“Come here,” I murmured, holding my hand out to him. He placed his in mine and allowed me to pull him closer. Looking up so our eyes met, I said, “This isn’t a bad talk, bub. This is just to lay out boundaries and expectations, so no one gets hurt. That’sall. There’s nothing you can do or say during that talk that will make it negative, okay?”
He nodded, his shoulders deflating a little.
“Sorry I’m always such a discombobulated mess, Mommy,” he whispered.
I squeezed his hand. “Don’t apologize for being yourself, bub.” I leaned up on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Why don’t you go on and sit with Kip in the living room? I’ll be there in a moment once I order breakfast. Anything you want in particular? Protein is non-negotiable.”
“Pancakes?” he asked. “And sausage? Eggs?”
“Doable.” I smiled. “Go on now, bub.”
He nodded and slipped away, leaving for the living room. I headed for the bedroom to get my phone off the charger then made my way back to the kitchen while ordering food on the delivery app. After the order was made and I had my coffee, I headed into the living room. And the sight that welcomed me filled me with warmth.
Corvus was curled up on the loveseat with Mercy. Clearly, our pittie had taken a liking to our boy, which just further proved Corvus was meant to be ours because she didn’t warm up to just anyone. And this talk would help put us in the right direction, so we could keep Corvus.
I took a seat in the recliner then pulled up my feet to sit cross-legged.
“Food will be here in about thirty minutes, so let’s go ahead and knock this out,” I said then took a sip of my coffee.
“All business,” Corvus muttered, tucking his face into Mercy’s fur. She lolled her tongue out and pushed her head back against his, making him laugh softly.
“Don’t be a brat,chibi,” Kip warned. “Brats get punishments.”
Corvus’s cheeks darkened a little.
“Sorry, Daddy,” he mumbled, tightening his arms around Mercy.
Kip smiled softly at him, and I knew hearing Corvus call him that immediately eliminated punishment thoughts. “All’s forgiven.” He looked at me. “You want to start, or do you want me to take the reins on this one?”
I inclined my head to him. “You can start,” I said. He was better at this than I was. “But take it easy on him. He said talks make him feel sick.”
Corvus refused to look at us, but Kip nodded, showing me he understood and would take this easy on Corvus. He was officially our boy, after all, and I had a feeling this talk—laying out rules, expectations, and punishments—would give Corvus the freedom he’d sought for so long.
And I couldn’t wait to give that to him.
Chapter Fourteen
Corvus
I was half annoyed Michelle told Kip talks made me feel sick, but on the other hand, I was also grateful because maybe Kip might make this talk easier on me. He’d assured me this conversation would be nothing bad, that it was standard, but Christ, sitting through so many talks with my parents, which ended with me in pain and at a mental low, had done a number on me.
My therapist would tell me it was my PTSD. Maybe, she wasn’t far off the mark. Having PTSD sounded a little bit better than just being a nervous, anxious mess.
“Let’s start with something easy,” Kip began.
I petted my hand over Mercy’s neck and back, still not looking at him.
“I’d appreciate your eyes on us while we’re talking about this,chibi.” His tone was firm yet gentle, making it easy for me to lift my eyes to meet his. He smiled softly at me in reward, and something fuzzy spread through my veins. “Good boy.”
My fucking heartmelted. I was such a whore for praise. And for some reason, it meantso muchcoming from Kip andMichelle. Like it somehow meantmorethan praise from anyone else.
“When do you want to call us Mommy and Daddy? You seem to have fallen into doing so easily, which is great, but you don’t have to call us those names where it may make you uncomfortable to do so.”
I frowned. Who the hell was I trying to hide from? No one. Hudson and Kreed were the only people—outside of Kip and Michelle—whose opinions I valued. And I knew they would never judge me for my kinks or Kip and Michelle’s.
“I…” I paused. “Do you two have preferences?” I asked instead of answering.
Michelle shook her head. “No, bub. We love hearing you call us Mommy and Daddy. We don’t care where you use the names. For all we care, you can use them in front of whoever or wherever you please.”
