“This is all about you, Mom, and what you want. And it is not that I don’t love you, because you know I do. Yet you guys have blatantly taken advantage of me, and it has to stop.”
Ian pulled out his phone and clicked on his calendar app, turning the screen so his family could see. Rick had never been prouder than he was in that moment. Ian flicked through the calendar, month after month after month. Rick had already seen it, color-coded for the different kids and the various times asked to babysit. The different times he was expected to run errands and do chores for his family. There were so many of them every single week.
“This is my life,” Ian said, pointing at his phone. “This is how much I have done for you just this year alone. Red for Mom, blue for Maisie, green for Winston, and purple for William. Look at it.”
“I barely ask you to babysit at all, maybe once or twice a week,” Maisie said quickly.
“Yeah,” William added. “For goodness's sake, you only have mine once or twice a week, and the occasional weekend. You don’t have kids.You don’t realize how much we need a break. How hard it is raising children and that sometimes we just want some adult time?”
“Oh, I understand,” Ian said, nodding. “But if I’m babysitting for you, a couple of times a week,” he pointed at Winston, “and then you once or twice a week,” he indicated towards William this time, “and then you when you want a date night with your mate,” this one was directed at Maisie, “and then mom’s charity chores over the weekend, because apparently I’m a lousy son if I don’t help with that as well, that’s my whole week gone.
“Where’s my time to date? Where’s my time to enjoy myself? Where’s my time to go out with my friends? All of you individually think, ‘oh, I don’t ask that much of Ian’, but when you add it all up together in one week, I never have time for myself at all.” Clicking off his phone, Ian put it back in his pocket, sitting back and resting against Rick’s arm. “I thought you’d be really happy for me, I really did.”
“We are,” Ian’s mom said. “We couldn’t be happier for you that you found a mate. He’s not what we expected, but he’ll do…”
“He’ll do! How dare you?”
Rick could tell that Ian was ready to explode, and he put his hand more firmly on Ian’s shoulder.It’s okay, babe,he sent through their mind link.They’re just adapting to change. Breathe, hon, in and out, breathe, and know how much I care about you. You know they love you, really. Just breathe through it.
Ian visibly calmed down, although he was still breathing hard and refused to look at his mom at all. Fortunately, the server came over with the first of the meals, placing them on the table. Everybody started eating, giving time for the tensions to settle down.
Already hungry, Rick was happy to eat, but he refused to take his hand off Ian’s shoulder. He was quite capable of eating pasta one-handed, something that Winston commented on.
“Is it really necessary to keep hanging on to Ian like he is your support animal?” Winston said, and he was clearly looking down his nose at the idea.
Rick peered up from his plate, his fork suspended in mid-air, the pasta wrapped around it. “Were you talking to me?” he kept his voice low. There was no threat. Rick wasn’t that type of guy. He didn’t threaten anyone. The glare he gave Winston spoke volumes. “Focus on tending to your own mate,” he said evenly. “Leave me to mine.”
He deliberately took his mouthful and started chewing, all the while holding Winston’s eyes. It was Winston’s eyes that dropped first.
It didn’t take long for a group of shifters to finish their food. Maisie insisted that her husband hold Alfie so she could eat her meal, because she couldn’t eat one-handed. Rupert’s meal getting cold wasn’t an issue for her, clearly, and when Ian had finished eating, he took Alfie again, so that Rupert could eat. Maisie didn’t even bother to say thank you. All in all, it wasn’t the most fun meal Rick had ever had, but his mate was with him and the food was delicious, so Rick was taking that as a win.
By the time the plates were cleared and coffee had been served, Ian said quietly, “I brought you all here together today to meet my mate, Rick. Not one of you has asked about him, not one of you has talked about him, and that’s fine. I’m sure that you’ll get to know him over time.
“I’m the one making changes that suit me and my mate, and that does impact all of you. For example, if any of you want me to babysit for you again, we’ll require at least two weeks’ notice. Two weeks,” he stressed, as Maisie gasped.
“How can you make rules like that? Sometimes Rupert wants to take me out for an evening meal—a spontaneous decision to show how much he cares about me as his mate and mother of his son.”
“Then he can factor finding a babysitter into his spontaneity,” Ian said, “because it won’t be me. It’s the same for you, William and Winston,” he added looking across at his brothers. “I don’t mind having my nieces and nephews stay overnight now and then. It’ll be at Rick’s house as I’m moving in there, and it will have to fit into our other plans, but again, I want two weeks’ notice because it’s likely Rick and I may have other plans if you want something any sooner.
“My mate comes first—our joint plans are my first consideration because that’s what mates do. You’re the ones who have children, you’re the ones responsible for getting childcare for them, if you want to have your spontaneous dates, or your time out, or whatever else it is you’re calling it. You just can’t keep using me.”
“But—" Winston started, only Ian was on a roll.Best part of the lunch,Rick thought happily.
“Surely you must have thought about what would happen when I found my mate. Whether my mate was alpha or omega, or anything in between, doesn’t make any difference. I was still going to find my special person one day, and then my focus was always going to be on them.”
“Yes,” Ian’s mom said, “but if your mate had been an omega, then they wouldn’t have been mucking about with your life the way Rick clearly is…”
She’s a stubborn one.Rick went to say something, but Ian’s hand on his leg stopped him.
“Rick isn’t mucking up my life, Mom. I feel blessed to have him in my life. My priorities have shifted, and you should be proud of the sonthat you raised to be a good mate. Maybe think about that before you say anything else.”
The lunch broke up fairly quickly after that, and Rick was glad. Ian was quiet in the car drive home, and Rick wanted to say something to break the tension.
“That wasn’t bad, was it? Little Alfie’s quite cute, although as a baby, it’s not like they do much, is it?”
Ian looked at him and then laughed. “Really? You think that lunch went well?”
Rick shrugged. “It really doesn’t matter, does it? We’ve done it now. And I’m really proud of you for sticking up for yourself. I don’t mind us babysitting every now and again. I don’t have an issue with kids. I just don’t think you and I have been together long enough to decide if we have any of our own yet. We’ve got too much learning about each other to do first.”
