Grant kissed the top of her head. “If you were going to leave, you wouldn’t be parked here waiting for me. You were waiting here for me to come for you, and here I am. I’m sorry it took me so long.”
“You’re too good to me.” She rested her head on his shoulder, and he felt some of the tension leaving her body.
“That’s true. You should probably reward me with sexual favors.”
Taylor stepped away from him and smacked his arm, laughing through her tears. “Grant. You are a first-class pig.”
“We don’t hate you!” That was Taylor’s voice. She and Chantelle were hurrying across the parking lot to them.
“Damn it, woman, I was about to work my way up to parking lot sex,” Grant complained to her. “Way to ruin a moment. Also, eavesdrop much?”
“All the time,” Taylor said. She held out her arms to Celeste. “You look like you need a hug.”
Celeste hesitated. She stood there stiffly and let Taylor hug her. Then she melted into the hug. Taylor was soft and pillowy, and hugging her felt pretty great.
“You guys,” she said, wiping her cheeks after she stepped away. “You’re being way too nice to me. Maybe you should just let me say goodbye to Jeffrey and go. I’m going to screw this parenting thing up.”
“Yeah, you are,” Grant said. “You are going to screw it up royally.”
Taylor let out a snarl, and Chantelle growled. “You mangy ass-hat. I will cut you.”
“I’ll rip your lips off and stuff them down your throat,” Taylor snapped. “How dare you?”
Grant snorted. “I wasn’t done.” He looked at Celeste. “I’m also going to screw up this parenting thing. My own dad tried to drown my younger brother – while my mother stood there and poured herself another martini. My dad cheated on my mother all the time, and the two of them regularly got into screaming fights that ended in blood and broken bones for both of them. And he beat the crap out of me and my brothers on a regular basis. I have no good role models for being a parent or a mate. But neither did my brother Cliff, and he’s done all right for himself.”
“Better than all right.” Taylor looked a little smug.
“So yeah, we will both screw up, and we are going to forgive ourselves for it, and do better next time. That’s what families do. Come back home to me and our child. When we get there, you, me and Jeffrey are going out for a walk in the woods while someone sneaks your suitcase back into the cabin.” He glanced at Taylor. “And since someone here ruined my chance of getting parking lot nookie, someone here is going to babysit my son after dinner so I can have some alone-time with my mate.”
He led Taylor back to her car. “Taylor, if you could drive my car back, I’d appreciate it. And Chantelle?”
“Yes, derpface?”
“I recently told you to fuck off. I am sorry. You should probably punch me in the face right now.”
She shook her head. “Nah, we’re good. I know my mate broke your nose.”
“Yeah, he did. Took an hour to heal. He packs a wallop.”
Chantelle quirked a smile. “You’re a Dominus and he’s not. You could have killed him for that, but you held yourself back. Because you know you deserved it. You’re not the worst wolf in the world. But don’t go getting all swell-headed now, you’re still a jackoff most of the time.”
“It’s not my head that’s swollen.” Grant grabbed Celeste’s hand. “Let’s go home, babe. Our son is waiting for us.”
Jeffrey was so wound up when they got back that it took hours to calm him down. Grant finally convinced him to shift and go rabbit-hunting with them, and then they made dinner for Celeste, Taylor and Cliff. As they sat outside, with Taylor reading a story to Jeffrey, he started snoring, his head resting on her shoulder.
“Go now,” Taylor said to Grant. “I’ll bring him back to your room in one hour. And don’t worry, you will pay me back with plenty of babysitting when we get back home, the both of you.”
They walked back to Grant’s room, holding hands, and Grant shut the door. Then he turned to face her and put his hands on her shoulders.
“Stop,” he said.
“Stop what?”
“Stop torturing yourself. I told you. It was not your fault. And you are part of our family now. We will never hate you. Various members of our family get very pissed off at each other from time to time, and we cuss each other out and say mean things. That’s just what happens when you spend a lot of time with other people. You step on each other’s nerves. But when push comes to shove, any one of us would die for you, just the way you would for me and Jeffrey and any of us.”
Celeste felt her lungs compress with panic. This could not work out, she didn’t deserve it, she would fall in love with them all and they’d leave her… She turned and started to run for the door, and Grant grabbed her and held her tightly. “No,” he said gently. “You’re not leaving us. You don’t want to. And I won’t let you.”
She fought, thrashing and kicking, and she had no idea why.
