’m not going through that again. Otherwise I have no problem with that.”
Sarah beams at them as she continues walking backwards, and I see the mischief in her eyes. “So, I’ve been thinking, since my heat, I might have come up with some new names for you all. Wanna hear?” Paul smiles at her, and Al nods, probably tired of being saddled with Teach.
Spence frows a bit, a crease forming between his brows. “But I like Moose, it’s what you call me. Do we have to change it?”
Her grin is huge as she reaches for the big alpha, almost making me trip over my own feet trying to watch both of our steps at the same time. “Of course not, you’ll always be my Moose.” He smiles like the top of his big head is gonna fall off and she turns to the other two, pointing first at Al. “I think from now on you can be King.” The little alpha looks smug at his new moniker and I kind of want to laugh out loud at the situation, because I have a pretty good idea what’s coming next.
Sarah points at Paul, her lips turning up at the corners. “And you can be Daddy.”
The blond man chokes and makes a gargling noise. For a second, I’m worried he might have swallowed his tongue. Before I can react, Spencer is scooping his packmate up and throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of grain. His voice is a calmrumble, and I wonder if he’s caught on yet. “It’s ok, he’s just excited. I got this.”
I turn to look, and Al is standing there on the sidewalk behind us. He hasn’t moved, as if his feet are stuck to the ground; the look of shock and reverence in his eyes as he stares at Sarah is a little concerning. My feet stop, bringing the whole procession to a halt before I turn to Spence. “You might want to grab Al too. Looks like he’s about to pass out.” The big alpha looks surprised, but doesn’t say anything as he scoops the smaller man up and deposits him over his other shoulder.
He leans down enough to whisper at Sarah, “Don’t let me bonk their heads on the door, ok? I don’t want to concuss them or anything.” Then we’re at the main office checking out. It’s probably a good thing the big guy hasn’t caught on yet. I don’t think any of us could drag his giant body, anyway.
Chapter 98
“Happy Birthday Tuck!” Sarah’s voice carries as she shouts through the door. Spencer walks in behind her, carrying Little Ben in one arm, and automatically sliding his shoes off to put on the rack by the front door.
“Well, at least everybody knows you’re here now.” Teddy’s voice precedes him from the kitchen a moment before he walks through. “Steve made a huge fucking cake, Shorty. So, I’m sorry in advance for the sugar high they’re gonna be on.” He doesn’t even try to hold back the snort of laughter as he nods towards the child in Spencer’s arms, and Miguel, who has a death grip on Greg’s hand. Our son stares around the room cautiously before suddenly squealing in delight and running for Jake when the big dog walks down the stairs.
Sarah’s voice is mostly a pained groan. “Thicc, I swear to all that is fucking holy, if we make it through this day without going to the hospital, then these two can bounce around their rooms all night long, I don’t care. Let the daddies handle it. Seriously, I need to go into labor just so I can take a fucking vacation right now.”
Spencer sets Ben on the ground, and he starts to toddle towards Teddy as the big alpha reaches down to run his palms over Sarah’s lower back, making her groan.
“Come on baby, I was legal last year. Don’t you need one more for your pack?” Tuck banters playfully as he walks out of the door to the game room, closing it behind him. The child lock is already in place to keep the littles from trying to make their way downstairs. His arms come around our omega, squeezing carefully against her hugely pregnant belly.
I watch on, smiling fondly at my family, and the little shit who still calls my mate a “mini-muscle-mommy.” He’s more right now than when he first started. Spencer just leans forward and kisses Sarah on the head. Greg waits until Tuck pulls back and then punches him in the arm while Alistair growls. He really does sound a lot like his dads right now.
“Yeah, ’cause that wouldn’t be super awkward at all for you to have kids that were only sixteen years younger than you. Besides, I’m pretty sure Kelly would kill us both. Plus dude, remember I’m like the awesome, hot aunt. This isn’t a telenovela.” Tuck looks confused for a moment, and it’s clear he doesn’t understand our mate’s ridiculous taste in movies and television.
“Well, when you put it like that it just sounds creepy.” Tuck smirks as he picks up a squirming Miguel, who’s now trying to climb on top of poor Jake. That dog has the patience of a saint; he just rolled over onto his back and wagged as our son covered his face in kisses. It’s a good thing Ben is busy trying to catchTeddy right now, otherwise he’d probably get knocked over by the long, flailing tail.
Kelly comes down the stairs, glaring at her brother and almost tripping over the prone dog who still hasn’t gotten up, despite being rescued from slobbery kiddo. “Oof. Jake, baby, go play outside for a bit, ok. I bet Sam’s out in the shop finishing up Tuck’s present.” The birthday boy passes Miguel over to Kelly and races Jake to the back door.
There’s a few loud thumps and some creative cussing before I hear the door slam. “Oh my gosh, you are getting so big, little bit.” She hefts him up, balancing him on her hip before Spence reaches over and retrieves him.
“Sorry, Kelly…um…you fall…a lot, and he’s still pretty breakable.”
The beta just laughs. “No, that’s fair. He is getting big though. He’s gonna be five just before Christmas, right?” Sarah nods in agreement, her hand rubbing over her stomach as Kelly looks between our pack members before settling on Sarah. “So, you think this one’s gonna be another probable alpha?”
My little mate laughs. “I don’t know, I just wish they would vacate the premises. My ankles feel like they’re gonna explode if they don’t stop swelling soon. I’m ready to have my body back.” Kelly nods in understanding, even if they never decide they want kids.
“Yeah, I remember when Mom was pregnant with Tuck. She was exhausted all the time. Plus having these little guys running around on top of that. Girl, you are braver than me. Oh, Xan’s out back if you want to go say hi. He brought the girls and they’ve been following Tuck around. I’m pretty sure J.J. is in love with my brother and Lexi is keeping an eye on them so she can shank him if he hurts her twin. I swear even for a six-year-old, she’s kinda scary when it comes to her sister.” She laughsuncomfortably at the thought, but the girls are sweet, and there’s nothing wrong with being a little overprotective.
Greg scoops up Ben, and we start towards the back door. I hear Kelly’s mom squeal in excitement when Spence walks out the door first, now carrying Miguel. “Oh my gosh, you’re getting so big.” Like mother, like daughter, I guess, smiling at how life has turned out. My parents might be coming over soon. They offered to watch the kids tonight after the party so that Sarah can get some solid rest before the newest arrival. Not that that’ll happen anyway, our poor girl can’t sleep for shit; she’s so sore.
Spence’s voice is its usual low rumble. “Hi, Mrs. Parker! Hi Mr. Parker! Miguel, you wanna go say hello!” The high voice of our oldest son babbles incoherently a mile a minute as I step out the door onto the porch and see him wrapped up in Kelly’s mom’s arms. They’ve taken on the role of extra grandparents since Kelly says she never wants kids and Al’s family all live so far away. Not that they don't visit; we see them at least twice a year during the holidays.
