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“I do though, Master Edison. Evan and Beau are my family now, and they both live in the area. I can’t see them wanting to spend the night here though. Beau has his mate and son, with another baby on the way. And Evan, he lives not far. He’d just go on home.” I looked over at Vaughn. He spent all day with Evan, and I’d never met my mate before now. I couldn’t quite understand that, but I guess I just wasn’t ready to meet him yet. Or he wasn’t. I thought about it. Vaughn was a lot older. It had to have been my issue and not his. My mate was more than ready for a family. Apparently, I wasn’t until now.

Master Edison smiled at me. “Very well, then. If you should happen to want a spare bedroom, there are three others upstairs. I can leave the two of you to explore those on your own. I do wish to show you the kitchen and back of the house though.”

Master Edison started walking again, and I glanced up at Vaughn. He smiled at me and then pointed. I followed his gesture and gasped. I couldn’t help it. The kitchen was perfect. “Oh, wow,” I said as I walked over to the kitchen space. There were four barstools sitting on the far side of the central island, but that was it when it came to furniture. Everything else was empty. There was counter space for days, and the central island was a baker’s dream.

“Is this the kitchen in all of the places?”

“Some have similar setups while others are focused on other areas of the house. Benjamin and Eli have five bedrooms, as do Parker and Markus. Briggs and Todd’s place will need to be expanded if they choose not to move to a larger house, but they all have several children or are taking care of younger siblings,” Master Edison told me. I recognized some names more than others.

“That is a lot of windows,” Vaughn said. I looked in the same direction as him and nodded in agreement.

“There are shades for the windows,” Master Edison said. “The switch is on the wall at either end. I’m sorry to say that you don’t have as natural a view as some houses. The pathway needed to be cleared for travel. Hindsight being what it is, I should have put the houses in circular patterns and had a central play area around each one.”

“The play area is in the center?” I asked. “Just out the front door?”

“Yes. It and the covered picnic area are for all to use. I know in the summer they have multiple neighborhood cookouts on the weekends. If Vaughn happens to be away on assignment, anyone here would be willing to help. I understand that you have magical abilities, and that certainly helps. The enforcers back here all look out for everyone else if needed.”

That was…I wouldn’t say suffocating, because I didn’t know if that was how it was going to be. But it sounded a lot like the fae enforcers and them being overly protective of me. I understood they felt they were supposed to look out for me, but they took things too far, usually.

“It’s all right if we don’t attend all of the group things though, right?” I asked. I knew from what Vaughn had said, gargoyles weren’t overly social beings. I was fine with that. I felt I was a mostly broken fae because I didn’t necessarily like to socialize like others did. I was perfectly content being alone after work. I didn’t need to always be around others. I looked up at Vaughn and realized something. I was most likely that way because of who my future mate was. My gargoyle mate was much the same. He was incredibly private and didn’t necessarily like to be around others once he’d finished with work.

“Something wrong?” Vaughn asked.

I smiled and shook my head. “Not at all.” I’d share with him later. Right now, I was trying to figure out how we would ever fill so much space in this back room. The fireplace was gorgeous stone, and I could picture a warm fire burning and me and Vaughn cuddling on his sofa.

“If the two of you would like to wander upstairs and look at the bedrooms, I’ll wait down here for the two of you.”

I nodded, and Vaughn took my hand again. I noticed a door under the stairs and wondered if it was a closet. Vaughn seemed to realize I was curious about it, and when he opened it, we saw it was a bathroom. “That’s useful,” he said.

I moved in a bit more, pressing my body completely against Vaughn’s. He didn’t seem to mind. It was a nice-sized half bath. There was a toilet and a large vanity. “The other door looks too small to lead to another room,” I said, indicating the smaller door beside the sink.

We moved into the bathroom, and when Vaughn opened the other door, I saw it was a shallow storage space filled with shelves. “That’s super useful,” I said. “We won’t have to worry about running paper and linens downstairs all the time.”

“I can’t see you as having a toilet paper shortage emergency.”

I laughed. He wasn’t wrong. I could just magick more. Same goes with needing a towel to dry my hands or soap for the sink. “It’s a nice bathroom though. It’ll be super useful.” I was trying not to get too far ahead of things though. I couldn’t help but think about the possibility of being pregnant with Vaughn’s baby. I would no doubt need to go to the bathroom frequently. Beau did when he was pregnant with Cooper.

“Better than having to run upstairs when the need is urgent,” Vaughn said. He pulled me from the bathroom and immediately walked to the bottom of the stairs. He started up, and I followed. The stairs and railing were gorgeous wood that was polished to a glossy shine. “What are you thinking so far?” Vaughn asked.

“It’s really nice,” I said quietly. “It’s big though. Do we really need all of this space?”

“We haven’t had the chance to discuss children yet. Do you only wish for one? I would like at least one child. I’m open to as many as you want since I’m not the one who will be carrying them. I also do not believe that the alpha’s job ends once the baby is conceived. I’ll be taking care of you every moment that I can, and once our little one arrives, I intend to be as involved as I can be.”

I smiled at that. “I’m an only child, and if nothing else, it taught me that being an only child sucks. I want at least two, and I don’t want to wait in between them. I want them all at once, as in, if we decide on three, we’re not doing anything between heats to prevent them so I’ll have them every year. If only two, then two years in a row. That’s what I mean.” I liked children. I adored little Cooper and loved it when Beau brought him into the bakery, and I could spend some time playing with him.

Vaughn was smiling at me, and I hoped that was a good thing. “If you want two or three children, then I’d say that the three extra bedrooms up here don’t make the house too much space. One room per child, and we’re set.”

I grinned while looking down the hallway toward the other doors. One was a large bathroom, one was a linen closet, and then there were the three bedrooms. I walked into the bedroom closest to the one that was going to be ours and looked around. There were doors on two different walls, and when I walked farther into the room, I saw that there was a bathroom in this room as well. “There’s another bathroom in here,” I called out as I walked into the space. It was so much nicer than the one in my cottage. But in all fairness, my cottage was small and wasn’t intended for someone with children.

“That’s a perfect tub,” Vaughn said as he came into the room. “There’s a shower in with it. That will be useful when the children get older, will it not?” he suggested as he smiled down at me. I went over and sat down on the closed toilet, which I realized was lower than the one downstairs. At least, it seemed that it was.

“So we’re doing this?” I asked. “We’re…together?” Vaughn had opened the door on the other side, and his head had disappeared into what I had thought was another linen closet, but I knew he heard me.

“Why wouldn’t we? Are you having second thoughts? I’ll date you if you need time.” Vaughn was over and kneeling in front of me in moments. “If this is too fast for you, we can slow things down.”

I shook my head. “That’s not it at all. I want to be your mate.” I sighed. “I’ve wanted my mate for a while now, and I was beginning to think that I was going to have to wait for years yet.” I frowned, thinking about how he had been so close all this time. “You’ve been here, and yet I’ve not met you until now, and that’s frustrating.”

Vaughn reached up and touched my cheek. The vibrations that had calmed considerably intensified when he touched me, but I knew they would lessen in a little while.