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“Nope.” Rocco shot her a grin. “We just like cake.”
Chuckles went around the room.
The conversation picked back up as Dax and Rocco dished up the dessert, and Elliot deposited me in the chair across from Evan’s, with Ebony on one side and an empty seat on the other.
“Things seem different,” Sab remarked, plopping into the empty seat with a bowl of cake and ice cream. Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Between you and Elliot, I mean. Your dad’s still scary, and your mom’s still dramatic.”
I shrugged. “Nope. Not different.”
Sab gasped and grabbed my left hand, lifting it up in front of her face. “Bitch! You didn’t even text me!”
My face flushed, and my gaze flitted back to my parents. They were still standing up, engaged in what didn’t look like a relaxed conversation with Elliot and Rocco.
“Shh.” I leaned in a bit closer. “We had sex. Decided to be a family. Bought the ring a few hours ago.“
Sab’s hand lifted to rest on her chest. “Lizzy, I mean this with as much love as possible—you need to find me a werewolf mate too. Right the hell now. I’ve been patient enough.”
I snorted, and she flashed me a grin. “I’m only half joking, you know.”
“I know.” I draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close, so our cheeks met. “I’ll get working on it.”
“Good.”
Elliot came back with cake and ice cream for both of us, and I released Sab in time to be lifted out my chair. Elliot sat back down in my seat, shooting me a playful grin as he set me on his lap, his chest warm against my back.
Most of the pack didn’t bat an eye at the coupley move—and Evan was too busy screeching at Ryder for more ice cream to care.
But I felt my parents’ eyes on me. And when I peeked at them out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom wiping tears away again. Her makeup was still perfect, of course, since all of the cosmetics she purchased were waterproof and basically just life-proof in general.
We ate our dessert, Rocco and Elliot keeping the conversation from going anywhere uncomfortable. Ryder and Ford fed Evan an unreal amount of cake and ice cream, but considering how many calories the little dude needed to keep growing and moving, I didn’t bother protesting.
When Rocco announced that he and Del needed to head home to put Felix to bed, Elliot agreed that it was time to get Evan to sleep too. Everyone made their way toward the door, still chatting as they went.
As I expected them to, my parents hung at the back of the crowd.
My stomach clenched; they wanted to talk to me.
I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk.
But my eyes caught on Ev, sleepily holding Elliot’s hand and babbling something about “eem,” his word for ice cream.
Hanging back, I leaned in close to Elliot and murmured, “Can you put him to bed?”
Elliot’s gaze was cautious as it slid over my parents. I knew he wouldn’t want to leave me alone, but I was worried my parents would try to grab Ev or something. It wasn’t a rational feeling, but considering how they’d treated me, it didn’t seem completely illogical to feel that way.
Elliot dipped his head in a nod and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek before scooping Ev up off his feet.
I leaned in and planted a few kisses on Evan’s cheeks. “Daddy is going to put you to bed, buddy. Sleep good, I love you.”
Elliot gave me a heart-stopping grin that warmed my whole damn body. Then, he tickled the little guy as they headed toward the stairs, Ev giggling and shrieking in response to Elliot’s playful teases about bed time.
They disappeared up the stairs, leaving me alone with my parents.
The door was still open though, and I noticed Dax and Ryder leaning up against two of the posts on our porch. They were both on their phones, but I knew what they were doing, and it calmed me tremendously.
“Are you going to move back in with us?” my dad asked, his voice gruff despite him not beating around the bush.
At least that was an easy answer. “I already told you I wasn’t. I have a family here; I’m not going anywhere.”
