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“Listen,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “before you go in there, there’s something you should know.”
The door suddenly banged open and a large humanoid monster with four arms and two giant white feathery wings burst through it. “Axel! It’s good to see you!” Cupid’s voice boomed.
I shot my pop an irritated glance before pushing past him to go trade grips with Cupid. How dare he call my friends over for me. I was going to do it. I just got…distracted. “Hey, man. How’ve you been? Shit, I almost forgot how strong you were. Easy on my arm before you squeeze it off, bro.”
“Ha! That’s impossible. I’d break it first.” Cupid patted me on the back and practically dragged me inside. “Look, he’s here!”
I stumbled to a stop just inside the door. If I thought the house was crowded before, it was overflowing with people now. Peopleandmonsters. Chris and Ollie were there, sitting at the kitchentable with steaming mugs in front of them, or rather leaning. Ollie was so big that he had to hunch over to keep his horns from hitting the ceiling. Charlie was in there making something on my stove. By the looks of it, he’d washed the dishes too, or someone had, since they were drying on the rack. Someone had also gone around and cleaned up the place, stacking things into neat piles. Great, now I’d never find anything ever again. Hotdog, Ben, and Bud were all on the sofa along with a mini-Bud…Except this miniature verrid had glittering gold scales instead of snow white.
I stood in the doorway and stared at the little verrid clinging to Bud’s chest, trying to make sense of it. I knew I’d never met that verrid before, and it must’ve been a kid, which meant… “Oh my God you had a monster baby,” I blurted and the room went dead silent. I took in a deep breath. “And they’re fucking adorable, Bud!”
Bud laughed and shifted the squirming verrid around to sit on his lap. “Hi, Axel! This is Junior.”
I let out a little squeal of joy that probably would’ve made someone less secure in their masculinity wince. Not me though. I was too enamored with the tiny critter. I held out my arms, making grabby hands. “I want to hold the baby!”
Bud smiled and stood up with Junior. He placed the squirming little guy in my arms, who was a lot heavier than he looked. Junior’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates and as soon as Bud stepped back, he started sniffling and crying. Loudly.
“Damn, kid. I’m not that ugly,” I said, and tried to shift my hold on him to make him happy.
“I think somebody’s just a little overstimulated.” Bud swooped in, somehow managing to get Junior out of my arms gracefully, despite the kid’s flailing.
“Probably needs a nap.” Phoenix appeared in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, a beer in his hand. He leaned against the doorframe and old memories tumbled to theforefront of my brain. Moments from a simpler time, what felt like a lifetime ago.
Once upon a time, I thought we had something, Phoenix and me. Maybe we did, but we were the wrong people together at the wrong time. That’d always been true, even when I couldn’t see it. Didn’t stop it from hurting when he ghosted me instead of giving me a proper breakup. Despite saying repeatedly that I forgave him for it, there would always be that lingering flash of pain every time I saw him again. It was duller now, but still reflexive.
I ran my palms over my hips. “Hey, man. How’ve you been?”
“All right. You?” He grunted and held out another beer.
I shrugged and took it. “Busy.”
“So I gathered.”
There was a moment of awkward silence between us that everyone else filled with background chatter and laughter.
I cleared my throat. “So, you’re a dad now, huh? Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Trust me, no one’s more surprised than me.”
Ghost was suddenly looming over Phoenix. He let out a small growl. I couldn’t help but feel a little satisfied when Phoenix took a half step back. Phoenix was not a small dude, and he didn’t scare easily, but he took in Ghost’s teeth and claws with a wary glance.
I smiled and put an arm around Ghost’s shoulders before planting a quick kiss on his jaw. “You’ve met Ghost, right? My…” Shit, what should I call him? My boyfriend? That sounded weird, and if I used that word with Phoenix, it’d feel too much like I was taking a dig at him. My mate? That was true, but it also felt weird to say.
Thankfully, Ghost came to my rescue. He put a clawed hand around my waist, jerking me closer. “Mate.”
Phoenix’s eyes danced from Ghost to me and back again. “Um. Yeah, we…met.”
I frowned. What didthatmean?
“He means Ghost nearly had him pissing himself the moment he saw him.” Hotdog grinned and extended his hand. “Though you’ll never hear it from Sergeant Major Walker over here.”
I smiled. It was always easy to smile with Hotdog. “Long time no see, Hotdog!” I took his hand like we were going to trade grips, but he pulled me into a hug instead. Damn, he was a lot stronger than the last time I’d seen him.
“It’s Robert now, if you don’t mind,” he said, stepping back. “And yeah, sorry about not texting or calling or…whatever. I, uh…”
“Hey, no worries,” I told him, hoping to avoid that awkwardness, too.
Robert shook his head. “No, man. I was a jerk. I made things weird when they didn’t have to be.”
